She sneezed again, that young lady squatting on a wooden platform above us.

"I won't give you my father," she said as she grabbed her dagger tightly. "You murderer!"

She jumped to my direction with killing intent. But as she tried to slash my neck, Varian was already in front of me and blocked her slash.

Great, she is a normal human. Had it been an attack from that abomination of a priest both my head and the head of Varian would have already been on the floor.

The young lady backed away from Varian for a second then resumed again. She slashed Varian at every direction, but Varian blocked them all with his sword.

Realizing that her offensives were futile, the lady retreated backward and stood still as if to wonder on how to continue.

"You are weak," stated Varian as he walked to the lady while she retreated backward in response.

The lady then suddenly clenched her teeth and shouted, "justice must prevail!". She leaped at Varian once again as he was ready to intercept her.

Her strikes became swifter and heavier. Every time Varian blocked a thrust she recoiled with a swifter one; stabbing his head, back, thigh, chest. She was all over the place.

The dagger gave her speed, while Varian's sword had the broader range coverage. There were occasions where the lady's stabs pushed Varian backward. But with his nimble footwork, one that he had spent almost two decades training and refining, Varian countered that by instantly switching and attacking to a more favorable angle. Thus, forcing the lady to retreat backward.

So justice must prevail huh? Everyone is speaking about justice nowadays. It is all fine and good to search for one's justice. But when people start stabbing you with a dagger at the middle of the night for no apparent reason, where is the justice in that?

I do not mind having a conversation if people think that I, or even my late father, did happen to harm someone somehow. I would love to do so. I do not get why people resort first to the sword over a healthy conversation. Kings have millions of people to take care of. Another million issues to manage in each of these people, then kings get blamed if they ever rest.

"Haven't I already told you that you are weak?" said Varian after the lady backed off from another failed assault. "You have not trained enough. I will show you what intense training can do."

Varian switched to the offensive. He lunged at her with a diagonal top-left angle slash. It is surprisingly the same move that Rayan had used against the priest.

As mentioned before, it is challenging to block this skill. It took Varian a few months to defend it against Rayan whenever they sparred. But that abomination of a priest had blocked it with ease and chopped Rayan's head along with it.

I was not aware that Varian practiced this skill. Well, on a second thought Varian practices everything. Perhaps now that Rayan is dead, Varian found it somehow appropriate to use the skill.

The lady used her dagger with the help of both her hands to block Varian's slash. She placed all her attention on stopping it. Because if she did not, she could have received a severe scar on her chest that may have even cut through her bones.

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But I just noticed that Varian did not apply full force on his slash, is he acting?

Once Varian confirmed that the lady fixed all her attention on his sword, he used his free left-hand to circle her neck tightly.

She gave a feminine gasp.

Then with sharp footwork, Varian unbalanced her foot and pushed her neck downward at the same time. The lady fell on the floor with a rough thud that the dust rose from its slumber, and her silver dagger fell to the ground.

Pia hid behind me again. She can't seem to handle conflicts well.

Varian further tightened his grip on the lady's throat. He pointed his sword at her face and placed his legs on top of her thighs to lock her from moving.

"How about you surrender?" said Varian to the young lady.

"Do not worry we will not kill nor harm you," I added. "May you let us know your name? and what about this justice you seem to be so proud of?"

My words seem to have calmed her for she stopped resisting Varian's lock.

"My name is Kaya... Why did you kill Father?" she said with a tearful voice. "He fed, clothed, and sheltered me ever since I was born for sixteen years. I was not born out of marriage, but he did not mind. He was gentle. Who would murder a gentle person beside a cruel and a savage person like you?"

I could only see Varian's back so I could not view his expression. But he pointed his sword closer to Kaya's left eye after he heard her insulting me.

Pia stopped hiding behind me and stood to my left. She waited for my answer with crossed arms and dead-serious eyes.

This is the moment where kings get judged by the public. Answer correctly Rajid and they will follow you, trust you, and die for your sake. Answer wrongly, and they will hate and will follow you to the ends of the Earth to kill you.

People either hate their king to death or love him to death, with nothing in-between.

"He stole more than a million gold coins," I said. "He killed more than a thousand innocent lives. He plotted for years with the Lorope Empire to undermine the kingdom. Kaya, these reasons are more than enough to justify anyone's death."

Both Pia and Kaya looked awestruck. It seems that I have answered correctly. They did not expect their benevolent leader to have such a dark history.

This is a belief of mine. That it is always better to expect everything from everyone no matter how foul or pure their hearts may appear to be. But I have to admit that this thought It is hard to apply in every circumstance.

"If Father is as cruel as you have stated," said Kaya. "Why would he bother to take care of a useless person like me? Until you answer this question, I cannot believe what you have said to ever be true."

"Kaya, your whole existence is proof that what I have said is true," I replied. "Think about it. You are the result, the undesirable result, that happened during one of his unethical acts. Or do you need me to explain it in greater detail?"

It is painful to talk sharp to a clean creature like her. But since lord Salam has brainwashed her brain for sixteen years, she needs a sharp, very sharp truth to cut through her thick illusions.

"You still have not answered my question," said Kaya with a droplet of anger in her voice. "Why would he bother to take care of an unneeded condemned bastard like me?"

"Well it is simple," I replied. "You are capable with the dagger. You can protect him, and all he needs to do for such trusty protection is to cloth, feed, and shelter you. It is a very cheap pay compared to what we pay for our—"

"You are lying," shouted Kaya. She was shaking her whole body in frustration, and to break free from Varian's lock. "It can't be true. You are creating stories and reasons to pollute the name of my father and cut my connection with him. I do not know what you are plotting, but I will make sure to stop you even if I die."

"It is alright Kaya," I said. "It takes time to break the chains of belief. The roots are always deep. In time, you will get to realize what I am trying to tell you."

A few seconds later I felt that my whole body was shaking. No, the whole room, the entire building was shaking.

An earthquake?

"YOU THINK I WILL LET YOU GET AWAY KING RAJID?!" said the hellish voice that brought shivering fear from within me. I soon fell to my knees.

This was when I got to realize what true terror is...