A Reason

"How?" Jessica asked, looking at the man lying lifeless on the well-decorated table. The man was dressed in his royal robe, and he lay on his back. Both hands were carefully placed on his sword, which was lying on his body. As a king, only his heir could take this sword, which was only when he was about to be buried. The heir in question prepares a gift in exchange for the sword. The people of Dumbi believed that those who died in one world went to another. So this gift must be something unique with the blessing of having a good life in the next world. The king looked elegant and bold as always, his eyes were closed, and it looked as though he was sleeping, but Jessica knew those eyes would never open again.

"Is this my fault?" Jessica could not help but think about her father's words when she refused to marry the second prince. He had said he would rather die than take back his words. Although she lied to him, there was a common belief in the power of the tongue. It was said that as long as a person took an oath, it would become a reality, so she could not help thinking in that direction.

"We were attacked when we were closed to Dumbi," the king's most trusted aid replied. Jessica was not sure who the attackers were since there were a few kingdoms who were enemies with Dumbi. But she was surprised that her father got hurt and even died from the attack. In her heart, her father was the strongest man.

"Who did it?" At this point, Jessica could only think of revenge. As his daughter, she felt that for his soul to be at peace and transmigrate to the next world, she must give him justice in the current one.

"We are not certain yet, but we have reason to believe that the crown prince of Gousho is responsible," the trusted aid asserted.

Jessica turned to look at him, "why?" She found it difficult to believe the royal family of Gousho in her heart were prideful they would not play such dirty tricks.

"The Crown prince and your father argued. Usually, your father would not argue with the royal family of Gousho, but this time they accused you of being indecent. They somehow learned about your plans to trick prince Etha into marrying your cousin. The King refused to believe that you would deceive him. So he argued with the Crown Prince, known to be petty," the aid explained.

Jessica frowned, she felt guilty for lying to her father, but she realised another essential thing, which was the fact that the royal family of Gousho had spies in the palace. "Are you sure someone is not taking advantage of the fight?" She asked.

"I doubt it; the attackers were members of the royal army. They had attacked all of a sudden, Ramsey tried to shield the king, but his highness did not let him, which led to the king being injured. If the solider had not been so impulsive, the king would not have had such a deep cut, we managed to stop the bleeding, but we did not realise on time that the sword was laced with poison," the king's aids eyes were red one could tell that he was holding himself back from crying.

Even if he was sad, he did not forget to discredit Ramsey before the princess

Jessica felt guilty, but she was angrier at the crown prince than guilty. "He dared to kill my father for an argument?" Jessica's voice shoke she spoke.

"The king did not think much of it, we all thought that the crown prince was trying to warn him unexpectedly. The sword was poisoned. However, there is a chance that the soldiers were not ordered to kill by the crown prince. It is possible that someone wants to use him as a shield," the aid explained. He knew that even if the crown prince was petty, he was not unreasonable

" it does not matter, he should not have attacked in the first place," Jessica said and looked at her father. Anyone who used the sword knew that accidents could happen, so he knew there was a chance that the king could be hurt, but he still sent men. This meant that he did not take her father's life seriously.

"Very well then, since they attack first, the oath between our ancestors has already been broken. The Tait would fight back," Jessica declared.

"Your highness, your father told me with his last breath that his last wish is that you marry the second prince," the aid said.

"What?" Jessica was dumbfounded. She did not expect that her father would still choose peace even after he was killed.

"It is true, your highness," the aid said.

"I will not marry my father's murder," Jessica refused. She felt her father made that decision because he wanted to protect her, but she was not afaird of the royal family

"The second prince had nothing to do with this attack. The late king is sure of it; they both had a private meeting before we left Gousho. I was not in the meeting, but the king looked relieved when he came out. The second prince is very capable, unlike his petty brother," the aid explained.

"I don't care. Do you think the second prince will stand against his brother for my sake? Or am I supposed to swallow the fact that the crown prince killed my father? As his daughter, I must avenge him," Jessica argued.

"Your highness, I am only a messager. It is your father's wish that you live a good life," the aid said. He knew that it would be difficult to convince the princess to go ahead with the marriage.

"Leave," Jessica did not want to continue to talk with the man. The aid bowed and left the room.

Once the man was gone, Jessica stopped acting strong; she rested her head on her father and wept. She cried her pain and frustration. She never thought that she would not have the chance to say goodbye when he left the world.

"Father," Jessica called as she got up and cleaned her tears. "I know you want me to marry the second prince because you want to protect me. But I can not ignore your death. I am sorry, but I will not be fulfilling your wish," Jessica said.

Perhaps if her father had not died, she might decide to marry the second prince since her plans had been exposed to the Royal family of Gousho . But since they have killed her father for such a misunderstanding, then she must fight back. To Jessica, she thought that the royal family of Gousho had spies in Dumbi royal palace, so they should be aware that the king was unaware of her plans. This means that they were only looking for a reason to hurt him.