Chapter 7: Royal Punishment

[ Graphic violence & gore warning!]

[ You have been warned ]

After the grand coronation that everyone witnessed, Ivery was greeted by almost everyone that was present, which was tiring for her..

When she was finally done greeting hundreds of people, Julian took her down the stairs without telling her anything.

Julian had her stand in front of three people that didn't look much older than her.

"This is Crown Prince Liam" Julian introduced Liam who was sitting on a chair

"And this is Prince Carviel" Julian introduced Carviel

"And you've already met Princess Xia" Julian looked at Xia who was hatefully glaring at Ivery

"Father, why would you make a useless girl Crown Princess of the Lilith Empire?" Prince Liam asked, he didn't know what his father was thinking, he must've gotten hit in the head

"Watch your mouth Liam, she's far more capable than you" Cassandra walked over to the five of them

"Mother..." Liam had no words

"You just witnessed the coronation, she's the legitimate heir of the throne, and Liam, the only reason you're still able to succeed the throne now is because you're male, during your coronation the Castiell family jewels didn't react at all to being placed on you, so know your worth before you speak " Cassandra bluntly put her son in his place, he's gotten to haughty over the years..

"Liam is the strongest and he's already the Crown Prince! How can a female succeed the throne?!" Prince Carviel shouted

"She seduced my fiance and now she's the Crown Princess? I should've been given that title instead, but yet it's given to a worthless vixen!" Princess Xia looked at Ivery with pure hatred

Ivery rolled her eyes, she could clearly see that these three are pompous brats.

.....

"Enough! I never want to hear you three talk about your sister like that again, and keep in mind that all three of you aren't complete Castiell's, and if I say she can succeed the throne she can" Julian's anger was spilling out

"She's stronger than the three of you combined anyway.." Luther laughed as he walked closer to them

"Luther..?" Ivery turned around

"Don't let them slander you" Luther rubbed her head

"Arguing with them won't do me any good, talking with them won't change how they feel about me.." Ivery lowly said to him

Luther smirked.

"Crown Prince Luther, please don't insult the Royal family, that girl can't even measure up to my power, let alone all three of us" Prince Liam narrowed his eyes

"Care to test that theory out?" Luther smiled

"Liam....don't underestimate her" Princess Xia recalled what happened yesterday in Luther's room

"What's the worst she can do? She was a child from the Hollow's Castle, she probably learned some witchery so she could be able to enter the royal family" Liam chuckled to himself

"How dare you!" Cassandra wanted to slap her son for his disrespectful words, but Julian raised his hand up to stop her from acting

"How about we have a little show for our guests then?" Julian smirked

"A show?" Carviel asked

"The four of you go over there" Julian pointed to the center of the room

Even though they all we're confused, they did as requested and walked to the center of the room. Julian lined up Liam, Carviel, and Xia on one side and put Ivery on the other.

"Now prepare your magic and fight, no matter what happens, no one will stop it until your opponent is down" Julian shouted out for everyone to hear

Ivery understood why this was happening, her father and Luther wanted her to show off her magical abilities to put the three of them in their places, to show them that she's above them in status and magical prowess. She smirked at the realization.

"Loki!" Ivery called out

Loki walked out of the crowds of people and ran over to Ivery's feet.

"What is it?" Loki asked

"What other powers do I have?" Ivery saw the three of them readying their magic

"For this situation...you can use your 𝙂𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙤𝙬.." Loki suggested

"How do I use it?" Ivery asked

"Just think about a bow, and imagine it being in your hands.." Loki explained

"..." Ivery took a deep breath and thought about a bow

Her hands flared with a golden glow and the glow materialized into the form of an archer's bow, the golden bow was aimed towards her opponents and in her other hand, a translucent arrow surrounded by a pink glow was put in the bow.

Liam's hands were covered in a bright orange glow and a small golden orange dragon came out of his palms and grew larger with every minute that passed.

Carviels' hands emitted golden flames. A flaming ball of fire materialized from the flames.

Xia gathered a dark green mist and took the first attack with no hesitation, she hated Ivery's guts, she wanted Ivery dead.

