"Haah, they take so long." Duke Callisto crossed his legs on the chair.
How long had they been inside the conference room now? It must be close to a day.
Of course, they cannot go out because the king's royal knights would be outside and with the number of knights that they have, they wouldn't successfully beat Taron's royal knights who are one of the best in the eastern continent.
Meanwhile, the three people being held captive still kept quiet, not moving even an inch.
But it was another case for the king.
Henry gritted his teeth as the wound on his hand started to turn purple and there was no blood coming out.
Any moment from now, he would probably pass out or die after Elena stabbed his hand with a sword.
'Father...' Asher's heart pounded extremely fast at the sight of his father writhing in pain but they could not do anything with it. There were still swords pointed on their necks and even the smallest of movements could cost them their lives.
However, now was not the time of fretting over matters. He needed to prioritize his bleeding father.
"The king..." He trailed off and Duke Callisto's eyes wandered towards him.
"The king will die at this rate if you do not cast healing magic on him. He will die of blood loss." He explained and Callisto thought about the scenario for a moment.
If Henry were to die, they would have no weapons against the remaining royal knights whose absolute commander was the king.
That would be bad.
But as soon as he thought of another thing, a sinister grin made its way on the duke's face.
"It's fine if the king dies, he won't live long once we get out of here." He chuckled and those made shivers run across the three's body.
"HEAL MY FATHER THIS INSTANT-" The crown prince moved and, in an instant, a sword sliced across his abdomen making Asher close his mouth.
Blood oozed from the prince's body and Asher sat back on his seat while groaning in pain.
"Your highness!" Elena screamed and assisted the writhing Asher.
"Duke- I told you not to hurt him!" She pointed an accusing finger to the one of the kings installed in Taron.
"Then heal him. Can you?" Callisto inquired her which made Elena close her mouth.
"I..." She clenched her hands before pushing the knights surrounding Asher away.
"I WILL BRING HIM TO THE INFIRMARY! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" The lady screamed but they did not budge the moment she tried to force her way while pulling an injured prince.
Faust, Asher, and the King were all too exhausted to even argue with them anymore.
"LET ME GO! ASHER WILL DIE IF THE WOUND IS NOT HEALED!"
"SHUT UP!"
Callisto raged and stood from his seat. King Caldor's head was still in his grasp, thus he threw it in Elena's direction.
The severed head rolled on the floor after it landed right in front of the lady.
"Do you want your prince to be in the same situation as that head?" That made Elena stiffen in her spot and she carefully let go of Asher's arm.
"That's right. He will survive when our forces reach the capital anytime now if he persists." Gritting his teeth in frustration, the duke was becoming impatient.
His forces should have been in the capital a few hours ago but they aren't still there. He was starting to wonder if things have happened outside but he couldn't go out now.
Tapping his fingers impatiently on the table, Callisto continued to wait for a few more minutes.
Until someone's voice echoed right outside the door.
"F-Father? Brother?"
Elena, Asher, and the King froze in their spots the moment they heard the small voice speak on the other side of the door.
It was even more so towards Asher who saw the duke's grin once more.
"NO! NICHOLAS- hmpf!" A knight covered his mouth which prevented sounds from coming out.
"Huh? Brother? Are you okay?" Nicholas asked through the closed door and Asher's muffled screams got even more aggressive.
However, his feet had been tied and his hands were in the process of being tied as well. He cannot move in any way he wanted to.
"Open the door," Callisto commanded and a knight stationed near the doors nodded his head before slowly opening it as commanded.
Creak~
"Father, brother! Are you okay..."
Nicholas Lumiere stood there with his small hands and feet. His wide, innocent eyes looked so shocked the moment he saw what was inside the conference room.
"Father..." The first one he saw was the king who sat in his seat with a pale face.
"Brother..." Then it transferred towards the now already gagged and tied crown prince.
Tears started to form in his eyes and the young prince could only stand there trembling in fear as a few knights stepped towards him.
"Lady Elena..." Nicholas couldn't fully grasp what was happening inside.
Why was his father so pale as if he was dead? Why was his older brother tied in his chair and there was a red stain on his clothes?
Why?
He couldn't understand it fully until he looked on the side.
"Like what you see, little prince? Your father and brother are going to die soon." Callisto smirked at the innocent prince and stood from his seat once more.
"PRINCE NICHOLAS! RUN!"
But they were all surprised when someone's voice screamed and instead, swiftly ran towards the small child holding his book.
Her heels were clicking on the marble floors and panic was stricken on her face.
Pushing the knights out of her way, Elena was about to reach the small child when a foot blocked her from running. She tripped on her feet and fell to the floor with a loud thud.
"Lady Elena..." He started crying when he also saw Elena.
"RUN, NICHOLAS! RUN!" She screamed and beg for the child to escape but Nicholas was frozen in fear. He couldn't move his little feet in complete horror.
"Do not let her move!" Callisto ordered and the knight that blocked Elena's feet held her by the hair and did the same thing with the three captives inside.
"Duke..." The young child shivered with fear when the duke he knew all of his life stood in front of him with a scary-looking face.
"Come here, little prince. I will show you how your father dies." He chuckled before bringing his hand to grab the prince's but Nicholas took a step back.
"RUN!" The small child heard Elena scream again before her voice became muffled.
That's when everything dawned on the child.
His feet started to move backward. The prince's heart pounded in his chest and his instincts came kicking in.
He needed to run, his little body should run.
"YOU LITTLE SHIT!"
