"…There's nothing wrong with having a little extra, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, I mean…the boss said to 'look' after her."
Everything is still pitch black to Flare as she slowly opened her eyes. Her vision slowly returns. Then, she realized that she can't move her hands. No, her hands are tied, and her armor has been stripped away. Both her hands are tied up and she is only hanging with her feet barely touching the floor. Now, she is only wearing a shirt and trousers. In front of her, she saw three ugly-looking men with swords looking at her. One of them in particular has this lustful look in his eye, which grossed her out. Before her body can grasp the situation, immediately, she screamed for her life. The scream beamed into the sky, canceling the solitude around the house. One of them quickly slapped her face, and for some reason smiled.
"Look at this bitch, she looks like a masochist!" the one that slapped her exclaimed.
The others just laughed at the back.
"Where am I? Where's Uncle Talbot?" she gasped, trying to calm herself.
"Eh? Look at this, she still believes that Talbot is a nice man just because he gave us a warning!"
All of them laughed again. One of them immediately grabs her hair and pulled it, so that she would look at him face to face.
"Listen to me, young lady! Your 'uncle' sold you out! Looks like you have your hands full!" he grins.
"…And I would propose that you focus on other things now…"
Without any warning, the man just grabbed the bottom part of a shirt.
"No…STOP!" Flare yelled.
"Shut up, bitch!" the man yelled back and slapped her.
"Can't you read the situation, little girl? Can't you see your place now?" the man smirked.
"…Hmph, look at the mirror. I see that you guys are stupid as they say," Flare replied with hostility.
"Cut the tough act, little girl. It's pathetic," he continued to smirk.
Flare just continues to look at him with hostility.
"That's right…those eyes, look at me!"
The man puts both his hands on her hips and licked his lips. Flare pulled her head back, trying to avoid it all.
"Good girl…you've finally figured out that you belong to us now?"
However, he didn't notice that the others aren't joining him. He thought that they are letting him take his enjoyment, but he didn't notice someone approaching from behind.
"I always love girls with a bit of meat, it makes it more fun. I'll make you into a woman very soon…" he grinned.
Suddenly, something just flung to his face from behind. With no way to dodge, the man who was tormenting Flare is blasted to the wall. Flare could hear something crack when the object made contact with his face, and she assumed that his left jaw is broken. However, that wasn't the case. After the attack, he isn't moving, and blood began to wet the floor he is on. Flare quickly turned her head to face the attacker. The two men who were guarding her are terrified. It is clear when she observes their hands shaking. In front of her, is the man who she once looked up to as a father figure, the man who always spend time eating sweets with her…and now, the man who betrayed everything she believed him to be.
"…Hoh? Sorry about that, punk. I didn't hear that, care to repeat?" Talbot mockingly spoke to the man he just killed.
"…U-Uncle Talbot?" Flare muttered.
Her mind is really confused now.
"Damn it! You rookies these days cannot even do your job properly. What did I tell you?" Talbot looked at the two guards with a menacing tone which shivered Flare's spine before tossing the dead guard in front of their feet.
The two guards immediately freaked out and replied;
"T-T-To guard the princess until the carriage arrives!" they stammered simultaneously.
"...Leave and guard the front door, call in 3 more guards for this incompetency. Can't even leave you to take care of one person without losing your head. GO! BEFORE I CHANGE MY MIND AND SEND YOU TWO TO HIM!" Talbot shouted, scaring the two guards away.
After the commotion, he turned to face Flare. Sighing, he took a chair and sat in front of her with a straight face. When she saw him like that, immediately, Flare's heart rate just shot up. She clenched her jaw, biting her teeth. Her pupils are zeroed on Talbot. Several red lines could be seen appearing from the side of her eyes around both her irises. The feeling of her devotion to him being rejected in one single move just made her enraged when she faced him. She just yelled at him with no meaning, screaming at him, releasing every anger inside her, but the man just looked at her with dead-looking eyes.
"I know you won't hear me when I say this, but…I'm sorry, Princess Flare," Talbot suddenly apologized.
However, it's like he said, her behavior and rage just prevent her from listening.
"YOU ROTTEN JUNK! I HOPE YOU BURN IN HELL!" she yelled.
"NO, EVEN HELL WOULDN'T WANT SOMEONE LIKE YOU!"
"PURGATORY WOULD REJECT YOU AND TOSS YOU SOMEWHERE ELSE!"
"HEAVEN WOULD JUST SPIT YOU OUT IF YOU LAY A FINGER ON IT!"
"JUST BECOME A HUSK AND DIE!" Flare grimaced.
"…I know, I know, but it won't change a thing, Your Highness," Talbot responds to her tantrum.