Just as the green ball of mist shot out of Xia's hands and in an instant a golden pink shield wrapped around Ivery and the green mist dissipated as soon as it made contact with the shield.

Ivery aimed her bow and arrow straight at Carviel who was in the middle, but she made no attempts to release the arrow.

Carviel took initiative and threw the fireball in his hand at Ivery, the fireball looked powerful, more powerful than Xia's poisonous mist, the fireball hit Ivery's shield and it held out for a minute before the shield absorbed the fireball.

"Nice" Loki commended her, he didn't tell Ivery that she could use her shield to absorb magical attacks yet

"Impossible!" Carviel was outraged, how could his attack fail!?

"Have you two been out of battle too long?! I'll show you how to kill your enemy!" Liam pointed at Ivery and the golden orange dragon flew straight towards Ivery

Luther looked at Liam's attack with a sneer, he sensed the power scale of the magical ability and knew that the attack wouldn't even scratch Ivery's shield.

...

Liam's dragon spewed fire out of its mouth, directed at Ivery's shield, the shield showed no signs of faltering but instead, it absorbed the fire and used it to strengthen itself.

Liam made the dragon charge at Ivery's shield after seeing that it's far range attack didn't work.

When the dragon hit the shield, the golden orange dragon exploded into pieces of floating dust.

Liam's expression that was always full of confidence and extreme arrogance, looked at Ivery with confusion and anger. His dragon had torn through the most powerful armies, but it couldn't hold out against a shield made by this useless child?!

Ivery pulled her arrow back and finally released it at Carviel, Carviel smiled and intended to block it with his hand.

But before his own eyes, the single arrow separated into three, one changed direction and headed straight for Liam, the other went for Xia.

They all were shocked but put up a magical barricade that can hold up against at least ten physical attacks before it breaks down.

"They used the wrong shield...how pathetic" Luther laughed and understood why they thought Ivery's arrows were physical, but the arrows were pure magic, meaning once the arrow reaches them, it'll pass right through the shield and hit them before they realize their mistakes

Just as Luther predicted, the arrows passed through their shields and pierced through their bodies. The arrows went through the center of their chests and disappeared when they exited their bodies.

Everyone in the room was in disbelief, did she really just kill her siblings!?

They all thought they were done for, they collapsed on the floor and thought they were going to die...but how come they felt no pain?

They looked down at where they were shot but there were no wounds? How was that even possible? They were sure that the arrows had hit them...

"You really are a worthless child! Your arrows did nothing! How shameful!" Xia laughed out loud

Xia was going to finish this fight, she held out her hands and intended to gather her poisonous mist....but...

Nothing happened.

"What..?!" Xia looked at her hands and she couldn't feel or use her magic anymore

"What's happening?!" Carviel shouted when he realized he couldn't use his magic at all

"What the hell did you do!?" Liam yelled out in anger and looked at Ivery with malice in his eyes

"Power negation" Loki walked up and said to the three of them

"What?" Liam had no clue what that was

"The winner was decided as soon as the fight started, you three are no match for her" Luther walked beside Ivery

"Why can't I use my magic!?" Xia walked over to Ivery and stood directly in front of her

"I temporarily blocked your magical prowess cores.." Ivery crossed her arms and smiled at Xia

"Return my magical prowess! How dare you insult the Royal Family! Our magical prowess is known throughout hundreds of countries! And you dare take it away?!" Prince Liam shouted

"You'll be fine...so deal with it.." Ivery smiled

"You-!" A vein was popping out of prince Liam's forehead

"She's apart of the royal family too, so how is it an insult? Weren't you three intending to kill her? All she did was disable your magic, she could've easily killed you three but you were spared..." Luther smirked

"But if you continue to disrespect her, expect no mercy from me" Luther's hand was covered with a black mist and the entire room was suddenly covered in black,

His purple eyes glowed brightly in the dim-lit darkness as he looked at the three of them with an intense intent to kill

Everyone in the room felt a sudden sense of dizziness and they were scared beyond their wits, they've never seen anything like this before, the entire room turned black.

