The scene
"Meow! Meow!"
The cat was floundering in terror, and his body was covered in small scratches from what he had been exposed to.
“Just wait!”
But the cat's suffering did not arouse any interest among the boys around him.
They were young nobles who had never learned the meaning of mercy for the weak. They are as cruel as they are ignorant. They learned strength before morality.
“This time I'm really going to hurt him.”
The orange-haired boy paused for a moment, then threw a stone with all his might. But again, failure was his fate, as the cat fidgeted at the right moment and the stone drifted away. The boy hit the air with his fist in anger.
"Shit! Really!"
The blood boiled in his veins with intense anger. He walked up to the cat and extended his hand to the rope hanging from it. But the angry cat did not stand idly by, as he sank his claws into the boy's face with everything he had.
“Tighten it tighter! Ugh!”
“What's wrong?”
“This motherfucker!”
Writhing in pain from the scratches on his face, he tried to throw the cat to the ground.
"to stop!"
Then Emilia ran screaming, tears filling her wide eyes.
"Don't hurt the cat! You villain!"
She threw herself at the boy's legs. He lost his balance, and the cat escaped into the bush.
“Stop! Stop!”
"What is this-!"
The boys' faces frowned when the princess suddenly appeared. Emilia had sunk her teeth into the leg of the boy who had tried to catch the cat.
“What's going on?”
"She's just a little girl. I didn't know there was a child in the palace."
“She doesn't look like a maid by her clothes.”
“Shall we help him?”
“Let him manage with a baby girl!”
But suddenly, a cold and sharp voice came from behind them:
“What's going on here?”
“Prince Lloyd!”
The boys bowed before the boy who came out from behind them.
With his wavy bronze hair and blue eyes, he was handsome, but his face held a bitter sarcasm and arrogant pride. He is Lloyd Catalonian Ventrum, the Second Prince of the Empire and son of the Second Empress.
Lloyd looked at the scene with an expressionless face, until his eyes fell on Emilia, and he stared at her with his eyes narrowed, before drawing an evil smile on his lips.
“I think I've seen that face before... She looks like that idiot.”
Then he pointed to two huge boys next to him:
“Bring her.”
A look of amusement appeared on his face, as if he had found a new fun game.
Edwin research
Edwin was wandering around, pale-faced, looking around the central garden. Fortunately, one of the guards saw which direction Emilia was going, otherwise he would have been completely helpless.
"Emilia! Emilia!"
But it was lost in the vast garden, making it difficult to find. After a few moments of searching through the bushes—
“Waaah!”
He heard her crying from somewhere nearby, and his eyes widened in horror.
“Emilia—!”
He ran towards the sound, but before he emerged from the bush, a familiar voice reached him, cold and sharp:
“What are you waiting for?”
Edwin Malik recognized that voice immediately.
It is Prince Lloyd, his half-brother, who always tortured him, and who was responsible for the death of his first nanny, Emma.
Edwin's tightly clenched hand trembled.
“Don't worry, because I will protect you.”
He remembered the words he said to his sister the night before.
But...why?
His sister is crying in front of him, and he is unable to move.
Then I realized the truth—
He's afraid. Lloyd's mere presence terrifies him to the point of crushing his resolve.
“Huh... huh...”
His breathing became erratic, while anger and humiliation boiled inside him.
lloyd game
“S-Your Highness, whatever it is, isn’t this too much…?”
Hesitant is Gayle, holding a small bow that he stutters to release.
"Why? What's the difference between that cat and this bugger?"
Lloyd scolded him contemptuously as he sat in a shaded chair.
“But... she's human.”
“Humanity? Whoever wants to be called a human being must act like a human being.”
"Waaah! Put me down!"
Emilia screamed, suspended in the air.
Lloyd smiled sarcastically:
"All you do is scream. To me, it's no different than that animal a moment ago."
“S-Your Highness, this is really…”
"If you can't, give it to me. I'll do it myself."
Lloyd snatched up the bow, his blue eyes glowing with deadly coldness.
“Shut up.”
Shoot the arrow without hesitation—
Whoosh—
The arrow cut through the air, heading straight for Emilia.
“Nooo—!”
Edwin rushed with all his might towards his sister.
In a moment that seemed like an eternity, the rope broke under the weight of their bodies together, and the arrow veered away.
Edwin opened his eyes to see Emilia's face before him, unharmed.
“Waaah!”
She screamed again in his arms.
He looked up at the cut rope swinging above them. He was relieved that they had escaped death.
But—
“Okay, okay, look who's here.”
A familiar voice sliced the air.
Edwin slowly raised his head to see his second brother standing with a disgusting smile on his face in the sunlight.
“…T-Greetings, Brother Lloyd.”
“How are you, Edwin?”
Behind him, the other boys laughed loudly.
“Nothing has changed.”
“Where can the unfortunate prince go?”
“He looks like a beggar, not a prince.”
Edwin blushed as he clenched his dirty hand.
Lloyd raised an eyebrow sarcastically.
“Did you come looking for your sister?”
“N-Yes, I came to get her.”
“Sister? Since when did you have a sister?”
Then he clapped his hand as if he suddenly remembered.
“Oh, that annoying little one is your sister then? I thought she was a kitten of the cat we missed. Their colors are similar after all.”
Edwin's grip tightened even more. Emilia is not just my sister, she is the only princess of the empire.
“So sorry. Since she is your sister, she is my sister too. I offended her.”
Lloyd smiled coldly and extended his hand:
“Get up. A prince does not sit dirty in front of his servants.”
Edwin stared at the extended hand. Lloyd has always been called a sword genius... unlike him.
He rarely tolerates me like this… I should seize the opportunity and take Emilia away.
But—
“My brother! Punish that person! He tied me with rope and said he would kill me and even tried to hit me!”
Emilia's angry voice made the place freeze.
Lloyd's smile disappeared.
Edwin stared at his sister in astonishment, while the boys exchanged trembling glances.
To address the Second Prince as “that person”... no one would dare.
Finally, Lloyd spoke coldly:
“It seems that my only sister is angry with her second brother.”
But he didn't scream or scream like he used to. Rather, he indicated to his servant:
“Bring some tea. I will give it to my sister as an apology.”
In his hand, he offered a cup of tea to Emilia...
He had an evil smile on his face.