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Home / Urban / THE RETURN OF THE RED BUTCHER / THE CROWN HE REFUSED
THE CROWN HE REFUSED
Author: Victor Amos Regannez
last update2026-06-20 01:58:18

Simon watched the coronation alone in his small apartment.

The television screen showed the grand imperial hall of Navauria, a place of marble pillars, red banners, golden lamps, and soldiers standing in perfect lines.

The crown of Navauria rested on a velvet cushion, bright under the lights, while the whole continent watched Damon Gallagher walk toward it.

Simon sat on a plain chair, with one elbow resting on his knee. His apartment was clean but small. A narrow bed stood against the wall, a
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  • THE VOICE OF A DEAD GENERAL

    Less than fifty minutes remained on Julian’s countdown when Simon ordered Marcus to take Edgar away. Edgar stood beside the armoured vehicle with his wrists cuffed, his face was pale beneath the cold morning light.“Return him to Arranguare headquarters,” Simon instructed. “Place him inside the secure boardroom and keep guards at every entrance.Marcus accepted Edgar’s confiscated phone from the evidence officer. The device remained sealed inside a transparent evidence sleeve. “What happens if the kidnappers send another message?”“Preserve everything they send,” Simon replied. “Do not answer them, and do not allow Edgar to touch the phone. I need him alive when Pierce and I return.”Marcus looked from the sealed phone to the wartime survey inside Pierce’s vehicle. “Where are you and Commissioner Pierce going? If you are sending me back to headquarters, who will continue searching for Julian?”“We are heading to the abandoned processing centre in the northern district,” Simon answered

  • THE BUNKER'S TRUE COMMANDER

    Simon looked towards Julian’s image inside the distant command vehicle. He had hidden the truth to protect the peaceful life he tried to build, but that life had already burned with Toma and Elik. “Yes. I commanded the bunker under that name.”Pierce’s hands began to tremble. He remembered soldiers standing whenever reports of the Red Butcher’s victories reached their camps.“You were declared dead after the war,” Pierce said. Shock forced him to speak slowly. “People built memorials for you across the allied territories.”“Death gave me the chance to disappear,” Simon replied. “I had spent years surrounded by violence. I wanted a life in which nobody saluted me, feared me or expected me to decide who survived another battle.”Pierce remembered Simon selling fish, wearing maintenance clothes and allowing wealthy people to call him worthless. He had believed Simon was merely hiding his position as Arranguare’s chairman. The truth was far greater.Pierce placed one fist against his ches

  • THE BUNKER OF HIS PAST

    Pierce gave a slow nod. “You have my word, provided your secret does not endanger my officers.”Simon looked once more at the mark from a life he had buried. “I recognise it because I once commanded the soldiers stationed inside that bunker.”Pierce stared at him without speaking. The former fish seller standing before him had not merely fought in the continental war. He had commanded a military facility so secret that Arranguare’s modern executives did not know it existed.Pierce’s mouth had gone dry. Julian’s countdown continued behind them, but the commissioner heard only the wind between the unfinished buildings.“You commanded that bunker?” Pierce asked. He studied Simon’s face as if expecting the quiet man before him to become someone else. “That facility was abandoned after the continental war.”Simon checked that Edgar remained behind the police barricade. Marcus and the officers were gathered around the command unit, beyond hearing distance. “It was abandoned ten years ago, b

  • ONE HOUR FOR JULIAN CREST

    The pistol remained pressed against Julian’s head as a digital clock appeared at the corner of the live video. It began counting down from sixty minutes, each falling second making the silence around Edgar’s sedan feel heavier.A distorted voice came from behind the camera. “Remove every police officer from Arranguare Island and release Edgar Sloan at the Hadley service-road junction. If both conditions are not met before the clock reaches zero, Julian Crest will die on camera.”Pierce stepped closer to the isolated device. “What guarantee do we have that you will release him after we cooperate?”“You have no guarantee,” the voice answered. “You only have a deadline. Any attempt to trace this transmission will shorten it.”Marcus kept his hands away from the device, although his recording program was already preserving the feed through a closed system. The camera moved closer to Julian and revealed a deep wound near his shoulder. Blood had soaked his shirt, but the position of the wou

  • THE BLOOD IN EDGAR’S CAR

    The search for Julian Crest had continued while Romeo prepared his charity broadcast and Isabella discovered the price of becoming his wife. By the second morning after Julian’s abduction, Simon travelled to the unfinished industrial estate with Pierce, Marcus and the handcuffed Edgar. Two trusted officers guarded the Edgar who was the prisoner.Edgar stopped fighting the handcuffs when he saw the blood inside his car. The black sedan stood between two unfinished buildings, surrounded by police tape. Its number plates had been replaced, and pale marks showed where someone had wiped the doors.“That is my car, but I did not bring it here,” Edgar said as the officers led him closer. “Someone took it while I was being held inside Arranguare.”Simon looked through the open rear door. Dark stains covered part of the seat and reached the handle beside it. “Your car disappeared with the evidence and was later found stained with blood. Saying it was stolen does not explain who used it.”Pierc

  • THE PRICE OF HER CHOICE

    Romeo’s expression tightened. “Would you have chosen me if I owned nothing? We both understand the world we live in, Isabella. Do not suddenly pretend that wealth has never influenced your decisions.”The accusation silenced her because it carried an uncomfortable truth. She had abandoned Simon partly because Romeo represented the power and security she believed Simon could never provide.“I will allow my lawyers to examine the agreement,” Isabella said as she closed the folder. “If there is nothing dangerous inside it, you should have no reason to object.”“My lawyers prepared it carefully,” Romeo replied. “Bringing more people into the discussion will create unnecessary delays.”“My signature controls what happens to Robertson Oil,” Isabella said. “You do not decide who advises me before I surrender part of that authority.”Romeo rose from his chair. “Take it home and read it. I expect your answer tomorrow.”“You will receive an answer when I decide what protects my company,” Isabel

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