Holding his sword, Cilas quietly walked through the corridor, approaching closer to the Princess’s room. As one would expect, on the way was littered with corpses. When he arrived, he warily stepped inside the room. It was dark, but he noticed a pair of imperial men on the floor, drenched in their own puddles of blood.

He winced slightly as he took a closer look at the two corpses. They were among the two that were sent to retrieve the Princess. And they were slitted in the throat. It was a surprising way of dying, he expected them to die like any other in a sword fight or anything else. And there were no signs of struggles. Like they were struck so unexpectedly.

Guess Wisterian forces have a variety of skills.

In any case, the Princess wasn’t here. Considering that these two were dead, there was a chance that they failed to get her.

I must find her.

He hoped he would reach her in time. He didn’t want her harmed, or brought before his older brother.

He left the room and walked further out into the corridor. On the way, he saw a couple more of the men that were supposed to retrieve the Princess but were slain on the way. As he went on, he saw his men had their hands severed, stabbed in the head, and then he paused.

There was a large man dead, and Cilas recognized him. He was one of the imperial elites.

Perhaps we underestimated Wisteria a bit…

He surmised that a Wisterian elite knight could have killed him. No one else could have defeated this powerful man. With a quiet sigh, Cilas continued onward until he reached the staircase. Everyone was still fighting.

One imperial knight who had just slain a Wisterian knight noticed Cilas, and he immediately rushed before him.

“Prince Cilas. I didn’t expect you here. Where are your guards?”

“Don’t need it. Are you done with the royals?”

“... N-No. We heard that they have escaped outside and have joined with the Wisterian knights.”

Cilas mildly shook his head, disappointed and surprised. “They got through you? All of you?” It was unbelievable. How did the Wisterian royals survive with all the imperial forces here? They should have even been taken by surprise.

“Y-Yes. But our forces are already on their way there.”

“Is the Wisterian Princess with them?”

“Princess? I’m not sure…”

Cilas felt a little annoyed, but he hid it. “I’m going outside.”

“Your Highness! Please wait until we have more guards for you.”

“I don’t need guards. Finish your task here. That is an order.”

“... Y-Yes, my lord.”

With the cover provided by the imperial forces, Cilas easily passed through the battles and reached outside. When he got by the entryways, he saw more bodies all over the place. And then he noticed a Shadow Order member lying on the floor, dead. His eye sockets were empty… Or rather, it looked like something was pushed into them.

He disregarded it and moved on. But he couldn’t help but feel shocked that a Shadow got killed like that. On the way, he noticed that there haven’t been allies coming this way. Did most of the men already go to face the Wisterian knights? Likely. They didn’t have an unlimited amount of men here, after all. And the others were left in the Wisterian palace to secure it.

Eventually, he arrived at the field of combat. It was chaotic indeed. Watching from a distance, he searched for the Princess. At the center of the Wisterian defense, Cilas saw the royals. One prince, Estevan, was fighting directly, though. But strangely, the Princess didn’t appear to be there.

Are they hiding her?

He walked further and closer, trying to get a clearer look. Again, he couldn’t find her. One imperial knight noticed him.

“Prince Cilas, what are you doing here? It’s dangerous!”

“It’s fi—”

“YOU!”

Wisterian Prince Estevan suddenly charged towards Cilas upon seeing him, but an imperial knight got in the way. Cilas wouldn’t have been able to react in time. He was never that strong or impressive in fighting.

Prince Estevan glared at him with anger. “You did this! I’ll kill you!”

“Prince Estevan,” Cilas said as more knights moved in to protect him. “Where is Princess Estelia?”

“Hah? Don’t even try to pretend. You took her, didn't you?!”

Cilas’s eyes widened.

So she truly isn’t here anymore.

He got what he needed.

“Prince Estevan, you don’t need to worry about your sister. She will be well.”

He meant it to calm and put him to ease, but the prince’s emotion had not changed at all.

“Screw you! I’ll get her back.”

“No, you won’t. But I promise you, she’ll be alright.” He looked at him with sincere eyes.

