At the same time, at the House of Parliament, it's a big two-story red maroon building with a flag of Welsterven, a red and blue flag with a crown on the middle, and there is a symbol of pen and sword with a letter House of Parliament written on the bottom.
On spacious office in the second floor, the interior was extravagant with a lot of opened shelves, even the documents were laying on the floor, on the center of the room, there is a wooden work table, on it there was full of stacked documents, behind those pile-up documents, there is a jet black haired long man-bun style gentleman wearing a suit and a monocle, with his stern face expression and black gloves on his hand, He is Antonio del Sanctuary, a judge in House of Parliament, the man who created the law in Welsterven.
Suddenly, the door to his office opened up, he looked at the person who was entering his office, a lady with a seductive outfit of red rose, her long black hair and her alluring figure, which made all the innocence convert into a sinner. She is the king's second wife, Mary Ashford, with a playful smile on her face, she entered the judge's personal office.
"My, you're still working?, don't you know that tomorrow is an important day? You need to rest, oh our wise judge, Antonio Devlyn." Mary said, as she collects all the laying documents on the floor and put it on the working table, but Antonio made an irritation face when Mary said the name Devlyn, because it was his true name, Antonio Devlyn, son of the renowned savant on Welsterven, Dr. Benedict Devlyn, Del Sanctuary is just his alias. Antonio clicked his tongue and replied, "What do you want? I'm busy right now."
Mary sits on the couch near the door entrance, she turns her head to the right, looking at Antonio who is glaring at her, she said nonchalantly, "Ah, it's nothing really…did you have a meeting with my son? Alexander, he has been doing something suspicious lately… I'm worried about him, since he is the candidate for the next king, for tomorrow…"
Antonio stop his glare and, he purposely looks at the documents on his hand, trying to ignore Mary, unfortunately, Mary noticed it, she gets up from the couch, walks to the working table and finally she put down the documents with her hand then her eyes meet with Antonio eyes, both of them look at each other. A grin appeared on Mary's face and she said,
"I knew it…you're the reason… Tell me, are you siding with Alexander? What did he do to make you, our 'neutral' judge side with him?"
Antonio look at Mary eyes for a second, silence descend the room, then Antonio let out a long sigh, the person in front of him is the smartest person after his father, he knows that it's useless to trick her with words and actions, Antonio reluctantly explained, "One officer broke the truce in the slums… I need data for potential criminals and death row-inmates who foolishly tried to instigate it. There is no way our law enforcement department will purposely break the truce… unless there is someone who hopes chaos will happen in the elections for the new king tomorrow."
Mary nod her head hearing Antonio reasoning, that was a reasonable reason, but she can't trust Antonio words, without any evidence she can't blatantly said that Antonio is lying, when she was in deep thought, a knock comes from the door, Antonio told the other person behind the door to come in, and to everyone surprised it was Alexander, the prince of Welsterven and the son of Mary Ashford. He flinches his eyes when he saw that his mother is here, since Alexander was young, her mother teaches him with strict royal attitude and political lesson, to Alexander, her mother is the embodiment of power and status, that's why he always feels fear and nervous, whenever he meets his own mother, he didn't want to disappoint her mother nor upsetting her.
"So, you were here Mother." Said Alexander while lowering his head and fidgeting, he is afraid to make eye contact with her mother, Mary, who noticed her son's pathetic attitude, clicked her tongue, and said, "What do you want? I'm busy right now." Somehow, Antonio felt this scene feel familiar like earlier, did Mary just copy what he did to her?, he doesn't know, with a deadpan expression he looks at Mary and Alexander in front of him, but he needs to shut up, he doesn't want to mingle with this royal family afterall. Mary notices that her son keeps being silent, without much choice she leaves the room leaving Antonio and Alexander alone.
Antonio made a gesture to Alexander to sit down at the couch and he sit down as Antonio instructed him, Antonio clasped his hand on the working table and with a stern voice he said, "Did you get some information regarding the slums?", Alexander nod his head and told Antonio what he knew, "Tonight, there will be a gathering, the place for the gathering is under the slum, a place called 'the sewer', the one that connected to royal area through jail, all the gangs will gathered there to discuss about that one police officer did, apparently he got nickname the binman. The ringleader, Rompis, is the one who proposed that gathering, that's what my informant told me."
Antonio closed his eyes for a second, then he opened it again, and he searches something on his work desk and gave it to Alexander, it was a picture of William Feld, Antonio clasped his hands again, then he adjusted his monocle and coldly said, "that's William Feld, isn't it?, I will kill him tonight, this way you can ascend to the throne and we can shift the blame to Rompis, let them create a chaos, by releasing all the criminals and death-row inmates for your ascension, as the king of this kingdom, how about that, remember I am the judge, my prince, I will make you the king with the verdict I declare."
A wide grin soon appeared on Alexander face, finally he will become a ruler, the king of this kingdom, not the good-for-nothing prince, he can't wait to taste the ultimate power and there are many things he wants to do as the king, all the ladies will be lined up to be his mistress, all the treasure and golds in the vault will became his possession. Alexander stops his grin, he needs to make sure Antonio's plans are fool proof, "how'd you kill William?, what if there is an eyewitness, since William is the wealthiest person in Welsterven."