Looking outside through the giant windows you could see that the sky was currently dark...although it was just morning a few minutes ago...

Screams could be heard outside, the atmosphere in the room drastically changed, it felt as if you were suffocating, and breathing in the air gave a feeling that almost made them feel empty inside, like their lives had no meaning anymore.

"What is this?!" Liam looked around in terror

"We're all in his 𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙚..." Loki backed up from Luther, he jumped up onto Ivery's head and didn't want to be on the ground anymore, Luther can control everything that happens in the 𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙨 he creates, even the very ground you stand on is capable of killing you if he wills it

"Astral plane..?" Ivery looked all around her and had an ominous feeling...as if something dangerous was constantly watching her...but she was sure the uneasy feeling she was having was the 'astral planes' doing...

.....

"Emperor, can there be a punishment for losing the fight?" Luther's murderous eyes fell on Julian

"Of course" Julian smiled

"Great" Luther grinned widely when he had the approval to deliver punishment to those three

Julian smiled as he saw a piece of Luther's true nature, he spoiled those three too much, they've become way too arrogant.

Cassandra lost all respect and pride for the three of them, even though she didn't think much of Princess Xia. She finally saw how both of her son's true personalities were and she was gravely disappointed in them..

"You're first" Luther's eyes fell on Xia who was standing in front of Ivery

"Wait..Luther, I'm your fiance! I'm a Princess of the Lilith Kingdom, you can't hurt me!" Xia backed away from the two of them

"You must've realized that we won't be engaged for long.." Luther's face was looking more sinister with every second that passed

"Luther..." Xia's eyes teared

"And as for the punishments that I've tailored for all three of you...would you like to see them?" Luther wickedly smiled

"N-No thanks.." Xia backed up

A mirror appeared in front of Xia's face, she looked into the mirror as if she was caught in a trance. Suddenly she found herself clawing at her face, her nails dug into her skin causing blood to flow out. In an instant, she ripped her face off completely.

"Argghhh!" Xia fell on the floor

"Sorry...it wasn't really an option to say no.." Luther smiled

She was in intense pain, she swore she was going to die, she thought that death would most definitely be better than this torturous feeling. Her face burned, swelled and bled, It was so painful, extremely painful, excruciatingly painful with agonizing throbbing.

It came in waves of intensity, it felt like constant sharp pricks, it was as if someone was poking the tip of a knife all over her opened face, causing several burning cuts, the intense pounding all around her face was unbearable..

The muscles in her face were completely visible, she rolled around in complete anguish. Her screaming could make one's ears bleed.

"You're too noisy" Luther looked down at Xia who was rolling around on the floor and screaming in unbearable pain

She wasn't even controlling herself anymore, she suddenly stuck her tongue out and pulled it, she cried and her tears intensely stung her opened face.

She pulled harder and harder until she ripped her tongue out of her mouth.

Blood poured out of her mouth, her tongue was in her hand, her tears endlessly flowed, causing her tears to sting her face even more.

"You're next" Luther looked at Carviel

"Father! Mother!" Carviel called over to his parents

He dropped to his knees and sweated profusely when he saw his parents just smile at him as if they didn't see what was happening to their children..

Before he could realize that he was doing it, he pulled his short blonde hair, he pulled it and pulled and pulled and pulled it harder.

He felt his scalp tearing off slowly, with a strong and quick yank, he screamed as his entire scalp came off, blood ran down his face and the flesh on his head was seen.

He cried and curled into a ball on the floor, clutching his scalp full of all his hair in his arms.

"Now eat it..." Luther laughed

Against his own will, he shoved his own hair in his mouth and chomped down on it, the hair he swallowed was getting stuck in his throat, but he continued to eat and eat as if it was a delicious meal.

"Lastly...you" Luther looked at Liam who was absolutely petrified

"I-I'm the Crown Prince of this empire, if you harm me, our empire's will go to war!" Liam backed away from Luther

"I really don't care" Luther's smile was twisted

Liam smelled an awful stench, it was so disgusting he wanted to vomit.

