Lilia hesitated for a bit before he responded with a sigh and nodded with a solemn tone, "It did. However, during that time, you and Sebek were both still too young to understand the twisted nature of human race, especially for you who rarely have interacted with other humans other than Sebek's father who is a good human. So, our families and Malleus's grandmother all agreed to keep it a secret amongst the nobles and knight ranks. In public, it would only be known as a grave err of an unknown prison guard, but, in reality, it was an unexpected incident that nobody ever believed would happen. Sebek's grandfather and I both couldn't believe our ears until we went to the scene ourselves. Including the warden and the prisoners, fifty percent of the population in that prison was massacred. The oldest and the youngest. Disabled or not. They were all killed. The warden and a few of the prisoners had their bodies shredded so badly that we couldn't tell who they were when there were still alive. Only a few who survived in hiding could tell us who was the warden and which prisoners were killed. I fear, had they been discovered, they too would've been shredded along with them."
"This..." Sebek was dumbfounded in disbelief upon hearing this.
"The queen told the public that the prisoner that broke out started from the cafeteria because the situation was so horrifying. I visited the prison with my grandmother once after the clean up was over. Unfortunately, that place was still stained with blood that couldn't be scrubbed off no matter what magic was used and, if examined carefully, you could still notice a couple of smaller bones in the surrounding woods. It was a horror scene straight out of a Halloween decoration in the middle of spring, but it was real. The Queen and I didn't dare to imagine how it looked before the clean up began. Those who did required a physician and healers on site for faints and loss of appetite." Malleus explained with a frown, "Because nobody could discern which parts belong to whom, we had no choice but to make a memorial for the warden and guards together and set up individual burials for the prisoner's families to attend. Being that those people were lawbreakers with the most severe crimes, not many attended their burials."
Lilia shook his head, "Let's not forget that, even in the end, they are still living being in this world and deserve a decent burial. Then, there are a lot of guards who required psychiatric treatment due to the trauma from that incident. The entire place required renovation. A week later, the culprit came back in a bag with his limbs broken, tongue severed and will shattered, but still breathing. If the person who did that to the culprit was the princess, then she must've been really angry about what happened and what he said as well as out of her mind. In prison, he was quickly put into psychiatric ward."
"That sounds like the right course of action considering what he did and how he ended up." Silver noted nervously while still trying to think calmly, "But, that shouldn't be the case with the severity of the case. Wouldn't this have been determined with the death penalty?"
"Well, not exactly for that reason." Lilia corrected hesitantly, "The new warden then reported to us that it was because he attempted to take his own life multiple times and his only desire was his own death, but, when they did try to execute him on death penalty, he continued to live and experience excruciating pain while crying out that he wanted to die. It wasn't till a few months later, that he finally showed signs of dying. However, he experienced an excruciatingly painful death that lasted from his last year down to his last moments. By then, he was simply left as a rotting body. During that time, you two had just entered your pre-teen age. As it was a delicate time of your life, Sebek's grandfather, parents, and I both agreed not to share the gruesome details with you until you grew older or possibly never. Malleus and I didn't expect to have to share it with you today or that it had anything to do with the new princess of the fairy kingdom."
"The princess is so bold and ruthless..." Silver frowned, "It's not like the fairies' nature..."
"According to her, she was rescued from a pack of magic wolves by the queen." Malleus responded, "They later adopted her and the adoption process was secretly processed in Briar Valley with my grandmother's help."
"What?!"
"Not just that." Lilia responded, "She seems to be the one watching over the queen's health while we are away and has already urged Malleus to see her as soon as he could. Said that, although she doesn't tell others directly about it, she has expressed how much she misses him indirectly. Maybe it's about time you send more letters to her a little more often? The princess did say that she is not in the position to take work concerning Briar Valley as the princess of another land unless it involved her kingdom."
"I'll... think about it." Malleus hesitated with a troubled expression.
"You're still worried that the queen would be too busy to read your letters? You've had me toss so many away just the other day too." Lilia sighed.
Hearing this, Malleus remained quiet though pouting a little, but the other two could hardly tell the difference.
