Episode 37 - Assassination at the Royal Palace 7 ‘Their Sacrifices‘

“Wha..”

Breaking the cold silence, the old man stared at the young man in disbelief! His grip on Aeselak loosening. The useless, weak-looking partner he thought was unhelpful, can kill in a single breath. Was he dumb? How was he useless? The cyanide poisoning smoke to knock everyone unconscious was the young man’s idea! How in the world did he ever think of the young man as useless? But that wasn’t the problem. The problem was...

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING? She’s got my Fam-”

“ARE YOU ON IDIOT?” Before the old man could finish his sentence, the young man intervened. Running his bloodied hands through his hair, he continued.

“How could she possibly have your family? A Princess from a faraway country who arrived in a mere 3 days?” He scoffed.

“I was only going along simply because she was so confident in her plans, but what? She kidnapped your daughter? Your family will be buried alive? What a pile of SHIT! How can you even believe that?”

Spitting at the ‘dead’ woman, he looked over to the old man with a face full of disgust. ‘How can someone be so naive?'

“Whaat!!. So you mean....”

Deeply sighing for the pitiful man, he shook his head.

“You got tripped over old man”

“Wait.. So.. what was I”

The old man, overcome with sudden realizations dropped to the ground. Releasing Aeselak in the process. Running his fat hands through his hair, his mind repeating, ‘What have I done’, a hundred times over the course of a few seconds.

“Coughh…. Coughhh”

Aeselak slumped down, along with Ramon, unconsciously releasing her hold on him, bringing her hands to her collar, trying to relieve the pain.

“Aeselak..”

Aedelak breathed out in relief seeing her sister being released. Clenching her hands tightly, she stared at her sister slumped to the floor.

‘I can’t be selfish..’

She was in a position where she can’t go over and help her younger sister. Leaving now would mean breaking her oath to the Veria family of protecting the twins. All she could do was watch over from afar.

“You… are you okay?”

Being well protected from any sight, only now when he was released, did he see a huge red mark imprinted on Aeselak’s delicate neck. Tightly hugging Aernest to his chest, he dared not look behind him and only stared at Aeselak’s shivering body.

Taking his shot of convincing the dangerous man, Ron carefully spoke.

“If you are just playing around, you don’t need the Crown Prince anymore… right?” He hesitated towards the end of his sentence.

Hearing Ron, the young man seized Ron up from head to toe. Feeling his whole body shaking with excitement from the naivety of this noble kid, he snickered.

“Ron, get back”

Louis warned Ron, who was safely guarding the Crown Prince. The feelings he got from the young man didn’t feel right. Everything about the young man seemed superficial contrary to his earlier gruesome actions.

“Hahahaa! You are a very smart kid!” The young man smiled at Louis, but within seconds, dropped his facade, and coldly stared at Louis, continuing, “But hand the crown prince over”

“.....” (Louis, Ron)

Heart pounding fiercely in his chest, Ron did not move away from the Crown Prince. Not only because Ren was the Crown Prince and the future Emperor of Xenperia, but because he was his sworn brother, and his close friend. Although he was 1 year younger than Ren and 2 years younger than Louis, that much he understands. Even if he dies, he won’t hand over and abandon Ren to survive.

“Did you not hear me?” Speaking in a monotone voice, he motioned with his hands, and repeated,

“Hand over the Crown Prince”

Yet, before the young man could get mad, the old man intervened.

“Hey wait a minute!! If lady Aiya is now dead, we don’t need to continue this right?” There was nothing threatening him anymore! And his family wasn’t going to die, so why should he continue this bullshit!

‘Idiot’

The young man cursed through his breath.

“Of course we still need the Crown Prince! Do you seriously think we can get out alive if we simply stop now?” Raising his voice, “We tried to kidnap the Crown prince! There is no way the Imperial family will let this go!”

“....”

Unable to deny the young man’s words, he remained silent. Right... Why didn’t he think that far from the start? When he received a letter from his family saying his daughter disappeared, all he could think about was Lady Aiya’s words of burying his family alive!

