Chapter 2: Memory (part 1)

While they sit at the table, Adam tells the servant to leave, only he, his daughter Carol, the aid Tristan and Duke Alfred stay, they start a conversation while the breakfast arrives. The aid Tristan starts the unofficial meeting by announcing the king Adam's schedules for the day, from 10:30 a.m to 3:00 p.m he has a meeting with the newly crowned prince of the neighboring country of Trahib and his vessels, they will discuss the two nations' security matters related to the sudden increase of the gates outbreaks, the illegal gate's substances trafficking, and also they will attend tonight party, then from 3:15 p.m to 5:00 p.m the king Adam will have lunch with the rest of the royal family, the prince Dante and the princess Lucretia will attend the lunch, the queen Lucille also will have lunch with the rest of the family, king Adam's face seems surprised, not only him but also the others, Carol smiles and them says: "It seems like mother has decided to have a family time with us."

the King then replied...

"But it's too late for..." he mumbles.

Nobody seems to hear it, maybe Duke Alfred grasps a bit from King Adam's replies.

Tristan then adds: "Your majesty, after the lunch the preparation will end, and soon the party will start, as you all know this party is the seventh anniversary of our victorious battle against the Calamity alliances, which his members are Heaven's faction, Devil's faction, and the Menshen Triad."

It was the day when the kingdom of Mir won against the strongest alliance in the underworld, the whole hidden world was shaken by the outcome of that battle, it was not an exaggeration to say that the king Adam was the main reason why they won that day, as a result, he was recognized as the most dangerous man in the whole hidden world, the nation of Mir emerged from the ashes of the countless battles against the other powerful nations, they united under one flag, under the leadership of one man, he leads them to an era which later was known as the golden age of Mir, even though he was seen as a war hero, the people of Mir couldn't stand king Adam's way of leading the country, soon after, the nobles also joined the commoners since they couldn't withstand the king's order, all things he did was for the people, he introduced new things, changed a lot of old ones, he reduced the nobles influence over the country, the commoners didn't see the truth, all they could see is a king who wants to shape their ways of life to what he wants, it was sudden and inappropriate from his side to change the old life of people of Mir dramatically , but it was necessary, after all, the nation of Mir was just a bunch of clans and tribes that fought among themselves, the methods which the people used to live were far too old-fashioned to survive at that time, the aristocrats were basically untouchable and immune to everything, they didn't care about the people, the cared about money, power and territories, so when King Adam decide to change old traditions of tribes he was hated and feared by them, the nobles knew that they didn't have enough power to oppose Adam, so the decided to turn the people against their king, the succeeded to gain the commoners support, but that wasn't enough to shake the throne of the strongest man in the country, but there was another faction that want the desolation of Adam, it was the Shamshar tribe, it was one of the founders of the kingdom of Mir, they were the strongest noble household in Mir, until Adam stopped them, he married the oldest daughter, pressed by the nobles, as a condition to unite under his reign, soon after a tragedy strike... they had a miscarriage, Lucille was devastated by the death of her first child, and Adam was also affected by his death, but he knew it was not the time to morn nor the time to surrender to despair, he had doubt about the truth of the "miscarriage", he had done some research, 3 months pass, the servants inform Adam about his wife conditions, they didn't talk since the funeral, he believed that if he gives enough time to his wife, things will get better, but that was a poor move from Adam's part, perhaps it's due to his lack of experience with women or being angry at his wife maybe because she had hands at the death of his child, after being informed about her pass out, he summoned the royal doctor, he told him about the queen conditions, the old man tells him about the scars on her body, some are self-made by her and some are the result of the beating, Adam was shocked about this unexpected news, his expression are dark, the guards are losing conscious, they can't stand the killing intent that Adam emit, an old lady says to Adam: "Your majesty, please hold back your anger, you make yourself look bad in front of everyone..."

Adam with an angry tone replies: "Silence!!!"

"Sage of Mir, if you don't want your head to roll down the whole castle, I advise you to shut your mouth!!!"

At the throne chamber, a man in black raises his hand.

"What do you want to say Antares? It's not a good time to mess with me!!!"

"I know my lord, but I can help you within this situation."

"Say what you have Duke Antares!!!"

"There was a rumor that circulates before founding the kingdom of Mir, it was related to the queen Lucille."

Adam makes a confused expression, then asks: "What rumor are you talking about Antares?"

"My lord, it's a rumor which says, that queen Lucille didn't inherit the distinctive trait of the Shamshar household, which is the mystic art formation, in other words, she can't form mystic objects from her powers, thus she was known as the black sheep of the lords of the north, lately, a rumor says that Grand Duke Krot and the Grand Duchess Lina are trying to assassinate their daughter Lucille, a lot of reason I came with, some of them..."