Antonio lips curled up when he heard that question from Alexander, then he remove his black gloves and he touch the chair he is sitting on, soon that chair mutated into a mouth of strange and disgusting creature, Antonio now is sitting on the tongue of that mouth, Alexander face became pale, he is panicked when he saw that chair mutated, he stumble to floor and beads of sweets start accumulating on his forehead, while Antonio nonchalantly said,
"let me explain it to you, prince, this is my teleporter, I can move to William Feld's location, I just need to get into its mouth and it will transport me to the place I wish to be, as long as the destination is in Welsterven." Alexander's breath became erratic, that mouth creature was too scary, it looked straight out of a nightmare, he soon realized that the person in front of him, the judge of Welsterven, was not a human, not a Mortal, but a Demigod. Suddenly, Alexander laughed and then that laughter became maniacal, he couldn't believe it, he got himself a Demigod to help him for free. Antonio put back his black gloves and soon the mouth transformed back into a normal chair.
"Now you need to stay away from your mother, I think she is monitoring your movement, your highness." Said Antonio as he looked at the documents in front of him once again, Alexander nodded his head and he excused himself from the room, leaving Antonio alone.
What kind of documents that catch his interest so much?, it was his personal research… all the piled up documents in front of him is his personal research data, since he was a child, Antonio grew up with many knowledge and having being exposed to countless and wonderous knowledge from his father library, he developed a trait curiosity to seek for truth, he is a genius, but he felt that the knowledge that human know is being limited and restricted, he saw it with his own eyes how his father generously enough giving his knowledge to society only to get a ridicule and protest, human…they don't deserve to gain all these knowledge from his father.
Until one day, his father got assassinated in his own room, the next day, Antonio overheard people gossiping on the street, they said that his father knew too much, that's why someone decided to kill him, Antonio felt his heart boiling in rage, but he can't do anything, he is too weak, he didn't have a ridiculous strength, he just have brain to think, still, his father didn't deserve to get that ending, that's why young Antonio keeps telling himself to never forget the reason why he pursue wisdom and knowledge because at the end of this countless books and papers…
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There must be a way to revive my father… I'm sure of it… there is nothing impossible in this world… that's what in Antonio's mind when he was a student at Stella Ethereal Academy, until there is a new lesson being added called Divinity from the church, that lesson hook him, soon he delved deeper into Divinity subject in secret, he succeeds in the first tier and second tier, a transcendent, he is right, a mortal will never fathom the taste of boundless knowledge.
He keeps researching and he knows tier three is tricky… he experimented with many living beings, worms, maggots, toads, birds and eventually humans… the perfect place to look for object of research is the slum, since the kingdom didn't care about people in the slums, with some of his own wealth and connections, he established The Sanctuary… he easily gained perfect material by saying to the people in the slums, The Sanctuary will give you job, foods and shelter, his first experiment was with a man and a crow, he succeed and that man transformed into human-crow, Antonio named him Jerrim, now he is the one who control the sanctuary as the Doctor. His next experiment is a little boy who got shot while the gang war happened in the slums, and he succeeded, the little boy revived again, but he developed a new personality and a gun appeared from his body, Antonio named him Little Boy.
Antonio feels like he is closer to the truth, then one night, he finally learns the truth…there is an item that shouldn't exist in this world… the mask of existence which allowed you to become god in this world… Antonio perception about the world started to change, he feels like his soul has been tampered by his accumulated knowledge, he succeed the third tier of Divinity, he became a demigod, the church soon labelled him as heretic because of his established organization, The Sanctuary, but he didn't care about it because he knew the church is wrong, thanks to his relations, the church can't do anything to him.
A mortal can become a god in this world… that means, the goddess is fake, since she was probably a human too in the beginning. Antonio made a hypothesis of the real tiers of Divinity according to his own knowledge:
God- these surreal and magical abilities stem from 'it', not many records about this being, I need to get the mask of existence to learn more, that's one of many items which is related to god, and it was from the age of myth.
Divine- these people in the past who performed various deeds with their unimaginable power were worshipped as the fake 'God' or 'Goddess'. With many generations after generations many religions emerged to worship their figure.
Demigod- people who completed the fake three tiers of Divinity, usually the head of religion is the one who has potential, but I broke that stigma, the key is tampering the soul with knowledge, actions or forbidden items… the mask of existence is the item with a lot of potential… if I could find that item… I'd probably learn more.
Transcendent- a being who experienced the transition between normal and surreal, the blurred reality and supranatural. The first sign of their soul-tampering.
Mortal- a normal state of living beings.
Antonio read the document in front of him while adjusting his monocle. A gentle smile appeared on his face, as he finally learned this priceless knowledge. The king is not the ultimate goal of living being, a ruler is useless in front of god, that's what he thought as a light chuckle escaped from his mouth, and enveloped his spacious extravagant office.
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Mary Ashford walks through the royal area streets with her eyes focused on the palace, a staggering white marble building with lots of tower surrounding it on the high ground, at the top of the hill, her husband, king Edward IV, growing old as day passed, his reign will be over tomorrow, and soon, he will become a powerless old man who is laying on the bed with sorrow.
