“What?”
Sylvia, with a look as if she had surely misheard, asked back while Felix, undressing her robe, repeated.
“You need to apply the medicine, so undress.”
The reason he had brought her to his room instead of calling a physician was singular. Sylvia’s injuries weren’t localized to one area; they were almost all over her body. That meant the first person to see her naked, unseen even by him, would be a physician.
He couldn’t bear that.
No, he wanted to be the only one to hear, see, and feel everything about her, from now on.
So…
“Hurry and undress.”
Sylvia clumsily crossed her arms over her chest, covering herself. The intense, almost burning black gaze made her shyly avert her eyes.
“I’ll do it, I’ll do it…”
Before Sylvia could finish speaking, Felix, clicking his tongue, pulled down her sleeve and scooped a generous amount of medicine from the jar to apply it.
“Ah!”
It was incredibly painful. The injury wasn’t noticeably severe, but minor wounds stretched across like a tattoo.
“Even now?”
Sylvia, narrowing her eyes and pouting her lips at Felix, who asked, could not respond. Blushing to the corners of her eyes, she turned her head away and buried her face in his chest.
“Looking will kill you!”
As Sylvia shouted with her exposed neck turning red, Felix casually replied.
“Understood. If you’re embarrassed, just close your eyes.”
Taking advantage of her not looking, he swiftly removed her shirt, rolling his eyes.
“Since you can’t see with your eyes closed, you can’t complain, even if the medicine clumps up.”
He lied smoothly, gently applying the ointment to her exposed skin.
***
After applying all the medicine, Felix wrapped Sylvia, who couldn’t lift her head due to embarrassment, in the bedcovers and then bandaged his own injured arm.
Exiting the room, Felix found Duke Sabelisa and Hubert waiting not far off.
“Proceed.”
Duke Sabelisa respectfully brought a cape to Felix, who was dressed in simple shirt and trousers. The cape, starting silver at the collar and fading to black towards the end, was long and could only be worn by the Capitis royal family.
With trembling hands, Duke Sabelisa attached a black dragon motif brooch to secure the cape. Felix, after casually running his hands through his hair, commanded in a deep voice.
“Lead the way.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Duke Sabelisa had gathered the criminals in a place used for banquets. Inside the banquet hall, there was a high platform where the king’s chair was located.
As the large doors opened, Felix entered. Striding to the high seat, he sat where his father once had.
Count Lansmorris, bound by the knights and kneeling on the floor, trembled around his eyes as he spotted the Crown Prince. Felix’s fierce black gaze directly met his. Duke Sabelisa began shouting the list he had prepared.
“Lansmorris, Ventrio, Sphoro, Lureldan…”
As the names of the criminals continued to be announced, Felix clicked his tongue loudly. They were the ones who had been devouring the country in his absence. Felix hadn’t forgotten his people he met by the lakeside.
“The criminals have contributed to the embezzlement of the treasury, incited public dissent, provided evidence of treason in attempting to hand over the kingdom to the Crown Prince of Corpora, not to mention the evidence of attempting to poison His Royal Highness, tax evasion, and engaging in the prohibited trade of slavery, among countless other crimes.”
Duke Sabelisa, who had gathered all the evidence and information over time, handed the documents to Hubert, who was temporarily acting as the Crown Prince’s advisor.
Felix thundered in a voice that seemed to crush everything.
“I can’t believe that those who call themselves nobles of the kingdom, instead of protecting the country, engaged in such despicable acts as selling out the country and enslaving the common people!”
Sitting up straight, Felix scanned the audience.
“Bring in the body.”
At his command, knights who were on standby brought in Bella’s body, contained in a wooden coffin, and placed it in front of the criminals. The knights dispersed around as the body, covered in cloth but with gaunt arms and face exposed, was laid out. Count Lansmorris’s pupils widened momentarily at the sight of Bella’s body.
“Count Lansmorris, do you recognize who this is?”
Lansmorris trembled at the heavy voice that fell low, but his mouth still spoke lies.
