Unjustly

Gwen was on Felix's back as she kept groaning in pain. Felix completely ignored her as he conversed with Zack, "Prince Zack, we'll send someone to keep in touch but for now, we'll leave you alone. You should probably talk to the king about this."

Zack nodded, "What did she want me for anyway? Can't her family already rule the world if they wanted?"

"That's true but for some reason, I think Gwen wants to do this with her own people. And from based on what I've seen, it's only a matter of time."

"Considering her swordsmanship, she's pretty terrifying." Zack glanced at the Glimmering Dagger that was strapped to Gwen's waist, showing a slight indent. This was more than enough to break the barrier of common sense for him since all Gwen used was common iron.

"Actually, compared to her swordsmanship, her magic's even more terrifying. Too bad all she learned were high-level spells that she can't even cast without her Death Artifact."

"Death… Artifact?" A very confused expression appeared on Zack's face.

'I forgot that those are cursed.'

"Hah… don't worry about it. Nothing makes sense when it comes to Gwen. Just know that in the future, wherever she goes, trouble comes right after. Actually, if you don't want to follow her then I'll-"

"Mm!" Gwen tried her best to strangle Felix yet her extremely exhausted body couldn't muster up any strength at all. Felix realized that Gwen was still awake and could hear everything, causing him to end this conversation prematurely.

Zack looked at the duo in front of him and finally said something that he had been concerned with for a while, "Felix, do you know about the Prophecy?"

Gwen's ears perked, this was something the novel hadn't said anything about. She wanted to ask Zack this yet all she could say were random noises, essentially gibberish. She was moving around trying to get Felix's attention but her efforts were laid to rest.

For once, Felix's gaze seemed cruel, bringing up his finger up to his mouth, "I don't know anything about it. Do you, Prince Zack?" Despite Felix's noble appearance, the aura of his words clearly conveyed to Zack that he shouldn't speak any further. His once innocent eyes turned merciless. If Zack mentioned something wrong then Felix wouldn't hesitate to strike him down where he lay.

Zack quickly connected the dots, he felt his very soul shiver from Felix's actions. This was a primal fear, instinctual fear of death. "I-I don't know anything. I just heard my father mention it by passing. I was just curious if you knew."

He fully understood what Felix was trying to tell him. "The person in the prophecy cannot hear about the prophecy." If Zack understood correctly then if he ruined it out of nowhere then even if he was tortured for a thousand years, then his father and siblings would still rage and continue to torture him for another thousand more.

"From what I've gathered, it's about the downfall of your kingdom. It's best that you follow Gwen then you should be able to prevent it. Don't you agree?" Felix's words sounded calming to the ears, Gwen took this as Felix backing her up and was satisfied with his words.

Zack, on the other hand, understood it completely differently, "I understand." Felix's threat was clear cut, if Zack failed to play his part in this show, then Jiana Kingdom would cease to exist from the continent. Merely a passing memory in the future. Felix was basically taking an oath in front of Zack that if Gwen manages to find out about the prophecy then the person that would destroy everything was none other than Felix, himself.

Gwen recalled when Jiana Kingdom fell in the novel and felt that this made sense. It was completely telegraphed by an outer force which could've been prevented if they were warned. The citizens were lured into a false prophecy that would cause them to fight with themselves. Causing the entire kingdom to fall by the hands of the citizens themselves. Somehow, Zack's mistake was mended by Gwen's misunderstanding of what the future had in store for her due to her insider information from the novel.

Realizing just how much of an effect she would have in the future, she decided to take things much more seriously. Her current plan was to find out more about the world while slowly building up her strength. Apparently, it wasn't enough to reach the end goal. She decided to start tapping into her future knowledge even more for her own benefit.

'I'm in the dark about too many things. Like why the Mage Tower fell, why Mia was slaughtered by an unknown force, and how the world changes in three years, letting the demons that our family previously blocked let loose in the continent. So many questions but I don't have enough answers. After this trip, I should focus on getting stronger, even… falling in love? Maybe falling in love later on when he's older.'

Felix's voice had this tone of serenity as he spoke, "See you soon, Prince Zack. If it makes you feel any better, she had only recruited two people so far and not a single soldier in the Aria Estate met her qualifications."

Now, Zack's pride was restored, to be selected among the greatest geniuses of the world, this definitely secured his understanding of how truly powerful he was. Although he was threatened earlier, he didn't blame Felix at all, in fact, if he knew that Gwen was the predestined sacrifice then he wouldn't hesitate to slaughter everyone else around her to ensure that she gets kept in the dark.

As Zack saw Felix leave with Gwen on his back, he calmly called in all the soldiers, gardeners, and servants that were on duty this day. As he called in everyone, there were the two soldiers that Zack previously set free, that one unfortunate guard that had his weapon stolen, and the old woman who was snipping away at the garden.

Zack stood in front of everyone wearing his friendly smile, "Everyone, it's truly unfortunate so I'll wait for you to write your wills. I'll make sure your family gets properly compensated and treated well for as long as I live."

"Prince… Zack? What did we do wrong?" A female soldier that just gotten this job and was extremely confused at why Zack just said that.

"We… we will work harder! If it was about those two, we thought that you were luring them, so we let them pass! We won't do it again!" Another soldier went down on his knees and begged Zack for mercy.

"I'm just a gardener… Prince Zack, I didn't see or hear anything. Please let me go. My grandchild's birthday is tomorrow, and I can't miss it! She'll be heartbroken!" The same old gardener that Gwen and Felix met earlier on tending the garden was also begging for her life.

Countless more pleas for mercy echoes throughout the garden yet Zack retained his calm smile, "You have five minutes. Here's the paper. Transmute." The trees from the surrounding suddenly turned into thin sheets of paper while the sap of the trees turned into ink. There was a single piece of paper in front of every person here. After one female guard broke into tears, everyone also had tears running down their faces.

Left with no other choice, they all wrote what they wanted in the short amount of time that they were given. After Zack's internal timer went off, "Time's up. I'll make it as painless as possible."

Previously, Zack had always needed to chant the spell but for this one spell, he merely snapped his fingers. Everyone in the vicinity had small spores inside them that Zack immediately grew into trees, using their own bodily fluids and flesh as the spores' sustenance. Within a blink of an eye, thirty-four new trees were added to the Fairy Garden. The pieces of paper that were in front of these trees were all huddled up by Zack as he carefully read each one, without a change in his expression.

Going back to the castle, he called in for a servant, "Give those names proper compensation. They all died unjustly."

The servant nodded and gave the names to the financial officer of the royal family.