Countess Elvira stepped out from among the maids. She immediately knelt down.
“Your Majesty, my Majesty, my sins deserve death.”
The sound of grinding teeth rang out clearly from the Queen.
“Everyone out, except the Countess.”
The queen spat out each word as if she wanted to chew it to pieces. She opened the dressing table drawer and pulled out a specialized whip. The whip was custom-made to fit the Queen's hand and was oiled every day to make it shiny.
Queen Cornelia's eyes flashed fire.
“Do you know your crime?”
“Please give me death.”
Elvira didn't say another word, just bowed her head to the ground. Years of experience serving her told her that any excuses or apologies at this time were meaningless.
Two servants awkwardly brought in the cross-shaped rack. A “bang” rang out as it was placed in the middle of the room.
"Pinioned."
Without waiting for the Queen to finish speaking, Countess Elvira voluntarily lay down on the rack. The servants, with sympathetic eyes, used leather straps to fix her arms and legs.
Before long, the Countess' back was drenched in blood. She gritted her teeth and endured without uttering a single sound until the twentieth lash, then fainted and had to endure fourteen more lashes in a coma. A total of thirty-four lashes were applied, after which she was carried out for treatment.
“Pant, pant……. Useless bastards…….”
Finally, the excitement of seeing blood subsided, and Cornelia gradually regained her composure. She gasped and threw the whip covered in flesh and blood to the floor.
"I knew right away that that brat would cause trouble. Yes, that's for sure. Right from that insolent look in his eyes, it was obvious that something wasn't normal."
She wanted to strangle it immediately. But she didn't have any cards left in her hand. Neither Countess Elvira, who was installed under surveillance, nor Mercedes knew what that brat had planned.
“……Dare to defy me.”
Cornelia gave an evil smile.
"And that nanny too. It's so useless and useless. After all, that brat Prince Concubine got involved, so the trial is inevitable, so I don't need to waste any more effort."
Cornelia slowly closed her eyes and tilted her head back. A black smoke rose around her body, then quickly gathered from all four directions.
That black smoke was slowly sucked into her mouth.
This is Queen Cornelia's ability. Mesmerize people, turn them into prisoners and control their actions at will. What people often call Black Magic.
Up to now, just by increasing her suggestion on Mercedes, she was able to easily eliminate the four previous prince concubine candidates.
But this fifth girl doesn't seem to be that easy to kill. Even Mercedes, her powerful right hand, was counterattacked, forcing her to amputate herself.
“Useless bastards…….”
Now that the suggestion and constraint imposed on Mercedes have been lifted, she will definitely return to her normal state of consciousness.
But she was captured and was about to be executed. Once the suggestion disappears, all memories will become vague, she will definitely not remember why she did those terrible things.
Just as planned. There were many people who did dirty things on her behalf and then disappeared this way.
That's how she protected her position for so long, and also how she climbed to this pinnacle of power.
But the one who ends everything is always the Queen. This was the first time she was counterattacked like this.
"That stupid nanny is done. The problem now is the Princess."
She thought he would die soon like the previous children, so no matter what he did, she ignored it. Either way, he's about to die. Who would have thought that that vile thing would dare to rise up so strongly.
At this rate, the bet between the two of them, the ambitious plan to turn Prince Cesar into her own person, perhaps she also needs to reconsider a bit.
Suddenly, that woman's eyes appeared in her mind. Her emerald green eyes, so fierce that they never seemed to give in, made her extremely uncomfortable.
After all, when stripped bare, they are all just the same people. If you cut into the flesh, you will feel pain. If you bleed out, you will die. You are just an ordinary human being. What's on your face?
Furthermore, it was said that the Prince's condition was much better than before. There are even rumors that he escaped the influence of the curse and gradually became normal.
Who knows, maybe the descendant of Flores, who carries the magic to overcome the curse of the Crazy Dragon, will actually be effective against the Prince's curse.
“Huh……. We can't let that happen.”
Need to gather more strength. Although we need to find out more about her ability to lift curses, this curse is something Queen Cornelia has carefully arranged for many years. It must be said that it has been decades. So it's not easy to solve it.
