I stood by a far corner of the palace entrance, watching important figures coming in, naly the capital nobles. With what happened to the city yesterday, it was essential for the nobles to assemble and discuss what happened and how they should proceed. Downside, they did not know what exactly just happened and what led to it.
Father would need to inform them of the context, while also holding so information back. Especially those that had sothing to do with .
Speaking of which, I really did so damage to my study room, haaaah. When I regained my calm, it was even made clearer just how I almost wrecked the room. Was the floor even gonna hold? From what I heard, legit the entire palace shook, much worse than what happened last ti — that ti when I first lost control of my mana.
I may have almost crushed the entire place into dust. But of course that wouldn’t happen, even with the amount of power I have…I think…maybe.
Another noble entered.
As I was hiding sowhat, they didn't notice . However, when my uncle ril arrived, as if sensing , he turned in my direction. What the hell’s up with this guy dude, almost like he had a sixth sense or sothing.
When he arrived before , he asked. “What are you lurking around for?” he glanced at my servants for a mont that were behind .
“Nothing, just to watch the people arriving. It’s rare to have this many visitors.”
“A sha we are not here for a casual visit. Will you be joining this ti? Just like the last?”
“... I am.”
“Is that right? You have never joined before, nor shown any interest. But now, and like the general assembly before this, you are now willing to take part.”
“This involves , uncle. I’m sure you know that.”
“I suppose but…” he narrowed his eyes. “What are you planning, Estelia?”
“Planning?” I tilted my head with a puzzled expression.
“It just doesn’t feel right you are joining for any simple reason.”
“Don’t always rely on gut feeling, uncle. They will often mislead you.”
“Believe , niece, my gut feeling is very, very reliable. And my guts tell you have a hidden agenda this ti.”
I smiled slightly. “What’s your progress on your task, uncle?”
He furrowed his brows at the switch of the topic and nodded mildly. “We have collected plenty of intel as you wanted. But after your operation, it will take more ti. The city is in disarray for the mont.”
“That is fine. We’ll get there once I am done on my side.”
“Done with your side?”
“We are finished here, uncle. I will need to et with Father before everyone else arrives.”
“Hm… Very well. Just don’t be late like last ti. Ah, yes, about your rampage yesterday.”
“...”
“You were keeping quite the feelings, my niece. If you wish to let so out, feel free to speak with . I may be able to provide you with a couple of pieces of advice.”
Without waiting for my reply, he walked onward. Yes, he was there shortly after my parents and siblings arrived.
I turned around and faced my servants. They were stiff when they t my gaze. I did kind of hurt them yesterday, especially ra. But it was not of anger or grudge, it was more along the lines of fear, I think. So in short, they were being wary of their actions, lest they incur my wrath or sothing like that. It was pretty obvious from how swift and quiet ra was when serving earlier.
But indeed, I am easily irritated today.
“Tie my hair, ra…”
“Y-Yes! M-Milady…”
I made my way to a reception room, which I was free to use. After the door closed, I sat down on a chair and ra promptly began tying my hair into a braid. I closed my eyes, trying to gain so cool.
ra was more gentle and careful than usual.
I took a subtle, deep breath.
“I…” I paused. It was a bit… um, embarrassing. “I apologize for what I did to you three yesterday. I didn’t an to hurt you.”
ra paused. “... All is forgiven, milady. Besides, we understand you cannot completely hold your mana sotis… and we understand that you are enraged after all that you went through. It is hard.” And she continued tying my hair.
“Is that so…?”
“That is so.”
I turned my head to look at all of them, and they gave small smiles. I returned to face forward and nodded. “... Thank you…”
So ti passed, and ra had finished tying my extraordinarily long hair. A few minutes after that, knocks ca to the door. Vernon opened it and entered my father.
“Daughter, you are finished, good. Let’s go, everyone has arrived.”
I followed my father to the assembly chamber entrance, where the rest of the family was waiting. No need to idle, we entered inside the room, the nobles stood in our presence. They only returned sitting once we sat down on our thrones.
Rogan alone entered with , and he stood guard by the wall adjacent to .
I felt most of the gazes of the nobles directed at , but I kept my face neutral. They were baffled by my presence here.
“I thank you all for coming here.” My father loudly said to everyone while standing. “Discord ensued in our beloved city yesterday, and I am certain you are keen on learning the circumstances.”
The nobles intently listened.
“This was a royal related operation headed by the second prince.”
Everyone shifted their gazes to point towards Estevan, with the exception of my uncle, who looked at first for a mont.
“We received intel that there are enemies hiding in the capital and ever since have been seeking them. In fact, as you may have perhaps heard of a battle here in the palace months ago, the forr assistant of the second prince was a mole planted by the sa enemies.”
The nobles looked at each other in surprise.
Father continued. “The mole was sent to spy in the palace and to carry out tasks sent by those on the outside. This includes the attempted assassination of a royal. And thus after that attempt, we started hunting them down, but we deed it best to keep it confidential outside of the palace until the matter was resolved.
