Chapter 45: Shattered Pride

Late Morning - Mid Spring : Kingdom of Kaelallan

"Take him to a medical ward or something, and when he wakes up tell him not to panic about anything."

Although my words were meant to calm down everyone by showing I wasn't mad, it seemed to have an adverse effect.

Immediately dropping to their knees, the other two knights started begging. "I'm very sorry sir! I have failed at my job and am prepared for whatever punishment Your Highness gives me." The man was trembling a little bit, but we had far bigger problems than dealing with him.

"You're fine, just take a deep breath and get back to your job. These three attempted to assassinate the king so please deal with them. Get general information from them like what they wanted to accomplish and such." I gave laidback orders but my gaze quickly stiffened up. "Just keep in mind, if one of them dies, so will each of you. If you can't get information out of them, I will personally take over."

The guards, both still kneeling, were trembling as they gave fear driven nods.

Seeing they understood, I turned back to the royal family. "Sorry Oliver and Helen, I didn't mean to take over your job of ordering them but I'd rather let you sort two things out first. Also give the knight that attacked me a decent bit of gold and don't punish him."

Hearing my demand, the guards, maids, Michael and even the assassins all froze.

The same thought shot through each of their heads, 'did this kid just give an order to the king?!'

Oliver, though, simply nodded. "Thanks.. so how long did you know those three were here?"

"Since before we walked in, they probably followed Michael inside."

Everyone in the room immediately gave Michael a death stare as I spoke.

His demeanor quickly changed as the pressure was turned on him.

Things didn't end there though. Walking over to him, I squatted down and looked him in the eyes. -He's still thinking too much..-

*Crunch*

The ground beneath him cracked as I increased my aura pressure even more.

He immediately fell to his elbows as he tried to fight the pressure with only surviving still on his mind.

"I'll let you live if you tell the truth, no matter what the truth is." I eased up my pressure a bit so he could shift his focus to my voice. "Did you know about them?"

His pale face immediately shook side to side.

"Do you know who they are?" I glanced back at the men being tied up by the knights. Their faces were bloody from nosebleeds, but their hoods were off and still easily recognizable.

As Michael looked over at them, his expression did not change and he shook his head again.

-People will always bend before death.. that's just how humans evolved.- Releasing the pressure on him, I stood back up. "I'm fairly certain he isn't with them, but do as you may."

Finally managing to sort out his thoughts, Oliver spoke up. "Michael, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I will have to delay your promotion until after this incident gets cleared up. I wont jail you because I believe you are innocent, so please head home. Milton!"

Hearing his name called, a handsome butler appeared in the doorway.

"Please walk Michael out."

Milton quickly bowed his head in understanding before waiting for Michael.

Finally managing to stand up with his shaky legs, Michael gave a bow to Oliver and I. "T..thank you S..sir and Y..your Highness for y..your mercy.."

"Please go home and get some rest, we will send a messenger once things have settled."

"T..thank you.." Giving one final bow he slowly made his way out of the room.

There was a short silence that filled the room after that but Oliver quickly continued. "Guards please take these three to the jail, I will be over to give more specific orders shortly.."

Not having the authority to question the situation, they simply continued following orders.

"Ah, before you all leave. This one here is Vasilias Whyte, he will be staying here for a bit so please treat him the same as me."

They all paused before reluctantly nodding and carrying the assassins out of the room.

The room was finally empty except for us and Lucy's personal maid.

"Vasilias.. let's have a talk for a bit. Martha, please fetch us some bread and tea."

"Right away Miss." Giving a quick nod, she left the room in a hurry.

- Michael Cotorel ~

After hastily being walked out of the palace, I was left alone again.

Alone, anxious, and shaking. -I feel no different from a stray dog..-

-I should meet back up with Udall and Mollie..- All I wanted at the moment was company and comfort along with enough drinks to make me sick.

I simply wanted to forget everything that just happened. -Ive never felt so helpless infront of anyone or anything..-

As the memory of that monster in the form of a kid surfaced in my mind, my face paled again.

As I started walking back towards the slum market, people started giving me weird looks, but I couldn't care less.

Winding my way across the city and into the slum market, I made it to the smithy and pushed aside the curtains.

Udall seemed to know it was me before even looking. "Welcome ba.." Looking up from his work, he finally noticed my sorry state. "W..what happened?!" He immediately ran up to me and helped me sit at the table.

"Haah.. just get me a drink, it'll take a minute to explain.."

Immediately pouring me a glass, Mollie came over and sat down as well. "So I'm guessing the meeting didn't go well.."

"It was actually going great for the most part.." Casually reaching out to Mollie, I grabbed my drink and took a large gulp. "Haah… Thank you.."

"So what do you mean by 'it turned terrible'? Were you not able to be promoted?"

"Well I would have but.."

"But what.."

"There was an attempted assassination of the king just before I could sign the last paper."

Both Udall and Mollie froze, immediately understanding the implications of my statement.

"I'm guessing you stopped them?"

"No.. they concealed their aura to an incredible degree.. I had no idea they were even there.."

"Then.. what happened?"

"The meeting was going fine until his highness gave me the forum for the transfer of territory and granting nobility. As I reached for it, one of the assassins threw a poison coated knife from behind me at his highness's neck. Thankfully there was that 'thing' otherwise things would have been worse.."

"'That thing'?"

"It was a young looking wolf demihuman boy with black hair and purple eyes… At the start of the meeting when I looked at him, I felt like I was being swallowed up by the void.. like an endless abyss was going to swallow me up if I didn't listen to him." My face paled once more as the memory surfaced in my mind.

Silence filled the room as I washed away the fear with alcohol.

*Slam*

Slamming the empty mug down, I continued. "He caught the knife and exposed the assassins I had no idea even existed before that.. pressure returned. I felt like I couldn't breathe, my legs went weak and my heart started beating out of my chest. When I looked up, I saw the assassins on the ground in the same situation."

"A person with that kind of pressure can.. exist?" Mollie struggled to believe me.

"Those two instances were not even the worst part, after another series of events he walked over to me and stared into my soul with a pressure so immense I felt like I was literally going to get crushed… Finally easing up the pressure, he asked two simple questions, simply asking if I was involved with the assassins before letting me go.."

There was a moment of silence as Udall and Mollie processed the information.

Udall was the first to speak up. "If he could ask the king to let you go he must have some authority too.."

"Ah.. about that.. I think he is actually above the king in authority.."

Everyone froze again. "Excuse me?"

"After the assassination attempt, the guards came in and one swung towards him. The 'kid' just grabbed the blade and sent the man flying into the wall. After the guards realized what was wrong though, the 'kid' gave them orders and even demanded the king forgive the knight who swung at him. His highness just nodded in compliance after that."

Mollie and Udall went silent and stared at me with wide eyes.

Pushing another drink towards me, Udall decided to move on. "So what comes next for your promotion?"

"His highness said he would send a messenger once this incident blew over.." Immediately grabbing the mug, I took another large gulp.

"Well at least you should still get promoted." Mollie quickly tried to put on a comforting smile.

"Yeah.. we can only pray.."

"Well, how about we play cards like we used to.. to ease the mood some."

Feeling warmth came back to my cheeks, whether from the alcohol or my improving mood, a much awaited smile came to my face for the first time. "Yeah.. lets do that.."

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