Cornelia's attention to the ancient Dragon's curse was purely coincidental yet fateful. A curse occasionally strikes the Royal bloodline, which was long thought extinct.
So even though one day that curse suddenly appeared on the Great Prince's body, no one suspected that it was arranged by human hands.
No matter how much they struggle, they still fit in the palm of our hand. Therefore, watching them struggle helplessly is also an elegant pleasure.
"Just try struggling. No matter what you do, you won't be able to save the First Prince."
Thinking that, her mood brightened up.
‘Your Highness is human!’
Remember the scene where that brat screamed like that. It firmly believes that the nature of the Great Prince is human. A Prince who almost turned into a monster.
“But what if you witnessed this monster's true form?”
Seeing that cheeky brat's reaction to the upcoming tragedy would be another treat.
“Huh, huh huh…… Ahahahaha!”
Still, there's still a lot of fun ahead. Just because you stumble on a small stone on the side of the road, getting angry at the stone is unreasonable. If a rock is in the way, just kick it to the curb and you're done.
“Okay, just try struggling as hard as you can.”
Mercedes' trial took place in secret. Murdering four candidates for the Prince Concubine, killing the maid Elda, attempting to murder the fifth Prince Concubine, me, and the most serious crime of impersonating the Prince's mother, eying the position of Queen, committing treason. These are all serious crimes that cannot be tolerated.
The results of the trial were very clear. Death penalty, without any clemency or amnesty. Originally, political criminals were often punished by being beaten to death with sticks, but considering that she had contributed to being the Prince's nanny for a long time, she was commuted to hanging.
Today is the day of execution of Mercedes' hanging sentence. I said to Delfina as she was helping me get ready in the morning.
“Delfina, I want to see Mercedes one last time.”
"Yes? But Your Highness, why do you want to meet that woman..."
Delfina panicked and intervened. She thought it wouldn't be a good idea to go meet the guy who tried to kill her.
But I thought all night long, my determination will not change.
“I must meet and talk to her once.”
Delfina also understood my personality through the time of contact. That I am someone who never gives up. She sighed and nodded.
“I'll try to find a way.”
The place where Mercedes is detained is the North Tower of the Royal Palace. This place has long been a place to detain political criminals or assassins of the Royal Family.
I covered myself with a dark cloak and walked with Delfina towards the North Tower. Currently, Mercedes is the only prisoner imprisoned here. She was locked in the deepest cell. Inside the tower there was a strong smell of rusty iron and a foul smell.
It seems that Mercedes has suffered many brutal tortures so her body looks very emaciated. However, she still sat straight in her chair, maintaining her proud expression.
Delfina slipped a few silver coins into the warden's hand. Anyway, this afternoon the death sentence was carried out, so the guard was not too strict. The prison guard nodded at us and walked away.
"Please feel free to chat. I'll be around here."
Delfina also nodded at me and stepped back.
Through the rusty bars, I saw Mercedes. Opposite the bars was a chair that the prison guard had prepared. When I sat down, she spoke up.
“Well, His Royal Highness the Royal Highness has arrived.”
Her voice was still as clear and calm as usual. But there is still a bitterness that is hard to hide.
But why? In her eyes, I no longer saw the deep darkness like the quagmire of the past. She doesn't look like a villain who killed many people at all.
I hesitated for a moment then raised my head to look at her.
“Mercedes, you must hate me very much.”
“…….”
She just looked at me without answering.
“If I asked you why you did those things, would you answer?”
Hearing that, Mercedes lowered her head.
“Mercedes……?”
Her shoulders shook violently, then a soft giggle rang out. She suddenly laughed loudly, then stood up and rushed to grasp the iron bars tightly. The "ding" echoed throughout the empty space, making me startled and cringe.
"You ask why I did that? Because I hate it. Because you guys tainted my Cesar……. Yes, that's why."
Her eye sockets were red. For some reason, she looked so painful.
"You can't keep Cesar with you all your life. He's not a child anymore, he's a grown man."
“But, Your Highness!”
Not knowing when, hot tears rolled down her cheeks.