1 Ch.1 The Punishment for being Just

Season 1

The Tragedy of Two

The kingdom of minestra has a long history dating all the way back to the great calamity of the Demon surge. Ever since humanity united and purged the world of demons, multiple nations had formed. One of the major powerhouses was the kingdom of Minestra. Minestra was located on the far southern side of the continent, it was divided into five provinces each with its unique landscape and production, all provinces were overseen by the central province which was home to the capital of Minestra where the imperial palace was. Another large kingdom to the east named Ryona had constantly engaged in skirmishes with Minestra, more than once had these skirmishes evolved into all out wars. But wars cost money and manpower. Despite the size and wealth of both kingdoms they could not sustain a war indefinitely. Even the constant skirmishes were starting to build up war fatigue in the two kingdoms. The Eastern province was ruled by Duke Zaren, He had participated in the two most recent wars against Ryona and achieved great military feats. Considering this his voice concerning diplomacy with Ryona could not be ignored. Despite the current king's reluctance, Duke Zaren has been pushing for a more progressive relationship with Ryona. Despite his province being provided extra funding for the wars his province is also the one that suffers the most. That being the reason for his pursuit of peace with the Kingdom of Ryona.

Duke Zaren rode to the border to talk to the First prince of Ryona to formally secure peace and trade between the two Kingdoms.

A medium size table and two chairs were set up in the middle of a grass field. It was the first prince's suggestion to have the meeting on the border like this and the duke couldn't help but admire the man for his choice. It showed courage for not asking to have the peace talks within the safety of one of his kingdom's cities or castles, it showed thought to culture having peace talks on the very land where the two Kingdoms clashed. And it showed humility, for not requiring any ceremony or fancy attire to impress or intimidate the other party. That being said neither man was dressed as a commoner, both wore their military dress uniforms for the occasion, it was the perfect balance of respect but at the same time not trying too hard to impress or intimidate.

The talks went extremely well, both the prince and the duke were well aware of the costs of war and wanted to stop sacrificing their people for a practically pointless war. They were able to agree to peace terms and agreed to meet at a later date to discuss possible trade opportunities. Now they were both drinking tea and simply enjoying being outside.

"Are you sure it's ok to do this without your king's absolute approval?" the prince asked after finishing his second cup of tea. Though the Duke practically held the most authority in his province he still had to answer to the king of minestra. And it was no secret that the king cared little for the kingdom of Ryona. The duke constantly pleaded with the king to formally make peace with Ryona but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Therefore the Duke took a risk and decided to take the matter upon himself to make peace with Ryona. Normally his actions would be seen as incredibly disrespectful to the king's authority, some could even go as far as to call it treason if they really wanted to. But Duke Zaren has a long reputation of protecting minestra and its people. The eastern province has flourished under his authority making it one of the more wealthier provinces in the kingdom. Crime was low and starvation was a rare occurrence. But even so he was a subject to the king.

"No, I'm not sure it's ok, but this is what is most important right now to my people. My loyalty lies with my people first, not the king."

The prince's eyes widened slightly in surprise, he had heard rumors of what the nobles were like in minestra, and from his limited interactions with them he found those rumors to be true. But this noble was clearly different, he was respectable and wasn't afraid to take matters in his own hands, but most of all he actually cared about his people.

"That's not a very safe statement to make Duke Zaren."

The duke simply shrugged his shoulders. "I trust that you won't tell him, First Prince.". There was a short pause before the prince started laughing. The duke was an amicable middle aged man whose beard just started showing the sign of age with a few silver hairs. The prince knew better than to judge this man by his face though. He was built like a warrior and from the stories he heard he was a very skilled one, both in sword handling and tactics.

While the prince was observing the duke the duke was doing the same to the prince. The duke was impressed by the young man before him. He reminded him a lot of himself when he was younger.

The prince seems to be a bit wiser than myself but I guess that comes with the burden of being the prince.

As that thought concluded in the duke's mind a pair of knights was running up to the duke one with a letter in his hand.

"My lord, urgent letter from the capitol." the knight said.

"The capitol?"

The Duke quickly opened the letter and recognized immediately that it was from the king. It took a moment longer to fully grasp the contents of the letter though. It wasn't as if there was a lot written, it was comprehending what was written.

To Duke Zaren, lord of the eastern province

Despite your many years of service and loyalty to this kingdom there has been evidence produced of treachery to your king. This is unacceptable and I hereby strip you of your title and officially declare the house of Zaren traitors of the kingdom. You and your family will be executed for betraying the kingdom immediately. May you remain loyal to those that it is owed in your next life.

From Leotin III, king of Minestra

"What the hell is this?". The duke said in a low voice. "Is everything alright, Duke Zaren?" The prince noticed the duke's change in demeanor immediately and asked what might have caused this. "I…" but before the duke could start to explain an arrow head protruded from his neck. Splattering blood on the face of the first prince.