“I do not know. I am innocent, Your Highness!”
Duke Sabelisa clenched his fist at the sight of him bowing his head and claiming his innocence. During Felix’s absence, it was Count Lansmorris who had treated the palace as his own home.
“Hmm, that’s strange. You should know everything, shouldn’t you?”
“Your Highness, I truly do not recognize that woman.”
“Is that so? Then, perhaps this will jog your memory?”
Felix lashed the count’s back with a whip formed from wind magic.
“Aaagh!”
With relentless whipping, Count Lansmorris screamed out in agony. After a round of lashes, Felix asked again with a chilling voice.
“This is how you beat the woman. Do you not remember now? Truly?”
Count Lansmorris, his eyes trembling wildly, continued to lie until the end.
“I truly do not know…”
Crack!
Felix had seen Bella’s back just before her death. Her back, having been beaten for a long time, was nothing short of a ragged mess.
Yes, I cannot forgive you… but I will give you my pity.
Blood splattered, and flesh tore, but Felix did not stop. The sight of Count Lansmorris made the onlookers terrified. They had not thought their power would diminish with the return of the once powerless Crown Prince. They had believed the Capitis Kingdom was practically theirs, until they saw what was unfolding before their eyes…
A noble, previously lying prone under Felix’s merciless hands, raised his head and shouted.
“I know, I know her! That woman was definitely a bastard of the Lansmorris house!”
The one who shouted was Viscount Ventrio, who had served as Count Lansmorris’s right hand and enriched himself in the process. Being from a family that had interacted with the Lansmorrises since childhood, he knew very well.
“You what! What do you know!”
Felix, without mercy in his hands, whipped Count Lansmorris again as he tried to scream in defiance. The count, who was used to wearing luxurious and soft clothes, had his garments torn and his body smeared or dripping with blood.
Felix looked coldly at Viscount Ventrio.
“So, you claim to know this woman.”
Startled by the cold black gaze, the viscount politely answered.
“Yes, I have interacted with the Lansmorris household since I was a child and saw clearly. That woman is indeed Bella Lansmorris, a bastard of the Lansmorris house.”
Only then did Felix stop the magic. Count Lansmorris, who had been beaten, was gasping with rage and pain.
“Then it turns out the count has been lying.”
With a calm expression that seemed to know the count’s lies all along, Felix called Duke Sabelisa.
“Duke Sabelisa.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
“Add to his charges. Include the crime of royal defamation.”
“Yes, understood!”
Hearing the conversation, the count gritted his teeth and shouted.
“This cannot be! I am the brother of Her Majesty the Queen! The one who killed the queen is the traitor!”
Felix smirked at Count Lansmorris, who glared at him with bloodshot eyes.
“Her Majesty the Queen… You truly thought someone who doesn’t carry the dragon seal of Capitis could sit on the throne and be considered the king? And isn’t it strange?”
Felix added with a sneer.
“Wasn’t the queen silver-haired? As you all know, she had the same face as my royal mother.”
With his words, the assembly fell silent as if doused with cold water, under Felix’s stern gaze.
“I know nothing… It’s all her doing. I know nothing.”
The count vehemently denied, shaking his head. Felix, watching the shameless denial of his crimes, issued an order without a word.
“From this moment, activate the national emergency system. Temporarily revoke the titles of all royalty and nobility of the Capitis Kingdom, including the dukes and below. The Royal Knights are to be assembled in full and investigate everyone associated with these individuals without exception!”
“Yes, we shall heed Your Highness’s command!”
“Lock them up and extract confessions through hourly whippings!”
“We will obey the orders of His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince of Capitis.”
Duke Sabelisa, Hubert, and all the knights bowed deeply, proclaiming their loyalty.
Watching Felix command with dignity from the golden throne, Duke Sabelisa and Hubert shed tears.
After issuing his commands, Felix quickly rose from his seat and smoothly exited the banquet hall. Until then, the knights, grateful and respectful to their returned Crown Prince, bowed their heads deeply in thanks and respect.