There are four things in this world that must never be touched.
This castle has been broken.
And the bloodline of our family will also break here.
Watching the wounded soldiers stretch out two bodies, the man who was until just now the king of this city and country, sighs thus.
In this room highest up in the tower, there’s a mixture of the ministers fighting to the very end, and enemy soldiers here to invade them, making the situation so chaotic it’s hard to tell which side the blood and the bodies belong to.
Stepping on the blood and bodies of both sides, the invader stands straight, and immediately snaps when he sees what his subordinates are carrying,
“Who asked you to kill them? Didn’t I say to bring them to me alive?”
The ones lowered onto the cold stone floor together with the stretcher, are the cold corpses that were once the royal consort and the prince.
Since her body is tightly curled up to protect the baby in her arms, so they can’t see the expression of pain that should be on her face. Her previously beautiful honey-colored hair is stained with blood, plastered to her snow-white skin. Maybe it’s because she had plunged a short sword into her chest, the still-fresh blood has dyed a large part of the clothes on her back red.
“But Your Excellency Englas, by the time we discovered them they were…”
“It’s meaningless if they’re not alive!”
That’s right, if it’s not alive, it’s meaningless.
Held up by four strong soldiers, Robert Belal mutters to himself.
He never told them to kill themselves.
No matter how barbaric the clan, they wouldn’t actually hurt women and children. Although he couldn’t protect them to the end, but to ensure that his wife and young son survives, he had spent a lot of effort convincing them to leave the castle. And still, why did they act so rashly?
Robert calls their names in his rough voice, struggling and trying to break free from the soldiers, so he can touch his beloved family.
His newborn son is in his wife’s arms, so they can’t see the hair color and pale brown eyes he inherited from his father. All they can see is his skinny limbs sticking out from his mother’s embrace, cold and white, like a statue made of wax.
“When we found them on the north bank of the lake, they were long dead. If we were just a little later, their bodies would have sunk into the depths, never to be found.”
There’s a giant lake right underneath the tower north of the castle. Should anything sink into this lake, which is cold in summer but doesn’t freeze in winter, finding it would be impossible. The consort’s aim was to kill herself together the prince, wasn’t it? Rather than watch her country waste away in the hands of foreigners, and live her life in sorrow, it would be better to sleep forever in the icy cold depths.
If he was by their side, they wouldn’t choose this path of no return.
Robert moves his gaze away from the bodies, swearing at the invaders. But strangely he doesn’t lose himself in grief, because he feels that he’ll be able to apologize to the mother and son very soon.
Because he too will soon die in the same place, so they won’t have to wait long.
The huge and burly man called Englar caresses his red-brown mustache as he frets. This man had gathered the Shimaron people, representing the power of the east, and made them into troops to invade other countries, controlling everything with violence.
“At first I thought that if I threatened you with your wife’s life, you would definitely obey everything I say… Now I have to find other sacrifices, but what else can make this man surrender…”
“No matter what dirty tricks you use…”
Robert Belal says, gritting his teeth. The soldiers holding his limbs, are shocked by his next expression into loosening their grips. Because this king is laughing, he’s laughing at the Shimaron soldiers.
Right now, he doesn’t have the time to sink into shame and despair.
“The day you desire will never arrive, no one will be loyal to you Shimarons with no country, and no pride. Since Robert Belal’s son, Peg Belal is dead, my family bloodline dies here too. Your wish will never be fulfilled!”
This king of the fallen country, yells with the power to push aside the soldiers holding him,
“If you can open it, then go ahead and try! The next time the ‘Box’ without a Key is unsealed, forget the name, everything you got will be destroyed by that uncontrollable power! And one of the four Keys that can open the ‘Boxes’, will disappear together with my son’s and my death, never to fall into the hands of evil!”
If he wants world peace, it would probably be best to let the Key vanish. Robert looks at his son’s tiny, motionless hand. On his little arm, there isn’t the mark of inheritance.
This world doesn’t need keys, maybe this is God’s will.
The king thinks it over, and shakes his head.