Chapter 44 The taste of karma is sweat...
"So I take it you are the queen?" Asked Issei.
"Yes, my name is Mirellia Q Melromarc, and I'm the queen of Melromarc" Introduced herself the queen.
"Thank you for letting Issei stay in this private clinic to recover" Thanked Raphtalia with a small bow.
"Well it's no problem really, all heroes should be treated well because they keep the waves of catastrophe away" Said Mirellia.
"Oh yeah? well I wouldn't say that I was treated that well, I was framed for the things I haven't done, people hated me because of these fake crimes, they were scared of me" Said Issei as he lowered his head slightly.
"I owe you an explanation" Said Mirellia.
"I was far away from Melromarc in the international forum with the other world leaders to determine best way to fight the upcoming waves, but that took a turn, at the forum we decided that the major nations will summon a hero each, then all four of us would be able to work together to fight the waves" Exained the queen.
"But by the time we made our decision, Melromarc's temporal leaders had already summoned all four Cardinal heroes, this made other nations furious, which made me travel the world to put out the fires" Explained the queen.
"So they did that on their own accord Huh? not surprising" Said Issei.
"So...what now?" Asked Issei.
"Now I want to apologize for my husband's and step-daughter's wrongdoings and I promise you, I'll clear your name and end this humiliation, it lasted for far too long" Said the queen as she bowed her head slightly.
Raphtalia became extremely happy because issei's name will be cleared.
"No need to bow for a queen but...I thought that Myne is your daughter not step-daughter" Said Issei.
"Well....long time ago, the king had a wife and two daughters, there was a brutal war in which his wife and one of the daughters died.
Years later, he re-maried to me and I became Myne's stepmother but.....we always were like the biggest enemies, she always hated Melty and me, I thought that I would try to get us along but nothing worked and I stared to hate her too because one day she just crossed the line.....she hurt Melty with a sword that was on the wall as a decoration, and now Melty has a big scar on her back..." Explained the queen as some tears came out.
"It's alright mother, I'm fine now so don't cry" Said Melty as she hugged her mother.
The queen just smiled as she stroked her hair a little.
"By the way, you will be awarded for all the times you defended this Kingdom from the waves and took care of the three heroes church, you'll get five hundred gold pieces" Said Mirellia.
"Wow that much?" Asked Issei stunned.
"Yes, you will be awarded that much" Said Mirellia as she giggled a bit.
"Ummm....I want to ask something" Said Raphtalia.
"Yes, what would that be young lady?" Asked Mirellia with a smile.
"Did....did the Sword hero and the Bow hero really die?" Asked Raphtalia and the atmosphere in the room darkened.
"Unfortunately yes, they did die...we don't have much information but.....we know that it was the church's and probably Myne's doings" Said Mirellia.
"Oh, I see..." Said Raphtalia.
"So what will we do about the king and his daughter? we can't just let them go like this" Asked Kiyomi with her arms crossed as she was angry hearing about that world's mistake.
"They will take a trial and will be punished for their crimes" Said Mirellia.
"Trial? when will that be?" Asked Issei.
"It will be tomorrow and it will be broadcasted throughout the kingdom" Said the Queen.
"It will be broadcasted? that's interesting" Said Issei.
"Well yeah, that's how we will clean your name so I ask for you to come tomorrow morning to the castle" Said Mirellia.
"I see...well I'm quite tired so I think I'll go to sleep" Said Issei.
"I understand, I shall take my leave then, rest well Red dragon" Said The queen as she left with Melty.
"Bye Issei!" Said Melty as she waved her hand.
"Yeah, bye" Said Issei as he layed back into the bed.
Raphtalia and Kiyomi did the same on issei's sides and hugged him.
"Goodnight darling" Said Kiyomi as she kissed his cheek.
"Goodnight love" Said Raphtalia as she did the same.
"Yeah, goodnight" Said Issei as he kissed their foreheads before falling asleep.
