The man told me, "It's not my obligation to tell you what will happen to you after this…"
I asked him, "SO WHO?"
He said, "It's my Lord of course...
I heard footsteps walking from outside the living room towards the room…Suddenly, the knights were in their position, like they were welcoming this person...I felt a rush of anticipation as I wondered who this person could be....The atmosphere in the room became charged with an air of reverence and respect, leaving me curious to discover the identity of the approaching figure.
Slowly the figure appeared. I was shocked and dismayed to see who the figure was—it was Connor the Crown Prince, or my big brother. He walked towards us; immediately, the man got up, and my brother took a seat...He said,
"I want to talk with my dear little sister privately..."
At once, all of his knights left the room, but I was still not ordering my own to leave the room. It made my brother say "My sister, can you order your knight to leave the room?" Reluctantly, I gestured for my knights to exit the room, feeling a mix of curiosity and apprehension about what my brother wanted to discuss.
After everyone left the room, leaving two of us alone in this room, I asked him"What are you doing here, dear big brother?"
"I am here just to see you…"
"Ha ha, my dear brother, there is no way, you went to travel here just to see me...There must be a reason, why you are coming here? Especially with those knights.."
"I want you to join my faction, dear my little sister…"
"This little sister is not capable enough to join with your faction, my dear brother.."
He was just laughing, "Ha ha ha ha ha…" and continued, "My dear little sister seems love to make a pun nowadays…" Suddenly, he smacked the table, and said, "LISTEN HERE CAROLINE!!! IF YOU WANT TO STAY ALIVE, JOIN MY FACTION!"
I asked, "What do you mean by stay alive?"
"ARE YOU NOT REALISING IT, CAROLINE? The palace wants you to be gone…"
I looked at him in disbelief, trying to comprehend the gravity of his words. My heart raced as I struggled to process the implications of his statement. The thought of the palace plotting against me sent chills down my spine...I immediately sat down in disbelief and didn't know how to think about this. If they wanted to play rough and sly, surely I needed to play it like that. Realising that there were some assassins that Zoe had encountered before, I asked my brother, "WHICH ONE, WHO SENT ASSASSINS TO ME?"
"So there is someone, who is already sent them to you.."
"TELL ME, BROTHER!! WHO'S?"
"You are not the one who can easily demand an answer right now, Caroline…Look around you, right now!!"
I was so angry right now, furious…Was this really a royal family? They could easily send assassins just for their own daughter or sister…Especially as I became more agitated by his smile in front of me, he could easily show me that mischievous smile in front of me. Whether I was 33 years old in my previous world, yet in here I was still 15 years old. They looked at me as incompetent girl.
"Your offer…What will happen if I reject it??"
He leaned forward and said, "I believe you will not say no to my offer, right, my dear little sister??"
I took a deep breath. Why exactly the reason did he want me to join his faction? "As you can see, my dear brother…I am just 15 years old, so what exactly does my dear brother see from me?" I asked, trying to understand his motives.
He said, "You maybe can fool mother and father about your motive..."
My motive? What was he talking about? He continued, "First, you chose your own servants as your personal maids...Next, you even break the code of knights in this kingdom by assigning a squire as your personal knight and daring to make a new army beside the royal army...."
"Are you here to mock my decision or what, my dear brother?"
"No, I'm here not to mock you...." His face became more forward towards me, showing that smile again, "You are unique; even a fool doesn't have the guts like you to do everything like you did in front of the king and queen...." Suddenly, he backed to sit relax. "But...The most important part isn't here with you..."
"What are you refeering to?"
"Don't play dumb like that, Caroline...You know what I was talking about...My men have seen it..."
He sent some spies to spy on me. What did his man see? Was it about Geri?
"First of all, dear brother...Is this how we treat each other? You sent your spies to keep watching me and got information about what I had to do..."
Caroline's voice quivered with a mixture of anger and hurt as she confronted her brother. The tension in the room grew palpable as the siblings locked eyes.
"You have changed, little one...You are not my dear little sister, like I knew before...Who influenced you to become like this? Is it the squire you have assigned?"
"It's not brother's matter....Whether I have been changed or not, we are still bound...Found out, that my dear brother sent some spies to spy on me, which actually made me angry..."
"Let's cut the chase... I don't care about your own pet, Caroline, my dear little sister, whether which one you want to believe, but the palace really wants you to be gone; you should know what it means to be gone...Your brother here offers his hand to you, Caroline, I understand that this may be difficult for you to accept, but the palace's intentions are clear....By joining my faction, you will have the opportunity to protect yourself and escape their control...However, if you choose to reject this offer, you will be left vulnerable and isolated, at the mercy of their manipulations. The decision is yours to make, but remember that time is running out." I stood there, my mind racing as she weighed her options...Joining this faction meant finding a way to protect myself from the palace's grasp....I looked into my brother's eyes, searching for any sign of deceit or hidden motives. But all I saw was genuine concern and a glimmer of hope. The weight of the decision pressed upon me, knowing that whatever I chose would shape the course of my future. Time seemed to slip away as the words echoed in my mind, reminding me that I couldn't afford to.
"Before I accept your offer, my brother...I need something from you..."
"What is that, Caroline?"
I wanted to take the roots of this estate, find the parents of Aalis and Ame, and prosecute them.
"As you have heard about the owner of this estate and the family who are looking after this estate or the laird, suddenly, they were missing. The daughters of the laird are my personal maids; they said they never received any letters from this estate. After years passed, they received one letter, and it contained the news that their parents were missing...As a condition of my joining your faction, I want to know the ones behind all of these. With my dear brother's power and influence as a duke, surely you can find them easily...I hope too that my dear brother can find their parents alive."
"I can do that...In exchange, I want you to share this crop rotation you use in this village...."
"Sure..."
I got up from my seat and followed my brother to stand up. He offered his hand first to me, I grabbed it, and we shook hands with each other...In that time, I officially joined his faction...I hope this decision was great..
After that, my brother said, "What will happen to the perpetrator of all this estate matter? What do you want to do with them?"
I didn't know about the law of this kingdom, but if it was treason, surely it must be...
"CAPITAL PUNISHMENT..." said me.
"You want to be the one to carry out the punishment?" my brother asked, raising an eyebrow. I hesitated for a moment, considering the weight of such a responsibility.
"I want you to be the one to carry it out, my brother...But I want the location of the punishment in this village...Especially in this estate, in front of all the people..."
"Great...Just wait in this estate, and I will bring you the news about the perpetrator of this matter....And now this estate becomes your responsibility..." He left the room...
A few seconds later, Louis and Elpis came inside the room, while I was still sitting in there...Louis was the one who asked, "What were you talking about with his royal highness, your highness?"
"I'm officially on the side of his faction..." I continued to explain what we were discussing, from the palace wanting me to be gone to the assassins who were sent from the palace until our deal...After I finished my explanation to them, I asked them, "Because the estate is now in my responsibility, can you bring Cail, Aalis, and Ame to the estate?? and I want to be alone for now..."
Louis and Elpis just nodded and left the room.