The knight slowly approached the slender figure standing upright, draped in a long royal fur coat. King Jaeha—defeated.
He had watched his own downfall from up close: his likenesses burning, his most loyal followers turning their backs on him. He had hoped that his final moments might be, at least, somewhat fair. Not like what he had been given; pain, betrayal…
Jaeha was not a bad king. He was a fool. And everyone had been eager to take advantage of that.
In the end, it had come to this. Jaeha knew that the only justice left to him would be death on his own terms, not execution by the blade. But he did not have the courage. So he simply waited.
“My lord.”
The deep voice broke the silence. Jaeha recognized it immediately, one of his knights. One of the few who had survived this long.
“Leave. You are released from service,” the king ordered.
“I refuse.”
“What? ‘Refuse’?”
Jaeha turned toward him. “Do you seek death? You have always hated me; 'The foolish king'. Go! Save yourself. Or take me prisoner; perhaps your new rulers will spare you.”
The knight dropped to one knee.
“You were a foolish king. Petulant, spoiled, naïve,” he said.
Jaeha stood still, knowing it was true. Still, there was something strange about hearing it spoken aloud on the last day of his life.
“I may despise you and think you were not a good ruler,” the knight continued, lifting his gaze to meet the king’s, “but you are the king of my sword.”
He lowered his head.
“My life belongs to you, my lord. I swore to die protecting you—and your crown."
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Hii doves!
I feel like i'm learning digitalart from basics again-! I'm using a different tablet rn and i'm trying to get used to it! Ha ha, hope you enjoyed this little AU/illustration i've made on this device lol
Also i couldn't choose between unsaturated version and the more saturated one TuT so i am posting both, lol.