[T/W: Depictions of violence]
At first, she couldn’t see who it was, only a silhouette because their backs were against the bright light.
However, after a while, a weak light touched their faces.
“…!”
Rieta swallowed her breath.
It was the Maureen couple.
***
They were in a miserable state, as if they had been locked up somewhere.
Rieta understood now that the King was a ‘one-minded idiot.’
He was only ever thinking about Rieta’s escape, so he didn’t think much if the subjects who were supposed to be by his side would be gone forever.
Just like an idiot.
Agnes has been by his side all this time, but…
Come to think of it, there was no way King Liz could have been relieved with only one guard assigned to Rieta.
He had secured a hostage and was waiting for the time to use it.
“I’ll show you the results of your choices.”
The king’s voice was mixed with a joyful laugh.
“Princess! No! Go!”
In the brief moment, Sir Maureen who was on the castle wall screamed.
He was telling her she must not stop running away.
As he had chosen so far, it meant that they would ‘die an honorable death’.
My God, how long will this terrible choice last?
As Rieta was struggling to hold on to her fainting spirit, the King exclaimed nervously, “How dare you interrupt me!”
He couldn’t contain his rage, and he violently pushed Maureen over the ledge, where he was standing on the edge.
“No!”
“Kyaah!”
Mrs. Maureen and Rieta screamed at the same time.
His body floated in the air for a moment, then immediately descended.
But he never fell to the ground.
He was dangling from the middle of the castle wall, hanging from a rope.
Perhaps because he was choked, he was scratching his neck nonstop with both hands.
“Kuh! Huh!”
Rieta couldn’t stay stubborn.
She got down on her knees to beg him.
Save him.
Please save Sir Maureen!
Rieta, who couldn’t think of easy and neat words, hurriedly uttered words close to a scream.
“Ah, aahhh!”
Her desperation soon resonated in the king’s ears.
He lifted his chin and smiled, perhaps satisfied that his daughter had finally understood the situation.
“…No. It’s still not enough.”
The King opened his eyes wide.
That cocky child needed to be brought to heel a little more completely.
That way, even when she went far away, she’d be able to act as his puppet.
So that she wouldn’t be so arrogant, expecting help from the Empire ever again.
It was necessary to show his cruelty.
“Please! Please…!”
Hearing Rieta’s screams, the king smiled brightly, saying that it was time.
As he raised one hand, the waiting servant pushed Mrs. Maureen.
Her light body immediately descended toward the ground, but at some point it stopped.
“Father, Father, please!”
Rieta begged as she approached the wall, but there was no answer.
Rieta finally realized…
Her father did not intend to give the lives of the Maureen couple to Rieta.
All choices have already been made.
From the moment she decided to leave this place…
The King had decided to kill them. And to do it right in front of Rieta, cruelly.
The next time something like this happened, someone else’s life would have to pay for Rieta’s decision.
“Anything, I’ll follow Father’s will, please!”
Rieta screamed till her throat felt like it would burst.
Even at that moment, the Maureen couple were struggling with the approaching death.
“You;re willing to do anything?”
Rieta raised her head with a glimmer of hope at the king’s sudden question.
“. . .!”
“Even when you already hit the back of my head with your hand?”
It was a humiliating question, but Rieta shouted that she would do it.
She would even crawl between his legs.
If only she could save two people dying right in front of her eyes.
“I’m glad.”
The king replied with a smile.
“It looks like you’ve been enlightened, so I won’t have to kill anyone more from now on. It’s a pity for the Maureen couple, but it can’t be helped.”
“…!”
Hearing that he would not save the two, Rieta stood up and pounded the wall with her fist.
Even though her blood flowed until the hard walls were stained red, nothing changed the situation.
The King’s eyes looked at Rieta with interest.
. . . Ah.
Rieta collapsed to her knees.
I…
She couldn’t do anything.
Not only to protect the lives of the Maureen couple, but also to return to the Duke’s family.
And …
[I will return to the Kingdom. I will do what I can there.]
She would not be able to keep the precious promise she made with Elisha.
When Rieta’s heart was pounding painfully, a small commotion came above her head.
Rieta took a few steps back, and she hurriedly checked where her father had stood.
“. . .”
There was a single woman in a confrontation with several soldiers.
Her face and body were covered in blood.
Even though she looked close to death, she was moving more flexibly and swiftly than anyone else.
Rieta immediately recognized who she was.
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