Lying on the floor of one of the bedrooms in the Ilios family's Grand Palace was an eight-year-old sorceress called Mary Ilios. She was a Princess of the benevolent Kingdom of Fos. Her magical abilities involved making her skin harder than iron and increasing the size of her muscles till they were strong enough to allow her soft and tiny hands to crush the skull of a man. Yet, a few months after a comet fell from the sky, she laid on the shiny marble floor of her lavish and baroque decor bedroom, cold, bleeding and dead. Stabbed to death.
"Whatever killed her must've been out of this damn world!" Sebastian angrily muttered under his breath. His face was stern and focused. His sharp and square jaw was locked tight, as he inspected the corpse and the crime scene. He wore shiny plated armor that glittered in the summer sunlight shining through the bedroom's balcony. It was colored a snow-white and so was his quilted silk cape. His sparkling bright blue eyes were focused on the small and thin stab wounds on the young girl's bloody corpse. "I can't believe these wounds are small enough to be from a dagger," he muttered in bewilderment.
"Impossible!" the King of Filodoxia shouted with tears in his eyes. He was the father of the dead girl. "My daughter can't be killed by some mere dagger! She can't be!" The King was fat and small, and wore a white and embroidered baggy velvet top and pants, accented by gold patterns. His wife, the Queen stood next to the King, holding onto him and crying onto his shoulder. Sebastian ignored the King and focused on looking for clues.
He saw bloody boot prints and blood smears on the bed's duvet cover. He was confused by the boot prints that led to the door of the bedroom and unusually stopped after three steps. He was, however, most intrigued by the faint smudges of blood in between the balcony doors. He walked out onto the balcony and looked around. The wall the balcony was on was expertly carved and molded into intricate gothic patterns. Covered with corniches, architraves, arches for the windows, and other elaborately decorated balconies. On this side of the building, beyond the wall, towards the ground, was a moat. "The guest living quarters is on this side of the building isn't it, your majesty?" Sebastian asked.
"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything!? I don't know how they did it, but I'm sure it was my damn Royal Guard! The boot prints lead to the bedroom door, and the only people that can get in and out so easily through this door is them! I'll have them all hung by noon!"
"Woah, Woah, calm down, your majesty. I don't think the Royal Guard had anything to do with this. Look here." Sebastian squatted down next to the faint smudge of blood in between the balcony doors and pointed towards it. The King walked up closer and eventually saw it.
"Ok, there's a faint splatter of blood at the scene of a murder. Am I supposed to be intrigued?"
"Yes, because if the blood came from the stabbing of your daughter it would be opaque, but it's not. It's transparent and faint. This is because the murderer for some reason went out of his way to rub it off of the floor. He did this because the murderer wanted us to think it was a member of the Royal Guard, but it was, actually someone that came from the balcony. These faint smudges of blood were in fact bloody boot prints that the murderer cleaned off the floor to hide their identity."
"And if they came from the balcony, either some hoodlum crossed the moat and climbed up-"
"Or..." Sebastian interrupted. "...the much more realistic possibility being that one of or all four of the dukes, that visited this city for my wedding with your eldest daughter, were the ones that did it."
The King's sorrow and rage turned to anxiety as he wiped the swiftly dripping sweat off of his forehead. "The dukes killed my daughter!? Why? Is it a coup d'etat? I try to be nice to them, yet, this!?"
"Don't worry, your majesty," Sebastian said as he firmly placed his hand on the King's shoulder and resolutely looked into his eyes. "I'll question them and get to the bottom of it. For now let's just keep Mary's death a secret and postpone my wedding with Elizabeth. For now we'll just say Mary fell ill with a severe fever, and that's why no one will be allowed to visit the Ilios family and also why the wedding will be postponed until further notice."
"Th-thank you, Sebastian, your productivity certainly calms me. You've done a lot for my Kingdom, I'll make sure to reward you soon for your help. You truly do live up to your name as the Hero of Fos."
*
Sebastian thanked the King for his praises and left for Elizabeth's room, who was the older sister of Mary, and Sebastian's fiance. They were planning to have a wedding on that day. He knocked on her door. "I'm sorry, I don't want to see anyone right now." Elizabeth whimpered behind the door.
