Traitors
"When the throne trembles, loyalty becomes a commodity— and survival the only currency that matters."
Peleus froze, rage strangling the words in his throat as he cradled Ost's lifeless body.
Medea observed with cold detachment as the final target she'd missed on the battlefield met his end at last.
'I was determined to eliminate him before he could flee Valdina.'
She felt a flicker of surprise—she hadn't expected Peleus to be the one to deliver the final blow.
At that moment, D'Angel caught Medea's eye and winked.
"Tom, who are you searching for? You're still carrying that arrow wound."
"Yes, sir. Her Highness the Princess ordered the elimination of the Grand Duke of Castullo's hidden escort."
When Gilliforth had led the Agemas to strike the village concealing Jason's clandestine forces, D'Angel had been at Tom's side.
"Oh? If Her Highness commands it... Should I lend a hand?"
"I would be most grateful, Senior. They wear laurel wreaths on their helmets and never leave the Grand Duke's side—shouldn't be hard for someone of your skill to identify them."
With the assistance of D'Angel, the Agemas' leader, Tom dispatched all three hidden guards without a single misstep.
Before Peleus had even arrived, Tom reported everything to his lord—the Grand Duke of Castullo's interference and the successful elimination of his secret escort.
"Escort the Grand Duke back to his homeland. This time, my knights will ensure he arrives *safely*."
Peleus's words carried all the proper diplomatic courtesy required when addressing foreign royalty.
Yet beautiful words did not guarantee gentle actions.
The Agemas moved to Jason's flanks and seized his arms. Their hostility radiated through grips so brutal they left blooming bruises beneath his sleeves.
Jason bit his lip, swallowing the humiliation rising like bile in his throat.
Beneath it simmered a thread of resentment—directed solely at Medea.
"Princess Medea. Will you truly turn your back on me like this?"
The words slipped out before Jason could stop them. Peleus frowned and stepped protectively in front of his sister.
Even Jason's *gaze* was unwelcome. A wave of shame—as though he were being regarded as nothing more than an insect—crept up Jason's spine.
"I truly tried to protect you! *You* rejected and insulted my goodwill, not the other way around!"
Does she have any idea what I've sacrificed?
The more Jason spoke, the hotter his anger burned. Before he realized it, he'd lost all composure.
"I have done *nothing* wrong! What could I possibly have—"
Jason genuinely didn't understand.
Despite all his overtures, Medea rejected him at every turn and glared at him with undisguised hatred. It made his teeth grind.
"Well."
Medea shrugged with maddening indifference.
"I don't know. Perhaps we shared some unfortunate entanglement in a past life."
The flippant response struck harder than any insult could have.
Jason clenched his fists. Fury at being dismissed so casually surged through his veins. Never in his life had he been rejected with such contempt.
A profound sense of loss—of having nothing to grasp onto—seeped into his bones. The fact that he stood surrounded by a murderous King and his Agemas, powerless to retaliate, only deepened the wound.
'If only the barbarians and hermits were still here...'
He wouldn't have had to retreat so shamefully. He'd lost every card in his hand and gained nothing in return.
Before Jason could swallow his rage, the Agemas seized him again—rougher this time.
"Release me! I'll walk on my own!"
Jason wrenched free and turned on his heel. It was a pathetic exit, utterly unlike the grandeur with which he'd first entered Valdina.
"Grand Duke Castullo."
Peleus's voice rang out, cold and commanding.
"I trust you have no intention of ever setting foot on Valdina's soil again."
The banishment order was issued with such disdain it bordered on contempt.
Peleus turned his attention to the Regent.
"Imprison them all. Execute every last one—*without exception*."
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty the King!"
The ministers held their breath in collective shock.
The Regent's face drained of color.
"Peleus! I am your *uncle*!"
The implication was clear: *surely there should be exceptions*.
But the one truly affected by those words was not Peleus—it was the nobles aligned with the Regent.
'He claims royal blood and thinks he alone deserves mercy?'
They, too, were incarnations of greed and ambition, second to none in their hunger for power.
But with their lives on the line, loyalty and duty became worthless abstractions.
"Your Majesty! The Regent threatened us first! He uncovered our corruption and used it as leverage—if we refused to join the rebellion, he vowed to expose us!"
One voice shattered the silence.
That was all it took to break the dam.
"Your Majesty, the Regent conspired with the head maid, Cuisine, and Minister Ettiene to raise rebels using funds embezzled from the royal treasury!"
