Episode 123 - The Heart of Promissum

Last chapter: Ario killed by Commander Kal. Commander Kal’s 20 children died in a massacre at the greenhouse. He is suspicious of the Dukes. Confesses to Hypnotic induced lake trap.

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Duke Marleigh and Duke Rodriguez’s faces darkened tremendously as killing intent began to release out of their body, “Hypnotic lake.” Their voice was very low as they repeated Commander Kal’s word. It was so low, bringing goosebumps to all the children.

The more they thought about how they could have chosen not to leave the Palace, the more vexed they were. If something were to happen to the children, they would never, ever, forgive themselves.

Commander Kal raised a brow and sneered. If he thought about it, nothing had been going Zene’s way ever since the Xeperian people arrived. It was not unsound to hold them suspicious. Hence, he decided to believe in his instincts to hold the Xenperian group accountable.

What he didn't realize was that his suspicions were only half right. He was spot on in holding the Xenperian party responsible for what had occurred. But what he was off about was pointing the crime to Duke Marleigh and Duke Rodriguez. The two were as clueless as they were innocent.

Duke Rodriguez looked fixedly at Commander Kal. His gaze stern, but still maintained his guilt-free demeanor.

“You pinpoint this crime on us but how do you suppose we harm your children, let alone kill? Are they not children protected by promissum?” He raised the issue of Promissum to Commander Kal. Promissum is an unbreakable promise and bond that binds the people of Liasel together. This is a fact that will never change for as long as Liasel still stands.

As soon as Commander Kal heard what Duke Rodriguez had to say, he laughed out loud. His laugh sounded as if he couldn’t believe what he just heard,” Protect?!”

“That’s the funniest joke I’ve heard of all day!” he proclaimed with open arms.

“.....”

‘Joke?’ Eugene's brows furrowed. She had a bad feeling. A bad feeling over Commander Kal's next words.

“Xenperia is amazingly powerful! Don’t tell me your Royals never told you the secrets to removing promissum upon yourselves?”

Eugene’s fears were realized. Cold sweat trills down her limbs as she searches Commander Kal’s expression for any lies. However what concluded after the search was a cruel and cold reality. He was saying the truth.

“IMPOSSIBLE!”

Commander Kal smiled at Duke Rodriguez who refuted strongly. He understood by the Duke’s reaction that he didn’t know the key to promissum’s back door. However, that meant nothing to him. He was firm in his belief. Because in his belief, no one but the Xenperian group was able to deduce that the lake was suspicious and that he had the ability to manipulate people.

He turned to Duke Marleigh’s whose expression was calm, rid of anything and a thought arose in his mind. Returning his gaze to Duke Rodriguez, he chose to be charitable and tell him the truth,

“Those who consume the heart of a newborn whose blood is closely linked to the people who drew up promissum during WWII will have the power to defy promissum. United West Liasel’s promissum was made by a blood contract with the Royalties of Liasel so only their descendants can break the curse set upon people. The heart that you consume must not be a day old. While promissum is a powerful force, it is not impregnable. The monarchs of each country are aware of this fact, and you too, are aware of this as well."

At the end of his sentence, his eyes moved to Duke Marleigh to study him. If Duke Rodriguez didn’t know, it must be Duke Marleigh who knew. Yet..

Duke Marleigh’s, not to mention, Duke Rodriguez’s expression was pale. They turned paper-white from Commander Kal’s words. It felt as if their hearts sank to the pit of their stomachs. The things Commande Kal said sounded like a made-up novel, but because it felt so unreal, it seemed genuine. The vicious and disgusting act of consuming a newborn's heart to remove promissum is real.

Coughs, gasps, and barfs could be heard right behind the Dukes. The disgusting words felt like an attack on the children’s ears and hearts. The words said were beyond vile that acid began shooting up to their esophagus, leaving them a sour taste on their tongues. The feeling was especially true to the Crown Prince whose blood was of the Royal Family. His hands unconsciously covered his heart to protect them.

With his fists clenched tight, Duke Marleigh asked, with a lowered voice, “So you ate the heart of a newborn?” His words sounded demanding, as though what he said was a statement. How else would Commander Kal know if he hadn't committed these heinous acts?

‘It’s not him either.’ Commander Kal’s brows furrowed for a moment. He returned Duke Marleigh’s query by glancing at the Crown Prince of Zene, who broke out in goosebumps following his gaze.

Lips tugging up, he turned back to Duke Marleigh and refuted, “No. That wasn’t me.” His words left many confused with questions.