"It's me," Sebastian replied. Elizabeth then proceeded to open the door and gesture him inside. Elizabeth's green eyes were red at the lids with soreness. The neck of her dressing gown and bed's pillow were damp with tears. Her head was constantly tilted forward towards the ground; fearing any eye contact. She wore no makeup as well and her blonde hair was a mess, but that didn't at all cause her to fall short of her title of being the Kingdom's prettiest. She was a natural beauty. Sebastian worryingly looked at her, gently held her hand and walked her further inside. He closed the bedroom door behind him and finally sat down at the foot of Elizabeth's bed along with her next to him.
"I can't believe she's dead," Elizabeth said. "She was the youngest. Something like this should've never happened to her. She was always so happy. So kind and so innocent. She's never done anything wrong. Yet some goodness knows how awful a person decided to stab her to death? Of all ways to kill someone, they stabbed her! I didn't look at her corpse for long, but weren't there more than five stab wounds? How could anyone have the gall to stab an eight-year-old so many times, for what was probably so long!? Not to mention there's also the unanswerable question of how they killed her. So many questions… that are just aggressively, loudly, and constantly racing around my fucking head all the fucking time!" Elizabeth exclaimed until she suddenly burst into uncontrollable crying. Her body fell onto Sebastian's, her hands squeezing his.
"An unbelievably tragic day for sure, but I also believe that she is in a better place now. I'm sure she's, therefore, watching down on us now. Watching down on you."
"Yeah, and I bet she's up there calling me a stupid bitch!"
"What!? How come? Why would she?"
"She was stabbed, there must have been a prolonged struggle between her and the murderer. There must have been some sort of loud noise amongst all of that! How couldn't there be!? And in that case, I'm a fucking idiot for not hearing it! I'm her older sister, and I'm pretty much three times her age! It was my duty to protect her and take care of her, especially when my room is the only room that's next to hers! Not only was I useless in this situation, but what have I even achieved elsewhere in my life!? All I do is wear fancy dresses, wear a stupid crown, and look pretty! I'm the most pathetic person in the whole world!"
"No, no, no, don't let how you feel trick you into thinking things you deep down know aren't true, ok? You have no fault in this." Sebastian said as he gently lifted Elizabeth's chin, causing her mournful face to rise and meet his warm and beaming smiling face. Elizabeth blushed and smiled slightly. Her eyes shifted away from his after a few long seconds of contact. She wrapped her arms around his, tightly, and pressed her body against it and that side of his body.
"The person…" Sebastian looked away and his warm smile dropped into a fiery rage. "... no, not the person but the damn fucking animal that killed your sister is out there somewhere, living happily and peacefully whilst innocent people like you suffer. This is tragic, and it's for sure ok to mourn. But there is no need to worry, because justice will be served, and I promise that I'll die before I break that promise!"
Sebastian looked back into Elizabeth's eyes with a warm smile, caressing her hot and flustered face with his cold and coarse hands. "And then, we can have the biggest and most expensive marriage this Kingdom will ever see, how about that?" Their heads attracted towards each other until their lips met. Elizabeth's small and soft hands brushed beyond his armour, down the inside of his leg, and deeper. Sebastian's hands roughly brushed up her stomach to her bosom. The rugged texture of his hands gently scratched her skin through the thin silk of her dress. Elizabeth wanted more.
In a rush, she hurriedly started trying to take off his armour. He was anxious to get back to the land of pleasure again, so he helped to take it off as well with a sense of urgency. After it was off, they both laid on the bed, their bodies tangled. Sebastian rubbed and squeezed Elizabeth's ass, and she pressed her breasts onto his chiseled pecs and stroked his marble-like abs as they both passionately kissed each other all over. Joyful tears began to drip down Elizabeth's face as all thoughts of grief, anger and incompetence were sucked away from her mind by the addictive sensation of Sebastian's body against hers.
"Never... leave me.... ok?" Elizabeth moaned.
"I will always stay by your side." Sebastian said. "I will love you forever."
*
Sebastian left Elizabeth's bedroom, dressed again, and saw a military general and close friend of his called Emily waiting outside of Elizabeth's bedroom. She was fairly young but well-built and fierce. She wore white plated armor covered with scratches, dents, wear, and tear. The white of the armor was beginning to fade and get scratched away, revealing a dark grey. The shield she wore on her back was half her height. Her sword was of a similar length but short enough to sheathe at the side of her waist. "How's she doing?" Emily asked.