"Huh?" The prince was so shocked he was frozen in place. One of the knights that brought the letter quickly tried to help the duke.

"My Lord!" but before the knight could even make it to the duke he was cut down by the knight that delivered the letter. After cutting down his comrade he took a few quick strides till he was right behind the duke as he was struggling to stand choking on his own blood. The knight raised his sword and swung it horizontally, cutting the duke's head clean off. It was at this time that the prince's guards finally acted and pulled the prince back, forming a human wall between the Minestra knights and the prince.

It was utter chaos. Roughly two thirds of the knights had started attacking their own comrades, while the rest were trying their best to defend themselves and at the same time trying to reach the duke's body. Which was now lying on the ground. His head was picked up by the knight that cut it off, he stuffed it in a leather sack and quickly made his way back to the minestra knights.

Was the duke just assassinated by his own people!? Why!?

"Your highness we must get you out of here. It's too dangerous to stay any longer!" one of the guards was urging the prince to mount his horse so they could leave. He didn't know what was going on but if they stayed any longer then the prince's life would be in jeopardy and that cannot be allowed to happen.

The prince looked at the headless body of the duke and felt an overwhelming sense of regret.

"Yes I understand, let us leave at once"

"Thank you, your highness. Everyone mount up, we are leaving at once!" the head guard yelled.

As the prince was riding away he could hear the confused shouts from the knights behind him.

"You damn traitors! What have you done!"

"Kill them all! We cannot let any of them leave here alive!"

"Duke Zaren! What has happened to the Duke!"

What the hell is going on in Minestra?! The prince continued to ride towards Ryona, his heart filled with unease.

Imperial Palace of Minestra: Central Province

"Do you understand kyle?"

I kept my face down so that he couldn't see the frown on my face, and my hands behind my back so he couldn't see me clenching them in anger.

"Yes father I understand." As though the King could read my mind he began explaining his reasoning.

"Do you know how I've been able to protect this kingdom as its king for the last thirty years? By staying vigilant. The Eastern province has been seeing growth that it has never seen before, growing wealthier and stronger. Normally this would be celebrated and put me at ease...but it doesn't, and for one simple reason which is…"

"Them engaging in trade relations with the Eastern nation of Ryona." I said. My father nodded at me approvingly, "yes exactly, that paired with the growth of the province leads me to a very troubling conclusion." There was a long pause before my father spoke again, "The Eastern province is colluding with Ryona to rebel against us, I hear tell of multiple nobles from the southern province supporting the east from the shadows. We cannot simply sit by and do nothing while this is happening before our very eyes, it is our duty as royalty to ensure that we protect the kingdom from those who would harm it, even if they are our own subjects."

I could barely stop my shoulders shaking from rage.

Protecting the kingdom my ass! You're using these practically baseless accusations to conduct a purge you bastard.

The real truth is that the central province is in chaos, villages are starving to death and the nobles are embezzling money from taxes taking almost half every year. Of course my father, King Leotin is aware of this, he wouldn't be making so much profit from the corruption if he wasn't. The Western province is beginning to show signs of corruption because of the influence from the central province. The southern province is connected to the sea, which means they make profit from the sea trade. They are as self sufficient as the east but even more so since they have not been affected by the wars since the east is one of their main suppliers for trading they have a good relationship with each other. But since they don't have any direct borders with other kingdoms my father doesn't see them as a threat. Not as much as he sees the east as one. The eastern province has been a hot zone because of constant skirmishes we've had with Ryona. But it also specializes in agriculture, most of the wheat from the kingdom comes from there, making it a very wealthy province. The northern province doesn't have the hospital weather to grow many crops but it makes up for that in its abundance of valuable metals in its numerous mountain ranges. Each province is governed by a Duke, with those provinces come multiple regions that make up the province, those are governed by barons. The current dukes of the Northern and Eastern provinces are old war comrades from the last war between the Kingdoms of Minestra and Ryona. That being said the North and East naturally have a close bond, the two Dukes in question are both upright individuals, who have made public stances against corruption. Not even barons are safe from their judgment. With that being said it is very likely that if they were to truly understand the scale of corruption going on in the Central province they very well might rebel. When it comes to military force each province has its own knight order, The eastern province always being on the forefront of conflict has the largest and most experienced knight order. The north with its tough terrain and harsh weather has arguably the toughest knight order. The Central, Western and Southern Provinces all have around the same military strength to each other. But if the North and East were to unite they could very well defeat an allied force of the other three provinces. That is how powerful their Knight orders are. With that being said it's obvious that my father can't allow such upright men to command such powerful forces. It puts his position but more importantly his wealth in jeopardy.

"Well you know what you must do Kyle and you are more than capable of doing it, you may go."

"Yes father, I'll see to it that it's done."

Once Kyle leaves the room the king is alone with his own thoughts. Does that boy really think he can hide what he's thinking from me? No matter, I've already taken separate measures to deal with the Duke and his family. A cold smile forms on the king's face as he lays back in his chair without any worry.