The stench was becoming stronger and more potent.

Suddenly he felt as if someone had bitten his shoulder, their teeth sunk into the skin and flesh, he literally felt as if small worms were crawling under his skin.

He turned his head to look at the daring person who bit him.

"No...No...ah!" Liam pushed the thing away from him and looked up at it in fear

Its skin was pale with signs of green and brown rotting all around it, it's hair was tangled and bunched up, looking like a nest.

Its teeth were yellow and blackened and were soaked with fresh blood, its eyes were pure white with no pupils to be seen.

Its skin was dried out completely, its cheeks were sunken in and it's mouth rotted off and only it's yellow teeth were seen.

Its eyeballs were popping out of its sockets, and half of its face looked like a skeleton.

The nails were chipped and dirty, white and worn out bones were sticking out its body, it slowly limped over to Liam and fell on top of him.

It unhesitantly dug his teeth into Liam's neck and ate the skin and flesh, Liam howled out in pain and cried for his parents to help him.

More of the rotting monsters came and grabbed Liam's arms and legs, they bit into his limbs and ate him like he was a thanksgiving turkey.

They pulled off his arms and legs and ate them to the bone, Liam was only left with a head and torso. They dug into his stomach and feasted.

Xia was tired of the pain and crawled slowly over to Luther,

"Keeel meeh" Xia tried to speak and begged and cried at his feet, her blood dripping

Luther bent down and held Xia's head in his hands, without hesitation or sympathy, he broke her neck in a painful angle.

Her head was twisted around and her body fell on the floor. As for Carviel...he managed to eat his scalp full of hair but suffocated as he was unable to swallow the hair that was stuck in his throat.

Liam was long gone as the monsters were eating into his torso and biting his cranium.

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"Ivery..." Loki looked down at the dead, arrogant royals on the floor

"Yeah....?" Ivery was frozen, she didn't think the punishment that Luther was going to give them was..death

"Something isn't right..." Loki looked confused at the scene

"What do you mean?" Ivery asked

"If those three died, their souls should've left their bodies by now....their souls are still intact and inside their bodies..." Loki looked for all reasons in his head but couldn't come up with a good one

.

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.

Just as Ivery and Loki blinked, the whole room that was covered in a gloomy and suffocating dark color, changed back to the elegant and beautifully decorated grand area.

Everyone had no recollection of what happened and stared and gasped at the three members of the royal family who were laying in the middle of the floor.

Julian, Cassandra, Ivery, and Loki remembered exactly what happened. Luther brutally killed off Crown Prince Liam, Princess Xia, and Prince Carviel.

As a punishment from Luther, death was the only thing he could've given them.

.

.

Princess Xia gasped for air and sat up, she looked around her and saw that the room changed back to the way it was....

She instantly touched her face and felt her soft skin on her face was there, she stuck her tongue out and it was also intact. She sighed in relief and looked over at her brothers.

Prince Carviel sat up and had the worst headache, he immediately remembered what happened and touched the top of his head, he also sighed with relief that his hair was still on his head, he ran his fingers through his silky blonde hair trying to make sure it was really still attached to his head.

Prince Liam quickly sat up as well and the memory of what just happened hit him, he looked down at his legs and felt his arms and chest.

All of his limbs were still connected to his body, he looked around him and those smelly and savage monsters were nowhere to be seen.

All of them felt absolutely no pain, except for Prince Carviel who had a mild headache. Their relieved faces turned into confusion....didn't they all just die? They looked up at Luther in fear..

"I know you're wondering what happened" Luther said

"Everything that just happened did indeed just happen, you all experienced death for real, but I kept your souls in your bodies and revived you three before you fully died...but that was only possible because you were in my astral plane.." Luther explained

"So you did kill us!?" Liam stood up and yelled at Luther

"Yes, didn't I just say that? By any chance, did those things eat your eardrums too?" Luther smirked

"You bastard!" Liam ran over to Luther and threw his fist at Luther

"Did you learn nothing just now?" Luther instantly grabbed Liam's fist and before Liam could react he crushed it like it was a thin cracker, the bones in his hands shattered into pieces

Liam screamed out in pain, he pulled his hand back and it dangled down from his wrist, every bone was crushed and shattered.

