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Episode 118 - Cracked Dreams 4 ‘Tension Showdown’

Last Chapter: The knights took Crown Prince, Eugene, and Musician Hal to the King's audience room. When Louis found out about her being taken, he was seriously furious. 

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Eugene blinked, her gaze fixed on the golden throne on which the King of Zene sat. She, Aedelak, the Crown Prince, and Nameless Musician Hal are currently standing in front of the King and the Commander.

Well... Only she, Aedelak and the Crown Prince stayed upright, facing the King's harsh gaze and Commander Kal's resignation look. The Nameless musician took his favorite seat by kneeling on the ground as always.

Eugene blinked again at the bleak atmosphere, ‘What luck…’ she thought sarcastically.

The room was empty of furniture and had a similar design to Xenperia's audience room, however, it was five times more massive and depressing. The room was perfectly covered in gold, but it was bathed in a dark grey glow, which was the polar opposite of its imagined atmosphere. Ironically, there were two spotlights, one focusing on the King and the other on Eugene and the others. As if they were in a musical performance, performing a duel.

The King leaned lazily on his right arm as he focused on the people below. With his calm and sarcastic voice, he broke the silence,

“Why was Crown Prince found together with the criminal?” he raised his brow, directing the question to the Crown Prince.

The King’s voice that traveled down from the throne brought goosebumps to the four. Though it didn’t contain any malice, it was a voice that contained complete authority and a know-it-all tone.

The Crown Prince kept his head lowered and didn’t reply. Visible sweat trailed down from his hair to his neck.

Commander Kal glanced at the King and back to the children, “Was it a coincidence, or… did ‘everyone’ group up to hide the criminal?” His voice was full of implication as he tried to reel the children into answering.

“......” No one replied.

The room that was gloomy to begin with began to feel more tense and uncomfortable when no one chose to reply again. It was obvious to the King and the Commander that the Crown Prince and Eugene were not denying their accusations and were silently admitting to their claims.

Eugene sighed inwardly as she kept silent. Similarly, the Crown Prince did the same. In an oddly tactful coincidence, the two chose to remain silent because they had already promised to aid the Nameless Musician.

Eugene gave her promise yesterday, whereas the Crown Prince made his promise a few minutes before Eugene walked in with her daydreaming fantasy.

Even though everyone happened to meet coincidentally, they couldn’t exactly confess that to the King or the Commander as that would be throwing the Nameless Musician under the bus. They also couldn’t outright say that they aided the Nameless Musician, therefore the correct choice would be to remain silent.

Just then, a loud bang echoed throughout the empty audience hall!

“Do you know what you’re doing?!!” The King shouted in anger! The loud bang was the sound of his fist hitting on the armrest of his throne! His eyes locked on his son, the Crown Prince!

The Crown Prince clenched his fists tight, exhaled and released his hands. In a calm and guilt-free voice, he countered whilst matching the King’s gaze,

“I do not know, Your Majesty.”

The Crown Prince’s choice of words startled Eugene slightly. There was no ‘Father’ in his sentence. Though she had expected their relationship to be bad to a certain extent due to the bruises on the Crown Prince’s body, she did not think that they would not put up a front at all.

‘The Crown Prince might have dug a hole in his grave by helping the Nameless Musician…’ Eugene thought quietly. ‘But so have I…’

The King’s face darkened even more after the Crown Prince’s retort. With a voice full of malice, he hissed, “You. Hid. A. Criminal.”

The vibration and echo that came with the King’s threat were intense enough to make Aedelak, Nameless Musician and the Crown Prince shudder. Naturally, the eyes the King looked at the Crown Prince was just as intense, if not more.

Everyone could see the hatred, disdain, and dislike the King had for the Crown Prince. Eyes that looked at his son as if this useless mortal wasn’t his offspring. These eyes were naturally familiar to Eugene, and she couldn’t help but recall Euria’s description of the Crown Prince’s state again.

If she wasn’t wrong, the Crown Prince was covered in both fresh and old wounds. His fresh wound should be the result of the King taking his anger out on the Crown Prince because she had humiliated the King with her poems. At least… that would have been her former ‘mother’ course of action. To vent out anger on her if something doesn’t go the way she wants it to.

Realizing all this, Eugene’s eyes that looked at the Crown Prince changed. Unlike her who gave up by succumbing to her ‘reality, the Crown Prince stood bravely against his monster.

