Princess Ling’s glowing, icy gaze weighed on him like a mountain, but the black knight held his composure. He had served her since childhood and knew the princess’s ridiculous power better than anyone. One could say he was born from it, molded from it. Loved it. Perhaps his own reason, sanity, had long since faded and the young man became like her.
Well, none of that would matter since he failed to find the hero’s party within the strict twenty-four hour deadline. She tortured him for eight hours to no avail. The black knight, a hardened and fierce soldier, didn’t so much as flinch.
The real pain came when she unceremoniously ordered the death of three of his family members. If that were all, the black knight would’ve secretly intercepted the messenger and slayed him, then warned his family to flee, perhaps to go east where there was no civilization. But she decided to do it herself.
And so one by one, the three were brought in and fed to demonic beasts in front of him. Trapped in a bubble of immense spiritual pressure, all the black knight could do was remove his emotions, sell them to the abyss, and let his fate guide him. He closed his eyes, tuning out the screaming and begging, the demonic roaring and laughter, and the crunching of bone and flesh, followed by the demonic beast licking its fingers. It was at that moment the black knight stopped believing in Wanda, and also stopped believing in the Lord Ruler. He was no just king. A just king wouldn’t allow a monster disguised as a girl to roam free.
He considered calling for Ares the Peace Spawner, perhaps in hope that the darkness would devour the city. But no matter what kind of torture the foul youngest daughter of the Lord Ruler put him through, the black knight could not bring himself to fall that low. He wouldn’t allow this wretched creature to force his hand, to force him to beg for help like a damsel.
He’d have his revenge. For now, he had to blame this on the hero who illegally left the capital without telling anyone after promising the Lord Ruler he’d stay for at least a year.
“Three of my brothers died for this coward,” the black knight said coldly. The others would normally have the sense to flee, but the knight was sure they were under surveillance by Ling’s assassins. She planned to take all of her anger out on him.
After all, the black knight was the second to reject her advances, though his reasons were righteous, for duty. The Lord Ruler made it clear as he grew up to ditch any fantasies or funny ideas, for fraternization meant death. But as he got to know Ling, he clung strongly to the Lord Ruler’s words, using them as a shield to keep as much distance between him and the princess as possible. He was supposed to be her sword only. And it worked for years, until the hero ruined everything.
“Let this be a lesson,” Ling said. “Failure is not tolerated, especially of my highest subordinates. I will break you one way or another. Now, gather a legion, find my lover, and don’t return until you do. You can bring him dead or alive, but if you want to be entertained, bring him alive. Do you understand, Andros?”
Andros could only salute, his body seeming to move by itself due to the will of a soldier. “I will hunt him to the ends of this world and bring him back to you, alive.”
“Good. Perhaps I will reward you afterward,” Ling said. “I do know of a necromancer that will allow you to say proper goodbyes to your brothers.” She grinned nastily. “Take nothing personal, for this is how my father punishes failures. It was his orders anyway. I just voiced them.”
She turned and left, and all Andros could do was curse the entire royal family. He also didn’t believe this lying bitch. Attempting to turn people against her father in order to usurp the throne, this kind of ambition from the youngest of the Lord Ruler’s seven children was almost unheard of.
Andros summoned a guard from a far with a wave. “Tell the Black Cross to get ready. We leave tonight.”