‘That wasn’t me.’ Eugene pondered upon his words in silence. Those words sounded like it was someone else who had consumed a heart. And what was with the silent gaze to the Crown Prince? Was his heart supposed to be taken? Was the Crown Prince supposed to be a scapegoat?

Before anyone could make a move, Commander Kal picked up his flute again,

“We’ve said more than enough. Since it’s time, I’ll play you a little something special.” his words had a hint of bitterness. Possible because all his children were massacred.

Not waiting for anyone to react, his flute began to play music rather quickly. Almost like a call, commanding and demanding something from everyone. When the note first sounded, it sounded like a pure innocent songbird. However the deeper and longer Commander Kal played, the more everyone started to feel relaxed. As if something was telling their souls to go to sleep. To forget all that has happened today and to calm the heart.

Like that, everyone began to fall on their knees. It was an unconscious and instinctual move arising from everyone. Though their brain was telling them to resist, to not listen to the melody, and to wake up, their hearts were demanding the opposite.

‘Play a little something … special?’ Eugene’s eyes started to redden from her unwillingness to concede. His last words sounded more terrifying than the fact that they were now being hypnotized and manipulated to forget all that’s happened today.

Likewise, Duke Rogriguez's eyes were bloodshot. His gaze was unwavering as he glared at Commander Kal. It wasn’t that he was so useless to have not brought any defensive tool, but that what he brought wasn’t working. He had thought that Commander Kal manipulated things with hearings. He did not think of the worst-case scenario where Commander Kal was manipulating things with their hearts and soul. If it was to bring forth deeply hidden emotions, there was nothing he could do to defend such things!

Commander Kal laughed through his flute. Everyone was the same. They will initially resist, believing that their resistance is the only thing keeping them sane.

However, they will soon realize that it was futile because what he plays with were emotions of the hearts. To Commander Kal, this repetitive process was what gives him great satisfaction. Especially the obstinate gazes that will soon concede to him

In between his plays, he laughed, “Do you think I'd be unaware that beyond your soldiers, there are also experts hiding in this room? Do you think I'm a moron who just knows how to hypnotize people?” He snickered viciously. Anyone who sneaked in didn’t pose a threat to him at all. All he needed to do was keep playing, and as long as he is consistent, this game will be over.

‘Not good!’ Duke Rodriguez eyed Duke Marleigh with the corner of his eyes. Their soldiers were holding back Zene’s knights by giving them the silent threat. To both sides, it was a stand-still. That was what they wanted Commander Kal to believe so that the Veria hidden guards could take Commander Kal down when his guards were down. Though promissum will protect Commander Kal, it will not protect his instrument. That was the weakness they wanted to take advantage of.

But…

Duke Marleigh’s brows scrunched as he tried to stabilize himself from Commander Kal’s music. His gaze darkened as he focused on every detail of the room, ‘The hidden guards are most likely down as well.’ he concluded from his observations.

He had underestimated Commander Kal. It wasn’t that he was beyond powerful that they couldn’t touch him but that his plans were perfect to the point where they couldn’t do anything. This audience room was big and empty. It was like Xenperia’s audience room which was why he didn’t think anything of it, however, he should’ve been suspicious of the room from the start! If even a slight movement reverberated, how else could Commander Kal’s music not reach every corner of this room? They had been trapped from the very step they took into this room! The small tricks they set up were completely exposed!

“....Ha.” Eugene breathed hard as she sweated from her sweat glands. Her eyes would sometimes roll back as if they wanted to cease their functions. Staying awake whilst resisting the music was harder than any training she did! Prolonging her will to not give up felt incredibly terrible and awful. It felt as if she was constantly falling into a black hole that never ends.

Just then, a scene came to her mind like a deja vu.

There was a similar scene in the drama she had acted in before. In the drama series, there was a villainous doctor who could manipulate people’s memories and have them tell their deepest darkest secrets. The secrets would be used to blackmail them into giving the doctor millions of American dollars. The main character, whom a junior of hers played, accidentally bit her lips during the mind control, successfully escaping from the evil doctor.

‘And then I got punched by the main character who escaped from my clutches in the drama…’ Eugene nodded silently before coming back to mother earth again.

‘Wouldn’t that work? A physical pain that will shock your body?’ Though she wasn’t sure if her script could be used in this scenario, it wasn’t harmful to try.

