"My love… For what reason have you forsaken me for? What reason?!"
"Do not walk towards me, Azai. Your presence disgusts me, and I'm afraid I might let out what I had for dinner because of it. We wouldn't want to see that happen, right? Dear Oswald. "
"That is true, Nora. And for you, Azai, today is the day your head rolls upon the very land you were born onto. What you have committed against my beloved wife shall be paid with blood!"
"What about our child, Nora? OUR BOY?!"
"ASSOCIATE ME WITH THAT GODDAMNED ABOMINATION ONE MORE TIME, AND I WILL PERSONALLY CUT YOUR NECK OFF! That monster is not in any way related to my esteemed self. Perhaps it is from that forsaken witch in the abyss. Only she could give life to such a monster. And for you, you are truly one of a morbid human to sleep with that existence. Yet you try and dare to frame me with such a blatant lie! Ahh, my heart..."
"Nora! Cry not; your tears are wasted on him. Here, let me embrace you back to our palace. The executioners will take care of him."
"No, my dear, I want to see this person's fate cut off right in front of my eyes. Or else, the nightmares would keep me awake all night."
"Is that so? I will respect your wish then, but you have to be close to me lest he try to do something funny. Executioner! Begin the execution!"
"No, no no no! NO! I CANNOT LEAVE MY BOY ALONE IN THIS ACCURSED WORLD; RELEASE ME, OSWALD! RELEASE ME OR ELSE I WILL GOUGE OUT YOUR HIDEOUS EYES!!"
"Do it."
"NOOO- 𝘉𝘈𝘔!"
…
"Hmph, Nora, let us depart from this place. I do not wish to see you get a whiff of this criminal's blood."
"Your wish is my command, dear. But before that, will you help me get rid of that abomination? Its presence makes me uncomfortable. "
"Anything for you, dear. Guards! Start a search for this criminal's offspring and make sure it's dropped into the Abyss of No Return. Hopefully that witch gets to retrieve its corpse before the monsters get to it. "
"Your wish is our command, your majesty!"
"Happy now?"
"Beyond words, your majesty. Now I can sleep peacefully without worries. "
"That is good to hear. Let me walk you back before it gets colder. "
"Thank you… Your majesty. "
…
*CLAPS*
The crowd clapped for the wonderful play performed by the actors.
On the stage, the actors all stood up in line, even the one who was acting as the character called Azai. Holding hands, they all bowed towards the audience.
Among them, someone walked out of the line once they all got up from their bows. It was a woman of old age who was not part of the theater play. She had short gray hair and wore a mesmerising yellow dress.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for the wonderful support you have shown us this fine evening. We had been travelling throughout the glorious kingdom of Biskar, when we were given the privilege to stand here and present the story of the ancient vow that had been known for its fame throughout the continent of Elefthería, and the neighbouring ones. The story of how the first King, Oswald Biskar, rescued Nora Alrex from the hands of the vile human who slept with the abyss witch, the father of the monster known as Reight. This story has brought many people to tears due…"
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
The old woman started to talk about the story, going from how Oswald loved Nora to how she had been deceived by Azai. Throughout the whole ordeal, a sense of melancholy could be felt from her, making the whole audience sympathise with Oswald and Nora.
Except for two people.
Back in the corner of the grand auditorium sat a middle-aged man and a young girl. Even though the whole place was filled with people, no one was around those two. It was as if they were in a different space. And no soul seemed to question this bizarre occurrence.
The girl had rosy white skin, long dark brown hair, and amethyst eyes. She wore a luxurious ashen dress. The man was light-skinned, had black hair, brown eyes with glasses, and donned a butler's suit.
"Hmph, peasants are truly easy to fool. They believe that Oswald was an innocent man, and Nora was betrayed by Azai," the girl said with contempt.
