“Princess, wipe your hand.”

I received the white clean handkerchief from Vernon.

“Thank you.”

I rubbed off my dirty hand, but I should say there was still a bit of that grimy sensation, I will need to wash off my hands with water. After rubbing the smears from my hand, I looked at my dress, dirty… Not like I had any other choice.

I returned the handkerchief to Vernon. By the way, I prevented Vernon from being seen by Allie. You know, Vernon was definitely there during the torture. I don’t want Allie to panic. Don’t want to trigger her PTSD, I wanted her focus to be only on me.

Besides Vernon, I had my eldest brother stay back.

When Vernon received the handkerchief, I saw that my brother had a displeased expression — no wait, perhaps it was disgust. Ugh, this was precisely why I didn’t let him enter the cell.

“Brother, are you alright?”

“This cannot stand…” he said in a grim tone. “I must speak with father about this.”

Hm, not only disgusts but anger as well.

“I will be going ahead, my sister.”

“ — No, wait!”

He ignored my call and rushed towards the palace. I knew it! I knew this was going to happen! I wanted to palm my face but my hand was dirty, don’t want to ruin my beautiful face.

Brother, how impatient and so soft.

But as my father said, he needed to learn a thing or two from this if he was to become king in the future. This kind of attitude would not do being king.

Guess I’m chasing him down, just to make sure he doesn’t make father do anything stupid that tampers with my plan.

“Sir Rogan you come with me. Vernon and Mera, go take that trey back to the kitchen. I will be going to father’s office.”

“But princess, you need to clean yourself first,” Vernon frantically said.

Oh yes, would not be a good idea to just walk around like this. But Eleden’s already running.

“I will clean myself shortly.”

With rushed steps, I made my way back to my father’s office with Rogan behind me.

“What’s up with his highness?” asked Rogan.

“He didn’t like what he saw.”

“Huh, I didn’t imagine he would be that mad. But, you seem to be alright though.”

“I am disturbed myself, but why would I just blatantly show that, hm?”

“...”

That was a lie, of course, Allie was exactly what I wanted her to be.

A moment later we arrived at father’s office. I opened the door…

“ — That was cruel, father!”

“Oh really? And yet you didn’t make me show you the dungeon before this.”

“I never imagined it would be to that degree. It’s inhumane!”

“Inhumane, huh.”

Eleden was right before father’s desk, the scribes looking at them with shock.

I turned towards one of the scribes. “You, can you all please leave us for a moment?” I asked with a kind smile.

“Uh, y-yes, princess.”

The scribes left quickly and closed the door.

Eleden seemed to have regained a little calm after realizing my presence, and he inhaled deeply.

He faced father. “I never expected something that terrible from you, father.”

“And now you have seen it. This is how it is, Eleden. I am sure you are aware of this, but you cannot reject anymore how this world works.”

“Cruelty is not always the answer.”

“Cruelty often is the answer. Force is necessary for a lot of scenarios. You cannot expect the world to treat you with kindness, and thus we must be the same. Besides, you cannot expect the kingdom to deeply care for one lone prisoner.”

“It’s just one prisoner! One! How hard could it be to treat her better than she is?”

“She attempted to poison your sister, even knights want her to suffer for her transgression.”

“Ggh…” He lowered his head, his face still defiant. “Even so, her treatment was too inhumane. You should have seen her cell, how dirty, the terrible smell, the terrible state she was in.”

“I have seen my share of nasty prison cells, my son. Hers is no different.”

“What else have you done to her before throwing her into a damn cell?”

“Do I need to spell it out loud?”

Eleden curled his fists, his lips pursed.

“I do not like this… If I become king, I won’t allow such a thing.”

Father raised an eyebrow and leaned his back on the chair. “I see… I had hoped you would learn something from this… But you must contemplate this in the future…”

“...Change how she is treated, father. Give the command to your knights.”

“I can’t do that.”

“But why?!”

“That’s because that prisoner is no longer under my jurisdiction.”

“W-What? Impossible, who else could have jurisdiction other than the king?”

My father gazed at me. “Estelia.”

“Estelia…?”

“The power over that prisoner now lies in the hands of Estelia.”

Eleden slowly turned his head to look at me, confusion all over his face.

“What, since when?”

“Just yesterday,” father answered.

“I see. Estelia, can you please stop what is being done to her?”

His tone shifted from forceful to a gentle and calm one when he asked me. How sweet.

“It won’t be easy nor will it be swift, brother. Despite having jurisdiction over her, that does not mean I control the knights guarding her. I can’t just renovate the entire dungeon. But I understand what you want, I will see what I can do, but please be patient.”

“Very well, my sister.”

“Preparation is still needed on my part to change her ordeal. But I must ask you to control your impulses.”

I will have to stop him from causing my heart to jump or cause headaches for sudden things.

“Alright, Estelia.”

“Sit down and relax for a while, my brother.”

Eleden nodded and slowly sat down on the nearby chair.

My father shifted his gaze at me. “How is your visit, daughter? You do not seem as disturbed as your brother.”

“Do I? Then I have done well to hide my emotions.”

“Hm, I suppose. Thinking back you never do much, or just don’t show much. I had expected you would be disgusted about what has been done.”

“... That is not important right now. Now that my brother has relaxed, I will be cleaning myself.”

“Right, what did you do? Your dress is dirty.”

I sweetly smiled. “I gave Allie food.”

“F-Food?”

“Yes, delicious food and tasty water.”

Father slowly nodded, as if baffled by my answer. “Alright… Then, you may go, daughter.”

With that, I left the room. At least I got Eleden to stop bothering me for the time being, but who knows how long it will last. That being said, he was manageable. If he was to be an efficient ruler, he needed to learn how cruel that world was, and when you need to be one.

The world will not always be kind… I mean… look at my situation right now. That was why one needs to play the world at its own game.

I will need to keep visiting Allie a few more times. The look in her eyes when she looked at me… was fascinating. Those eyes finally seeing hope.