He looked at Luther with hatred in his eyes, even though he and Luther weren't friends, they never had any rivalry for anything, but now that's changed.

He hated Luther to his very core, he wanted Luther dead, he wanted Luther's head on a stick.

Erebus appeared beside Luther, he whispered something into Luther's ears. Just as Erebus finished what he had to say.

Luther looked at Liam with the same twisted smile that could only belong to an extreme maniac. Looking into Luther's purple eyes, Liam's body felt as if his insides were on fire, he burned with extreme heat, he sweated so much his clothes started sticking to his skin.

Blood suddenly came out of his eyes and ran down his nose, blood came out of his ears and dripped down onto the carpet.

Blood came out of his mouth, he coughed as he almost choked on his own blood.

"It seems you have naughty thoughts, you have to be put in your place, little prince" Luther didn't think of Liam as his equal

Luther saw Liam as an insect he could squash with the tip of his finger at any second, to Luther...Liam wasn't worthy nor qualified to be the crown prince of the empire.

"Emperor, I believe you might have to reconsider his title, it's not suitable for someone as weak as him" Luther's cold eyes narrowed and looked at Liam as if he was a disgusting parasite

"I agree with you crown prince, It seems that I overestimated the three of them" Julian nodded and walked away without looking at the three of them

Cassandra walked to the children and looked at her sons with disappointment. They were shocked by the look their mother gave them...even though they knew their mother always wanted a daughter...she still doted on them.

"Mother.." Carviel walked towards his mother and grabbed her hand

Cassandra pulled her hand away from Carviel.

"Mother..?" Carviels eyes teared

"....." Cassandra ignored him as she walked over to Ivery

Cassandra bumped into Xia who was sitting on the floor, Xia was pushed over by Cassandra and she looked up at the Empress with anger filled in her eyes.

.....

She always thought that her mother would've been better suited as her father's Empress, yet her father chose that witch as his official wife.

Xia even asked her father why he didn't visit her mother anymore, she even asked him why isn't her mother the Empress instead of Cassandra.

Julian slapped Xia harshly for her impudent question, he told her that he didn't love her mother and responded with, "Why would I ever love a concubine?".

Xia cried her eyes out, she was even told by Liam that their father loves Cassandra, his father was just fooling around with his concubines, and that was how Xia's mother became pregnant with her.

...

"Brother..why doesn't father love my mother too?" Xia asked Liam

"Why would father love a mere concubine?" Liam laughed at Xia

"Our mother is a highly respected princess in her country with full royal blood, which is a requirement to be an empress." Liam said

"Your mother is from some foreign country anyway, her background is unknown and father just made her his concubine because she's just a pretty face and was pregnant with you, and since your mother has an unknown background she cannot be the empress, you most likely aren't even a legitimate full-blooded royalty, you probably have commoners blood for all we know.." Liam laughed and walked out of the room and left Xia in her room with only her thoughts

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Cassandra held Ivery's small and soft hands in hers and looked at Ivery as if she were an angel sent straight from heaven.

Ivery felt the intense emotions coming from Cassandra and brightly smiled at her, knowing that was what Cassandra would be pleased with..

Cassandra blushed when she saw her daughter cutely smile at her, the warmth and fuzziness in her chest overwhelmed her and she tightly hugged Ivery.

....

After the eventful morning she had, Ivery had a huge dinner with her mother and father. They had quite a few interesting conversations about how Ivery was treated at the Hollow's castle and what happened there.

Ivery told them about the few times she used her magic on the maids of the Hollow's Castle, Julian laughed out loud in response.

She even mentioned how she met Luther, and why Luther killed some of the maids in the Hollow's Castle.

Julian nodded his head in approval to Luther's actions..

Then the topic of the conversation changed....

...