It baffled Estevan, but only for a brief moment. “No way I’ll trust you.” His sword glowed and he waved it sideways, unleashing a powerful and wide arc of magic towards the imperial knights.

The sheer strength of it made Cilas back away, but suddenly, Estevan leaped towards him. Cilas frantically poured magic into his sword and body and parried the incoming blade. They exchanged a couple attacks, but then Estevan easily broke through Cilas’s defenses.

Cilas gritted his teeth as he watched the incoming blade. Estevan was just too strong for him. Alistor could have matched him, but not Cilas.

Cilas cast a barrier that took the brunt of the attack, but it shattered immediately. Estevan quickly went in for another strike, but an imperial knight got in between them and blew Estevan away.

“Defend the Prince!”

Imperial knights gathered in front of Cilas. Estevan, his sword clenched tightly, watched the enemy before him. Cilas stepped away and turned around.

“Don’t run away, Cilas!”

Cilas ignored him and began walking back to the palace.

“I’ll get you!”

Again, Cilas ignored him and kept going. He understood his disdain. But it didn’t matter.

He reached the palace and saw that the main lobby was clear of Wisterian knights.

“Are you done securing the place?” Cilas asked an imperial knight.

“Not yet, Your Highness. There are still others protecting the palace servants.”

“Very well, take care of it. Victory is almost at hand.”

“Understood.”

“Go.”

With that out of the way, Cilas headed for the throne room. When he got to the grand hallway, he paused when it was so dark, not a light to shine the way. It wasn’t like this last time he got here.

The Shadows must have snuffed the light.

With that in mind, he continued onward in the darkness, but there was a weird smell. All of sudden, when he took a step, there was a faint plop sound. He stopped and looked down, he stepped on something fluid. He coated his sword with flames to shine his foot.

He fell into confusion when he saw a pool of blood. His boot was smeared red.

“What…?”

He brightened his sword a little more and moved his sword further, seeing a bloodied hand. Going further up, he realized it was one of the Shadows, dead.

“What?” His eyes widened.

He waved his sword, and there was another. While the first one was stabbed to the throat, the second had his whole head gone. It was not decapitated, no, it was shredded to pieces. Cilas resisted the churning in his stomach as he watched with even more confusion.

W-What happened here?

He walked a little further, and the blood here was so thick that he couldn’t avoid them anymore. He took in a shaky breath, and he accidentally stepped on a severed hand. He frantically stepped back.

“What h-happened to you…?”

No longer able to contain his swirling and trembling thoughts, he raised his sword and brightened the flames on his blade further. The place grew brighter, and the surroundings became clearer. The walls were smeared with blood. And what he witnessed made him step back in horror, holding back a vomit rising up his throat.

“W-What i-is this?”

How could something like this happen?

More than a dozen of Shadows stationed here, all of them, were killed. No, butchered. One man had his head sliced in two, brain matter scattered all over him. Another had his torso cut open, from the throat all the way to the lower abdomen, his guts spilled out. The third had his face melted, completely unrecognizable.

The more merciful ones merely had their heads severed, or stabbed through the head or throat. However, the others, Cilas even couldn’t bring himself to describe. It was as if a monster had passed through here. Cilas’s heart throbbed in complete anxiety and fear.

And this pathway led to…

“Brother…”

With rushed steps, Cilas headed straight to the throne room. As he ran, blood splashed all over the place, even to his clothes. Brain matter and some pieces of human organs were perhaps stuck to his boots. He still couldn’t believe what happened, what he saw. Who could do that to the Shadow Order? Soldiers specially trained to follow the Empire’s bidding. Where in the darkness they should be nigh unstoppable, even more so when they were a group.

Then, Cilas arrived at the throne room. As he came to a stop, he narrowed his eyes, seeing a familiar girl. The Princess. She was cloaked, kneeling on both knees, her head lowered as if in sadness. In front of her was Alistor, soaked in blood. His own blood.

How? Who could have…?

Estelia heard his steps coming closer, she flinched and slowly turned towards him. Her eyes were moist, and she had a sad expression.