Flare just groans, cursing Talbot with all her might.
"Well, it seems you've already known about the Husk problem and all. To be honest, I didn't want this to happen…" he tried to justify his actions, but Flare just spits her saliva on the ground.
"Nonsense! Lies!" she yelled.
Talbot just remained silent, letting Flare do whatever she wants from that tied position.
"The carriage sent by King Ragnar will arrive soon enough, and you will be sent back to the castle per the king's orders," he explained.
"You've made quite a hectic mess, Your Highness."
"I've been waiting for this, Flare, for a long time. Waiting for your growth, for your strength to emerge, and the finality of today, tonight," Talbot exclaimed.
"Talbot…why are you doing this?" Flare asked, finally calmed down a bit.
"Why?"
"…My best explanation is, well, money," he answered.
When she heard his answer, immediately, her temper rises again.
"You might now know it, or…maybe, you chose to ignore it. The signs are there, but you never took notice, didn't you?" he asked Flare.
"…Those, children that I 'rescued', I told you that I liberated them, correct?"
"Well, in a sense, they did. However, what they don't know when I saved them is that I am a slave trader. Yes…a slave trader, Princess Flare."
When Talbot revealed his true identity, Flare just snapped. She began groaning and roaring like a madman.
"The foibles of politics can turn friends into enemies, just like when the wind changes. Yesterday's allies can become today's enemies, following the tides of politics. Ridiculous, isn't it?"
"You sold people! PEOPLE! How can you ever look at yourself in the mirror?" Flare yelled.
"Indeed, correct. I sold children, men, women, elderly, even infants…but your dad knew about it!" Talbot revealed another secret.
Flare turned dead silent once she heard this, with every fiber of her being trying to reject that statement.
"LIES! MORE LIES! You're lying!" she yelled.
Seeing Flare's reaction, Talbot punched her in the stomach to knock her out of her tantrum, forcefully.
"You may not like it, but you will hear the truth about your father. IT IS YOUR OBLIGATION AS HIS DAUGHTER!" Talbot yelled at her.
"Depending on your answer, I might even free you from this situation and feed false information that you managed to escape to the royal soldiers…but it must be after you hear the whole story," Talbot suggested, trying to reach a compromise.
Flare remained silent, and closed her eyes, considering all her options at the moment. She is well aware that she'd left Weiss and Boyd, so most likely they would leave her when she ran away. Another factor that influenced this is Weiss's attitude, which she hates. The reason why she went mad when Talbot said he did it for money is because it reminds her of Weiss. After weighing her options, slowly, she opened her eyes and nodded. She made it clear that she is still angry about Talbot, but both of them now reached a compromise.
"On what grounds should I believe you, Talbot?!" she radiates hostility.
"I cannot prove it to you, since what I am saying is not available in any text you'll find in this land. However, you may find it in others, who know the truth about your father, King Edwen," Talbot replied.
Flare turned silent.
"A man, a person, is defined by their ambitions. Before your father holds the crown, all he had is an indomitable will. Little truth is known about his origins, and most writings are fabricated, even I don't know where he is from, even though I was the first one by his side."
"When your father came to this land, honestly, I was stunned. He came from an island further north from this land…along with an army," Talbot revealed the first truth, which surprised Flare.
"With his ambition, he gathered an army and attacked the land, Whitefall was ruled by King Joshua through the monarchy, more of a demagogue. From the people living under his rule, your father's calling is mercy, and people followed his ambition. Together, King Joshua's rule was overthrown. However, since most resources were burned away through war, this act made Whitefall a land without worth. By this time, your father knew that his ambition alone, cannot rule a country. He was short-sighted, and his rule would've ended here."
"Then, came in a warrior from the Elven lands, named Tarron. When he came, all the nobles, including myself were untrustworthy of him, but your father agreed to ask for his help. He knows the risk of getting another race involved, but he did it anyway. Several attempts at blackmail came from the Erythyl, but I was the one who avoided it while the two of them did their work."
"It's…unknown, why Tarron came to this land. Others usually come here to grasp their wants and needs, but when Tarron came, he has none to speak of. Whatever the reason, Tarron served our short-sighted king."
"Tarron's wisdom was like a light in the land. He introduced fertilizers, crop rotation-based farming, banking, and chemistry, which added more splice into magic, mainly alchemy. With Tarron's help, King Edwen is reborn as a powerful ruler. Being an elf, Tarron and King Edwen revolutionized the military with the production of crossbows and elven swords."
"King Joshua died, leaving his daughter behind. Your father felt pity and took her in. He took her as his queen, and she gave birth to your two brothers. Yes, both of them are tied to his bloodline and the previous king before him. This all happened before you were taken in. Notice that when you came here as a teen, you're only a few years younger than them?" Talbot asked Flare, who was still silent.