Like her, he was an outcast. But unlike her, he has his ideals. She had thought that she was mentally strong, but when compared to the Crown Prince, his emotions and innocence were still intact. His eyes were still brimming with emotions, whether it be anger or happiness. These things… she lost previously.

Eugene glanced at her hands grimly as the Crown Prince continued to fight.

“Your Highness, Majesty. This man is no criminal. What crimes can he possibly commit to lock him up? This man is harmless!” The Crown Prince’s voice was slightly raised as he pointed to the empty sleeves of the Nameless Musician.

The King's eyes twitched as he didn't expect the Crown Prince to retaliate a second time. In a deep, slow, and dangerous voice, the King warned,

“Crown Prince.” he paused and with his eyes narrowed he continued, “Don’t cross the line.” His meaning, ‘Who do you think you are to question my authority.’

“......” The Crown Prince clenched his teeth as his relaxed hands began to clench once again. Before he could continue, Commander Kal stepped forward,

“Now, now. Please calm your emotions, Your Highness, Crown Prince, Your Highness, Majesty. There is no need to fight over the criminal.” he said as he smiled gently at both the King and the Crown Prince. His eyes were soft as if saying ‘It’s a shame to break bonds over such trivial matter’.

The Crown Prince and King remained silent at Commander Kal’s words as if they didn’t want to acknowledge his words, however, the tension between the King and the Crown Prince could be seen to have dissipated. This flabbergasted and woke Eugene up.

‘What’s going on?’ she thought, feeling as if a bucket of cold water was thrown at her face. There was no time to self-reflect, as her instincts told her to keep an eye out on Commander Kal’s every move.

Sure, she’s seen Levis calming Emperor Zen down when the incident at the Imperial Palace happened. But, who was Levis to make the Emperor listen to him? The Emperor’s anger never dissipated because of Levis’ words.

But… now.

The way the King and the Crown Prince calmed down was too unnatural. It was as if the two were marionettes in a play.

Not to mention,

‘It happened again…’ Eugene thought as her eyebrows furrowed. ‘The hierarchy.’

A few minutes ago before they were taken to come to the audience room, the knights placed the commander’s orders above the Crown Prince’s. And now, the King and the Crown Prince could be seen to place importance on Commander’s Kal’s words. As if they were to be prioritized.

But who is Commander Kal? And who is the Crown Prince? Not to mention the King of Zene! Hierarchy wise, the King was above all, followed by the Crown Prince, and then Commander Kal. However, it seemed that Commander Kal wielded far more authority in this instance.

Eugene lowered her head as she thought deeply. In her head, there was a fantasy-like-answer that seemed to hit close to the truth. An answer, she wished was not the real answer.

“Young Lady?”

A male voice calling out to her broke Eugene’s train of thoughts.

Raising her head towards the voice, her lips tucked up in a polite smile. A smile that didn’t seem to fit in this atmosphere and setting.

‘If the Crown Prince can’t do it, I’ll do it.’ Her right lip pulled up 0.1cm more, without anyone noticing. Yes, she was smirking.

‘There’s still me to defend the fort.’ The fort of ensuring their safety whilst helping Musician Hal claim his freedom.

Before Commander Kal could question Eugene, Eugene took charge,

“Commander Kal, I have a question.” her confident voice echoed throughout the room.

The Commander nodded, allowing her to go on.

Eugene smiled before looking at the Nameless Musician, “Was this man caught because of what happened 2 days ago?” she asked. Her voice, light and innocent, sounding just like Euria.

Her voice, which most people find pleasant, gave the Crown Prince and the Nameless Musician goosebumps unexpectedly. Her voice was scratchy as if bugs were crawling on their arms.

The Crown Prince glanced sideways, ‘What...what’s wrong with her?’ he thought as he shivered slightly.

‘Miss!’ Upon hearing and seeing Eugene’s abrupt change in behavior, Aedelak immediately knew that Eugene had found a way to get out of this predicament! Already, she began to feel hopeful! She’s seen this act of Eugene plenty of times to know that Eugene was going to innocently trick her enemies into falling into her trap!

Commander Kal nodded in response to Eugene’s question without a second thought. All he knew about Eugene was that she was talented when it came to archery and swimming. Other than that, the fact that she was 3 and acting cute despite the tension made him relax his guard down completely. Therefore, without any hidden intentions or tricks in his words, he replied honestly.

