Chapter 47: Crying Man
The next morning in Redsham Palace...
Lucy Windelle descended the spiralling staircase leading to the dungeons below the palace. It was early in the morning, even earlier than when her family would eat breakfast together.
She hoped that there would be minimal guards watching the cells because of this.
Unfortunately, she was wrong.
Once she reached the bottom of the staircase, there was a long tunnel, and on either side of its walls were countless cells for prisoners. These dungeons only held important prisoners. Not petty criminals who had committed crimes such as theft and minor assaults, but rather criminals who had blasphemed the gods or committed treason, and were now bound to spend the rest of their lives locked up.
Guarding the tunnel were two members of the Restoration Order, dressed in steel that marked them as second rank. As they spotted the princess approaching, their eyes went wide in shock.
"By the gods, princess. This isn’t a place for you to be. You shouldn’t taint yourself with the presence of this scum," the older of the guards said. He was a withered man with a bald patch at the crown of his head.
The younger guard, who had much more hair, nodded in agreement. He seemed equally shocked to find the princess in such a place.
Lucy Windelle did not react. She kept her chest tall and her face dignified.
"I will have you know that I am a fully grown woman," she said, trying her best not to stutter. "I do not need to be told where I can and can’t go."
The guards went red as they realised that they might have disrespected the princess.
"M-my lady, I did not mean it like that. It’s just—"
"Never mind that, men," Lucy cut in confidently. "Will you let me pass?"
The knights blushed again before stepping aside clumsily. "Y-yes," the balding man responded. "Don’t hesitate to call us if you need help."
With a smile on her face, Lucy walked past and travelled deeper into the dungeons. As she did, the guards watched her carefully.
They were afraid of denying the princess entry, but were even more afraid of the possibility that one of the guards might attack her under their watch. If such a thing happened, they would earn a place in the cells themselves.
Luckily, Lucy did not plan on staying long. She withdrew the folded piece of paper and walked through the dungeon until she found who she was looking for.
She passed many wicked-looking people in the cells and tried not to look at them for too long. Some of the men hadn’t seen a pretty woman in years, and looked as though they were ready to leap from the cells at a moment’s notice and try to take the princess for themselves.
She eventually found what she was looking for at the far end of the dungeon. It was a woman with messy black hair hanging over an incredibly pale face. The woman was bruised, probably from where she had refused to comply with the guards and was struck.
The blood-sucker...
When the pale woman spotted the princess standing by her cell and looking at her with that innocent look on her pretty face, she spat on the floor.
"What do you want?!" she said sharply.
Princess Lucy almost recoiled from the woman’s words. If she had not known that the clown was backing her, she might have run away in fear.
She grit her teeth together before speaking with as much confidence as she could muster.
"I have a message from a powerful being," she said, stepping closer to the bars.
The vampire tilted her head and scrutinised the princess. Then she watched as Lucy pushed a folded piece of paper into the cell before walking away, saying nothing else.
The vampire raised a brow, then picked up the piece of paper.
...
Deep in a horse stable located in Redsham City...
"Good horse... Good horse..."
After he was finished checking up on the frightening horse, Lavender, Solomon left the stables and headed back down the street towards his tent.
He noticed that his pockets were feeling awfully empty, from the raised pay that he had given to the stable master in order to keep the horse there.
Is there no way that I can create a stable myself and hide the horse there?
As he had the thought, Solomon’s ears perked up at a conversation being had by a few passers-by. It was a group of young men.
One of them was at the centre of attention, being consoled by his surrounding friends. They all had their arms around the man and helped calm him down. They were all drunk and smelled like alcohol.
"My daughter... My only daughter..." the crying man sobbed.
One of his friends patted him on the back and tried to console him.
"I know, Mark. It’s shit. It really is! I can’t imagine what you’re going through. Just remember, man, we’re all here for you."
All of the men grunted in agreement.
The crying man wiped his tears and tried his best to smile.
"T-thank you guys, seriously," he sobbed again, before clenching a fist and shaking it angrily into the sky. "Curse the fucking blood-suckers."
With those final words, they were out of earshot.
Solomon felt a deep disturbance in his heart after hearing the conversation.
Parents are losing their children, and children are losing their parents...
It was such conversations that put into perspective the current state of the Olarian Kingdom. If Juniper truly did not return, then the kingdom was bound to collapse, along with everybody in it.
He came to a decision then...
I have the veins of restoration running through me, but that’s not enough. Somehow, I need to get stronger. Especially if I hope to fight against the God of Blood.
He hurried his steps and entered the pink tent, allowing the clouds to envelop his body, turning him into the clown.
I need to figure out what the powers of this realm can truly do.