Morning.
Issei opened his eyes and saw that both Kiyomi and Raphtalia weren't in the bed with him.
"Where did those two go?" Asked Issei out loud as he sat up and just in that moment the doors opened and revealed Kiyomi and Raphtalia with a food tray that looked godly just like the girls.
"Morning Darling!" Greeted Raphtalia and Kiyomi at the same time with the biggest smiles ever.
There weren't many people in the room but two elderly men were jealous of Issei, he literally had two goddesses that took such good care of him....
"Yeah morning, what's up with this godly looking food?" Asked Issei.
Both girls blushed because of issei's compliment.
"W-well, we made you some breakfast together while you were still asleep" Said Kiyomi.
"You made this? this looks really delicious, I guess you tried your best, by the way, I like your shy side Kiyomi" Said Issei with a smirk.
"W-w-what?" Stuttered Kiyomi as she became a blushing mess.
After their incredible breakfast and some kisses they went to the throne room for the trial while a lot of people were gathering outside the castle, or people in towns gathered in town's centres to watch the broadcast.
On the way they met Motoyasu, but they didn't talk nor make eye contact.
Motoyasu knew that Myne will go through the trial and that didn't make him happy because he didn't want to believe that Myne really did those disgusting things.
After some more walking Raphtalia Issei and Kiyomi reached the throne room and saw Mirellia sitting on her throne while Melty stood by her side.
A bunch of noble people were gathered there too to witness the trial.
"I'm glad you could make it" Said the queen as Issei and his party stood not too far from her.
Issei just nodded, and Motoyasu walked into the room and went to the other side of the room.
"Everyone is here so we shall begin the trial of the foolish king and his greedy daughter!" Said the queen with a voice filled with disappointment and authority.
"Please bring in the criminals" Said Mirellia and the royal knights came into the room with the king and Myne handcuffed.
They stopped in the middle of the room to await for any further orders.
"My queen! we didn't do anything wrong! release us this instant!" Ordered the king.
"Sir Motoyasu, please help me!" Shouted Myne as she tried to break through but the Knights didn't let her escape.
Motoyasu looked away from her feeling a bit guilty but he couldn't disobey the queen.
"Silence! This trial is to punish the criminals for shaking the whole country while I was away trying to fix your first foolish decision" Said the queen as she looked pissed off.
"As queen I shall be this trial's judge" Said the queen.
"What!? this is absurd! the real criminal is that dragon of evil!" Shouted the king as he pointed at Issei who had a smug grin.
Suddenly the king's legs were covered in thick ice.
"He isn't a dragon of evil and I shall prove that today!" Shouted the queen as her servant came up to her with a tray.
The stuff on the tray looked familiar to issei as he remembered the slave merchant's equipment.
"Wh-what is that?" Asked a really scared Myne.
"To ensure this trial's honesty I will put on a temporary slave crest" Said the queen as she gave some droplets of her blood into the ink.
"No please!" Shouted Myne as she tried to break out of the grasp of the knights again, but she of course wasn't successful again.
The servant came up to Myne and started to paint a slave crest.
"AAAAAAAAAH IT HURTS!" Cried Myne until the crest was finished.
They did the same to the king but he didn't scream.
"Let us begin the trial, and be aware that all of your crimes are obvious for all to see, so don't think you can run away from this" Said the Queen as she glared at her husband and step- daughter.
"Let's start with the holy weapons usage and the two heroes, Sword hero's and Bow hero's deaths" Said the queen.
"The pope was killed in the battle by the Red dragon emperor and the three hero church is being arrested as we speak" Said Mirellia.
"But what does that have to do with Myne?" Asked Motoyasu.
"She and the king were working together with the three hero church to reach their goals" Said Mirellia.
"What!? I would not do tha- AAAAHAAAAH IT HURST!" Shouted Myne as the crest activated because she lied.
That's how the slave crest worked.
