" You are in the presence of Regus Aurelius, the vampire monarch, the ruler of Ixtal and the keeper of peace.
The first thing you should do when you enter the room is to KNEEL before him human, even though you are not a vampire it's common sense to show monarchs respect " Julian said in an icy tone as hatred visibly oozed out of his eyes at the sight of Max Rajput.
Regus's calm demeanour had finally broken, he could no longer maintain his nonchalant expression when his inspection of Max Rajput failed.
Max had very cleverly covered his clone in bandages the previous night when he came up with the plan for this morning.
The way he had wrapped him up, made it impossible for one to see that he was wearing a ring underneath the bandages using the naked eye, but while this could fool the others, Regus Aurelius could still make out that he was wearing one.
Regus was no fool, he knew that this was Vega's ring immediately which was why his demeanour crumbled, Vega was silently supporting Max Rajput, this was a huge headache for Regus.
" I'm sorry, were you talking to me right now? " The clone asked impudently as he stared at Julian as if looking at a clown.
Julian was taken aback by this line of questioning, he had thought that Max Rajput would kneel immediately when being surrounded and pressured in such a manner, but the man was extremely bold.
" Of Course I'm talking to you, you dimwit, you see any other human in this room?" Julian snapped back however the clone just raised his palm towards Julian as if asking him to stop speaking.
" I'm sorry old foggie, but I don't bow down to bitches, bitches bow down to me… " the clone said with extreme arrogance as immediately the entire courtroom drew their weapons, ready to kill Max Rajput for daring to insult their king.
" Now- now boys, I know we all love some action, but if you force me to fight, I swear half of this courtroom will die before I'm killed and even if I am killed, even if Max Rajput the brother of Rudra Rajput dies here today, not a single one of you will live to tell the tale for more than five years.
Either guildmaster Neatwit, or master Jhonny or sister Patricia or emperor Cervantez, SOMEONE will come for your lives and there will be nothing that you can do about it.
So yes, pull your weapons on me and come at me at once like the pack of hyenas that you all are. But remember, there will be hell to pay! " The clone said with a Maniacal smile on his face as he calmly pulled out his own sword from his inventory.
The clone's threat made everyone falter, none of the lords present had any sympathy for the human Max, if Regus gave the order then they would all jump on him at once, but his chilly warning that half of them would die in the process and that there would be hell to pay later was somewhat unnerving to many.
" You talk too big and act too arrogant, but you are just borrowing the name and the strength of the giants behind you, without them you are nothing " Lucius Aurelius spat as he came to dislike this Max Rajput character a lot, however Max spat right back at him.
" Ho- Ho- Ho, the pot calling the kettle black? Lucius Fucking Aurelius, take that last name out, do you have the qualifications to even stand in this room then?
Let's change the scenario, it's you surrounded by us humans because you were invited to some bullshit trial for a crime you did not commit and promised a fair assessment, but the moment you were summoned, you were asked to put your pride aside and kneel
What would you do prince?
I'll tell you what you would do, you would kneel…. " The clone said as he chided Lucius
" Never! I'm an Aurelius, I don't kneel " Lucius shouted right back, adamant to show his pride.
" Likewise, I'm a Rajput, I don't kneel either, it's nothing personal, but my brother was the strongest fighter in the universe, so understand the pride I carry on my shoulders.
As for using the name of the giants behind me, if Lucius Aurelius was in the same situation, would he not tell us humans that his dad was Regus Aurelius and that there would be hell to pay if they killed him?
How am I being unreasonable then? when I'm doing the same as what each and every one of you would do….
I was summoned to your hall by you, Ravan my friend, I think it's about time you show some unbiased judgement on this situation". The clone demanded as all eyes shifted towards Ravan.
Max inwardly smiled, the situation had developed exactly as he wanted to. Today he wanted to give each and every one of these vampires a reminder about who exactly Max Rajput was, so that in the future if Regus had such schemes about his real identity he would think twice about messing with him.
Dropping to one knee, Max said " My king, you promised him a fair trial, in my posession is a truth orb which can determine the authenticity of his words without a shadow of a doubt.
Please interrogate him fairly for the crimes he is suspected of, as for the other matters of his bad tongue, I personally apologize for it.
His temper is bad, but he means no harm"
Max acted perfectly as he begged Regus for justice, because in this setting Regus had no choice but to grant his request.
If he killed the clone now and trade embargo or problems arose with two major monarchies because of it, then all the blame of the matter would fall on Regus Aurelius's shoulders.
His masterful bait into making Lucius admit that forced into the same situation he would not kneel either completely legitimised his behaviour which made punishing him even more difficult for Regus.
In the end, Regus could only hatefully nod for the trial to go forward, today he had been played beautifully by this human and vampire duo.
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/// A/N- Bonus chapter for hitting the GT target, good job everyone! We are at number7, let's keep it at this till the month ends for a mass release on 1st may ///