"Milady, it's not that they are easy to fool, but it's how King Oswald portrayed the story. If I had not been informed of the original version, even I might have been led to believe this hypocrisy," said the man as he tugged on his glasses with a smile that mirrored the audience's.
"I suppose what you say is true, but still, peasants and royalties are not on the same ground, so do not compare them in front of me, Karl." She uttered in annoyance as she seized the man.
"I apologise if I overstepped my boundaries, milady." Karl swapped the fake smile he previously had into a laidback one, unfazed by his lady's rough tone.
"Forget about it. We are leaving. Grab me some desserts from that bakery while I'm in the carriage, and do not be late," the girl said as she got up from her seat and walked to the exit.
Karl remained behind and waited until she was out of sight. When he could no longer see her, he disappeared from the place and appeared on a market street full of people. The people were of different ages, backgrounds, and races, walking around the streets as they did their daily activities. Some came for the snack stalls, others for work, and others came to pickpocket unfortunate poor souls.
Karl walked down the streets, but no one seemed to notice him as he phased through them like a ghost. He walked for a few minutes, going from alley to alley, until he stumbled upon a shady neighbourhood.
Ignoring the rancid smell that was being emitted from god knows where, he went into a two-story building that looked out of a horror story in the corner. The building would have looked approachable if there weren't bits of broken wood here and there.
When he was in front of the front door, he knocked six times hard and one time soft. "Are you the new cook?" A rough voice asked behind the door.
"No, I'm here to bring the game," Karl said.
"Boar?" the voice inquired further.
"A phoenix. " Karl answered clearly.
Not a second later, clunking sounds came from the door as the voice behind it opened it in a hurry.
"Had I known it was a phoenix who would be coming, I would not have asked you these bothersome questions. Please forgive me, Lord!" said a brown-skinned, busted man with unkempt brown hair, hazel eyes, and a long face. He wore a dirty navy shirt and brown trousers.
The man bowed deeply, albeit unrefinedly, to convey his feelings. Karl just looked at him, let out a small sigh, and spoke in a cold tone.
"Take me to Zakar."
"A-alright! Follow me..uhh"
"Address me as Jester. Are there any new desserts on the menu lately?" Karl said as he followed the man into the building.
"Yes, yes, Lord Jester. Chief Zakar had come across a settlement of demihumans last week, and an elf happened to be in the settlement as a guest of the demihumans. Chief Zakar had with him dozens of mercenaries at that time, so he didn't bother to waste any time and captured the elf and all the demihumans except for a foxed kin. Nobody bothered to capture that runaway since he was just a brat; I bet he is already dead by now. "
"Hooh.."
Karl and the man were deep inside the building. They came across a staircase. It was an ordinary staircase of brown colour. Unknown fluids of different kinds were on it.
The man touched the two sides of the staircase's newels and twisted them. Not a second later, the wall that was on their left side opened, leading down to
an underground area.
Both of the gentlemen went down the dimly lit underground stairs for a minute until their feet touched the even ground.
In this new environment, there were countless cells that held different races, but demihumans were the majority of them. The cells had a strong stench of dung and urine. Any lighthearted person would have vomited straight up if they had stumbled upon this place.
Karl was not bothered by the stench and did not spare a glance at the slaves as he followed the man who had his mouth covered with a piece of cloth.
On the fifth cell, they finally saw two individuals talking to each other. Both were dark-skinned, and they wore luxurious clothes.
"There's Chief Zakar, Lord Jester." Karl's entourage pointed at one of the men, who wore dark brown trousers and a white shirt beneath a black coat.
The man called Zakar noticed that two people were approaching. When he saw that one of them was his worker and the other was a man in a butler suit, Zakar ignored them and focused his gaze back on the man he was having a conversation with.
"Zakar, have your eyes deteriorated so much that you don't even notice me?"
Zakar instantly snapped his head back towards the two people, specifically the butler. `Those rectangle shaped glasses... Karl!' Zakar cried inwardly in fear as he recognized the butler.