Chapter 3 - Doom At Your Sentence's

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"…."

The door was knocked, but there was no response, even though someone was inside.

"Your Excellency, it's me, Sir Bashilian."

Of course, this information was not answered.

More accurately ….

"Excuse me, I will enter."

… It couldn't be.

"…!"

A young man with silver-white hair and emerald green eyes greeted the knight with dark green hair and eyes who had entered his study, … with a wave of his hand and a wide smile.

He was Escar, the newly appointed Marquess of Aschenford.

He was the only noble in the Soultherns Kingdom who was mute.

"Milord, I've heard the rumors circulating in the capital."

The knight who had just entered was Escar's right-hand man.

He was Sir Bashilian, his personal bodyguard.

A man with a rather intimidating appearance due to the sword scar that crossed over his right eye, leaving him blind, … a man who had sworn his loyalty to Escar ever since the Marquess was still in the womb.

"Duke Ersteal, you've heard of him, right?"

Ersteal?

"…."

Wait!

Ersteal?!

Who could forget her!?

GRAKK!

Escar suddenly stood up from his seat, causing his chair to be pushed back.

NOD! NOD!

The young Marquess nodded in response to Sir Bashilian's confirmation.

Ersteal?

Who could easily forget that prestigious name?

Especially for Escar!

It had been nearly two years since Escar first met the girl with that surname.

Although their second meeting at the girl's engagement ceremony—an encounter that had clearly captured his attention, albeit painfully—Escar still couldn't forget her.

"…!"

Escar grabbed his special book, pulled the brush from the ink stand, and began writing something.

SRATT! SRATT!

After that, he quickly showed his writing to Sir Bashilian.

["Why? What's going on? Is there something important I need to know right now?"]

Sir Bashilian's expression suddenly became unsettled.

He hesitated to share the news.

Should he swallow this time-bomb of information without giving any hint to his master?

["Ugh, why? Just tell me already, stop making me more curious!"]

"Well …."

It was hard for Sir Bashilian to see his master—who still appeared like a child in his eyes—whining like that, so he chose to give in.

"… Duke Ersteal is currently …."

He shared everything he knew without holding back.

"… Temporarily imprisoned, awaiting trial for a very, very serious crime."

Revealing the information, as expected, felt like a ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment once Escar learned the truth.

"Of course, this also affects the social status of his daughter, the fiancée of the Crown Prince, Lady Ersteal."

At this point, Escar's spontaneous reaction was already shaking.

It was evident from how he froze in place, his eyes wide, with his pupils narrowing.

Also, his hand, still gripping the brush, began to tremble.

S—SRAT! SRAT!

Though his body seemed on the verge of losing control, Escar struggled to do one more thing.

["Let's go!"]

Yes.

Escar wanted to confirm it, by seeing it with his own eyes.

"…!"

He hoped that what he had gone through wouldn't repeat itself.

Especially not for someone he held dear. 

***

BRASHH!

"Hwakk!"

Shirley was utterly startled.

How could she not be?

Suddenly, very cold water poured down onto her entire body, soaking her dress and chilling her, coming from the balcony above her room.

"Haha! Take that!"

Still catching her breath from the unexpected action, Shirley dared to look up.

"How dare she still act so arrogantly, when the fall of Ersteal is just around the corner?"

"Ah, I can't wait. I'm eager to stomp on that arrogant face of her."

There were two servants who used to always shower Shirley with compliments.

Now, after the shocking event affecting her father ….

"How dare you …!"

… All the servants' behavior began to reveal their true nature.

"I will—!"

—DUAK!

"…!"

Shirley stumbled.

The reason she lost her balance and was now falling face-first to the ground was because of someone pushing her from behind.

"Who—?!"

—BAM!

Before she could even groan in pain or protest against whoever had shoved her, Shirley was left in shock.

"Shirley Ersteal."

Standing before her were the elite knights under the Crown Prince, for some reason ….

"You are summoned by His Highness the Crown Prince, to meet him now."

… This made Shirley feel that something was wrong.

•••

"Let go of me! Let go! How dare you treat me this way!"

Throughout the journey, as she was forcefully dragged by the knights through an area she seldom visited, Shirley tried to struggle.

With all her strength, she fought to break free from the rough grip on her wrists.

"Let go!!"

However ….

BRUAKK!

No matter how much Shirley exerted her strength, she would still lose, even if it was just one man pushing her.

Just like now.

