"Commander, that day... is it because you find out that the King was behind your father's death?" Thinking of the day his Commander practiced under the rain nonstop, Rion clenched his fists.
He was well aware of how much his Commander admired and respect King Tobias. How did things turn out this way?!
It will be very hard for her.
Iria Alewine who was sitting on a chair in her tent nodded but she didn't say anything. Orius Aventine who turned out to be her brother was occupying all her mind.
"Commander, you should leave too," Rion suddenly said. "It's not safe for you here. Please leave and I will handle things here."
"I won't leave my soldiers behind," Commander Iria firmly argued. "They place trust in me and risk their lives under my lead for years. If I leave, what will happen to them?"
"You're planning to stay?" Rion asked her with disbelief but... Iria Alewine shook her head.
"After all those incidents, I can't stay here in Jerivia anymore," the Commander said. "If the soldiers wish to leave with me, I will pave a way for that." She looked up at Rion and said, "Believe me, Rion. Even if I have to cause a bloodbath, I choose that rather than staying here."
Right now, she didn't think she could face Zaro Aventine anymore.
However, the new King wasn't a fool. Once he learned that Orius escaped, the one he first suspected would be her and Iria knew that.
Was this the end of their friendship?
* * *
In the royal palace of Jerivia
"Leave!" Zaro Aventine shouted at his right-hand man Derin who reported about the escape of Prince Orius.
When the guards who managed to survive regained their consciousness, it was already morning!
Derin bowed before the young King and quickly left the chamber. He had to arrange soldiers to look for the Second Prince and he knew very well that it won't be easy.
People at the palace were well aware of the Second Prince hidden abilities and it won't be easy to outsmart him.
Placing his palms on the table, the King hardly slammed it when he lost control.
*
Iria Alewine entered Zaro's chamber when she was told that the King wanted to see her. She knew why but she won't run away. This was the best choice, for now.
The Commander finds out that the whole chamber was a mess! If this happened in the past, she would quietly clean up the mess when she walked inside but... she refused to do that anymore.
He was the one who first trampled on their friendship which she once valued than anything else!
"Your Majesty," she called out with a bit of reluctance.
Zaro Aventine who was standing near the windows turned around when he heard her voice. Without saying anything, he walked closer to her. His gaze never left her and Iria knew that he was observing her.
She had no plan to hide anything.
If possible, she wanted to see his worst. Maybe that way, it will be easier for her to hate him.
As she calmly looked at his face, the memories they shared all those years resurfaced in her mind and that pricked her heart.
Why was it so easy for him to trample on those memories? For her, they were priceless!
"I was right," Zaro Aventine finally spoke up. "It was you. No one else in Jerivia would be skilled and daring enough to do that."
"I only did what I think is right," she said, showing no signs of regret or anxiety.
Death? She was never once scared of it.
"Why?!" Zaro Aventine grunted. "Because you find out that he is your brother? You can't bear to see him being locked up in that cell?"
"Prince Orius is innocent," Iria Alewine daringly argued though the one standing before her was the King. "Someone framed him and even threatened him," she added, meeting Zaro's gaze.
"Why don't you just say that someone is me?" the King snapped. "You already know everything. That hatred in your eyes tells me that."
Iria Alewine shut her eyes when she heard him. He didn't even bother to deny it or feign ignorance!
Orius was right. Zaro was a changed man now. He wasn't that kind-hearted and caring friend she once knew.
"Why?" she finally asked as she opened her eyes. "Why must you do this?"
"Because you tried to leave me! You tried to leave Jerivia!" Zaro Aventine growled. When Iria Alewine raised a brow, he took a step closer. "Why must I lose you for what my father did?"
He knew what his father did! She tried to leave him?
Iria recalled her last conversation with King Tobias where she said that she won't serve him anymore. Was he referring to that one?
He overheard that conversation?!
She glanced at Zaro with disbelief and shook her head. "It won't be," she muttered. "Tell me that you're not the one who killed your father."
This had never once crossed her mind! She thought that Zaro's took advantage of his father's death to end Orius but...
The King loved him and favored him! He won't be that cruel to his own father!
However, what she heard next made her heart sank.
"It was an accident," Zaro Aventine said. "I never plan to kill him."
He recalled the time he went to his father's chamber that night. It was just a while after Iria left and Zaro was so angry at his father. He couldn't believe that his father did such a thing!
His father tried his best to explain to him but... Zaro pushed him away. However, the force was quite huge and that made the King fall and unfortunately, he hit his head on the sharp corner of the table. It was the wound that caused his death!
The day Iria find out the truth, Zaro saw Orius who was coming out of the King's chamber. The Second Prince returned to his room but... he didn't know that Zaro came to discuss something with him.
That day, Zaro heard Orius discussed his origin with Kerin and... he already condemned his father for that. When he heard that his father killed Iria's father too, he completely lost his cool and that caused his father's life.....
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