“You perhaps have seen the damage in the wake of our confrontation with them, and indeed they were enemies of great threat. In fact, our enemies are not humans.”
“Not humans?”
“What does that an?”
“Demons?”
“Demons are here?”
“If that’s the case, then what’s the Holy Kingdom been doing?”
Gasps and frantic murmurs spread throughout the nobles in the chamber. Guess demons were really big of a deal. Well, from what I heard from the bishop, these demons were quite powerful themselves — where we needed the holy elent to effectively fight one.
Good thing there were no demons here, though!
My father raised his hand to stop the unrest. “They are not demons.”
“...?”
“They’re different, ones we do not know. We encountered two different types. One referred to as an Elf, and the other a Beastman.”
The nobles looked at each other with puzzlent — they had never heard of them.
“The elves are potent in magic, and agile. They have long, pointy ears, and a light complexion. The beastn, on the other hand, have animal ears on their heads, and more than that, they can morph into beasts. All in all, they are dangerous and hard to defeat. It took a squad of elites just to restrain one. At the mont, we have three in the dungeon, secured strictly. We have interrogated them, asked a few essential questions.
“First, their purpose here. It took a while to obtain the answer, but, in the end, we have it. They threaten the royal family, further supported by their previous actions. Next, if they still have allies in the city, hiding, those that we missed. There are none left, their total number is also supported by an intel from another source.”
A noble raised a hand. “...I’m curious about another source. Who are they? How do they know the enemy?”
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that. Their identity is classified.”
“... I see. Thank you, your majesty.”
“Alright, the next important question is, where they ca from… This in particular, they are so secretive about… They are not saying anything at all, no matter how much we intensify the… interrogation.”
“They’re so eager to keep the location of their holand a secret? Is it to prevent us from taking revenge?”
“Likely so…” my father glanced at with his eyes for a mont before looking forward again.
Perhaps the reason they wanted to hide it was because it was foretold that I would destroy them. So stupid. Well, now, I don’t care about where they ca from anyway. I’m hard-pressed to beat one, what hope have I to destroy their entire race? Like, what the fuck?
“Are they perhaps from the Empire?”
“That’s what we’re speculating, but nothing is certain. We asked who they’re working for amongst the nations in the continent, but surprisingly, one sounded offended that we would imply they work for any humans.”
“... Are they perhaps independent?” a noble asked, but there was no answer to it.
“Are they perhaps behind the death of the late Marquis Vekenas? I imagine they would want to eliminate those that are close to the royal family. This ans the capital nobles.”
The nobles looked at each other, realizing the severity of the situation, especially if they might be in danger.
My father then spoke. “We speculate this as well. Sa of their kind was found in the forest close to the area of death of the Marquis. But we have no concrete evidence. Two beastn we interrogated rejected the notion of them killing the Marquis. But we can’t be sure if that is really true, or if a group in their ranks went rogue or had other purposes.”
“Their leader then? Did you get their leader?”
“We did. But… he is the one that we couldn’t get an answer from at all… no matter how much suffering we inflict upon him. He had not said one word. But at least we have information from the other two.”
“Then what do you plan to do with them?”
“Well, we have exhausted the essentials that we need, aside from those they refuse to answer no matter what.”
“They have to be punished!” said a noble.
“They’re not humans though, and the information… how should we go about this?”
To be honest, I have the information I need already. They have no use for anymore. And I just reeeeeally want to kiiiill them — oops no, rather, I want them dead.
“This is the first ti we had sothing like this… what should be done?” muttered a noble.
“What are you all so confused about?” While sitting down, I said out loud, and they all turned towards in surprise. Everyone in the room. I felt a little pressure from everyone looking at .
“Follow our rules, our guidelines, policies. Our laws.”
Or whatever.
“Daughter? What are you doing…?”
“I would like to speak my mind, father.”
He stared at for a couple of seconds before nodding and placed both his hands on his back to listen to .
I straightened my sitting posture and faced the crowd. “We have rules already to help guide us when we do not know what to do. Therefore, we must only use it. Otherwise, those would be useless, don’t you think?”
The nobles looked at each other.
I continued. “They refuse to cooperate, and we have more or less learned what we need. They are also too dangerous to be kept forever, and imagine how easily they could escape once they are well rested. And what are their cris? A threat to national security, masterminds of espionage, attempted assassination of royalty, such that I can recall at the top of my head. With those alone, what is the punishnt that must be delivered, as is in our law?”
It was silent, until one noble gave an answer, my uncle. “A death sentence.”
I smiled slightly. “And there it is, you now know where to go. So, let us follow the laws we set ourselves.”
“Daughter, are you saying we should execute them?” my father asked.
“Father, I am rely helping everyone recall our laws and punishnts for such terrible cris. The choice of that is in your hands, and yours alone. I have no power over what you want to do.”
“Hmm…” he put a finger on his chin.
