The Funeral

They came to a halt in the main room and requested that we change as we followed the enemy commander to the main palace hall. I noticed the queen's body had been removed as we entered.

"Please give me one last look at her," mother requested.

The Commander nodded and smiled at the queen. My mother directed that the maids and some of the captured staff prepare for the funeral procession. Everyone was scared as they prepared because the enemy soldiers looked at them like predators waiting for their prey. She burst into tears as she approached the bodies.

"Oh, my queen, king, and princess, you were such fools; let this humble servant arrange your departure properly."

While we were changing into our black gowns, the commander nodded and gave orders to the soldiers to transport us to the funeral procession.

The funeral went well; the royal family and our father were buried, as was our mother, who was the sole survivor.

As I glazed over, I noticed a man peering through the castle window at us.

Mother bit her nails as we were locked inside the main room, waiting for the king of Amida to arrive.

The processions were overseen by shaman.

We were imprisoned in our own room, where we used to play and talk with the royal family. The ancestors of the royal family were removed from the halls, and the courtyards, where evening began to fall, were no longer crowded.

I moved in closer to Hina on the main room's couch.

"Could you please tell me where that man is?" My mother paced back and forth in the room until watching her made me sick. "I'm curious about what's going on outside!"

Reina handed us a cup of tea after Kaguya motioned for her to take a seat.

bed.

As I noticed someone approaching, I exclaimed, "Man!" as he looked out the windows.

Isabel went to check, and her eyes widened as she saw the soldiers executing the kingdom's nonbelievers who refused to work with King Nomura. As I and my mother looked on, we were astounded to see the soldiers executing the kingdom's nonbelievers who refused to work with King Nomura

"He's going to kill us," I whispered.

"I don't think he'll ever let us leave." My sister was trembling.

When she heard a knock, my mother froze. She crossed the room and opened the door. "What?" She observed the three men's facial expressions. "Where has he gone?" she demanded.

Hina, on the other hand, leapt from her bed. "That's him!" She pointed to the man in front of Sora and Shigaru.

My mother stepped back. The white-haired man with gray eyes wore nothing but gold.

"You!" Mother yelled.

"Ah! cousin, long time no see," replied Nomura.

Shigaru grabs and twists her hand as she tries to slap him.

"You're a fool, joining this Kingdom, marrying Ichiro, what a silly lady you are," the tyrant king laughed.

"It's better for men to treat me like I'm their own," my mother explained.

"You can be a queen, Shizuka, my Queen," Nomura says, rubbing his fingers across her lips.

As he touches her, she bites his finger and spits on him. "What a naughty lady you've become," Nomura says, wiping her spit away from his face.

"Unquestionably." My mother smiled warmly at him. "If that's what you want,", "I will never betray my late husband's or the Commander's kingdoms, who worked tirelessly to bring you down."

But Hina and I both knew what she was thinking.

My mother was on her knees. "Don't you dare lay a hand on my children," the king said to us. My mother tried to save us, but Shigaru grabbed her.

He approaches me first. I could have killed him like I did in my previous life, but I was weak and didn't want to die young, so I hid behind my sister when he saw me. He began to smile sinisterly and looked at Hina.

"Do you call yourself Hina?" "What a lovely lady you have," my mother said. "Leave her alone, you dog."

As he notices my sister, he ignores her and turns to face her, saying, "Just like your idiotic father."

"become," Nomura says distantly.

Then he smiles at me, pushing Hina closer, and says, "You must be Shinsuke, the bastard's son." If I had the chance, I would kill him right now, but soldiers surrounded him and he fled to his mother, terrified.

"Do you want to talk?" The king was curious.

My mother agreed and reached for the main hall couch, where she sat. We immediately took a position behind her. The king's gaze, however, never strayed in our direction. He was staring at my mother as if he was afraid she'd hit him. He sat down while the other men stood.

"What are you doing here?" mother wondered.

"Over a drink, Nomura says, "I hear you tried to persuade my right hand commander to join forces with you."

My mother gave the commander a scornful look but said nothing.

"It's not surprising to me. Shigaru is my father's student, and we never imagined that one day we'd be the enemy."

"I pick my own paths," Shigaru explained.

"Silence, you are not to speak when said," Nomura said to Shigaru, pointing the knife he used to cut the fruits and laughing sinisterly. Shigaru remained silent and exited the room.

"Shigaru is the most modest and loyal person I know. I'm confident he'd never betray me "stated the king "Sora, for example, would not. You're probably aware that his father was a King from the southern part of the kingdom, against whom this kingdom fought and made him a slave."

My mother sat up straight. ""I'm looking for an heir to this new kingdom, and I believe you would be an excellent choice as the new ruler of this wretched wasteland," is that how it goes?

"I am unable to accept," mother stated. "Are you unable to find another candidate to sit on?"

As he drank, the king remained silent.

Are you telling me what you want?"

"How about , Yuita?" When he was announced as the late princess's fiance, he became the royal heir; make him and I do whatever you tell him to protect our lives."

"I am afraid your son will not be able to take the throne either," he says simply to Shigaru.

"I was informed by soldiers who saw the news that he was killed in combat, as is your half-blood bastard son, who fought with Ichiro but was killed by the cannon."

My mother clutched the arms of her chair, and I covered my mouth with my hands.

"However," he added, "if we find your sons, I will allow them to be buried."

"My sons!" exclaimed my mother as the king of Amida averted his gaze.