“Yes. It was because of the incident that happened two days ago. This criminal caused an uproar in front of Zene’s precious guest. This is a breach of security and public safety, which was why we detained him.” He explained.

Eugene’s mouth went ‘O’ and she gasped. Covering her mouth with her two small palms, her eyes widened into realization,

“Oh!! So that was why!” She blinked and turned to the Nameless Musician again.

The King's brows twitched nervously at this point. He remembered Eugene and her poems so well that he had been thinking about them for the past four days!

He is aware that Eugene was currently 'acting out a script and is aware of her maturity. Yet, even though he knew that she was acting, he couldn't understand why and what she was doing currently.

“.....” But so did her ally not know what she was doing. The Crown Prince was sweating nervously from Eugene’s words because he did not understand where she was going with her play. It was as if she was going to throw her hands off of helping the Nameless Musician by claiming her innocence on this matter.

That's how it sounded to everyone in the audience room, at least.

Commander Kal nodded, “Yes, that was why he was caught.” pausing, he added complexity to his words and continued, “It is Zene’s shame to have shown you something embarrassing that day. For that, we will execute punishment on this criminal as a way to apologize to you.”

Eugene blinked as if she did not understand a single word he said and nodded slowly as if pretending that she understood,

“So that’s why you’re punishing him! Because you want to apologize!” she nodded fiercely and repeated the commander’s words.

The Commander nodded.

The Crown Prince clenched his teeth as his nails dug into his hands. ‘She’s abandoning him…’ he thought silently as his eyes flashed dangerously at Eugene's shadow on the ground.

Just then, Eugene’s cheerful voice grew louder, “Ahhh!” as if she realized something very important.

She took small steps towards the Nameless Musician and stood right beside him.

Blinking her big grey eyes, she then smiled, “Even more you can’t punish him!” she said, in a voice full of justice and world peace!

The King’s eyes twitched. As if he was struck with major deja vu.

The Crown Prince’s body shook slightly as he turned to Eugene in surprise! ‘Wh..at?’ his eyes glowed in a mixture of bewilderment and confusion.

Commander Kal tilted his head, “Why…” Why do you say so? Did you not understand my explanation?

“Why?” Eugene repeated his words as her index finger tapped on her chin.

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders, “Because you caught the wrong person!”

Commander Kal’s polite smile fell. Keeping his composure, he corrected Eugene with a calm voice,

“There is no mistake.” he shook his head.

Hearing his reply, Eugene huffed like a child. “What no mistake?” Her voice was full of wrongness and unwillingness as she retorted, “You really caught the wrong person!” her arms were on her waist as she said this.

Before the Commander could refute her words again, Eugene continued without giving him or the King a chance to speak.

“This man did nothing! He is innocent! The one Sir should catch is the group of villains who attacked him! That day, the group said some really really mean things and also hit and hit him! So much that he bled blood!” Eugene exploded with her childish voice as she cutely glared at Commander Kal.

“.....” Commander Kal watched and stared at Eugene silently as all traces of politeness vanished from his face.

Eugene paid no heed to his expression and continued,

“Not even his instrument was let off!” she added!

“.....”

Eugene raised one of her brows, “Don’t you think this man should be compensated for physical assault, mental abuse, his broken instrument... And.. and…” Eugene stared at the Musician Hall who stared at her with his mouths gaped open, “And ripped clothes? Why must you punish him?” she ended as she pointed to his ripped clothes.

The Nameless Musician lowered his head and stared at his ripped clothes. He kept quiet as he hid his eyes that were filled with indescribable emotions. It was a first… that someone defended him so wholeheartedly.

“....”

The King rubbed his eyes. ‘So this was it.. This was her plan all along!’ He shook his head, attempting to ease his headache he got from being led around Eugene.

Raising his hands to stop the Commander, he took over,

“How do we believe that what you are saying is true? If I remember correctly, it was ‘Xenperia’s soldiers’ that dragged him out.” his eyebrows raised as he questioned the validity behind Eugene’s words.

It was Xenperia’s soldiers who dragged the Nameless Musician out of the cafe and not the group of ‘villains’.

Eugene moved her eyes from Commander Kal to the King and hummed,

“Ah that!” she pointed, “Replying to Your Highness, Majesty, I was the one who gave my knights the order,” she confessed,

“I was scared that this man would die before my eyes and so I gave that order.”