“In any case, that is all I have to say.”
There was silence as everyone seed to ponder, while others stared at in a daze.
My father audibly cleared his throat. “Then we shall base our decisions on our laws. However, I will need assistance on what should be decided. I call for a vote.”
All the nobles straightened themselves.
“Raise the hands of those who want to deliver the death sentence to the culprits, those that are guilty of the highest of cris. While those that are against it, do not.”
The nobles slowly raised their hands, while a few kept them down. One of those that raised his hand is my uncle.
I resisted the urge to smile in delight.
More than half raised their hands in agreent to the death sentence for the enemies. A majority vote.
“Then we have co to a decision. All those that are involved in the cris, especially those who threatened the lives of royals, shall be sent to death. Let this be an example to our enemies that may be out there, watching.”
Aaaah, what a relief.
The important matter was done.
And the eting continued to discuss the damages to the city and so others.
***
“That was a surprise, my daughter.” my father said to as he sat down on the chair by his desk.
At the mont, it was and him in his office, he brought here the mont the eting was over. I know my action was a bit odd and out of the blue, but that was it.
He then continued. “Did they anger you so much that you would be willing to speak in front of the nobles?”
“I was rely bothered why they, and you, were confused or were thinking twice about what to do with the prisoners.”
“But you know the punishnt for their cris is death, right?”
“That much is obvious, isn’t it? Still, in the end, you are still in charge of everything, Father. Your words will determine our enemies’ fate.”
He took in a sharp breath. “Indeed…”
“Do you doubt your decision?”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, daughter. I am rely surprised…” he lowered his gaze. “... I am furious for what they have done, or what they intend to do. I want everyone that threatened you to pay. I too want them gone… But…”
“But what…?”
He closed his eyes for a mont while taking a deep breath. Once he opened his eyes, he rose from his seat and walked around his desk to sit down beside . He placed his hands on both my cheeks and stared into my eyes.
“I don’t want this, Estelia.”
“To execute them…?”
“No… no.” he shook his head. “I don’t want… I don’t like this change happening to you.”
“C-Change…? To ?” I don’t understand.
“You might think I don’t notice, but I saw at that mont in that assembly the change in you. I admire your wits, and that is good… But I realized, I don’t want you to end up like what I imagined you would if this goes on… I want those bright and colorful eyes back… Seeing you this way… makes think that I, we may lose who you are. And that for , in truth, is what I am afraid of… Maintain your heart, my daughter.”
“Father… I…” I didn’t know what to say.
How did I appear in the assembly? What caused my father to be… afraid?
He slowly let go. “Once this is over… please, let’s have a good relaxing break. You can go visit your cousin, socialize and make friends with other noble young ladies. Maybe take a walk outside. Isn’t that what you want?”
My eyes widened a little. That’s… that’s what I want.
I mildly nodded.
“Then, you shall have it. I will talk with your mother about this…”
He patted my head gently before going back to his chair. “That’s what I only want to say… But there is another matter…”
“...And that is?”
“The other prisoner… your forr chef.”
“Ah.”
“Estelia, despite what she did for the operation, she is still a prisoner and criminal in the end. What she committed is unforgivable. She is not pardoned whatsoever. And her allegiance is still in question… Rember what I said, daughter? All that threatened royalty will be given death, this of course, includes her.”
“I know…”
“You will not defend her?”
“I don’t want to influence your decision by defending her, father. It’s up to you. Just bear in mind her cris, not just trying to kill , but also things like espionage and treason. And because of her forr position, she could have had a great advantage in killing us through the food if she was not exposed.”
Besides, after my fit yesterday, I relinquished my rights over her, and back to my father the king — as what was discussed beforehand, now that my operation was over.
“Yes, her cri… is too great for to tolerate… In truth, I do not want her near our family… But are you sure you don’t want to share your thoughts?”
“No… I would prefer not to influence your decision through my opinions.”
“I see… then, what I declared, nothing will change.”
I nodded. “I will accept whatever you decide on this matter, father.”
“Alright then…” he lowered his gaze with a sigh. “As I said, maintain your heart, daughter.” After muttering that quietly, he raised his gaze.
“Father…?”
He shook his head. “That is all, daughter.”
“Right…. Oh, I want to ask permission for sothing. Please, allow to visit the enemy leader in his cell.”
“Huh?” he was surprised. “No. That’s too dangerous, I will not allow that.”
“Please, father. I want to talk to him, just briefly.”
“Why?”
“Before you execute them, I want to ascertain sothing.”
“What is it?”
“Sothing of great importance that will determine our future course of action.”
“Can you not just send one of your subordinates?”
“No, I want to look him in the eyes.”
He pondered for a mont before sighing. “Alright, but not too long, and keep your distance. I will notify the guards imdiately.”
“When will the execution be?”
“Tomorrow noon. Preparations are still needed to make sure they won’t do anything.”
“Then I will get straight to it.” I stood up. “Thank you for the ti, father.”
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