The slave could not lie to its master no matter what or they'd suffer a great pain from the crest.
"There you see? she even wanted to kill not only the Red dragon emperor but her step-sister who is a crowded princess because she wanted to be the crowned one, she wanted to frame the Red dragon emperor for killing Melty" Said the queen.
"Wha-what!? no way I would do that to my dear-" Myne lied again and suffered the pain once again.
Motoyasu turned away as he couldn't watch that scene.
"Myne, there's no way you did it?" Asked the king as he was saddened.
He loved Melty just like Myne with all his heart, so hearing that Myne tried to kill her hurt him from the inside and Issei saw that.
Issei was enjoying every bit of this as his thirst for revenge was enormous.
His smirk only grew wider and looked sinister and sadistic.
Raphtalia and Kiyomi saw his satisfied sinister and sadistic smirk grow.
It was kind of scary but not for Kiyomi or Raphtalia.
Raphtalia understood his pain and she hated Myne and the king just like Issei...well Issei hated them more.
And as for Kiyomi, she didn't really care about these idiots as she just wanted them removed from the world's surface to end issei's pain so she was enjoying the show herself quite a bit too.
"Now onto the next question....did you burn the forest to kill or smoke Issei and his party out of it?" Asked Mirellia.
"N-no! I didn't!" Shouted the Myne but once again suffered great pain.
The great thing for issei was that the more Myne lied and disobeyed the more it hurt each time.
"Myne h-how could you-" Asked the king but Mirellia interrupted him.
"And you too, you summoned all four Cardinal heroes while we agreed to summon only one and look where that led us now....two of the heroes are already dead" Said Mirellia as she glared at him with hate filled eyes.
"I did that because we needed the heroes for the country's people!" Shouted the king.
"And look! one was suffering because he was always framed and accused of the things he didn't do! and the other two were killed while the other was manipulated by Myne!" Shouted Mirellia back.
Motoyasu turned to look at Myne straight into her eyes.
"N-no! I didn't manipulate him! I love him!" Shouted Myne but.....much to Motoyasu's heartbreak the crest activated again.
He turned away again as he was angry, he gritted his teeth and clenched his hand to the point that even blood started to pour.
He couldn't believe that she just used him all this time...
"Alright....for the last question....did the Red dragon emperor really rape you that faithful night?" Asked Mirellia.
Everyone now were looking at her with curiosity as everyone in the kingdom knew about this disgusting crime.
"Yes he did the evil-" Shouted Myne and probability as you guessed it now...the crest activated for the last time before she passed out and fell onto the ground.
Everyone inside and outside who watched the trial take place were so shocked and ashamed as the truth was revealed, everyone were silent.
No one believed in issei's story....but now that the truth was out everyone were angry at themselves but mostly at the king and Myne.
"Now you, the foolish king....did you work with the church to kill Sword and Bow heroes?" Asked Mirellia.
"Yes I did" Answered the king and the crest didn't activate as he told the truth because he didn't see any point in lying anymore.
You may wonder why? well he did that because pope convinced him that the heroes were fake and they needed to kill them and summon the real ones...
"You bastard, how could you!" Shouted Motoyasu as he pointed his spear at the king but before he could make any further movement he stopped as he felt he feet get a little colder.
The queen stopped him.
"Last question, this one is a bit personal, did you cheat with other women while I was away?" Asked the queen.
"What! no! of course not!" Shouted the king and he paid the price with a huge pain for that lie.
The queen felt hurt and betrayed...
"Time for verdict, I, as the Queen of Melromarc, declare the king of Melromarc and the first princess of Melromarc guilty and I strip them from their titles and sentence them to death!" Said the queen in the harshest, coldest voice she could.
Everyone were shocked by her decision.
"N-no no!" Screamed Myne as she was awake again.
The king just lowered his head in defeat and shame as he accepted his fate while Issei was smiling the whole time and laughing mentally as he enjoyed every second of this.
