"...and my wife here, she would have been a princess of that kingdom if not for Cliffords ruining their family," Arlan declared.
His intentions were clear—to silence those who mocked Oriana for not being worthy of the title of Crown Princess. By revealing her royal lineage, he showed that she was more deserving than any woman around him.
To Arlan, it didn’t matter whether she was a royal or a commoner; he couldn’t let others look down on her. Her pride was his to protect.
"Now, getting back to where we were," Arlan continued, "Luis planned to assassinate the Queen and bla it on Lord Verner to eliminate both obstacles at once." He turned to the Wizard. "Will you tell us now how my mother was killed, or do you want my knight to use that whip on you until you are tortured to death?"
The Wizard shook at the thought. That whip was no ordinary instrunt; it was designed to torture practitioners of black magic, each strike excruciatingly painful.
"That night, it was Edna who killed the Queen using Philip Verner. She used black magic to make Philip Verner pierce his sword through the Queen’s body. Philip Verner didn’t want to kill the Queen," the Wizard confessed.
Oriana, who always had her doubts, felt relieved that her grandfather hadn’t acted intentionally. She only wished she could erase the mory from Arlan’s mind of seeing her grandfather’s sword kill his mother.
At the sa ti, hearing what Luis had done till now, she felt unsettled, a strong urge to kill that villain started to rise in her heart, despite her trying to hold herself back.
"Is this even possible?" another minister asked, incredulous.
Arlan looked at the Wizard. "I want you to demonstrate your magic," he said, removing the chains binding the Wizard’s hands. "Do not act recklessly, or you know I can kill you right away." Arlan’s eyes shone with golden and red hues, revealing his true power to the Wizard.
The Wizard nodded and looked at the royal knight holding a sword against Luis’s knight. He chanted a spell, his fingers moving to form a black magic incantation. When he finished, the sword flew out of the royal knight’s hand and hovered in the air, its sharp tip almost touching the throat of the minister who had questioned the possibility of the magic, scaring him to his bones.
"Now do you believe, Minister?" Arlan asked.
The minister stepped back, trying to distance himself from the floating sword, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Yes... Your Highness."
"But why was Lord Verner at the Queen’s residence that night?" another minister asked.
Arlan, not wanting to lie but also not revealing the whole truth, looked at the Wizard. "Tell them," he commanded, having already warned the Wizard never to ntion the artifact.
The Wizard spoke, "Edna made Lord Verner co to the Queen’s residence by lying that the Queen and Prince’s lives were in danger. Lord Verner arrived there in a hurry, which is how he ended up there."
"You got your answer?" Arlan asked.
"Yes, Your Highness," the minister replied, refraining from further questions.
"Very well," Arlan turned back to the king. "Your Majesty, that sa night, Lord Verner’s daughter, Amaya Verner, discovered the vile act of her servant Edna and confronted her. During that confrontation, Amaya Verner lost her life."
’He killed my mother?’ Unbeknownst to her, a shift in the aura around Oriana beca palpable. Arlan noticed it imdiately and wanted to stop her from revealing herself to the humans in the court.
Oriana stood up, her anger visible, and suddenly the entire royal court fell silent as if ti had stopped. Everyone present were still like a lifeless dolls.
Moving with the speed of the wind, Arlan held Oriana in his arms. "Oriana, you can’t," he whispered urgently, hugging her tightly. "Listen to ."
The darkness around her began to fade as she listened to Arlan. Her eyes had turned entirely black, tendrils of darkness surrounding her body, and her hair was nearly the shade of midnight.
Amidst the silence of the royal court, footsteps echoed as Drayce entered. Using his magical ability, he had stopped ti so no one could witness Oriana in this form. He approached Arlan and Oriana.
"You should listen to Arlan," Drayce said, looking at Oriana with a calm but firm gaze.
"I want to kill him. I will drag him to the depths of hell just like I did to that witch. I will rip his heart out," Oriana spat, struggling against Arlan’s hold.
"Oriana, you will get your chance, I give you my word, but not now," Arlan spoke gently yet firmly. "There are others who have been waiting for their revenge for the past two decades. We need to give them their chance as well. Once you et them, you will understand why I am stopping you. Please, listen to ."
Oriana’s rage began to subside, the tendrils of darkness receding. Her eyes slowly returned to their normal color, and her hair lightened. She looked into Arlan’s eyes, who said, "Please trust ."
Seeing the sincerity and determination in them, reluctantly, she nodded, trusting in his promise and his plan.
Arlan gently guided Oriana back to her chair and turned to Drayce. "Thank you for showing up."
"How could I not when you need ," Drayce replied.
Arlan had anticipated sothing like this might happen. He had noticed the changes in Oriana recently, aware that she could lose herself to her anger at any mont. To protect her, he had asked Drayce to be ready to help stop Oriana before the demoness within her could unleash chaos in the royal court.
"Thank you for that whip. You can return it to its owner," Arlan comnted.
"Keep it. You might want to punish that Wizard so more," Drayce said. "I’ll be nearby until you take care of everything."
"Thank you," Arlan said sincerely.
With that, Drayce disappeared from sight, Arlan retuned to his previous place and the royal court ca alive once more. No one knew what had just happened with them.
Arlan began, "That night, Lord Verner had no choice but to run away to protect his remaining family, Oriana. If they had stayed, they would have been falsely frad as traitors."
"Prince Arlan, we do hope you have concrete proofs to substantiate your claims," a minister, one of those who still harbored hope for Luis, spoke.
Arlan chuckled. "Do not worry, not just Luis. I have proof against everyone who has been helping him." With that, he announced, "Bring the evidence."
A shiver ran down the spines of those ministers as they heard this.
Two knights entered the royal court, carrying stacks of various scrolls and docunts. The evidence was presented to the King and the court ministers. Everyone was surprised to see the breadth of the docuntation and looked at Luis. The ministers who were already aware of the truth shrank back, regretting their decision to side with Luis.
Ailwin looked at Arlan in surprise. "You have done very well by securing this evidence."
"Your Majesty, though I led the investigation, soone else has been gathering this evidence for a long ti. If not for his efforts over the years, we wouldn’t have seen this day."
"That person deserves a reward. This is comndable. May I know who is behind this?" the King asked.
"Of course, Your Majesty," Arlan replied. "Aaron Wynter."
At that mont, a tall knight entered the royal court. Everyone, already surprised to hear the na, watched as he walked in and bowed to the King. "Aaron Wynter, son of Lord Regan Wynter, greets Your Majesty."
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