The broken nail pierced his skin, and the brutal force on the pliers cracked the distal phalanx, distorting the tip of his finger.

"Aaaaa..."

The echo of his screams filled the gloomy torture room once again. He was in pain, panting like a wounded deer in the paws of a predator.

The blood dripping from his forehead traced his nose and sucked into his mouth while exhaling and inhaling heavily. He licked the drop of blood on his lips. Closing his mouth, he took a deep breath. He scoffed and looked away from Alexandro, spitting the red saliva on the ground.

"You will go to hell." He said.

"My legs are already in hell. I will do the courtesy of showing you what it feels like in hell." Alexandro said. A crackling sound followed, cracking the middle phalanx of his middle finger.

Mr. August couldn't control his tears, and with eternal screams that can bring shivers down the spine of any man, he cried in pain.

Alexandro sneered.

"You thought you could enter into my territory and get close to my wife, and I will just see from aside? Now tell me, who sent you?"

Mr. August gulped his saliva hard, and with his blood-red eyes, he stared at Alexandro for some time.

"Look at you, acting all high and mighty when you are just a traitor who wants to destroy the peace in the empire. You are the evil planning to murder the emperor. That's what you are. "

"Rubbish!"

Alexandro plunged from the chair he was sitting in. His eyebrows frowned. His tensed lips sealed his voice for a second, and then he spoke.

"This empire is already rotten to its core. The emperor you want to protect doesn't care about the people of this empire. He is selfish and greedy."

Alexandro turned away from him. He clenched his fist and spoke.

"Do you know how many people are dying out of thirst as we speak? The western region is drying out of droughts. Agricultural lands turned barren. Water bodies dried. People are starving. What is your emperor doing?"

Silence from both.

Alexandro didn't wait for Mr. August to answer his question.

"Let me answer," Alexandro said.

His tone expressed disappointment.

"Your emperor is busy waging wars with Lazore. Soldiers fall on the war grounds every minute. The families of the martyrs don't get the relief funds to survive until they have another young man to replace the fallen soldier. Others are thrown on the streets to beg for bread. What does your emperor do for the families of the martyrs?"

Mr. August was in awe. He didn't have a counterargument. Mr. August fought in the war and saw the brutal reality by himself.

There was no denying that the empire, Midford, and the neighboring empire, Lazore, had been at war for years.

Midford initiated war unreasonably, killing the emperor and young prince of the Lazore empire and destroying Lazore two decades ago. The princess of Lazore went missing at the same time. Lazore surrendered their diamond mine and signed a peace treaty with Midford. It was a treaty in which Lazore was totally at the losing end.

Midford's army, led by Duke Dorve, Alexandro's father, won the war two decades ago. The emperor got what he wanted, the diamond mine. Then why? Why does he keep waging war with Lazore? The emperor's greed had no end. His eyes are on the flourishing granary in Lazore. He wants the whole Lazore, the whole empire, under his command.

Despite multiple attempts, Midford couldn't acquire Lazore's granary. Lazore is capable of defending its land. The first wife of the late emperor of Lazore, Evelyn Nassar, the current empress of Lazore, is highly determined to protect the kingdom.

Amid this conflict between both kingdoms, the people of the empire are suffering.

"The empress of Lazore is an old woman who fears day and night about the safety of her people. Have you ever thought about the depth of her despairs? She lost her family in a day and surrendered to the man who slaughtered his son. Don't you pity that old woman?" Alexandro said.

His tone and expression were of a wounded wolf. He sounded like a concerned helpless child who wished to protect his family but couldn't.

"You call me the evil, but the real evil is the empire's emperor who overlooks the sufferings of his people for his greed."

Alexandro untied the hands of Mr. August and said while staring at him intensely.

"The emperor will meet his end soon enough."

Mr. August was shocked. His hands were free from the chair, but his body ached with the pain from the torture. He was incapable of getting up and running away. He wasn't sure about his behavior and glared at him with suspicion.

"Duke sounded as if he cared about the empress of Lazore." Mr. August thought.

"Bring her in," Alexandro ordered the jailer to bring another prisoner into the torture room.

A girl walked in. Frail body and delicate features, she was a teenager.

"Father!" The girl cried and tried to rush towards Mr. August.

"Milly!" Mr. August couldn't believe his eyes. His daughter was in front of him.

Before she could reach him, Alexandro caught her by her hair and pushed her towards the jailer.

"Don't you dare touch my daughter!" Mr. August clenched his fist and tightened his jaws.

"Ahh! It's always heartwarming to see the father-daughter reunion. Alas! It has to be in such situations."

Mr. August felt helpless. The stubborn man suddenly feared Alexandro. He was scared of Alexandro harming his daughter.

Alexandro walked towards Milly. He grabbed her fingers and shoved them into the pliers he was holding.

"You don't want me to hurt your precious daughter, don't you?" Alexandro said.

"Father! Help me, please!" Milly kept crying for help. The fourteen years old girl was scared of Alexandro.

"No! Not my daughter. Take my fingers! Take them All! Leave my daughter alone. I beg of you!" Mr. August tried to pull himself up from the chair and fell to the ground. He begged with all his might.

Alexandro smirked.

"All you have to do is to tell me who sent you with those documents to my wife, and your daughter can see sunlight again."

Mr. August flinched. He didn't have a choice. He had to do whatever it took to save his lovely daughter.

"Apologies, Lady Maybern, but I must save my daughter at all costs!" Mr. August thought.

"Looks like your father doesn't love you, my dear," Alexandro said.

He threw the pliers on the floor.

"Throw her into the darkest room. Make sure she shouldn't see even a single ray of light throughout her life."

The jailer dragged the girl with force. She tried to resist but couldn't.

"No! Let me go!"

Alexandro was disappointed and walked towards the door with the documents confiscated from Mr. August, and then Mr. August spoke.

"Wait! I will say. I will tell you the name."

Alexandro smirked and turned his face towards him.

"It was Lady Maybern." Mr. August said. His head faced the ground. He was breathing heavily. His miserable situation suffocated him.

"See. Wasn't it easy?" Alexandro said.

Alexandro smiled and walked out of the torture room. His knight, Mr. Kel, stood outside the torture room the whole time and followed him to his office.

The office was luxurious. Contrary to the torture room. It was like a replica of the Duke's office at the mansion. It was a well-lit room with a big fireplace.

Alexandro stood in front of the fireplace and read the documents keenly. The documents were well organized. Those documents had the date and amount transferred to Lazore from Evermount Duchy. Alexandro had been secretly transferring Evermount's funds to the treasury of Lazore, supporting Lazore's military.

Those documents were proof of Alexandro's treason. Mariana wanted to warn Regina about Alexandro's true identity.

"Lady Maybern."

Alexandro clenched the fist he was holding the documents, crumbling them.

"Just say the word, My Lord." Mr. Kel said. He was not just a personal knight. He was an assassin who did the dirty work for the Duke when needed.

"Not now. Lady Mariana Maybern is Regina's closest friend." Alexandro said.

"My Lord, what if she tries to contact the Duchess again?" Mr. Kel said.

Alexandro stared at the flames in the fireplace. Those flames looked similar to his heart which ignited with fear and distress of being discovered by Regina.

"She will never know. I will make sure of it." Alexandro said.

Alexandro threw the documents into the fire.