"How do you feel about marrying the Crown Prince of Fresia?" Julian rested his chin on his hand

"Prince Luther?" Ivery was surprised by this sudden question

"Yes, would you like to be his fiance?" Julian asked Ivery

"Yes.." Ivery nodded, she figured in her head that being engaged to a crown prince would be beneficial for saving Inanna, and she and Luther had already discussed it but now it could finally be official

"Very well, I'll talk to the Emperor of Fresia tomorrow" Julian was happy with his daughter's answer, but he already knew she was going to say yes

"Come here for a second." Julian gestured to Ivery

Ivery got up from her chair with confusion in her eyes and stood in front of Julian.

Julian's hands glowed with a red aura and he touched the back of Ivery's neck. The branding mark for resident's of the Hollow's Castle quickly faded away and completely disappeared.

"Alright, you can go and rest Inanna, we have important things to do tomorrow" Julian's smile grew wider

"Okay" Ivery bowed to Cassandra and Julian before she took her leave

She opened the doors and closed them behind her, she was suddenly grabbed and pulled to the side by someone, she struggled when they covered her mouth, she bit the person's hand but the hand didn't falter.

"Calm down" Luther moved his hand away from her mouth

"Prince Luther, why are you here?" Ivery quickly turned around to face him

"I was looking for you...then I kind of overheard your conversation.." Luther smiled

"You..heard that?" Ivery looked up at him and asked

"I'm glad you said yes.." Luther said

"Why would I say no?" Ivery asked, not understanding why he though she'd refuse something so beneficial for her goal

"You seemed to have no good reasons to say yes, since you said that you want to be married for love.." Luther answered

"Yes, but even though we don't love each other, this marriage is clearly what both of us need" Ivery told him

"That's true." Luther lightly chuckled

"I'm going to give you something.." Luther gently grabbed her wrist

When he released her wrist, a black bracelet with a purple gem in the middle appeared around her wrist. The gem glowed and sparkled in Ivery's eyes.

"What..is this for?" Ivery didn't understand why he put this bracelet on her

"It's a communication bracelet, use it if you ever need to contact me for anything..." Luther informed her about the item he put on her wrist

"Anything?" Ivery raised an eyebrow and looked at it

"Anything" Luther smiled

"Even if it's ridiculous?" Ivery smiled back and asked

"Even if it's ridiculous" Luther nodded

"Don't regret it then" Ivery told him

"I won't" He assured her

"But how can you contact me?" Ivery asked

"Through this" Luther lifted up his left hand and on his ring finger was a black ring with a purple gem in the center

"I see.." Ivery looked at the ring on his finger, it resembled her bracelet

"Inanna, never take off the bracelet, since you've become the Crown Princess, and your father announced publicly that you are an Infinite attribute holder, people will definitely be after you...they'll seek to use your powers to their benefits...so it won't be long before word gets out to those people." Luther looked serious

"I'll always be able to sense you and communicate with you as long as you're wearing it.." Luther said

"Do people come after you?" Ivery asked Luther

"Not anymore, they suddenly stopped coming after me, I still wonder why..." Luther stroked his chin

Ivery didn't have to guess why they stopped coming after him....his bloody reputation speaks for itself...

"I'm tired..." Ivery told Luther, her eyes were feeling heavy

"Alright.." Luther picked Ivery up

"You don't have to carry me, I can walk.." Ivery sighed as she was being carried to her room

"I want to." Luther shrugged and had no intentions to put her down, he proceeded to carry her to her room

.

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He laid Ivery down on her bed and put his hand over her eyes. She closed her eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep.

His body was surrounded by a black mist and faded away into the mist and left Ivery alone in her giant room.

....

Ivery was awakened by the sound of crashing glass. She quickly sat up and looked at the source of the sound. Her huge clear glass windows were shattered and two masked guys dressed in black were in her room.

"Who are you!?" Ivery quickly got up from her bed

Ivery sensed a presence behind her, she was about to use her powers to defend herself, but she was too late to react when someone grabbed her from behind her and put a cloth over her nose.

She struggled in the person's arms and she cursed herself for not being strong enough to fight back. She soon lost consciousness and fell limp into the person's arms.

He threw her over his shoulder and leaped out of the window.

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