"She's been feeling angry with herself," Sebastian replied. "I'm worried it will take a long time for her to recover from this, but I'm sure it will happen eventually. Would it be possible to stay with her today? Considering the state she's in I don't want to leave her alone for too long, but I've got to go and question the dukes to find out what's going on."
*
Sebastian then proceeded to leave the Royal Palace and went out into the main city. He briskly walked to one of the city's brothels. It was a fancy upscale brothel with expensive rosy red curtains, purple painted smooth stone walls, and polished mahogany furnishing. The hallways were littered with slim and barely robed young and attractive women that were strutting down the corridors with perfect posture. They'd strategically lock eyes with the wealthy and noble clientele that they'd walk past; a demographic that the brothel exclusively provided services to due to their high pricing. He walked inside and asked the brothel's manager for the room of the Duke of Ponos, Fearter Killiam. The manager led him the way there, taking him to the top floor.
He saw outside the duke's door were his three housecarls. They were three young women, barely eighteen years old, yet armored and armed. Sebastian, however, found their armor unusual. Their breastplates were molded around the shape of their breasts, the upper chest area of the breastplate was cut off and revealed enough of their bodies to see their cleavage. None of them had any armour covering their thighs, the only thing covering it was their leather thigh-high boots, and even that only covered the bottom half of them; leaving the rest bare. Sebastian was initially confused, but as he thought about the nature of Fearter he slowly understood and was finally mildly disgusted. The girls, however, began to roll their eyes at Sebastian as they noticed him staring in confusion for two seconds too long.
Fearter then burst out of his hired room, smiling, laughing, and pleased with himself. He was short, plump, his nose was long and sharp and his back was hunched. Following behind him were four other young girls. They somehow looked younger than the housecarls, yet they didn't exhibit an optimistic childish energy at all. They were gloomy and silent, each of them were covering their bodies in thick velvet robes. "How damn young are these girls!?" Sebastian angrily thought. He tried to hide his disdain with a stern and stony face. The stone however began to slightly crack as he saw an uncovered ankle of one of the girls. It was bruised and he saw blood dripping down onto it. Despite the urge, he gulped and stayed calm, letting out his anger via the clenching of his fists and gritting of his teeth.
"Oh, Sebastian, or should I say the great Hero of Fos," Fearter said. "How fantastic it is to meet you again. I wonder what has brought you here today."
"I've come to inform you that my wedding today has been postponed until further notice."
"Aww, that's a shame. Is there a particular reason?"
"The youngest daughter of the Ilios family, Mary Ilios, has contracted a severe fever."
"Awww, that's even more saddening, for such a thing to happen to such a pretty, pure, and innocent sweetheart. When I met her and the rest of the Ilios family, around the time I got here, she was so bubbly and cheerful. Such a young girl as well. It's hard to imagine… seeing her in pain..." Fearter paused and thought for a moment. "Could my wife and I visit? I'd- I mean, we would love to see her." Fearter continued.
Sebastian glared at Fearter, finding what he said slightly unusual for several reasons. "Um, I doubt your majesty would allow visits for now. He'd probably just want her to relax and recover quickly."
"Oh, I see. Well, I hope she recovers soon…."
"Wait, did you just say you had a wife?"
"Yes, of course. I'm pretty sure you've met her."
"Sorry, I forgot. It's just considering how many times you visited this brothel and the others in the city, during the last few days since you've been here, I didn't think you'd have one."
"No worries. It happens to the best of us. Especially when it comes to my wife since in all honesty, it's not like she's particularly memorable is she? Haha!" Fearter squeaked and hackled.
Sebastian didn't laugh back, barely flinched, except the furrowing of his brow. "Right, yeah… so is your wife fine with you coming to all these brothels?"
"Well, yes of course. It's not like I'm doing this because I have any ill will towards her. I'm not hurting anyone, I just want to enjoy myself, that's all." Fearter's smirk dropped to a frown. "Nothing wrong with enjoying yourself. Joy is joy and joy is good, right?"
"I guess…" Sebastian suspiciously glared down at Fearter. "... I do think though, that it depends on how you do it."
"Hmm… I don't know… " Fearter's frown spread into a wry smile. "...does it?"