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-Flashback-

Eugene stared at the group of people in front of her, blankly.

With a cold and distant voice, Eugene said, “What are you doing?”

“Huh?” The man destroying the instrument jolted. He looked up to search for the desolate voice before locking eyes with Eugene.

Although his heart felt fearful of how cold her voice was, he smiled. “Young Miss? I-”

Without waiting for him to finish, Eugene glanced at the soldier looking up to her. With her head tilted, she spoke. “Do your job.” She said coldly, her eyes bore through to the soldier’s eyes; her pupils contracted vertically making her eyes look like ones of a snake.

The soldier froze on spot, but it wasn’t until 2 seconds later when his 3 teammates walked up to him to pick the white-eyed man up.

-Flashback END-

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The King’s face fell, whilst Eugene shrugged,

“He was in a dangerous predicament so I gave him a helping hand,” she said in a bland voice, and added,

“Your Majesty can investigate and question anyone and everyone at that cafe. After all, it was a cafe buzzing with people” her facade dropped as she finished.

“...”

Many thoughts flashed through everyone's mind, as the room fell silent. However, one thing they noticed as a result of this situation was that Eugene had thoroughly conned them. Eugene's every word was a ruse to get them into this situation. Commander Kal's reasoning to keep the Nameless Musician in prison was no longer valid.

Her first question was the stepping stone she set that led the situation to completely turn around.

The Crown Prince and the Nameless Musician’s eyes widened at Eugene’s unexpected twist and victory.

‘As expected of Young Miss! ’Aedelak cheered in her head as her fists pumped up,

‘Too.. Too brave!’ The Crown Prince thought quietly. On one hand, he felt incredibly relieved, and on the other hand, he still felt tense. He was scared for Eugene who blatantly dismissed the King’s counterattacks but also happy that the King’s face fell.

BANG!-

The King slammed his right hand on his armrest again as he brought everyone’s attention to him. With a face filled with contempt towards Eugene, he spoke,

“From witnesses' reports, they said that the Criminal was spreading hoax and malicious rumors.” he snickered and leaned back on his throne.

“We have let him off many times in the past and we will no longer tolerate his behavior especially since he publicly embarrassed us in front of guests from Xenperia. His nonsense is unforgivable and his shameful behavior must be punished!”

“.....” Eugene’s eyes narrowed.

‘Young...Miss…’ Aedelak glanced at Eugene’s small back. So did the Crown Prince and the Nameless Musician.

‘Embarrassed? Shameful and unforgivable?’ Eugene repeated the King’s words in her head sarcastically. Her tiny bit of politeness fell and disappeared into thin air.

Eugene laughed dryly, “Haha..” Her face was still, with no hints of emotions as dry laughter rolled out from her throat.

“....” Commander Kal’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Eugene tilted her head as she laughed louder, “Hahahaha!”

With one palm covering her eyes, she stared at the King with a look of ridicule, and mockery,

“Is that so?” she laughed again, “Is that really so?” she asked as she wiped her non-existent tears.

“So Zene means to say that publicly humiliating a race is not embarrassing and shameful. But hitting a defenseless, armless, and blind man is acceptable. When the defenseless man shouts nonsensical by protecting himself, it's unforgivable. And because he was scared, he must be punished for his ‘nonsense’?!” her voice raised towards the end as she twisted and turned the King’s words against himself.

Suddenly Eugene gasped, and two of her hands raised,

“Yes, indeed I felt embarrassed that day. Embarrassed that a harmless man was abused before my eyes because of his disability! Oh.. Oh my! Oh, my eyes! My precious eyes! How will Zene ever compensate me for this?!” Eugene shouted as she dropped to the ground whilst covering her eyes!

“!!”

“...”

“!!!!” The Crown Prince, Musician Hal, and Aedelak stepped back as they watched Eugene one-man-ending in shock!

‘You’re going this far?!’ The Crown Prince felt his heart racing!

Aedelak paled, ‘You’ve gone too far, Miss!’ She.. She wanted to faint!

Tears brimmed the Nameless Musician eyes as stared at the ‘dead’ Eugene. No one, not even his people were willing to defend him to this extent. But.. A noble child from another country was. She was risking herself to offend the King and the Commander for him…

‘Why are you willing to do much for me…’

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