The Diabolical

22

THE KINGDOM OF ZORA

Gisele's PoV

I've never been to this kingdom before, but I'm sure that the rumors of it being one of the largest exports of iron and metal weren't a joke. But why does everyone seems desperate to leave? Are they afraid of the war?

"Welcome to Zora, adventurer. Is this your first visit here?" I nodded. Luckily it was that easy for Calypso to forge my traveler's document. If not, it would be hard for me to enter this kingdom.

"Where are they all heading to?" The knight who guards the gate suddenly leans towards me.

"They're heading to the empire. You didn't hear it from me, but these people had enough with how unfair it was for the crown prince knights to continue harassing them. The only reason the knights who guard the border aren't changing is that they have no idea how to deal with the process. If we were given a chance, we too would flee this forsaken kingdom." The man handed my document back with a smile.

"Enjoy your stay. Also, if you saw a group of people wearing armor, run for your life." I nodded before thanking him for the heads up. I guess the news of this kingdom's downfall is true. Most of the nobles had fled this kingdom and sought refuge in any country that would accept them.

Everyone who had the money to run away didn't even think twice about leaving. The only one who stays is those who have nowhere to go. And if the crown prince knights continue to harass the people who stay, it won't take long for this kingdom to be destroyed.

It was a waste of time to view the crown prince as a worthy opponent. Oh- what's this?

"Hey- let's run away from this country. This place is not for us. The empire has a better ruler, and my relative said the people there are much kinder to one another. Not to mention they even accepted beasts and creatures into their land. We're humans, but the knights who were supposed to protect us didn't even do their job correctly! If this continues, we will never survive the war. I don't care if I have to betray my ancestor by becoming part of the empire!" Oh- it seems Catherine's plan is working as it is supposed to be.

"Who goes there?! Are you one of the knights?!" I raised both hands when one of them aimed their weapon at me. I smiled.

"I am just a wandering adventurer. I couldn't help but listen to your conversation. What is this about the empire opening its door for runways? Is it true?" I act as if I have never heard of it before.

The guys were wary of me before asking me to kneel. They begin to explain to me what they heard from their relative who managed to leave the kingdom and seek refuge at the empire.

"This kingdom is done for. We need to find a better place so that our family can survive. The crown prince was a bad choice. If only the second prince were here, she would have been a better ruler than her brother." Oh- I didn't know that Zora had a second prince.

"The second prince is the son between the king and one of his servants. Because of his status, the second prince was treated like a servant by the crown prince. While the crown prince was indulging himself with alcohol and women, the second prince has been doing whatever he can to help the people of Zora." I see-

This second prince- I have to find him.

"Is the second prince dead?" The guy seems offended by my question.

"How dare you! Watch your tongue! How dare you say that about the second prince. He is alive. The crown prince had placed the second prince in prison so that he could continue doing whatever he wanted with this kingdom. It is no longer safe living in this country." After I had enough listening to their stories, I decided to continue exploring the city before making my way towards the castle.

Calypso will be so angry at me for doing this, but I need to do something about the second prince. Rose will be happy to know that I did something as dangerous as saving the second prince, right?

I hid behind a large tree and waited for the guards to make their rounds. It doesn't seem like there are a lot of knights guarding the entrance, though. The castle doesn't have a sound barrier as well. What does the crown prince think about himself? A ruler without protection is the same as a man who wanders the desert without water.

"Did you hear? The crown prince manages to find the second prince's wife and son. That bastard prince thought we wouldn't be able to find their location?" The knights laughed.

"I'm sure the crown prince will do whatever he wants with the second prince's wife. After all, he has always had feelings for her." It seems I have to save the second princess and her son.

"Can you even blame the crown prince? The princess is one beautiful woman." I waited for the knights to leave their post before making my way towards the entrance.

"Why do we have to feed the second prince three times a day? It doesn't seem like he's eating any of the food we brought." So the second prince is inside the dungeon. I assume the princess and her son are held captive inside one of the rooms. How am I supposed to save them?

Should I be greedy? After the guards left, I went down the dungeon and looked for the second prince. I walked through the dungeon until I came across a man wearing nice clothes.

"Are you the second prince of Zora Kingdom?" The man looks up at me with confusion.

"Speaking. Who are you? You do not look like someone who works for the crown prince. I smiled before removing my hood.

"My name is Gisele Goutin, commander of Goterra imperial knights. I am here with the order of the empress, Rose Hawthorne, to find out what is happening in Zora. In other words, I want to investigate the king's death." The second prince's expression seems a little hard to observe.

"Gisele Goutin- I heard about you before. So you're here to save me?" I nodded.