"But what is the princess doing in Night Raven College? I thought she would be at Briar Valley caring for the queen." Silver questioned hesitantly.
"The letter that was delivered said that she's left the responsibilities to grandmother's head maid and butler so she can help the fairies prepare for the gala." Malleus replied.
"She did try to invite the queen so she could spend time with Malleus, but the queen was too busy and could not attend." Lilia responded, "Instead, she wanted to prioritize with the design of the artifact for Malleus, so he could still go."
"However, she got scolded in the process for a careless mistake and sent Lotus in to fix it." Malleus concluded, "That was our first indirect communication for the first time and the first time we learned that Lotus was borrowing his last name from her. However, it is still unclear why she's helping Briar Valley as well..."
Sebek looked up in confusion, "With how powerful his highness and his majesty are, why shouldn't they try to curry favor?"
For Sebek, Malleus was like a supreme leader that he has the privilege of being the prince's bodyguard alongside his childhood friend. Both were raised to protect Malleus from harm and those who'd try to harm him. However, having grown up around him, Sebek was also well aware that Malleus is very powerful and so, Sebek prides the fact that the royal family, especially Malleus, was so much more powerful than everyone else as he is ranked to the the top fifth person and his grandmother, their queen, the third strongest person in the world. In Sebek's eyes, it not uncommon for others to try and curry favors from the queen and the prince of Briar Valley, which made it confusing why his teacher and his master question this. Wasn't it the same as before?
"Well, if it were the other families than it would make some sense." Lilia responded, "However, there are still a handful of other people in the world who aren't interested in forming ties or getting close relations with Briar Valley. The fairy kingdom especially."
"Lilia mentioned that the fairy kingdom is very diverse like Briar Valley and require to live on mana and magic. They depend on magic for fairy dust which is their source of flight." Silver explained, "Perhaps there's another reason for her actions..."
"Perhaps the reason Sam managed to get his hand on some fairy dust is because of the princess." Lilia concluded.
Malleus nodded, "Even for fairies, fairy dust is rare and only they produce it. Their reliance on it makes it very precious to them. So it is heavily guarded. Perhaps the princess, not only earned her title in the kingdom but also her right to access and utilize the dust."
"The king and queen doted on her that much?" Lilia noted in bewilderment.
Malleus shook his head, "I don't think so. She had told me that she was fortunate her father was a more logical person. If he was logical, he wouldn't give her the title or right as a member of royalty without any good reason. As for her reason of being so close to my grandmother..."
"Perhaps, it's an answer that only her majesty understands." Lilia concluded, "More importantly, we will require to contact her again regarding your magic."
He glanced over to the new magic staff with the green orb and frowned, "We should also let her majesty know of the situation."
As eyes turned to the staff, Malleus and Lilia secretly glanced over to Ren hesitantly. Back when Silver went to fetch Lotus, Ren arrived just after the staff glowed a bright light. The two do not know the reason for this, but Malleus pondered if it had anything to do with Ren or himself. Also, what the princess just said...
.....
"What?"
Xiao Li looked to her with a frown, "You're sure that's it, Peony?"
Her familiar and artifact spirits looked to her in disbelief as she said with a frown, "Yes... That's my younger Sister's staff. Malleus has formed a contract with it."
"Has the staff gained a soul to become a spiritual artifact?" Xing Hui questioned hesitantly.
Lotus remained in deep thought as Zhang Li asked Xiao Li softly, "I've never seen Master so serious before. Is something wrong with this staff? I thought it would be a good thing for Briar Valley's crown prince to form a contract with this artifact? At least, she can trust that he will take care of the staff for her sworn sister."
"That's not the problem here." Ying Hui replied softly and said as if reading Lotus's disturbed thoughts, "To create an artifact with a spirit, it can only be done so through the soul of the creator or the soul of a person closely tied to the staff."
"The creator of the staff was Peony and her elder brother from her previous life while the last owner of the staff was her youngest sworn sister." Xiao Li explained, "Both of which has a very deep bond with Peony."
"I see..." Zhang Li frowned as it down on her.
If either one still lingered in the staff, then it would pain Lotus deeply to see her siblings in so much pain and oppression.