In a garden outside the Vargard Royal Palace sat four royals.
Prince Randal, Princess Ranea, Rafia, and Raemina sat around a table, sipping tea.
There wasn't much to do these days. Each of them had barely managed to come to terms with the fact that their campaigns for the throne were dead.
They had accepted that their dreams and ambitions for the throne were dead.
It hadn't been easy.
Some of these dreams and ambitions had driven them since childhood, and it was extremely painful for them to accept that they would never happen. Yet, thrust its will onto them.
Or rather, Rui Quarrier Kandria did.
His existence had become a source of primal terror to each of them. Prince Randal was too proud and ashamed to admit that he had recurring nightmares of Rui Quarrier Kandria every night since the royal addressal ceremony.
The Final Prince had made a deep impact on his psyche even before he was revealed to be a prince.
Prince Randal had previously thought that the day of his assassination attempt on the final prince was the worst day of his life.
Nothing else had come close.
That was until the royal addressal ceremony had come, turning his final hope into final despair.
The two events had scarred him. He had come out of them a changed man.
All of them had. While he, Princess Raemina, and Princess Ranea had managed to pull themselves together, the same could not be said for Princess Rafia.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})She sat at the table with a vacant, hollow expression. Her eyes were glazed over, unfocused, while her mouth hung open. She had a maid who would occasionally wipe the drool trickling down her mouth.
She had been diagnosed with severe PTSD, often causing her mind to simply disassociate from reality to escape the trauma.
Prince Randal shook his head at her sight. "…He recently started his campaign."
None of the two able princesses responded.
"I just hope that he ascends the throne and keeps up his promise of letting us live the rest of our lives out," Prince Randal heaved a shaky sigh.
That was their only hope. They hoped that Rui Quarrier Kandria would be able to win and then decide to keep them around as pawns to use after he ascended the throne.
Alas, that was not to be.
The air tingled.
It grew perilous.
The four royals instinctively glanced up to the sky before shuddering with shock.
Dozens of Martial Masters descended into the garden from the heavens!
A deep collective displeasure radiated from each of them.
Their attires were varied and diverse, suiting their personal inclinations and Martial Art. Yet each of them bore the emblem of the Kandria Martial Union.
The four royals watched with fear as dozens of Martial Masters descended before them. Leading them at the forefront was the famous Surgeon, Master Zentra—a powerful high-grade Martial Master who had earned great recognition from the Martial Union.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})This was not a man who moved for light reasons.
Sixteen Martial Masters appeared before the Martial Masters of the Martial Union and the four royals.
"What is the meaning of this?!" One of them barked at the Union Masters. "Have you gone mad?! Has the Martial Union declared war against the Royal Family?!"
"It's the other way around." Master Ceeran's voice was murderous. He emerged from among his peers with a profound bloodlust radiating from him. "The Royal Family has declared war against the Martial Union!"
"No, we didn't!" Prince Randal desperately denied the false accusations.
"YES YOU DID YOU MOTHERF-"
"-Ceeran."
Master Zentra's calm voice cut through his titanic roar.
Although his voice was soft, it contained a depth of power that Master Ceeran lacked.
He slowly turned towards the sixteen Martial Masters, having abated his junior's belligerence. "I am Zentra of the Martial Union. I apologize for my colleague's outburst; you can rest assured the Martial Union has neither declared war against the Royal Family nor believes that the Royal Family has declared war against the Martial Union."
"That when have you come?!" One Martial Master retorted with wary indignance. "Unauthorized entry of royal property is prohibited!"
"According to the clauses of the Crimes Against Martial Art Act, the Martial Union is authorized to enter any and all lands within the Kandrian Empire in pursuit of the arrest of those it charges with murder conspiracy against not just a Martial Artist, but a constituent of the Martial Fiscal Committee," Master Zentra calmly remarked.
Instantly, the sixteen Martial Masters and the four royals grew grave.
They all understood exactly what had happened.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Rui Quarrier Kandria had pulled the trigger.
He had decided that he no longer needed them.
And at the moment, he no longer needed them.
In fact, he needed them gone. Each of them had earned the deep loyalty of a handful of high-ranking government officials who would not budge from them. If Rui wanted to earn their loyalty, he needed to cleanly remove them from the equation without any shadow of a doubt.
"Now…" Master Zentra's calm voice drew everybody's attention.
His eyes sharpened. "Move. Or you will be moved with force. You will join us regardless. The Martial Union has decided to avoid charging the sixteen of you with attempted murder as long as you agree to some…arrangements. However, if you want to join them in hell, I can have that arranged."
The sixteen Martial Masters grew severe.
But eventually, they relented, stepping out of the way.
Prince Randal gritted his teeth.
Yet it was over.
"We have prepared a discreet transport method," Master Zentra remarked, gesturing to a stealth Martial Master.
The royals frowned.
Why bother going through these elaborate methods instead of just arresting them openly?
"His Highness wishes to speak to you," Master Zentra clarified calmly. "I believe that he had a proposal to make to you."
The four royals stiffened at those words.
None of them wanted to meet the Final Prince again, yet they had no choice. They could only pray that the worst would not unfold and they would at least be able to live a life.