"I'm planning on saving your wife and kids too." Finally, the second prince stood up from his seat and grabbed my hands.

"My wife is here?! And my son? That's impossible! They were escorted out from the castle! They shouldn't be here!" I told the second prince about what I heard from the guards outside.

"No! My brother will hurt my wife and son. You have to save them!" I heard footsteps coming in closer.

"I will." I smiled before unsheathed both of my swords.

"Stay close, please. I wouldn't want you to die on me."



DAYS LATER,


I smiled at the second prince of Zora and his wife, who continued to stare at me as we were on our way to Goterra.

"Have you never seen black magic before?" The second prince shook his head.

"All I did was putting on a spell on two individuals so that they could pretend to be your wife and son. The ritual wasn't that hard, and all it needed was some amount of blood. As for the corpse inside your holding cell, isn't it better for you to be dead than disappear out of thin air? As I said, the spell will never be broken since there's a reason for it." I explained to the couple.

It was hard enough for me to do the ritual, and I lost a lot of blood. At least the couple should be thanking me for helping them out.

"Why do you go as far as saving us?" I'm glad they asked me such a question.

"Because the empress knows what happened to you and your family. The second prince, you're a far better ruler than your brother. The empress wants this war to end, and the empire will have all the benefits. The crown prince can do whatever he wants since he's too confident about his strength. Little did he knows that the empress has many secret plans so that she could win." The second Prince looks down.

"The empress- I heard a lot of stories about her. Do we have to stay in prison the moment we arrive?" I shrugged my shoulder.

"That depends on her mood. If she thinks you're unworthy, she will place the three of you in prison. After all, you're the heir to Zora." The second prince turned to his wife with a smile.

"It's alright- as long as we have each other, we can go through this. It is not our first time being held captive." The second princess smiled together with her husband.



MEANWHILE,

"You manage to enter the Royal castle and save the second prince? Even I am surprised." The empress turned her attention to the second prince before smiling at the little child standing beside him.

"Kiera, why don't you show around your new friend the palace. I want to speak with his parents." Kiera nodded before inviting the child to go with her. After the children had left, the empress offered the second prince and his wife a seat.

I stood beside the Kian as the empress did all the talking.

"Is the king of Zora dead?" The second prince nodded.

"My father is dead. My brother was the one who poisoned him." The empress sighed.

"Tell me the truth. Was it your father or the crown prince was the one who wages this war with the empire?" The second prince looks up to the empress.

"It was my brother. My father was dead a few months before the war even happened. The crown prince continued to hide that he had killed my father and acted as a proxy while pretending that the king was still alive. But in fact, the king was dead, and his corpse was beginning to rot in his chamber." Rose turned to Kian.

"What is happening within court now that everyone knows that the king is dead." The second prince explains that some of the nobles decided to leave the kingdom and seek refuge in the empire until things got better.

"The commoners begin to flee their home with their family and go to the nearest village that accepted runaways. The crown prince doesn't know how to take care of a kingdom because he indulges in pleasure rather than focusing on making Zora a better place to stay." The empress taps her fingers on the armrest while listening to the second prince.

"Oh- I'm sorry for interrupting your conversation." Catherine walks into the room before placing several documents in front of the empress.

"Catherine?!" The second prince seems surprised, and so does his wife.

"Oh! You made! We could always count on Gisele to save anyone in trouble. See- I told you that I will make sure you two are safe." Catherine smiled at the second prince and his wife.

"Thank you! We-" Catherine raised her hand.

"You helped me before. It's time for me to repay you. Anyway, since you two are here, I would like to explain what is happening in both Zora and the empire." Catherine told the empress about the crown prince and how he had ordered his soldiers to march forward.

"Our garrison was just a diversion. The crown prince was bringing his soldiers near our borders. While we focused on the attack, the soldiers took this chance to invade several villages and held everyone captive. Thanks to our scout, we managed to see how bad things were for the villages." I have to intervene.

"I had ordered Elfie to lead some of our knights and save those villages from the enemies' clutches. None of the enemy scouts manage to escape our attack, but it doesn't take long for the crown prince to notice that they're all dead." I smiled.

"Wait- you manage to subdue all of the enemy's soldiers without any help from the main troops?" I nodded.

"Why? My team of mercenaries is more than capable of doing such an easy mission, Catherine. Besides, I can assure you that most enemy soldiers don't know what they're doing."

"That's because the crown prince forces the commoners to join the army. They have never had proper training, and some were unwilling to serve my brother. They didn't even get paid for their service." The second prince explained.

Wow- and I thought working as a mercenary was bad.