Chapter 135 - The Holy Crow
It was the next day, the dreaded day of their execution.
Madam Hoot made sure to let the entire kindom know about the prince's execution. It was her next move to overthrow the kingdom, letting the balance of the Houses flip and take advantage of the skirmish of the Houses when they're playing their game to steal the throne.
"Is everything ready?" Madam Hoot asked the guard on patrol. They were in her office, the woman standing over her window, watching the cloudy skies looming ovet the city.
"The guards said their shift was peaceful," the guard responded.
Madam Hoot nodded and grinned, "Good job. We will soon finish this prince and will carry on with our plan."
"Yes, Madam," the guard formed a salute but Madam Hoot walked over took his hand, caressing it to her face.
"I told you, you can call me 'darling' when we're alone," Madam Hoot said seductively. She took the guard's hand and licked it, the guard retracting it instantly.
"Eww– No, I mean we can't do that here darling, people might see us," the guard said with a sweat trailing from his forehead. "Our entire plan would go down the drain if that happens."
Madam Hoot huffed and crossed her arms, turning to the window. "Do you not love me anymore, Fernando?"
"What are you saying, darling? Of course I love you," Fernando replied.
"Then let's kill Lance and his petty friends. Next will be the king," Madam Hoot said and stared at the floor to ceiling glass window. "It won't be long before we reign over Terra."
–
"It really is Prince Lance."
"Why is he being executed?"
"I refuse to believe this!"
"What will happen to the throne now?"
…
"Good citizens of Avancia," Madam Hoot announced from the balcony.
They were in the city's central square where the execution would take place. The king, House Heads, and Madam Hoot was in a high balcony. They overlook the platform where the prisoners would be hanged in front of the mass of people that had gathered.
"As the King's Advisor, I am here to present the five people who sabotaged an assassination for the king," Madam Hoot said and smirked. "Actually, make that six people."
"They have hired an assassin to kill the king while he was in bed, of course since the assassin tried to escape, he was unfortunately killed. And they planned it so well that they made us believe that the prince was arrested by a Royal Police. He made it happen since he can't just wonder inside Solaguer at the exact moment the king dies, right? He had to make us believe that he was in his lowest of lows so we would pity him. And when he kills his father, he would be free from suspicion," Madam Hoot continued.
"Such a deceitful prince!"
"He deserved to die!"
"I refuse to believe that the prince would do such a thing!"
…
"We actually interrogated the assassin, and he said that Prince Lance ordered him to hurt the king but not enough to kill him. Because he would deliver the final blow to end his father's life. That was why he staged his arrest. He's such a liar and so evil. Even I could not believe that he would do such a thing," Madam Hoot paused and pretended to wipe a tear from her cheek. "I can't believe that he was groomed by me, taken care by me, and then would end up like this."
"Let it all out, Madam Hoot."
"We're here for you, Madam Hoot."
"I still refuse to believe that the prince would do such a thing."
…
"And now, to present us the criminals, the Head of the Royal Guards, Fernando Plum," she said. "The criminals shall be named and you deserve to know their names."
"Let their names be known!"
"Criminals! Disgusting criminals!"
"Why isn't there a trial? I still refuse to believe this."
…
"Prince Lance of House Alorde, and his companions with their Adventurer names, Elliot Max as APRIL, Connor Carp as… Connor Carp? What in the– Hope as Hope, and Edward Seville as Ed. These are the Adventurers who tried to kill the king. And well, along with their accomplice, the Royal Police who made the arrest, Officer Ryan Grinfacet."
The guards walked along with the prisoners, dragging them as they walked slowly in shame. Instead of the rope that they tied to the prisoners, it was now replace by magic suppressing shackles to their wrists.
Everyone could only gasp and slowly shake their heads as they watched the prince they once patronized became a criminal that awaited execution.
The prisoners were made to line up on the platform, the guards placed a bag over their heads to cover their faces while the noose in front of each of them were placed around their necks. The guards then got down, four of which came to the balcony right where Madam Hoot was.