The countdown will start at midnight, all the people of Welsterven will embrace their new king, their new ruler. The position of king in Welsterven represents many things, the most important of it all is power. A wide grin appeared on Mary's face when she thought about that, her appearance didn't match her age, she still looks young while in truth she is past her fifties, longevity abilities.
"Your majesty, all the preparations have been completed, it's time to put the ruler on slumber" suddenly from behind her, she heard a voice, she turned her head slowly and she saw a weird person. He is wearing a peculiar long black coat, black trousers, a black cane and a long beak bird mask. He is Jeremiah- no he is Jerrim, the real Jerrim. Mary nodded her head and continued her walks with Jerrim following her until she reached the gate to the palace.
"Very good, it seems all my investment to you didn't go to waste, the farm supply ingredients for your candy manufactures, right?, unfortunately, the elf race gets in our way, well, thanks to that we have a reason to make the watcher, Herlan Rewead, work and we didn't alarm him… I'm just curious about that one officer though what was his name?... the one who got the nickname binman." Said Mary while looking at the trees and the ascending pavement on the hill, Jerrim chuckles when he heard that, then he replied,
"He is Morgan Jester, your majesty, a mysterious officer who appeared all of the sudden and nearly expose us, fortunately, he didn't notice my fake alias, Jeremiah is the real name of the scape-goat that got executed."
"Morgan Jester…I see… did you already collected enough albino's blood like I told you from the beginning?, Jerrim?" said Mary as she suddenly stop her step to wait for Jerrim answer,
"Of course, soon your youth will be eternal your majesty, with both power and beauty at your hand, you will be the perfect representation of Welsterven." Jerrim confirms, his last statement made Mary's body shaking. She was laughing, laughing like a maniac.
She turned her head to look at Jerrim and asked, "So, the little boy will instigate chaos?, and you will sabotage the military department and Police department? How long I ne-"
Mary stop herself, as she looks at Jerrim's hand with surprised eyes, on his hands there is two-person heads with their mouth and eyes wide opened, the chief officer head and the general head, dripping with blood,
"Let me remind you again, your majesty, all the preparations have been completed, to be honest the moment you invest your whole wealth into me, that's the moment I gained my enlightenment, you see I don't want to disappoint you, I, the Doctor always brings the best service for my client." Mary looks at the man in front of her, storing the two heads into his own body, that's right he stores the thing into his own body like putting the documents into a desk.
"So, the final step must be done by me?" said Mary as she points at herself,
Jerrim chuckles when he sees Mary, then he nods his head and said,
"Precisely, you are the only person who is able to access the king's private room, put him into eternal slumber and you shall meet all the requirement to rein Welsterven forever." Jerrim exclaimed with his hands raised up into the air, the sun perfectly aligned above his head, as the sky turned yellowy-red, making the surroundings of him become eerie and scary.
Mary claps her hand and gives him an applause, she tells Jerrim to execute the plan tonight, she needs to do her part first, Jerrim nods his head and bids her farewell as he slowly transforms into a crow and flies into the yellowy-red sky.
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It's evening time, Mary walked into her husband room, there she saw it, the great figure of a ruler, as his body laying weakly on the giant bed, his face looks like a corpse as the bone lines clearly showed throughout his body, his hair turned white, and his hollow eyes looks at the ceiling, his mouth is trembling and his breathing weakly.
Mary approached her husband, king Edward IV, with immense sadness, she told the servants to leave the room, now she is sitting at the edge of the royal white bed and she said this, "Dear, did I interrupt you?, looking at you…bedridden, it hurts my heart, here let me help you to sleep, drink it." Mary gently help Edward to drink a glass of water, Edward didn't notice that his wife putting something on the drink, it was a small candy that quickly dissolve when it touches the water, Edward drink the water with Mary supporting him, one-minute pass and his eye lid finally closed, a wide grin appeared on Mary face when Edward drink that water, her first step is completed.
Mary immediately grabs two pillows and presses it to Edward's face, to suffocate him until death, while he is sleeping, a natural cause of death. The room was dead silence, only the sound of clock and Mary's calm breathing could be heard, Mary controlled her breathing as she pressed hard the two pillows on Edward's face. Just one minute, it took her one minute to kill her husband, she lifts the pillows and, looking at her husband's face, she checks his pulse to make sure, and her lips curled up when she confirmed it, she knew her husband just died, the king had died. Mary moved her face close to her husband's ears, and she whispered,
"The King is dead, long live the Queen."
Mary approached the window area, then she opened it up. With two pillows on her hands that she used earlier, she tore the two pillows and a bunch of feathers flew into the lower ground, suddenly all those feathers turned into a black crow. She saw Jerrim at the ground, doing hats off to her gesture. Mary chuckles when she sees it. Now all the evidence pointing at her is gone. She closes the window and leaves the room with an immense expression of sadness. It's a shame really, it's a shame that she can't kill Alexander, her son, the prince, because he is sided with Antonio Devlyn, the judge of Welsterven.