"Using Her Highness the Princess's seal, he replaced every official who refused to cooperate!"
"I was tasked with laundering money for Duke Claudio's family. Their vaults overflow with gold and jewels—there are over a dozen locations across the kingdom and the empire where they've hidden their illegal wealth!"
As though they'd been waiting for this moment, confessions poured forth like a ruptured artery.
The Regent, who moments ago had attempted to sacrifice Jason without hesitation, now faced the exact same treachery from his own subordinates.
They exposed every sin—corruption, bribery, conspiracy—that the Regent had committed.
In truth, they may have anticipated this very moment—ever since the Regent ruthlessly discarded Minister Ettiene, his most trusted aide.
So they felt no guilt whatsoever in selling him out to save their own skins.
"Your Majesty, the Regent also ordered that when Her Highness was kidnapped, her face be scarred! That way, even if the Grand Duke rescued her, the Princess could never become a Grand Duchess!"
"I served under the young Duke. On his orders, I eliminated Count Etienne's supporters. During the hunting tournament, I attached a scented pouch to Her Highness's horse to lure wild beasts toward her."
It wasn't only the Regent's noble allies seeking escape routes.
Even his direct subordinates turned on him.
The Regent's face twisted into something inhuman.
"You—! You ungrateful *vermin*! How *dare* you, after living off *my* money and *my* power!"
Rage and betrayal burned through him like wildfire. The veins in his one remaining eye bulged, red and ready to burst.
The citizens gathered outside the palace walls overheard every revelation.
"My God, he's gone *too far*. It wasn't the Princess who impoverished this country—it was that vile Prince Regent!"
"A man like that wanted to be King?! Wake up, Claudio! Even a swarm of ants would reject filth like you!"
"He didn't just kidnap his own niece—he ordered her *face disfigured*. He's not human. He's a *monster* wearing human skin!"
The crowd recoiled in horror at the unprecedented cruelty.
"Your Majesty, wise King, please consider the circumstances! We had no choice but to bow to the Regent's threats!"
The Regent's faction nobles bowed their heads, pleading desperately.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty...?"
When no response came, they lifted their heads cautiously.
Their eyes met the King's—cold, indifferent, unyielding.
Their bodies trembled involuntarily.
Peleus was not deceived by their excuses.
'Dea revealed the decree to the world to root out every corrupt soul—including the Regent.'
"These are parasites who have fattened themselves on the blood and flesh of the people. Are there exceptions to treason? All who conspired in rebellion shall face *execution*."
His voice carried absolute authority, like iron branded into flesh.
"Haa... haah...!"
The mouths that had been gaping like fish thrown onto dry land snapped shut under the weight of Peleus's cold, murderous intent.
The Regent's men finally understood.
The King standing before them was neither young nor weak anymore.
He was a battle-hardened warrior who had survived countless conflicts—a conqueror who had brought the tribes of the plains to their knees.
Their incompetence and blindness had long been exposed, laid bare to the bone.
"Take them away. After the coronation ceremony, we will hold their public execution in the square."
"Understood!"
Beneath the knights' unified shout, the cries of those who foresaw their deaths began to leak out.
'I, too, will end up on the guillotine.'
Theo knelt among the condemned, the thought drifting through his mind like ash.
'I wish I could see Saya one last time.'
But he knew it was too much to ask.
He couldn't leave her with the burden of being a traitor's family.
'If I had known it would end like this... if I had known the rebellion would collapse so utterly... I never would have left her that way.'
"Wait."
A clear, bright voice rang out.
But it didn't register in Theo's ears, lost as he was in despair.
A shadow fell over his bowed head. At the sound of approaching footsteps, Theo lifted his gaze reflexively.
As his eyes adjusted to the harsh sunlight, he finally saw her—the breathtakingly beautiful girl standing before him.
"Your Highness, what are you—"
The Princess raised a hand, halting the approaching knight mid-stride, and looked down at Theo.
'Princess... she's the Princess?'
It was the first time Theo had seen her up close—this person he'd only known through secret letters.
He inhaled sharply.
The shock was greater than when he'd first seen her silhouette standing atop the palace walls.
"It was you. You're the one who beheaded the rebel leader and informed me of the Regent's crimes."
The Princess's voice was unexpectedly soft.
Her cheeks were smooth as porcelain, her expression serene and pure—like that of an angel descended from heaven.
Theo stared, unable to speak, as Medea's emerald eyes held his gaze with quiet, unflinching grace.
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