Fernando was the one who was tasked to pull the lever so the platform would go down, leaving the prisoners to hang on to the noose.
"I've waited for so long," Madam Hoot whispered to herself and thought of something. "You know what, our kingdom does not let us see their faces as they hang, but it's a special occasion. And the king is willing to bend a bit of rules, right my king?"
King Leopold's eyes glimmered with a geen light for a split second before returning to normal. He then spoke, "Yes, Madam Hoot. I agree. After all, this kingdom needs to learn that the law is absolute. No one is free from it. Even the Royals."
"Yes," Madam Hoot nodded and touched her chest. "Guards, remove the bags!"
Six guards ran to the platform and removed the bags, making everyone gasp at the sight.
"W-Who are they?!" Madam Hoot yelled after seeing that the six people on the platform weren't the prisoners.
"Madam Hoot, these are the guards that were on patrol before the second shift last night," one of the guards from the platform reported.
"But they were the prisoners just a moment ago!" Madam Hoot seethed. "What in the Five Virtues is happening?!"
"Mirror Magic," the guard on her front left said. He turned to her, his face was forming cracks like they were made of porcelain and shattered like they were glass. The specks of glass-like magic vanishing into thin air.
Elliot smirked, "You think you're the only one who can use Mirror Magic, Hoot?"
"No!" Madam Hoot yelled and clung to the guard behind her, gasping as she saw that it was actually Connor.
"Sup, b*tch?" Connor smirked. "Ah, learned that from Ed."
One of the guards walked towards the king, the other guards raised their swords in defense as they saw him walking over.
"Relax," Connor said as his disguise slowly fade. "I don't mean any harm."
He brandished his sword and pointed at the king from a few meters back, "Nullify."
"He's going to poison the king!" Madam Hoot tried to yell and ran but she was held in place by Hope. "Stop his attack!"
The guards unsheathed their swords and were about to deflect the light purple ray that came from Ed's sword but they were too late, the light had already reached the king.
His body glowed and a green light, flashing until a skull-like figure appeared on top of him. The king's eyes rolled at the back of his head, making the guards worry and attack Ed.
"No wait, stop!" Ed yelled and raised his hands, dropping his sword pointed at the king. "That's her spell being extracted from the king!"
"Lies!" Madam Hoot yelled. "All lies! It's his attack! He's going to kill the king!"
When the guards tried to attack Connor, the light vanished and the king took a deep breath. He lowered his head as if he lost consciousness, silence filling the entire town's square.
No one knew what was happening, especially the commoners. From their angle, they could only see the shimmer of the light from the balcony, unable to see the events that slowly unfolded.
The guards paused and went to the king who suddenly raised his head as if he was awoken from a deep slumber.
"What happened?" King Leopold cupped his head. "Madam Hoot! She told me she was going to attack the kingdom!"
"He's under their spell!" Madam Hoot cried, letting out fake sobs. "They're hypnotizing him and throwing me under the wagon for their crimes!"
"I believe it is you who are lying, Madam Hoot."
Everyone's heads snapped behind the crowd where an old man stood in front of a white carriage. He had a long rectangular hat that has a cross symbol running from top to bottom, wearing a white cloak and wielding a staff with a cross-shaped gem on the tip.
"It's the Holy Crow!"
"Why is he here?"
"What is happening today?"
"I know, there's so many surprises."
…
This old man was the Holy Crow. A powerful figure that has been respected because of his holy prowess. He rules over the major religion in Avancia, the Heaven's Son.
"I have come from my church and has been irked by a deadly spell that's looming around the castle for so long. You even masked the spell so that my subordinates would not locate it," the Holy Crow said. "Turns out, you were cursing the king after all. I couldn't save the queen before, but I will save the king and the prince from you, along with the kingdom."
The people walked to the side, forming an aisle for the Holy Crow to walk through. He quirked his brow at Fernando and nodded.
"Reveal yourself, my prince," the Holy Crow said. "Let us hear everything from you."
Fernando sighed and nodded.. He walked in front of the platform and let his face slowly break like glass, revealing that it was no one else but the Crown Prince.