"WATCH YOUR words, Duchess Victoria!" The chancellor, Lord Helisos, reprimanded Tori, who was now walking towards the podium where Lady Merilla Larat stood.

"Such audacity of you to indirectly threaten the crown," said Lady Merilla with a haughty smirk on her perfectly made-up face as she stared at the equally grinning Tori. The latter turned to the king who was now fuming. "Know your place, Duchess Victoria." The warning dripped on the king's statement which silenced the audience.

Provoking the king further, Tori curtsied before speaking on behalf of Prince Corean. "I am here as His Highness, Prince Corean Shuia Eckrett's, voice. Will you hear me out, King Elphaim Eckrett, the Blessed Empire's Sun of Gaia?"

Tori's question irked the composed Lady Merilla. To decline the request of the Duchess and to turn away from the second prince's side would raise suspicion for the king. Though the king already decided to sacrifice his son to get control of the mine from the north, he could not act brazenly in front of the three factions; the noble faction, the aristocratic faction, and the commoner's faction.

King Elphaim knew that Duchess Victoria Rozenreff used the Monakre Kingdom's royal envoy to stall the noble trial. The extended three days for his second son's life were not enough to save the prince. Swallowing his victorious grin, the king turned to his second son who was calmly sitting as if he was not about to be executed. "Prince Corean, come forward."

Prince Corean stood from his seat. His bruises were barely covered, earning a flock of whispers from the higher echelon of society. As he strode to the podium where Tori and Merilla were standing, his eyes never left the pair of red ones. Standing beside Tori, he bowed his head to the imperial family, but his eyes were on his mother. He was curtsying to his mother, not his greedy father, and not to his brother. "Blessing to the empire's sun, King Elphaim Eckrett," said the second prince.

The three members of the imperial family saw where his eyes were showing respect. Gritting his teeth from the blatant disrespect, King Elphaim Eckrett nodded his stiffly. "Well then, the floor is yours, Prince Corean. As your father, I can offer you a fresh start. Just confess the truth. I will ask you one last time, who is the traitor of this empire?"

King Elphaim wanted the prince to utter the duchess's name. He sent his men to torture his son every night just for this moment. The king strongly believed that the miserable days his son endured inside the capital's prison cell would be enough for the second prince to push the duchess into the cliff. But the king failed to notice two things. Prince Corean's strong devotion for the duchess pushed him to own all of her sins while the king's men whom King Elphaim sent to the prison failed to return.

Sabina, who was wrecked from failing to get the Duchy, grinned happily upon hearing the king's question to Prince Corean. She knew that the second prince would seize the chance to save himself, thus leaving Victoria, her wretched sister, the culprit. Just imagining the dull ax that would repeatedly hit Victoria's neck brought euphoria to Sabina.

Prince Lauren smiled inwardly as he looked down at his younger half-brother. Since Prince Corean was born, Prince Lauren waited patiently for this day, the fated day that the empire would finally be his. His sapphire-colored eyes moved to Victoria, now the duchess of Rozenreff Duchy. He felt the growing disappointment for her. He once planned for her to be his queen, but Prince Lauren hated how the duchess gazed at his brother. Now, he would enjoy seeing them be dragged by the royal knights. In the first place, there was no need to hold this noble trial. The result was clear and he was getting bored.

Duke Luwen Rozenreff stared at his eldest daughter for a long time. No, he was staring at his daughter since she arrived. He was torn between his loyalty to the empire and his love for his daughters. Though he surrendered the Duchy to Victoria, he knew that she deserved the title more than Sabina. The Porridge Attempted Massacre that almost ruined the Rozenreff Duchy's name was proof that Sabina failed. The way Victoria stood in front of the king and the mocking nobles screamed how dignified she was. The duke knew that at first glance, the favor seemed to tilt towards the noble faction. But upon closer inspection, the attending aristocrats or the accused side did not even bat an eyelash as if they already knew this would happen. The chilling smiling face of Prince Corean strengthened his belief that the new head of the Rozenreff Duchy already anticipated this one.

"Who is the culprit you say? You are looking right into him, Your Majesty."

Lady Merilla scoffed. She pointed at Prince Corean disrespectfully. "His confession is enough to punish him to death for committing treason, Your Majesty. The second prince is greedy enough to covet the Blessed Sun's throne, please punish him accordingly, Your Majesty!" She knelt which the noble faction followed.

The commoners who were inside the courtroom whispered against each other while the aristocratic faction members remained passive. The two reactions of the commoners and the aristocratic faction members astounded Prince Lauren. Even Lady Merilla who groveled to the king noticed that the two factions were behaving rather oddly. No yelling. No protests. Everything screamed danger for Lady Merilla.

King Elphaim, who remained clueless, chose this moment to sentence the accused. "The pieces of evidence gathered by the witness, Lady Merilla Larat of the Household of Larat, and the confession of the accused, Prince Corean Shuia Eckrett, are enough grounds to sentence the accused as guilty of treason against the Eckrett Empire!" The king's words rang inside the courtroom.

Prince Corean stared at his father who was grinning from ear to ear. He watched the person he once respected surrender to greed. His gaze shifted to his mother who remained clueless and was now surrounded by her attendants as the latter fainted from stress. Cory clenched his fists from worrying his frail mother but it needed to be done. His gaze then settled to his elder brother. The long enmity between them would no be settled. The second prince knew that he needed to end this now, for his mother and Victoria.

