XLIII ※ Royal Family Values: Gaslight, Gatekeep, Guillotine

"Did something happen to your sister, Izan?" The Queen's voice was cautious, her tone a blend of curiosity and suspicion. There was a sharp edge to her words, though it was hidden beneath a thin veneer of calmness. "Did anyone hurt her again?"

"Yes!" The word burst out of me, louder and harsher than I intended, but I couldn't hold back the intensity of my emotions. My fists clenched tightly at my sides, and my voice rose with frustration. "And she'll keep getting hurt until she dies if she stays here!" I knew I was being dramatic—okay, maybe a little too dramatic—but sometimes you need to push boundaries to make people listen. The exaggerated tone was intentional, a desperate attempt to shake them from their apathy. But the part about her keeping getting hurt? That wasn't dramatic at all. That was an undeniable truth, one I couldn't let them ignore.

The King sighed, long and deep, as though he were already weary of this conversation before it had truly begun. His disinterest stung. "Rai, you should be asking Dai for that. Not us."

The dismissal made my jaw tighten, my teeth grinding together in frustration. I took a deep breath, but the words still came out bitter and sharp. "Why? If he's the one who's going to be hurting her the most?" I could hear the venom dripping from my voice, but I didn't care. They needed to hear this. "I... I may have bitter feelings toward her," I admitted, the weight of my emotions threatening to choke me, "but Nsomi is the only sister I have left. I do not wish to see her dead, but he does!" My voice cracked, but I pressed on, the fire in my chest burning too hot to extinguish. "She carries the name of my House with her. Hurting her is the same as hurting me," I continued, turning my gaze to the King. My eyes locked with his, my defiance unyielding. "And the Prince's pride won't allow him to not hurt her!"

The Queen rose from her seat, her movements slow but deliberate. Her expression was calm, but there was a storm brewing behind her eyes. "What happened this time, son?" she asked, her tone measured but weighted with a quiet authority that demanded answers.

"Nothing, Mother," Daisuke replied swiftly, cutting off the conversation before it could truly begin. His voice was calm, but I could hear the irritation simmering just beneath the surface. He turned to me, his expression hard. "Rai is just bitter for some reason."

A bitter laugh escaped me, sharp and mirthless, cutting through the tense air like a blade. "Nothing?" I repeated, the word dripping with disbelief. "Are an enormous dark purple bruise on her back, a swollen ribcage, and two broken ribs nothing to you, Prince?" My voice rose with every word, each syllable fueled by the anger burning inside me. "If that happened to you, would you say it was nothing?"

The King averted his gaze, his expression flickering with something unspoken—guilt, perhaps, or maybe shame. The Queen, however, was less guarded. She raised her hands to her face, exhaling heavily, the weariness in her movements unmistakable. "How did that happen, Rai?" she asked, her voice quieter now, as though she already dreaded the answer.

I clenched my fists tighter, the nails digging into my palms as I tried to steady myself. My voice trembled with restrained fury as I spoke. "The Prince misunderstood a situation and acted impulsively, throwing her into a marble wall with more strength than any normal person should have. And she hasn't recovered yet." My voice faltered for a moment as the image of Nsomi's frail, broken body flashed in my mind. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to keep going. "Her bones are still weak! If you..." I paused, my throat tightening painfully. "If you saw how she is..." My voice cracked, and I had to take a breath before continuing. "It's not good. If she stays here, I fear she won't wait for people to kill her—she'll end up taking her own life!"

"Stop being dramatic, Rai!" Daisuke interrupted sharply, his tone thick with irritation. "If she took her own life, she would be doing us a favor."

The words slammed into me like a physical blow. My vision blurred with anger, and for a moment, all I could see was red. "What a future King you will make, Daisuke Maël Maximillian!" My voice was loud, shaking with fury as I hurled the words at him.

"Izan Rai D'Arcy!" The Queen's voice cracked like a whip, cutting through my rage. The sharpness of her tone startled me, and for a moment, I froze. "Watch your mouth."

Daisuke chuckled bitterly, his lips curling into a cruel smile. "I have the right to want her dead. She's at fault for my sister's death!"

A cold laugh escaped me, humorless and sharp. "Ha... I didn't know Nsomi had the power to cause the Rosé disease!" I shot back, my words dripping with venom. His glare was icy, his gaze like two blades piercing into me, but I didn't falter. "Don't be unreasonable, your royal highness," I continued, each word a deliberate challenge. "My sister did not kill Princess Avyanna. She loved her more than she ever loved herself. What makes any of you so sure that it wasn't Avyanna who asked her to see her death that night and made her pledge with her life that she would never tell anyone?"

The words had barely left my mouth when the Queen's hand struck my face, the sharp sting jolting me back to reality. My cheek burned, but I didn't move, didn't react.

"My daughter would never do that!" she shouted, her voice trembling with fury.

"Avy loved her life—she would never do that!" the King added, his voice booming with finality. "Never!"

I took a shaky breath, the fire inside me still burning, though it flickered now under their combined wrath. "All of us know that the symptoms of the Rosé disease appear more than a year before the death of the person. My sister saw it a year prior to the Princess's death. At that point, do you really think she hadn't been having the symptoms already?" My voice softened, but the bitterness remained. Gods above, what's gotten into me? I needed to stop talking, but the words kept spilling out.

"Nsomi Eileithya D'Arcy will remain part of the trials until the end!" Her Majesty declared, her voice unyielding, her anger cutting through the room like a knife. "No one will take her away from this duty. Whatever happens, she will deal with it. If everybody hates her, then the problem is on her and not on us! And you," she pointed a trembling finger at me, her eyes blazing, "get out of here and go to your chambers before we lose our cool for real and ask for your head."

I stared at her, my chest heaving with anger and frustration, but I knew I had pushed them too far. "Now I understand why she wanted to run from the Kingdom," I muttered, my voice quieter now but no less sharp. "If the rulers are so unreasonable like this, how would they be a good example for their people?"

The King's expression hardened, his voice low and dangerous. "Kid, you should leave now. We'll only let this action pass because you've never acted like this before. You must have been manipulated by your sister, or you must be too shocked because of something that happened. But be aware that this will be your chance to change the way you act!"

I swallowed hard, my hands trembling at my sides. They had the power to end me with a single word, and I knew I couldn't push them any further. Nsomi had told me I would die old, and her visions didn't change. Maybe knowing I wouldn't die today was what had given me the courage to speak out. But I had tested my luck enough for one day.

Without another word, I turned and left, my heart pounding in my chest. I wouldn't let this happen again. Not like this.