Chapter 125 – The Prisoners in the Underground Dungeon

Clack, clack. Father’s royal scepter tapped against the stone floor.

“Your Majesty, please watch your step.”

“Mm.”

Guided by one of Father’s attendants, we descended a dim, dank staircase.

“Brid. Was it really okay to bring Suzy along?”

“Oh, Prince. I don’t mind at all.”

Suzy seemed positively thrilled, if anything.

Brid caught sight of her and shrugged with a wry smile.

Women are tough.

My brother looked weaker by comparison.

“This way, please.”

We reached the underground dungeon, where Father’s attendant fiddled with the lock on a squat, thick door that barely came up to waist height.

“Right this way.”

We had to stoop to get through, and once inside, individual cells lined both sides of the corridor.

“This place gives me the creeps.”

I muttered, and Brid nodded with an openly disgusted look on his face.

“Father!” “Your Majesty!” “Prince Mails!”

My brother, Larsen, and Dazil—my former guard captain—were all crammed in the same cell.

“It’s a misunderstanding!” “I was set up!” “I was just following orders!”

All three gripped the bars with both hands, yelling their excuses in turn.

Father gave the bars a light tap with his scepter. Clack.

“Quiet down.”

He said it with clear exasperation.

“You’ve probably already heard, but we’re turning you over to the church.”

“Father! It’s a misunderstanding! It was Brid and Suzy right there—they’re the ones who framed me!”

Suddenly, my brother thrust his arm through the bars and jabbed a finger at the two beside me.

“Heavens, no.”

“Yeah, how rude.”

The two of them stared back at him without a hint of concern.

“Yorsarge. Give it up. The investigation’s been over for a while now.”

My brother froze at Father’s words. He clutched the bars with both hands and slowly slid down until he was on his knees.

“No way… Suzy, help me out. You love me, don’t you?”

“Oh, I heard it straight from your attendant. You were planning to toss me aside.”

Suzy said it breezily, like she was chatting about picking flowers in the garden.

“Misunderstanding! I love you! I could make you my concubine… no, even my proper wife!”

“You said, ‘If she causes a fuss, silence her,’ didn’t you?”

Suzy flashed a sweet smile, and my brother awkwardly turned his face away.

Silence her? Suzy?

“Brother, not content with plotting my assassination—you were going to do that to Suzy too?”

I didn’t fully grasp it, but a deep rage welled up from the pit of my stomach for the first time in my life.

“Prince.”

Brid tugged at my arm, as if to rein me in.

“Ah, sorry.”

This wasn’t the time to let personal grudges get in the way.

“Father, I swear I didn’t know! Larsen acted on his own! I never dreamed Dazil would actually go through with the kidnapping!”

My brother sprang to his feet and started banging on the bars.

“What are you talking about? Dazil came to me with the plan, so I just reported it to the prince!”

“Lies! I only passed info to Lord Larsen. I carried it out on Prince Yorsarge’s orders!”

Larsen and Dazil fired back, countering each claim.

Before long, all three had devolved into hurling insults at each other, princely status forgotten.

Clang!!

Father struck the bars harder with his scepter this time.

“I said, quiet!”

All three gulped at Father’s bellow.

“I came down here thinking you might want one last talk… Not to watch you bicker like filthy rats.”

“Does that mean you’re handing me over to the church too?”

My brother gazed up at Father pleadingly.

Father met his eyes with a look of deep pain.

“Yorsarge. No matter the circumstances, you were in charge of this mess. Attempted murder of the Saintess’s little sister, poisoning and abduction of the Saintess herself. What idiocy have you wrought?”

“Father…”

Father’s eyes weren’t those of a king, but of a father about to lose his son.

“I love you dearly. But I can’t shield you from the consequences of what you’ve done.”

“I… I just… I wanted the Saintess. Her as my wife…”

My brother’s head drooped, and he collapsed into a sitting heap on the floor.

So even my brother had fallen for her…

Maybe because his motives mirrored my own, I felt an unbearable ache inside.

I wiped away tears and glanced beside me—Brid’s eyes were brimming too.

Suzy alone stared at my brother like he was garbage.

“Father, please… Isn’t there anything you can do? Just for me?”

Tears streamed down my brother’s face as Father sadly shook his head.

“A divine oracle has been issued. You know what that means.”

“D-Divine… oracle…”

The blood drained not just from my brother’s face, but from Larsen and Dazil’s as well.

At last, all three seemed to comprehend the true gravity of their situation.

“Your Majesty. It’s time.”

Tears glistened in the eyes of Father’s attendant, who had stood silently by until now.

Father had always been known as a doting parent.

If only Mother were still alive for a moment like this…

“Restrain them. We’re taking them to the church.”

“Understood.”

The soldiers waiting in the back filed into the cell.

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