Lady Merill smirked. She signaled the royal knights on stand-by. "What are you waiting for? Arrest him!" Her emerald-colored eyes glinted with every step the royal knights took.

Tori stared at the grinning king, and then at Lady Merilla, who was standing a meter away from here in the podium. The noble faction cheered for the royal knights. It's time. Tori turned to the traitor. "Who says you already won?" Tori offered her sweetest smile to Lady Merilla, who replied with a mocking chuckle.

"What's wrong, Duchess Victoria? Are you frustrated how your chosen king is the next in line for the beheading grounds?" Lady Merilla knew how Tori wanted the second prince to rule as the king though the former did not know why.

"Step aside, Duchess Victoria Rozenreff." The head of the royal knights led his knights in arresting the second prince who was unmoving behind Tori.

Lady Merilla walked with her head held high towards Prince Corean, closing the distance between her and the smiling duchess. As she was about to pass by Tori, collective gasps echoed inside the courtroom as they saw how the duchess swung her parasol. Blood splurted like a drizzle in the podium. The next time they knew, Lady Merilla's shellshocked face rolled to the ground together with her head. The tip of the parasol dripped with blood as Tori twirled the item.

"You want treason? I, Duchess Victoria Rozenreff, will take your throne. I declare a new dynasty, how's that? Elphaim Eckrett." On her face was the splash of blood from the parasol that she flicked. Her red eyes glowed like the devil's as she scanned her surrounding.

"Arrest them and the aristocratic faction members! Arrest them!" King Elphaim's angry command sparked the chaos that Tori and Prince Cory waited for.

As Tori whistled, the colorful glass window at the top of the courtroom shattered when a gray-feathered hawk flew towards the king. The royal knight's sword swung to the hawk which the latter avoided with its agile control of wings. Its target within its sharp claws, the king's crown. "Bring that back to me!" The king cried as he watched his precious crown being taken away from him.

Prince Lauren and King Elphaim were surrounded by the royal knights. King Elphaim realized Queen Aurina's absence. "Where is the queen?" He thought that the queen was kidnapped, thus, his frantic shouts ensued. "Find her! Or I will stake your heads for all to see how useless you are!" The kings threatened the royal knights. Everything was not what he thought would become. Never in his thought that he would be trap like this.

Below them, the royal knights attacked Tori which was easily protected by Prince Cory. The second prince's left arm grasped Tori's waist protectively as his right hand intercepted every attack of the knights that surrounded the two. Tori used her parasol to swing her parasol while enjoying the warmth from Prince Cory's palm. I am such a slut. Enjoying his heat even if the enemies keep on attacking us. Oh well, might as well enjoy it while I'm at it.

The doors of the courtroom got destroyed by the sheer force behind them. Everyone gasped aside from the aristocratic faction and the commoners in the area. What immerged next were dozens of warriors wearing animal skin to cover their bodies, larges bolo and long javelins in their hands.

All the noble faction members surrounded the royal family then the royal knights served as the last stronghold as they surrounded the noble faction. It amazed Tori how they easily climbed the stairs towards the royal family's audience area.

The savage tribe warriors of the north killed the knights that surrounded Tori and Prince Cory in one go by skewering them using the javelins. Their heavy footsteps echoed inside the courtroom as they marched towards Tori and Prince Cory. As soon as they stopped, they stood behind the two who were below the emperor's audience area.

The aristocratic faction members and the commoners walked towards Tori and Prince Cory. This surprised Prince Lauren. The way how calm the two factions the whole time until the commotion only meant that the alleged noble trial was a trap. Gritting his teeth, he glared at Prince Corean who was already staring at him.

Looking up, Prince Corean finally spoke. "I did not come here to be judged. No. I am here to get what's rightfully mine, father." Gone was the smiling face that was always present in the second prince's face. Replaced by a deep seethed anger that only the blood of those who oppressed Victoria could quench.

"You damn traitor!" The king's face reddened from his anger. His furious demeanor skyrocketed when Prince Cory looked at him haughtily.

"Is this how you want to become king, brother? You will go down in the history as the tyrant who killed your family. The people will not accept you!" Prince Lauren shouted. His fatal attempt to fool Prince Cory again, but the second prince burst out laughing. He laughed like what he heard was the most ridiculous thing he heard.

"We're royals, brother. We devour to survive. Didn't you set this lousy trap as the perfect stage to hunt me?" The mockery dripping from his gentle voice could not be denied as everyone listened.

His sparkling golden eyes turned Tori into a blushing mess. Dropping her parasol, Tori hugged Prince Cory from the back. Her dainty hands crawled from his waist to his chest. Her gleaming red eyes were the only ones that Prince Lauren could see as Prince Cory's body obstructed most of her features.

The flapping of the wings signaled Tori to raise her right arm in front of Prince Cory as she stood behind him. The golden crown shone brightest in the courtroom. Talia, the gray-feathered hawk flew as soon as Tori held the crown.

The moment she raised the crown using her right hands to Prince Cory's head, her red eyes never left Prince Lauren's gaze. Crowing the second prince, she's declaring who owned the new emperor.