“C-Cilas?”

“Estelia, you’re here…”

Estelia nodded and turned to look at Alistor again. “He’s dead.”

Cilas clenched his fists when he heard that. And he was, truth be told, saddened. In the end, Alistor was his brother.

“Estelia, who did it? Where did they go?”

“Oh, she’s here. I did it.”

Cilas’s mind went blank for a moment. “W-What?”

“I killed him… slowly, in fact.”

“You…?” He couldn’t believe it.

“With my former profession, I should have killed him outright… There is no place for indulgence. But… I just couldn’t help it, you know. But never mind that.”

She stood up and turned towards him with a blank expression. “Hello, Cilas.”

“... You killed him…?”

“Yes. And you’re next, I’m afraid.”

“That’s impossible. How c-could you?”

“It was so easy.”

“You’re lying.” As if he would believe that. There was no way Estelia could do something like that.

“No lies. Not anymore.” She pulled out a fancy dagger from the covers of her cloak.

As Estelia began stepping back, Cilas backed away. Still trying to process everything what she just said and what happened. He wanted to deny it, he wanted to take it as a lie, but what if it was true? What if that innocent princess was indeed capable of doing what she did?

“You can’t escape, Cilas.”

She waved her hand, and appeared from thin air were crimson constructs that flew towards the entrance and altogether created a wall. The ability, and the way she covered the entire door, shocked him. And he was even more confused.

She can cast magic…?

There were never any signs that she could. All she was, all that she was supposed to be, was a harmless, meek princess.

Suddenly, a few constructs clasped around his hands, stopping him from even using his weapon, or go anywhere.

“What?” He looked at his hands before turning to the Princess, fear growing in his heart. “Estelia! Stop this!”

“Why should I? You’re my enemy.”

“You’re this powerful?!”

“Mere humans, it would appear, are easy to deal with.”

“Mere humans…?” He could not understand what she meant. “... The Shadows, back in the hallway, you’re the one that killed them?”

She tilted her head. “Oh, you mean them? Yes.” She paused and smiled. “I have to say, you are way kinder than your brother.”

“And you… You were tricking us this whole t-time?”

“Inciting conflict between the two of you was one of my objectives. And it was surprisingly not that hard.”

“What…?” The way she talked, her face, was too different from what Cilas saw her as. He still couldn't believe it was that same Estelia.

“Conflict inspires division. And it did. Didn’t you notice? Your operation tonight was quite sloppy. Almost like you just sent your men to do the hell they want.” She chuckled. “You didn’t think it through. I doubt you and your brother even discussed it seriously.”

Cilas grimaced.

“Breaking your harmony, your unity. The key to your failure.”

Cilas lowered his head. She was right. While in the palace, both Cilas and Alistor couldn’t stand each other in the same room. Even Cilas hated talking with his brother, and just wanted it to be over. And Alistor was starting to think more of his own self-interest.

And the reason for it all was the person in front of him.

“You lacked careful and extensive planning. You failed to garner as much essential information about us. You even left your brother all alone here, made things easier. Oh well, at least things turned out my way.”

“Estelia…”

“Hm. The idea of the two of you killing each other came to mind. But, I guess that was too much to ask. I doubt you empire royals could commit such action. In the end, you are brothers.”

Cilas bit his lip, he had nothing to say.

“Ah, before you go. Alistor mentioned killing me specifically. Who gave the order? At least tell me that.”

Cilas remained silent for a moment. “... It’s from the Emperor.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“I see.”

“... I didn’t want to do it, Estelia.”

“Don’t care.” She stepped closer.

“I wanted to save you. I wanted to keep you safe and alive. To be free.” Cilas looked into Estelia’s emotionless eyes. It was the truth, he truly cared for her. And he had never felt like this to anyone before.

Estelia paused and tilted her head, as if puzzled. And she spoke in an uncaring tone. “A shame. I never needed your help.”

Estelia raised her dagger.

 

Cilas Alvis Celum Tornridge, a prince of the Tornridge Empire, was finally terminated. Granted a quick and clean death.