An innocent life

ECLAIR looked pissed.

Grey eyes identical to Larissa's gleamed with animosity as he took in the small town in front of him. The animosity in his eyes worsened as he watched the villagers slowly start to step out of their houses, faces evident with initial confusion that turned into fear at the sudden appearance of quite a huge group of royal knights.

Larissa bit her lip as she watched the scene unfold in front of her. Her eyes drifted from her older brother to the villagers that unconsciously blocked the knights from completely entering the small village.

The knights wouldn't hurt them, would they?

Eclair descended from his horse and unsheathed his sword from his side, pointing it at the nearest villager who flinched. "What is the name of his village?"

The way he uttered the word "village" didn't hide his distaste.

Larissa's brows furrowed at this. It wasn't a secret that her older brother had a distaste for those considered lower classes but she didn't expect him to show such distaste, especially in front of his subordinates.

"Rinas, sir," An elderly man responded. He was hunched forward, a wooden stick that resembled the one that Larissa was holding steadily helping him stand. "To what do we owe the honor of the royal knights coming to our small village?"

The frown on Eclair's lips deepened. "Sir?" A sarcastic chuckle escapes his lips as he quickly leaves his previous position and in an instant, he was in front of the elderly man and kicked the man hard.

The man fell on his back, his hand losing its grip on the wooden stick that supported him. Eclair wasn't satisfied with that and continued kicking the old man with a huge scowl on his face. "Who the fuck are you calling sir, you ignorant good-for-nothing?!"

Larissa found no reason to remain impassive at what she was witnessing in front of her. A frustrated exhale escaped her lips. What the fuck is wrong with him?

"Sir, please calm down!" Another villager came forward and shielded the old man with her body. She was young, possibly younger than Larissa. Her brown eyes defiantly shone as her lips trembled at the sight of the man in front of her. "My grandfather did nothing wrong!"

The other villagers flinched at what the girl said. Even Larissa herself was unable to stop herself from gritting her teeth at imagining what would come next and at her inability to do anything to help.

"Did nothing wrong?" The tip of the sword that Eclair was holding was now just a few inches from the girl's neck. "Your grandfather disrespected me, a member of the royal family of Idradale, girl!"

The girl flinched evidently. However, the defiance in her eyes didn't disappear as she continued to shield the old man with her little body.

"Are you not going to move, girl?" Eclair asked in a tone that demanded a single answer. "Will you let yourself die over a man on the verge of death?"

"My grandfather is the only family I have left," The girl said. "Without him, I will have no will to live,"

Another villager, a middle-aged woman, attempted to grab the girl's wrist and pull her towards her but the girl evaded. Her trembling figure stood still and waited for the blow of the sword to come.

And it came.

Eclair thrust the sword straight and pierced the little girl's throat through. The girl was only able to let a few gurgled gasps before falling to the ground, blood immediately soaking the space where she landed.

The old man behind her lets out an anguished scream as he watched the life leave his granddaughter's brown eyes. Uncontrollable sobs escaped his lips as he held the young girl in his arms, tears racing across his cheeks.

Larissa tasted metal in her mouth. Her palms hurt from how hard she dug in her fingernails at it. She wanted nothing else but to run towards the crying old man and apologize repeatedly. If only her glare that was directed at her older brother could kill, then Eclair would've been dead at least before he killed an innocent girl for such a small mistake done by her grandfather.

"Take this as a reminder to address the royal family correctly next time," Eclair said before mounting his horse, the blood on his sword still dripping on his side. "It's your Royal Highness Prince Eclair, not sir."

He did not look back even once as his horse turned around and left the village.

For a moment, Larissa thought that the knights who remained would help the villagers bury the body or say repeated apologies for what Eclair had done. It was the least they can do after all, for they did nothing to stop the prince that they were supposed to control.

However, with a whistle escaping the lips of who Larissa can say to be the head of the knights, the remaining knights turned around alongside their horses and left.

Hah. So much for how the royal knights were supposed to protect and serve their citizens. All they did was allow Eclair to kill an innocent and proceed to leave the dead girl in their wake.

It was only when they were completely gone that the rest of the villagers left their previous positions and said apologies repeatedly to the old man, whose eyes remained lifeless as he stared at his granddaughter who can never see the light of the sun again nor live till the end of her days.

Larissa bit her lip angrily as she felt angry tears race across her cheeks at what she just witnessed. Her fists remained clenched at her sides, rage slowly replacing the sadness that she felt at how she couldn't do anything to stop her older brother.

At the realization that slowly ate her from within.

What else have her older siblings committed behind the image of being knights? How many did Eclair kill for such small mistakes of mistakenly addressing him? How many times have his subordinates done nothing but stare at their leader and take innocent lives?

Larissa flinched. Have they visited a town before this one and killed someone else there?

How many times will Larissa have to watch someone innocent die while she could only watch from a spot that hid her and only her?

Using her makeshift cane to steady herself into a standing position, Larissa took one last glance at the dead girl and her grandfather that continued to look at her with grief, and left the village.

It was the only thing she could do after all to prevent more deaths.