A cold sweat gripped Krados. Or rather it had never let him go since his sword plunged into the coachman's chest some three hours ago.

He didn't mean to. He was sure something had possessed him. Taken over his body and made him do it. Deep down though, he knew it was a lie. He wanted to do it.

The man had spouted such heinous rubbish, stomping on his fears and insecurities, somehow entering his mind. Krados had wanted him to stop, and he chose the quickest and cruelest way possible that had entered his mind.

Crush him.

Break his bones.

Slit his throat.

Burn him.

MAKE HIM SUFFER.

Krados obliged their wishes, eyes red and mad, and drove his sword into the man. For a horrid moment, he smiled when the man's obnoxious smirk turned to shock and a trickle of blood came out the corner of his lips. Krados stepped closer, running him through more, wondering what kind of expression he would make. 

Then the red cleared and the man stopped breathing. Dead. Dead. DEAD. And Krados had killed him. 

The hands that were once steady with rage now quivered as he stepped back and body fell from his sword. 

It might have appeared absurd. A trained soldier shaking at killing a threat to the empire. But for the past five hundred years; maybe even more, Danica had experienced a single war, battle or revolt. The only exception was the unending cold war with Hesper which had never amounted to an actual battle. And as such, Krados had never actually killed anyone. 

But the emperor did. Hundreds of people, their bodies buried in mass graves. No one talked about it - The Year of Blood. Using violence to bring peace. And the emperor did absolutely anything to keep that bloody peace.

He had tried so hard to maintain an indifferent expression when Adela found the coachman. He had used her appearance to flip the situation, making it seem like he had discovered her at the scene of a murder.

His emotions were all over the place, shifting from resentment at the fear she gave off. And then moving to fear as she squatted over the body, proving her innocence and digging out facts that could lead to him. 

She's going to be a problem.

And the gas enhanced that feeling. A picture of her lying dead on the ground. His hands curled around the sword and the voices started whispering again.

She's threatening the peace.

She'll ruin you.

She'll discover your secret.

He wanted to scream at her to run far away from him. To get away from this cursed utopia before she ended up dead. He was looking at her, half hidden in the shadows. Praying he didn't see the monster he was turning into. 

I don't want to become a monster. 

And now that she had stumbled out, he was alone with the body. His eyes met the dead man and his stomach twisted. He launched himself towards the bag and vomited inside, retching and retching until nothing more could come out. 

The body along with the plant was fast decaying, and he needed to get rid of it. Even if he didn't murder the man he still needed to make sure civilians thought that nothing was wrong. 

He removed the communication crystal and pressed on the gem until it glowed and Anil's face appeared. 

"The tourism area. The inn has a round roof and carriage outside. Bring a stallion and a body bag." Krados paused before completing his sentence. "Please tell Lord Zenon and Lady Erix to meet me in the dungeons."

★★★★★★★

Beautiful yet deadly, that was obsidian. A precious gem that could slice through marble and bone. The major material used in making the dungeons underneath Danica.

And under the artificial light of the lumine, Krados stood, watching as Lord Zenon tried to pry the prisoner's mind. 

Lord Zenon groaned and stood up, going to a wall to support himself. "It's useless. He's flooding everything. It's like sorting through bales of hay for a single strand of hair."

Lady Erix scoffed and rolled her eyes at Lord Zenon. "Just say you're incompetent,"

"Like the person that told you that outfit looked good."

Anil bit down a laugh as he maintained the barrier, making a vacuum outside the cell and preventing any eavesdroppers.

Krados rubbed his temples, trying to contain the images that haunted him. Krados might have stabbed the man, but someone else poisoned him. He would have died as soon as he received a small cut. He would have died anyways...

The prisoner - Markos, sat down on a gold encrusted chair, head bowed as his long black hair fell over his face. 

"My dear little lamb," Lady Erix started, taking a seat and leaning over the table to lift Marko's head with the tip of her fingers. "Why did you lie to me?"

Lady Erix was in charge of the prison. She insisted that they be given the best of everything, clothes, beds and food. Her dear little lamb, as she often called Marko, needed to numbed.

The man shook his head weakly, his orange eyes glazed over. "I didn't lie."

Lady Erix giggled and batted her lashes at the man, causing Lord Zenon to scrunch his face in disgust. "So who was the girl that your coachman framed?"

"What coachman?"

"The dead one we found," She combed her fingers through her brown hair. "You know, the one with branches growing out his body."

Marko's eyes immediately became animated. "You're lying,"

He looked at Krados and then at the rest of the occupants before sobbing quietly and then glaring at Lady Erix. "I look forward to the day you all burn to the ground."

"She was a distraction, wasn't she?" Krados said, stepping closer to the table.

He held Marko's gaze, smirking as he unraveled their plans. "Someone for us to chase while your coachman gave another vile to your spy here."

Marko laughed. A sound Krados found extremely desperate and forced. "She was our spy." 

Krados turned and started to move out the cell, using his essence to unlock the door. The rest trailed out after him and Lady Erix was hot on his heels. "He was giving us something."

Krados turned the corridor, pushing her slightly to the right and Lord Zenon cursed as she narrowly missed getting shot by an arrow. 

"Nothing I don't know already." He said simply.

If his suspicions were correct then he wasn't sure just who exactly he could tell. 

"Tell us Krados," Lord Zenon said, almost like he had been reading his mind. 

"Yes," Anil added, "What did you mean by a spy? I would have heard about it."

"That's exactly why it's worrisome."

He sighed and started to share his thoughts, pieces of facts that he strung together while Lady Erix was questioning Marko. "Marko knew exactly how to describe Adela. Someone must have come down to the dungeons and told him. He couldn't have fabricated such a correct description."

Krados took a breath before he went on, twisting his analysis a little. "The spy was always going to kill the coachman based off the plant. They probably needed to speed things up and killed him point blank."

"And he was also going to give a second Bael to the spy," Lady Erix said, following tensely. "They must have given us Adela to get our guard down while the coachman went and did the real transaction."

"Did the goddesses finally decide to give you the brains you were owed?" Lord Zenon chimed in.

Anil hissed and slapped Lord Zenon's arm. "This is serious. A spy in the palace with access to the dungeons?! What happens when the emperor finds out?!"

Nobody dared to think about it. Their headless bodies being lost in the abysmal depth of the mines and ruled a natural accident. 

"We won't tell the emperor anything." Krados whispered. "Not until we find the spy."

Everyone nodded and went their separate ways, pretending like an invisible knife wasn't now pressed against their necks.

Anil trailed behind Krados, scanning him up and down.

"Anything the matter Anil?" He asked.

"Are you okay? You are and paler than your normal marble complexion."

Anil laughed a little probably hoping to cheer him up a bit. But Krados' heart wasn't in it, so he simply smiled and repeated, "I'm fine"

In fact he was relieved, he had washed his hands away from the murder. But as he stepped into his room and straight into the tub, he hoped the hot water would cleanse his soul. Because his heart beating fast wasn't fear, it was excitement. He had gotten away with murder.