However, the thought did cross her mind before.
"We'll get back to that later. At this point, King Edwen constructed trade deals with other kingdoms, while Tarron helps to arrange the efficiency of mages, which created the Magic Association today. Upon this, King Edwen hired many mages from all lands to teach the kingdom magic. Yes, your dad made the barren human land a haven for magicians in Whitefall," Talbot praised King Edwen, which made Flare smile.
"However, since metal resources are still a problem at that time, King Edwen sacrificed a whole land that was…rich with iron, bronze. Combined with chemistry, King Edwen managed to discover carbon steel, under Tarron's guidance. Since steel is very useful in the military, like I said, the land was exploited until the people are turned into Husks. But your dad, with his short-sightedness, persisted. The slaves that he captured during the previous war were tortured here to bury the iron out. The bounty of ore is high, so Whitefall was well supplied, and when the ore is no more…King Edwen, left them," Talbot explained.
"NO…THAT'S A LIE! FATHER WOULD NOT…"
"The settlement which the slaves and mine workers lived in…was Crayton Settlement," Talbot added, which silenced Flare.
"All the iron there could not cure the Husk infestation, and so, your dad made a coliseum in Northern Island, the place where he previously called his home. It didn't come to me until he is on his deathbed, that I was informed of his birthplace. Northern Island itself is a place filled with slavery, so he was previously a slave. The slaves there come from all races, from Humans, Elves, Sylphs, and Orcs. All Husks are tossed there or to Crayton Settlement. This for some reason made Tarron furious."
"…And to make it even worse…that maggot came in and destroyed everything…!" Talbot groans in anger.
Flare could see veins coming out of his hand.
"That maggot came in and destroyed everything. I don't know how it happened, but then…your father changed. His short-sightedness became clearer and more ruthless. This…personality would soon be taken in by your eldest brother, Alex. He pushed everyone away, only giving room to that maggot, that fiend!"
"His sudden behavior change made everyone leave him, all the lords, all the nobles that once had his back. I didn't leave, but I hated that maggot! An execution order was given, and all the nobles were executed by Executioner Argo, the one you call The Executioner. Everyone left…including Tarron."
"Your father might be trying to play God since he killed all those who betrayed him. He couldn't take the indignity that he was wrong, his ego might be the size of this land. So, he tracked Tarron, one of his earliest friends to Northern Island, the island that he constructed the coliseum on. As I said, that maggot might do something to him."
"Now…I don't know what happened after that, since your father didn't tell me, all this came from his mouth days before his death during the war against the Demons. However, I know for certain that what happened after that changed him. Somehow, after that, he became…broken. King Edwen comes back from his track with the maggot already left him, only with me by his side. That maggot's betrayal left him all alone, but there are three who supported him," Talbot explained.
"Me, Mitchel…and you, his daughter."
"You might not remember what happened before you were taken, but it was indeed wise of him to block that memory. Without a doubt, that memory will break you, Princess Flare," Talbot added.
"Wait…what? What memory?" she asked.
"I don't know, Your Highness."
Immediately after that, Flare tried her best to remember. She tried her best to remember where she lived before with her mother. She knows she lives with her mother before, but where? When? What memory?
"This truth is maybe related to your gold 'circuits'. I don't know what, but undoubtedly, it looks very dangerous, because it's one of the causes that the war between Humans and Demons," Talbot uttered.
"Causes? What?"
"Remember that 'maggot' I said? He leaked it to the Demons, and also to the Elves, but only the Demons waged war against us. Perhaps the Elves have no interest in it, but the Demons do. King Edwen, Alex, Mitchel and you are the only ones that hold these gold 'circuits', and the Demons want to have them. As you already know, the Demons devoured the whole Orc race, and they are like mindless beasts in the beginning."
"Why? Why would they be interested in it?" Flare asked.
"I don't know, Princess Flare, but if the Demons want it, then it means that you are dangerous," Talbot replied, his tone changed from docile to hostile.
"I suppose this may be news to you, but Tarron means 'Pathfinder' in Elven language," he suddenly revealed it, which again surprised Flare.
"Tarron is a great friend, yet your father killed him, Flare…"
"LIES! IT'S ALL LIES! EVERYTHING YOU SAID WAS A LIE! DAD CAME FROM…"
"A noble line of royalty. Yes, I read too…and it's a lie!" Talbot groaned.
"I have more than one reason to just kill you right here, right now!"
"Your lineage, your father, your magic powers…even Tarron is in it…"
"At first, I thought that I might just sell you to the Demons as a slave, or the Elves despite all their talk about nobility. I might get a big profit from it. Then again, even King Ragnar wants you. Or…" Talbot suddenly puts a knife in Flare's throat.