"Stop Duke Antares, don't you understand how grave your words that you say now!!!" The sage interrupted the Duke, fearing that the king might chop off the head of the Duke.

"No, Duke you may resume what you say, sage I know that you are concerned, but I want to hear this."

"As you wish your majesty."

"I shall continue your majesty."

"As I said, some reasons that I came up with are: Since the Queen didn't inherit the natural Shamshar mystic talent, the elders of the Shamshar clan are afraid of having royal descendants that don't have the mystic ability, thus bringing shame to the Shamshar name over the underworld, another reason is that they plan to assassinate the current queen and bring to her place another queen from their side, I have reports saying that they already prepared the candidate, the younger sister of the queen had gone through a divorce, my source is trustworthy."

"What are you saying Duke, what are you suggesting is that our strongest ally is planning treason!!! Who is your trustworthy source???"

the King then says: "Are you sure Duke Antares about what you say because if you're wrong about it, I can assure you that you won't be able to walk again, the people that you said the plan to kill their daughter is my father-in-law and my mother-in-law!!!"

"I understand your reactions, given that the Shamshar family is the right arm of the king, but my source is 100% sure about the information."

"Who is your source that you are so confident about?!"

"Right Duke, who is the source?"

"My king, it's none other than the heir of the Shamshar itself Kane."

"Absurd, there is no way that the heir of the Shamshar household will betray his parents!!!"

"Sage Hana, I believe that Duke Antares is a sly fox, a bastard, but I think he is loyal to us, don't you agree with me?"

"Yes my lord, but it's hard to imagine that we have someone like Kane on our side, given that the Grand Duke and his wife are enemies now."

"Antares, why would Kane betray his family, isn't it a bit suspicious?"

"I agree with you on that Sage of Mir, but when I asked him, his answer was: " The Shamshar clan has become a corrupted household, my parents have become blinded by pride and money, and the title of Grand Duck didn't satisfy them, they want to be from royalty, I must put an end for their actions as the oldest child, or else my sisters and I will suffer, especially Lucille, after they poisoned her, they stopped carrying about her, tell the king Adam to protect my dear sister and tell him that I will take control over Shamshar in a matter of weeks."

"I see..."

"Duke Kane will never do something without a solid reason."

"My king, I think we must let Shamshar matters to Kane and me if you want?"

"Yes, I know..."

"My lord, I believe that you should forget about that matter and focus on a more important matter than that!!!"

"Yes your majesty, right now taking care of the queen Lucille is far more important than anything!!!"

"I agree with the both of you, Lucille has suffered more than anybody, as her husband I should take care of her, Antares, free my schedule for the next week, prepare the Sand Palace, tomorrow I and Lucille will take a vacation."

"Yes my lord!!!"

"Sage Hana, I want you to give me the healing oil, I will take the matter of my wife by myself."

"Yes my lord, I will bring it now, excuse me."

after some time, in the front of the queen room, Adam knocked on the door, but there is no response, he knocked again, but there is nothing, the sage hit Adam's head, he held his head and hit the sage head as a response, the sage hand him the medicine, she tells him to man up, he blushes, the sage smiles and leave.

Our king is scared, he doesn't know how to approach a sad woman, he gathers his confidence and opens the door, the room is messed up, the walls are cracked, the floor is filled with plates, he realized how grave is the situation his wife is, the daylight doesn't enter, he approaches the bed, he saw a frail body of a woman who is supposed to be his wife, she wears a white silk robe, her skin is pale, her lips are dry, her eyes are red, he holds her hand, he can feel the bones, angry at how poor are her conditions, he lifts the sheets, and open the medicine oil, after he applied it for her, you can literally see a dark red energy covering his body, if anyone was near him, they would die just from the pressure he made, he holds his anger knowing that he's hurting his wife, he saw scars on her arms that are made by glass, he found a broken mirror where Lucille got her glass piece, then there is the back scars, those scars were not made by Lucille, it was by someone else, he knows that the maid are not the responsible for the scars, he thinks, then remember that Lucille has visited her family 2 weeks ago, knowing that he didn't have eyes at the Shamshar estate, he concluded that her parents are the one who made his wife suffer like.

"Kane you better hurry, because if not, I will personally execute them one by one..." he mumbled.

He put his wife's head on his lap, he takes some of that oil that the sage handled to him, and gently apply to her damaged lips, he feels calm and sad. Her pale skin began to regain some color, her lips start to recover, he plays with her brown hair, he remembers his meeting with Lucille, how embarrassed she was, how anxious she was, it is a lie when someone says that true men don't cry, because this man whose known as the cruelest man shed a tear for his wife...