[Fiore's castle, Zack's room]
Kate knew something was wrong once Zack came back. He did not mention anything about his visit with Jai. Once he came back, he just laid on his bed with his right arm across slung over his eyes. Kate wanted to call out to him and asked him about the visit, 'was that really Erik?'
Yet, she could already tell that, as of now, it would be a very bad subject to talk about.
Without saying anything, she went over to her brother and sat on the edge of his bed. She did not know what happened just now, but the one thing that she knew was that Zack, her brother, was not in the best mood. She grabbed his left hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, hinting to him that she was there next to him and whenever he was ready to talk, he could.
[Fiore's castle, The King's office]
"Emily, are you sure you want to do this?" Jai asked as the three of them stood outside the king's office.
"Yeah, I don't think there's any other choice. I really don't think that Erik should be executed. He did many bad deeds, but letting him die without knowing his reason for him lying just doesn't sit well with me." Emily replied as she placed her hand on the doorknob. "...I really want to know the reason at the very least."
And without warning, she turned the doorknob, pushed the door open and walked right in.
"Oh look, she did it. There's no way of stopping her." Ben said as he grinned charmingly, "Well, that's our princess for you."
This was her first time in her dad's office, the first thing she noticed was that it was extremely neat. Everything was in place. Every book on the shelves was placed based on its size and every piece of paper was stacked nicely in orderly piles.
Suddenly, she heard her mom, "What are you doing here, sweetie?"
She almost jumped when she heard her, she almost forgotten that she came here to make a request with her parents. Emily turned her head and realised that her mother was casually sitting down on a leather settee with a teacup in one hand. She was too preoccupied with her surroundings that she did not notice her parents.
The king completed his last few works and placed his quill back into a bottle of ink, before looking up at her.
Just as she met her father's gaze, she felt a little afraid. She knew that her dad was not going to scold her or anything. He just had a resting bitc-- scary gaze. She cleared her throat and started, "The phantom member, Erik, lied." Those were the only words she could manage to force out.
The king leaned back onto his seat and replied, "Yes, I know. Jai told me everything."
"So, dad does know about it... And he STILL WANTS TO EXECUTE ERIK?"
"I don't think that's all you want to tell us, right?" Her mother called her out easily.
"Er... yeah... I want to know if..." She paused for a few seconds, hesitating to say those words.
However, she did. She took a deep breath and completed her sentence, "Like, not execute him. I know, it might seem like an absurd request, but if you knew he lied and he was indeed involved with the Jackson Clan, aren't you going against your words? You said that he will not be executed if he was involved with the Jackson Clan."
After all those words escaped her mouth, she immediately regretted it. She dropped her head as if she found a new fascination for carpeted floors, she did not dare to see her father's reaction. "Is he going to be mad that I go against his idea to execute Erik? Will he straight up reject my request? ...What is he going to do?"
Just then, her mother let out a giggle. "You came all the way just to say all this? As expected, you're adorable."
"Yeah, I could agree on that." Ben abruptly slide into the conversation. Again, Emily forgot that Ben and Jai was there as well.
"Regarding that," Just as the king spoke, everyone had their eyes on him. "I'm sorry, Emily, but I can't do that. Even though I did say that he will be executed if he wasn't involved with the Jackson Clan, but I also did say that the decision of whether he was involved or not depends on Zack. If he said Erik was not involved, then he was not involved. In this case, Zack said that he wasn't. So, he will be executed."
Emily's heart sank when she heard that, "Is... there no way of saving him?"
"I'm afraid, as of now, no." Her mother replied.
Hearing that made her felt discouraged, she wanted to do something for Zack, a friend of hers. Yet, she could not. Even though it was true that Zack was the one who said that Erik was not involved with them, she was sure that he did not full-heartedly want that. With Erik dead, Zack's questions would never be answered and he will indirectly become a murder. That, to her, just wasn't right.
Then, it struck her.
"Wait a sec, whether Erik is involved or not depends on Zack. If I'm able to convince Zack to say that Erik was involved with them, then he will be freed. So, that was what mom meant by 'as of now'" She then looked over to her mother and saw her giving her a wink. She quickly mouthed the words 'Thank you' and returned her gaze to her father.
"Dad, if Zack says that Erik is involved, the execution will be cancelled, right?" Emily asked while she looked at her father in the eye.
"Yeah, but you shouldn't bother speaking to him now. He isn't in the best mood and what you said to him probably wouldn't change his mind. He is too overwhelmed with his emotions." The king explained as he picked up his quill and continued with his work.
"Well, that just means that I need to come up with better reasoning to convince Zack, right? It isn't impossible." She said as she let out a grin, before looking at Jai to ask him a question, "Jai, can you, by any chance, bring me to Erik?"
The room went completely silent for a second. That was something that Emily, herself, knew was an insane request. Wanting, to visit a person whose main purpose was to hunt and capture her, isn't the greatest idea.
"I... Y—Your majesty?" Jai stuttered as he was asking for permission. Jai was always calm, but sometimes Emily would come up with things that really messed up his usual calm facade.
The king sighed and replied, "You can go, but Jai will stay in the cell with you." He then instructed his right-hand man, "And Jai, if Erik comes too close to Emily, be on guard."
Her Father said those last few words slowly, emphasising them.
Jai bowed with respect and replied, "Understood your majesty."
Afterwards, Jai and Emily left the office to go to the dungeon as Ben tagged along, wanting to see what other crazy things the fourteenth Fiore's princess would do next.
"Anderson, she really is like you." The queen said as she gave him a charming grin.
"Is that an insult or a compliment?" The king asked back, which was rare, considering the fact that he was not the kind who talks much unless it was necessary.
"A compliment, of course. It's that desire to do things out-of-the-box that drawn me to you in the first place." The queen explained as she flashed him her signature smile.
"Oh, I see." That was all he said before he truly got back to work.