"…Maybe, I should kill you now. Your existence is undoubtedly dangerous since the Demons want you…"
"You did it all…just for this?" Flare groaned indignantly.
However, Talbot didn't reply despite seeing the anger on Flare's face. Then, they heard the sound of someone knocking on the door in front. The person knocked three times and stopped, before knocking twice more, like some kind of code. Talbot just smiled once he heard it.
"It seems your reunion with me is over, the carriage from King Ragnar has arrived," Talbot smirked.
"Tell them to just come in!" he ordered.
He stood up and faced Flare once more when he heard the door open.
"A pity…I would have wanted to talk to you a little longer."
His back then faced her as he walked out of the room.
"Goodbye, Your Highness…"
Once he opened the door, for some reason, he stopped. Flare is still biting her teeth, trying to suppress her rage. Then, he turned his head to face her one last time.
"...I'm sorry."
When she heard his apology, that apology, for some reason, Flare just froze into place. Why? Because that apology sounded so…sincere, and filled with regret. However, she knew that she didn't have time to lament it since, soon enough, she'll be sent back to the capital. So, with all her might, she tried to break free from the rope that is trying her. Talbot just looked at her before turning away.
"…Haa…I guess this is it, isn't it?" Flare questioned herself in her mind.
Her flailing and yelling had stopped. Right now, she is just hanging like a lifeless body with her knees touching the ground. Her eyes turned dead, unlike before which was filled with rage.
"A person's life is measured not by how they live, but what they accomplished in life…"
For some reason, the words from her father suddenly rang in her head.
"…Looking back, my life is nothing but failure. Compared to the actions of previous kings before me, my acts are trifling. I wish I could've done it better, like when the time I promised everyone that I would become a better king…"
Flare remembered that she eavesdropped on King Edwen and Talbot's conversation a few days before his death.
"Me too…dad…" Flare whimpered.
Suddenly, she just…cried. Tears began dropping onto the floor.
"…I turned my back to the ones that were trying to help me…I didn't hear them every time they tried to face me to reality…Boyd…Weiss…Cellica…"
"I'm sorry…" Flare weeps with a soft stream of tears flowing down her cheeks.
"I swore to myself that I would get stronger…and die…a splendid person…"
"At least, that's how it's supposed to be," she said to herself in her mind.
"…Everyone…I'm…sorry…" Flare just apologized to herself.
Talbot just walked out of the room and turned in the hallway to greet the royal soldiers, until…
…..
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--Image--
https://ibb.co/9nM9xQg - Weiss punches Judicator Talbot through the wall (Kool-Aid man style)
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"…Ho, never thought a 'father' could see his little girl cry…" a familiar voice can be heard grinning just outside the room.
Suddenly, Flare sees Talbot get blasted off of the house with a punch. Although she fails to realize that Talbot had activated his barrier magic – only to fail and get punched anyway. Must have been Weiss. The sudden attack left Flare puzzled, until she saw Weiss, standing in front of her across the room. He's holding a blade in his hand. When he saw Flare, quickly, he cuts off the rope and supported her from falling. Before Flare could say anything, he rested her on the wall, away from the corpse that was there. Immediately after that, Weiss dashed outside before Flare could even call his name.
"W-Weiss?" she asked, but the boy already dashed outside to face Talbot.
When Weiss stepped out of the house, Talbot is already standing…along with 4 golems with him.
"…So, you're the one who taught Flare how to use magic," Talbot uttered.
Weiss remained silent, but his eyes are focused on Talbot and Talbot alone.
"I don't give a damn about the lives you sold to slavery, Talbot," Weiss spoke up.
"Although you have a high bounty in the black market, it's not exactly why I am here."
"Boyd and I managed to figure out your plans for her, though the old man persisted on letting you live…"
"…But, you dared to betray her although she looked up to you. A kid who probably followed your footsteps. A girl who looks to you as a place to confide with…"
"I'm not a nice person, but…I will never forgive anyone who toys with another's devotion," Weiss continued, his eyes getting more focused on Talbot.
"Get lost."
This surprised Talbot.
"Get lost, and never show your face in front of her, ever again," Weiss warned Talbot for the second time.
Talbot just looked at Weiss's eyes and smirked. Flare, who is still dazed by the situation, walked out of the room and rested her body on the wall that is facing outside, where the two of them are. This time, Weiss is holding a dagger on his left hand, and a cudgel on his right.
"…So, it's a battle between hunters. Interesting…" Talbot smirked.
Immediately, Weiss lunged himself towards Talbot with a loud war cry, with two weapons in his hands.
"We'll see who is the stronger hunter, brat!"