Nicholas ran away. He wasn't fully inside the conference room thus, he was in the halls where people could see him.
All the while, his tears were streaming down his eyes, the small prince tried to run with the best of his abilities away from the bad guys that were taken hostage of his family.
"CATCH HIM BEFORE THE ROYAL KNIGHTS SEE HIM!" Callisto ordered the knights and they immediately followed the prince who scrammed away from them.
'J-just a little bit ahead! The knights! Father's knights!' He was extremely scared but he did the best he could.
He was running until he was out of breath and only a few meters until he could turn into another hallway where the royal knights are stationed.
"His majesty and the other nobles inside the conference room sure are taking long." He heard one knight speak ahead.
"Should we go to the capital?! I heard the invaders are now approaching the city!" Another spoke and a spark of hope flickered inside the child's chest.
"HEL- hmpf!" But the little child's struggle would end there the moment someone grabbed him by the hair and pushed his face directly onto the floor.
It was a futile attempt for the second prince of the Taron Kingdom to call for help the moment Callisto's knights caught him.
"Come here you little shit, you aren't calling anyone for help," Callisto whispered in his ear before Nicholas felt his neck being surrounded by large hands.
He tried to resist by kicking his legs left and right but he could hit anyone.
His mouth was covered by the duke's other hand and his neck was held with another.
Nicholas tried to resist again by biting the hand but he was already suffocating.
The young prince cannot see anything either but felt his body being carried back to the place where his father and brother were held captive.
"NICHOLAS!" He heard the lady, his brother's lover, scream when he was finally returned to the conference room.
"HAAH! THE LITTLE BRAT ALMOST SCREAMED FOR HELP!" Callisto gritted his teeth while holding the almost unresponsive Nicholas in his tight grasp.
"YOU'RE GOING TO RUIN MY PLANS!" He threw the small child's body inside the conference room and down to the marble floors where Nicholas grunted at the impact.
"B-Brother... Cough.... Cough!" He couldn't speak properly from being choked earlier.
With a blurry vision, Nicholas kneeled on the floor while crying his heart out and desperately calling for any of his family.
"Father..." He cried again and continued walking.
"Lock the door!" Nicholas heard the man command the knights and heard the door fully closing.
"LET HIM GO, DUKE! HE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!" Elena begged from her spot but Callisto was thinking otherwise.
Walking towards the weak and desperate young prince, Duke Callisto stepped on the child's back and Nicholas grunted at the heavy foot.
Asher, the King, and even Faust tried to resist their binds as they were also watching the horrifying scenario of a child being stepped on by a full-grown man.
"NICHOLAS!" Asher's mouth bled from biting the gag off but he still could not move as his hands and feet were tied.
"B-Brother- ugh!" Nicholas groaned in pain when the duke kicked him and he flew a few feet away.
"GAG HIS MOUTH AGAIN!" Callisto flared in anger at the sight of the pitiful child.
"Brother... help... me..." Nicholas trembled in his spot as he also writhed in so much pain.
There's a definite limit of how much his small body can take after being kicked and choked.
"Brother..." He desperately asked for help but inside the conference room where everyone was his enemies, there was no help coming for the young prince.
"Look at this, Asher, Henry!" Duke Callisto grabbed Nicholas by the hair again and the two retaliated in their spots at the sight of Nicholas bruised in so many parts.
His head was bleeding after being pushed on the floor while he asked for help outside while his legs were twisted in a surely painful manner.
Even his face had cuts all over as the chandelier's broken glass dug in his skin. Blood was pouring out like it was a small river from the child's body.
"LET HIM GO, DUKE! LET THE CHILD GO!" Elena screamed but she couldn't do anything either. She was tied on a seat, just like the three royals earlier.
"NICHOLAS!" Asher used the remaining strength he had left to push off the knight and run towards his younger brother.
"Not so fast, Asher." Callisto grinned in his way before raising his sword.
"NO!"
Stab!
Everyone stood there frozen.
Asher kneeled on the ground with so much shock in his face that he couldn't completely process what he was seeing right now.
Even the king who was on the verge of death also widened his eyes when he saw his child.
"Nicholas..." Elena trailed off and eventually shut her mouth in utter surprise.
"B-Brother... Fa... ther..." The second prince of the Taron Kingdom slowly closed his eyes as blood dripped from his entire body.
"I made it in time." He retracted the ice sword stabbing the duke's chest and blood gushed out from the now lifeless Duke Callisto.
Catching Nicholas in his arms, he cradled the young prince close enough and touched his forehead.
"Rest for now, Nicholas. I'm here." He whispered before healing magic manifested in his fingers and coursed through the prince's small body.
"Pier..." Asher spoke with his coarse voice at the view of the person he had been dying to see for the past months.
Relief flooded his entire body and despite the conference room being filled with enemy knights, he knew Nicholas was safe.
"H-HE... HE KILLED KING CALLISTO! KILL HIM!" The knights charged towards him but his eyes were glowing.
"There, rest now." He kissed Nicholas' forehead and turned towards the charging knights.
It felt like happening in slow motion as Pier raised his hands. He was furious that their wickedness could not even spare a child like Nicholas.
"The gods have seen what you did." Magic manifested in his hands and even before the knights could reach him, the white ice magic consumed the entire conference room in a single second.
It froze everything aside from a few people.
Faust, Asher, Elena, Henry.
The four remained alive while the rest were frozen to their core.
That was the light they needed.
A series of tears fell from Asher's eyes at the sight.