Eugene started by slowly looking around the room to see if there was anything she could use to hurt herself with. Anything at all. Her eyes moved from the room to Louis’s waist.

A sword was hanging from the side of his pants! She quickly got excited, but soon her excitement diminished into nothingness. There was a big problem. A major problem at that!

“.....” She couldn’t move a single centimeter! Her body was stuck to the ground, heavy! The only thing she could do was roll her eyes and move her tongue! ‘Tongue?’ she blinked. Without hesitation, she bit the inner part of her cheeks until she could taste iron in her mouth.

‘... Is it working? Is pain the trick? Should I bite my tongue?’ She released her inner cheeks and gave her tongue a bite. It didn’t take a second before her limbs could start moving again!

Breathing out in relief, she then moved her eyes to the person closest to her, The Crown Prince. The Crown Prince had his eyes and fists clenched tightly as he was breathing in and out hard.

Eugene took a mini peek at Commander Kal, and after confirming Commander Kal was focusing on his flute, she whispered, “Bite your tongue.”

Unbeknownst to her, even breathing was hard to manage, let alone biting his tongue!

“Bite your tongue.” Seeing him not move, Eugene repeated.

Sweat dripped down from the Crown Prince’s forehead, ‘Can-t’. His body was drenched from sweat, this could be seen by looking at his clothes. The Crown Prince heaved as he tried to keep a straight mind. Knowing that he could no longer keep his conscious, he gritted his teeth with all his strength and asked,

“You..r sis..ter.. where.” -Where is your sister?

Eugene paused slightly. ‘My sister?’ Why her all of a sudden? But now that he mentioned Euria, she found out that she had completely forgotten about her and the fact that she wasn’t here. Her thoughts about Euria’s well-being quickly dissipated as she remembered Euria’s note. Laughing slightly from the fact that Euria was lucky enough to evade this situation, she confessed to the Crown Prince,

“She went on an adventure. Her adventure involves ‘stealing’ His highness’s eggs from the Royal coup!” her tone was light when she finished.

The Crown Prince blinked, speechless, “......” His lips curved up slightly. Following that, his face turned paper pale and he soon succumbed to the melody of Commander Kal; his question mustered up every strength he had left.

THUD-

The Crown Prince fell, face first. This was soon followed by Louis and Con.

Eugene jolted as her eyes widened in horror! “Louis! Crown Prince! Con!” She half whispered-half shouted.

The people she least expected to fall fell first!? While she didn’t know whether the Crown Prince was strong, she knew for a fact that Louis and Con were the strongest from the group of children! It didn’t make sense for Louis to fall first! Even if he did, it would’ve been the Dukes and the soldiers who succumbed first, not Louis!

So how?

The falls weren't soft, but loud. The two Dukes turned around to look and immediately realized what Commander Kal meant by playing a ‘little something special’. Inexplicable anger flashed by their eyes, confusing Eugene.

‘There’s more to their anger…’ Eugene swallowed the bits of blood inside her mouth as her eyes narrowed down.

“Hahahaha!” Commander Kal’s laugh echoed throughout the room.

‘The demon of the hearts.’ Duke Marleigh glared murderously at Commander Kal. If the little special thing Commander Kal mentioned was manipulating the demons of the hearts, it wasn’t shocking that Louis fell first. The inner demons in Louis' heart were something he and his group of friends paid careful attention to. This was something only known to them, and Louis, who was the center of ‘that’ incident. The anger Duke Marleigh felt right now was immense.

“VILE!” Duke Rodriguez roared, the veins on his forehead threatened to burst as he glared menacingly at Commander Kal.

Commander Kal licked his tin lips lightly. From how clever the Dukes had been, he knew that they had a subtle hint over what he just played.

“Is it not truly special? With just two tunes added to this melody, the song becomes a nightmare to the listeners. Whatever their worst fear is, this song will bring it out and dramatize it by trapping them in their worst nightmare. The three fell first only because their fear is stronger than others.” He said as his lips curved up into a mocking smile.

“It won’t be long until it’s your turn. After all, everyone has a thing or two they fear. Even if it’s not your worst fear, with this song, it will become your nightmare.”

Not even a second after he finished speaking, Dea, Arie, Aren, and Argen fell. Some soldiers, even Zene’s knights fell along with them. Ramon and Ron soon fell, this was followed by Aedelak and Aeselak who fell a minute after them.

Only Commander Kal, Eugene, Aernest, Duke Marleigh, and Duke Rodriguez were left standing in the spacious audience room.

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