Thinking it was her who took his daughter and was currently keeping an eye out on his family, he did as told! But why didn’t he think of the consequences of doing such a thing? At this point. His entire generation of family will be wiped out, not by Lady Aiya but by the Imperial family!!

A sudden realization suddenly hit him like getting splashed by a cold bucket of water... ‘THAT DAMN UNFILIAL DAUGHTER! She didn’t disappear but ran away with her lover didn’t she!!!’

“... Shit!” (Old Man)

“TsK useless”

The young man mumbled seeing the old man’s face rising in anger.

……………

Meanwhile, our MC being absolutely useless….

‘Hey.hey hey, what’s happening?….’

Eugene was being tightly held by Louis, her body extremely crushed, having no vision since escaping the waiting room. All she could rely on was her ears and process all the information using her hearings.

‘Are we really in danger?’

She gulped her dry mouth, trying to make sense of the situation….

…………

Whilst the young man was scolding the old man...

“Coughh---Coughh”

Coughing a little less now, she honestly thought she was about to die from lack of oxygen. Everything was happening really fast, yet it felt like it has been 3 years since she was released. Pulling Ramon behind her, she nervously glanced around not knowing what to do!

“Young master, please stay behind me”

Quietly whispering to Ramon with her hoarse voice, she silently backs away from the old man who wasn’t paying attention to anything, putting as much space as she possibly can between them.

Glancing over at her older sister guarding in front of Louis and the twins, and then over to the kind boy who helped pull her with him when they were escaping, guarding the Crown Prince, she silently scolded herself! If only she was as smart as her older sister, she would definitely be able to do something to help!

‘What would Aedelak do if she was in my steed?’

Biting her lips, she silently thinks in her sister’s perspective. But how was that possible when all the smart genes went to Aedelak, only leaving Aeselak with the bare minimum?! Scratching her head profusely, she gave up. It was simply impossible to be smart in mere seconds!

Ramon seeing all this can’t help but feel an overwhelming amount of gratefulness. Somewhat understanding Aeselak, he sighed in depression. Not only was he useless, but he was also a burden... Patting the silent Aernest on his back, he simply continued to watch Aeselak’s hair getting messier and messier.

‘What should I do?’

Although stupid, she did understand two things. One being, the old man being less dangerous than the younger man. Two beings, she was in the most favorable position to do something as no one cared about her. This whole while, the most dangerous man never glanced at her even once! The old man didn’t even seem to notice her anymore..

Should she run away with Ramon and Aernest?

‘No that’s impossible, not only am I exhausted, that earlier run proved that I can’t run fast enough with 2 kids.’

Should she leave Ramon and Aernest?

‘The moment I do that, they will both be in danger…’

Can she somehow knock the old man out?

‘Even more IMPOSSIBLE!’

Her head almost bursting with intense headache, she didn’t even realize her teeth were deeply sunken into her lips, blood slowly trickling down her pale blue lips.

‘Elder sister! Mother! What should I do?!’

“Calm down!” Using his palms to cover Aeselak’s mouth, he raised his whispering voice. Scared by his normally cheerful sister’s play companion sudden change.

‘Young master?’ Aeselak stared deep into Ramon’s eyes. As if an idea suddenly popped up into her mind, she released her under lips unconsciously.

‘Right! This was the best option yet.’

Carefully looking around double-checking no one was paying attention, she leaned into Ramon’s ears and whispered in a voice only audible to the two. For a short while, Ramon who frozed from her words, slowly but surely began to look determined.

‘I’ll protect him with my life.’ Aeselak thought, seeing the determined look in Ramon’s eyes.

‘But..you’

He whispered, understanding that this was the only option, but...

‘You’re the only one who can do it! If you want to save everyone, your brothers and sisters, you have to let go of me!’

Understanding Ramon’s concern, she lightly smiled, patting Ramon’s tightly clenched fists.

‘Only Young Master can do it’