"Ershh!"

The girl with glowing red eyes winced in pain and suddenly stopped protesting, having been shoved onto the rough ground by a knight.

"Shirley Ersteal."

After the unpleasant treatment, a familiar voice reached Shirley's ears, so familiar that it hypnotized her into momentarily forgetting the pain.

"…!"

Shirley looked up.

She followed the source of the voice that had at least managed to calm her heart, even if just a little, and spoke.

"Michael!" Shirley cried out with hope.

On the wooden stage built in the middle of the hard field, Michael Soultherns stood proudly, facing a man whose hands were bound behind his back.

"…!"

The back of the man's body wasn't unfamiliar, with his black hair streaked with gray, which made Shirley freeze in shock.

"Shirley Ersteal," called the Crown Prince once more, his voice slightly lowered, for some reason sending a chill down Shirley's spine.

"Do you know why I called you here?"

"Y-your Highness …."

Ah, Shirley was terrified.

Without realizing it, she had called her fiancé by the name he didn't like.

"Thank you very much."

Usually, when she called him this way ….

"Because of our engagement, because of your foolishness in being blinded by love …."

… Her fiancé would immediately correct how she addressed him and tell her to just call him by his name.

"… I was able to capture your father."

However, this time, something was different.

"Here, today, in this place …."

It seemed as though Shirley didn't recognize Michael Soultherns as she usually did.

"… I will also break off our engagement."

"…!"

That was a lie, wasn't it?

"P-pardon?"

That couldn't be true, could it?

"The foolish girl who knows nothing about this cruel world …."

Michael, who had always looked at her warmly for the past year and eight months, now stared at her coldly, as if she were nothing but filth.

"… You think you still deserve to be the future Queen?"

Shirley didn't want to believe it, but … what else was there to do now?

"Shirley Ersteal, you are no longer my fiancée."

SRUKK!

Shirley bowed her head in surrender.

Her long black hair hung loosely, nearly framing her face and covering it from all sides.

Thankfully, her face couldn't be seen from any angle at this moment.

Because Shirley didn't want to reveal the utterly shattered expression she wore.

"H-hkks!"

Tears began to fall.

They ran down her cheeks, dripping and soaking into the dry, parched earth.

"Crown Prince, what punishment is fitting for Duke Ersteal?"

The King's striking question made Shirley freeze for a moment.

The sixteen-year-old girl had to realize something.

That the punishment and destruction for her small family … was already right before her eyes.

"A gambling broker, and the mastermind behind the black market organ trade, certainly deserves the harshest punishment."

She never imagined that such a kind, loving, and attentive father would turn out to be an unforgivable criminal like this.

A heavy sense of disappointment weighed on Shirley's heart.

She couldn't even say "no" to the punishment being imposed on her father.

However ….

"He must be executed, by my own hand."

THUG!

… As a daughter who only had her father as her sole family, Shirley still couldn't accept it.

Her heart seemed to stop beating for a moment after the Crown Prince declared that final sentence.

GRTT!

Shirley cried in silence.

Her trembling fingers tried to ball into a fist, desperately trying to stay strong.

She never imagined that her ridiculous engagement and the promise of being loved by the Crown Prince was nothing but a façade.

Shirley had been used, so the Crown Prince could investigate his target through their closeness.

Now, everything had come to an end.

Shirley had to accept it—!

—BRUAKK!

The sound of someone falling to the ground startled Shirley and everyone else in the field.

Including the Crown Prince himself.

"…!"

To the right of Shirley, still sitting weakly, mourning the death that seemed to be looming over her, was Marquess Aschenford—often ridiculed for his muteness.

He had fallen face-first, with both hands bound behind his back, held by his own personal bodyguard.

"What are you doing?" asked the Crown Prince, voicing the curiosity of everyone, including Shirley herself.

With all due politeness, the knight, who seemed to be mistreating his own master, answered, "I apologize. My Lord fell, and I was trying to lift him in this manner."

"Tch! A strange excuse."

All attention remained focused on the mute Marquess.

The Crown Prince took advantage of this distraction to stir up even more chaos.

SRATTHSS!

In the blink of an eye, he had unsheathed his sword and swung it, only to return it to its scabbard once more.

Perhaps due to the loud sound his action made, it was enough to make Shirley shift her gaze back to where her father had been.

But, wait a moment.

"Kyakkk! He's dead! He's dead!"

Could it be … that her father was no longer truly part of this world?