The scarred man looked down at me, his eyes devoid of any lingering respect. "It's not my obligation to tell you what will happen to you after this…"
I felt the heat of my own heartbeat in my throat. "SO WHO?" I demanded.
"It's my Lord, of course," he said, his voice dropping into a tone of deep reverence.
I heard the heavy, rhythmic thud of footsteps echoing from outside the living room, marching steadily toward the chamber. Suddenly, as if pulled by invisible strings, the knights snapped into a rigid formation, creating a gauntlet of steel to welcome the newcomer. I felt a rush of cold anticipation, my mind racing through a list of possible enemies. The atmosphere in the room became charged with an air of reverence and respect, leaving me desperate to discover the identity of the approaching figure.
Slowly, the figure appeared. I was shocked and dismayed to see who it was—Connor, the Crown Prince. My eldest brother.
He walked toward us with the effortless grace of a man who owned the world. Immediately, the scarred man stood up, yielding his position. My brother sat, leaning back with a predatory calm.
"I want to talk with my dear little sister privately..." he announced.
At once, all of his knights turned on their heels and left the room. I remained frozen, my own guard still standing behind me, until Connor looked at me with an arched eyebrow. "My sister, can you order your knight to leave the room?"
Reluctantly, I gestured for my knights to exit, feeling a mix of curiosity and apprehension about what my brother truly wanted. Once the heavy doors clicked shut, leaving only the two of us in the vast, gilded silence of the room, I broke the tension.
"What are you doing here, dear big brother?"
"I am here just to see you…"
"Ha ha," I let out a dry, mirthless laugh. "My dear brother, there is no way you travelled all this way just to see me. There must be a reason. Why are you coming here? Especially with those knights?"
Connor leaned forward, his eyes sharp. "I want you to join my faction, dear my little sister…"
"This little sister is not capable enough to join with your faction, my dear brother," I replied, masking my fear with a humble tone.
He erupted into laughter, a sound that didn't reach his eyes. "Ha ha ha ha ha… My dear little sister seems to love to make puns nowadays." Suddenly, he smacked the table with a violent crack that echoed off the walls. "LISTEN HERE, CAROLINE! IF YOU WANT TO STAY ALIVE, JOIN MY FACTION!"
The room seemed to grow colder. "What do you mean by 'stay alive'?"
"ARE YOU NOT REALISING IT, CAROLINE? The palace wants you to be gone…"
I looked at him in disbelief, trying to comprehend the gravity of his words. My heart raced as I struggled to process the implications. The thought of my own family plotting my demise sent a visceral chill down my spine. I sat down heavily, my legs suddenly weak. If they were playing this rough and sly, I realized I would have to adapt—and quickly. Recalling the assassins Zoe had fought off, I looked at him. "WHICH ONE? WHO SENT ASSASSINS TO ME?"
"So, there is someone who has already sent them to you…"
"TELL ME, BROTHER!! WHO?"
"You are not the one who can easily demand an answer right now, Caroline," he countered, gesturing to the room around us. "Look around you, right now!"
I was furious now, a hot, white-hot anger burning in my chest. Was this truly a royal family? They could dispatch assassins after their own daughter or sister as easily as one might cull a weak lamb. He sat there with a mischievous, mocking smile, treating me like the fifteen-year-old girl I appeared to be, rather than the thirty-three-year-old soul I was. They saw only an incompetent girl.
"Your offer… What will happen if I reject it?"
He leaned forward, his face inches from mine. "I believe you will not say no to my offer, right, my dear little sister?"
I took a deep breath, trying to see the game board from his perspective. Why me? "As you can see, my dear brother… I am just fifteen years old. So, what exactly does my dear brother see from me?"
"You maybe can fool mother and father about your motive," he mused.
"My motive?"
"First," he continued, "you chose your own servants as your personal maids. Next, you even break the code of knights in this kingdom by assigning a squire as your personal knight and daring to make a new army beside the royal army."
"Are you here to mock my decision or what, my dear brother?"
"No, I'm here not to mock you." He leaned in further, that insolent smile returning. "You are unique; even a fool doesn't have the guts like you to do everything like you did in front of the King and Queen." He suddenly sat back, relaxing into the cushions. "But... The most important part isn't here with you."
"What are you referring to?"
"Don't play dumb like that, Caroline. You know what I was talking about. My men have seen it."
He had spies. He had seen Geri. He had seen the spirit.
"First of all, dear brother... Is this how we treat each other? You sent your spies to keep watching me and got information about what I had to do."
My voice quivered with a mixture of anger and hurt as I confronted him. The tension in the room grew palpable as we locked eyes.
"You have changed, little one," he said softly. "You are not my dear little sister, like I knew before. Who influenced you to become like this? Is it the squire you have assigned?"
"It's not brother's matter. Whether I have been changed or not, we are still bound. Finding out that my dear brother sent spies to watch me… it actually makes me angry."
"Let's cut to the chase," Connor said, waving off my indignation. "I don't care about your own pet, Caroline, my dear little sister. Whether you want to believe it or not, the palace really wants you to be gone. You should know what it means to be 'gone'. Your brother here offers his hand to you, Caroline. I understand that this may be difficult for you to accept, but the palace's intentions are clear. By joining my faction, you will have the opportunity to protect yourself and escape their control. However, if you choose to reject this offer, you will be left vulnerable and isolated, at the mercy of their manipulations. The decision is yours to make, but remember that time is running out."
I stood there, my mind racing. I looked into his eyes, searching for a spark of deceit, but I saw only a terrifyingly genuine concern mixed with hope. I knew that whatever I chose would shape the rest of my life.
"Before I accept your offer, my brother... I need something from you."
"What is that, Caroline?"
"As you have heard, the owners of this estate—the laird and his family—suddenly went missing. The daughters of the laird are my personal maids; they never received a single letter from this estate for years. Then, they received one, and it claimed their parents were gone. As a condition of my joining your faction, I want to know the ones behind this. With my dear brother's power and influence as a Duke, surely you can find them easily. I hope, too, that my dear brother can find their parents alive."
Connor's eyes gleamed. "I can do that. In exchange, I want you to share this crop rotation you use in this village."
"Sure."
I stood up, and he followed. He offered his hand first. I grabbed it, and we shook hands—a silent, heavy pact. In that moment, I officially joined his faction.
"What will happen to the perpetrator of all this estate matter?" he asked, raising an arched eyebrow. "What do you want to do with them?"
I didn't know the full laws of this land, but for this level of cruelty, there was only one answer. "CAPITAL PUNISHMENT."
"You want to be the one to carry out the punishment?"
I hesitated. I wasn't a killer. "I want you to be the one to carry it out, my brother. But I want the location of the punishment in this village. Especially in this estate, in front of all the people."
"Great. Just wait in this estate, and I will bring you news of the perpetrator. And now, this estate becomes your responsibility."
He turned and swept out of the room.
A few seconds later, Louis and Elpis rushed back in. Louis looked frantic. "What were you talking about with his Royal Highness, your highness?"
"I'm officially on the side of his faction," I said, my voice weary. I explained the plot from the palace, the assassins, and the deal for the maids' parents. "Because the estate is now my responsibility, can you bring Cail, Aalis, and Ame here? I want to be alone for now."
They nodded and left me to the silence of the gilded room.