'The taste of this sweet revenge is amazing even though it's not me who did anything here' Thought Issei.
"The execution will begin immediately! send these criminals to the main stadium in front of all the people they have wronged!" Ordered the queen and the knights took Myne and the former king away.
Ten minutes later the noble people were gathered at the stadium where the king and Myne will be executed on sight.
"Myne will be beheaded while the king will die by the Red dragon emperor's hands! these criminals deserve death for making chaos in this country and endangering its people!" Said the queen.
'Wait, I will kill the king?' Though Issei.
"Let us begin the execution!" Ordered Mirellia as she stared at Myne and her husband coldly.
"SIR MOTOYASU PLEASE HELP!" Pleaded Myne with hope of escaping but much to her horror he just turned his head away from her in disgust.
She couldn't believe what she was seeing.
She turned to look at Issei.
"ISSEI PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! PLEASE ISSEI!" She tried her luck with Issei but he just smiled, not a kind smile but a sadistic and sinister smile.
All people cheered because they lost their families homes and more because of Myne's and king's foolish decisions so they were glad to see them executed.
The knights lowered her head onto the guillotine locking her head in.
She tried to resist and do everything she could to survive but nothing worked.
The queen raised her hand up above her head as a small smile formed on her face.
She will never forgive her for what she did in this country, she will never forgive her for what she did to Melty all these years, nor will she forgive what she did to Issei.
She was glad that Myne will finally be gone, the world's mistake gone!
She lowered her hand in one swift motion and the blade hit Myne's neck.
She was dead.....
The crowd cheered even more.
Issei and Mirellia immediately got the sense of relief.
But when it came for the king's turn.
That sense of relief vanished for the queen.
She felt really disappointed when he did all of those things to make it more difficult to her, but what hurt her the most was that he cheated on her with multiple women while she was working hard to med their relationships with other countries.
"Red dragon emperor! come forth and decide on how you will punish the king" Ordered Mirellia in a harsh tone as she started to hate the king every minute more.
Issei slowly walked towards him and saw his face full of horror not because Issei was there...well not only at least, but because he just saw his daughter's execution, some of her blood got on his face and her head layer on the ground facing him.
"Well, I'll give you a painful death for what you did to us, to your own people, to your wife" Said Issei.
The queen's eyes widened a little.
"I hate betrayals so much, I've been betrayed way too much already" Said Issei.
"So as for your punishment" Said Issei darkly with a sinister smirk.
"I, the heavenly dragon king, who has achieved the principles of Domination and Protection, shall curse you with an unbreakable dragon curse for your whole life and after life, if you reincarnate or reborn the curse will never leave your soul, you will always be in pain that will never leave you!
You'll always be able to live only for twenty five years with extreme pain and later on die with the help of this curse.
No one will be able to help you as no one will understand what's wrong with you.
You shall keep your memories especially of your daughter's execution.
In the name of the heavenly dragon king of Domination and Protection and the dragon king Vritra of Shadows and Curses, I curse you for eternity" Said Issei coldly and the dark shadows started to swirl around the king as he screamed in agony.
Well of course it hurts when a powerful dragon curse is placed on you, plus he already feels the extreme pain from it.
He stopped screaming and passed out.
Everyone looked amazed even the queen was fascinated.
"And now for your prison" Said Issei as he lifted his arm and a small apple sized blue and white ball appeared.
"You shall stay frozen until your death, so suffer while you can.
In the name of the heavenly dragon king of Domination and Protection and Tiamat dragon king of chaos! I freeze you in an unbreakable ice prison cocytus!" Roared Issei as the ball flew towards the king and as soon the ball touched the king, he was frozen in a ball of ice.
No one could see inside of it as it was blurry.
"The execution is over and the criminals are punished!" Said the queen and everyone cheered.
"Red dragon emperor, later on you shall come by to the throne room and get your rewards" Said the queen, Issei nodded before leaving with his party....