498 Jester's Appearance
The masses were expecting a grand event which would be something that would go down in history.
Future historians would write what was about to take place as a day that a once loyal noble clan had committed treason and was put to death.
Everyone reading such information would always remember the day as another historic moment that helped to shape the future of their homeland.
Some would come to blame the noble family that would be forever known as traitors while others would wonder what may have happened if they were able to live on.
The crowd kept growing more restless and the family members of the Ducal family were all brought up onto the platform in front of everyone to take insults and abuse until they were to be executed.
The large axe in the hands of the large executioner did not even look all that sharp which made it seem like it would take more than one swing to behead each person.
Some would face excruciating pain from not being put to death right away and some worse off would have to endure each strike that came down onto the back of their neck until they died or their head finally dropped down onto the small basket after being removed.
Many of those people who were about to face such a fate had looked very pale upon witnessing the state of the axe.
It was like it had been picked out specifically just to increase their suffering.
The king gave a signal for everyone to become quiet then he stood up declaring. "Off with the traitor's heads!"
Cheers soon came afterward and the king sat back down as he watched the executioner ready himself.
One man was dragged over to be the first to die which caused many to hold their breath in fear or anticipation.
Just when the man was being pulled over and was having the back of their neck held onto pushing their head onto the chopping block, a figure dressed in bright checkered clothes appeared.
A jester walked up the steps of the platform with a large grin on his face and each step he took seemed comical.
His shoes made a squeaking noise with each step which caused others to look his way.
He quickly appeared at the top of the stairs and then walked towards the middle of the platform where some guards started to move to block his path.
They looked towards their king as if to question if the jester had been someone who had been prepared by him or if they should stop their advances.
The king looked towards Jester and had a look of confusion on his face. 'I never prepared anything... did someone else prepare a surprise show?'
He then turned to his daughter and other subjects around him but they all had the same confused expressions as he did.
He then motioned the guards to have the jester removed causing the guards to suddenly move to subdue Jester.
Each of them positioned themselves in a wide formation around Jester before going in together to cut off his escape while aiming to grab onto him from many angles making it difficult to resist.
The blue eyes of Jester shined with a certain disdain as he watched their advances.
It was like their movements were of no concern to him as he sidestepped one and then seized the weapon of another before using it to point the weapon at the throat of another guard.
It all happened in a blink of an eye with little room for error yet Jester made it seem effortless.
He escaped the encirclement and was able to counterattack those around him.
The life of the guard was within his hands and all it took was a slight movement of his wrist to end their life.
The weapon turned around in his hand causing the softer blunt end to strike one after another leaving them lying at his feet.
After they all fell at his feet, Jester let out a yawn like he was putting on a comical performance for the crowd and to show off how little he was entertained by the earlier fight.
His grin remained the same as always as he smiled towards the king after turning his gaze towards him.
As if hit by a sudden realization, there was a large amount of dread that hit the king once Jester looked his way.
Jester may have been lower down and some distance away but it was still possible to see him enough.
Most of his features were quite common for the people of the Mercy Kingdom yet there was something about him that sparked something deep within the king's memories.
His eyes widened upon realizing it. "It is that jester... no mistaking it but why is he here now? He should be dead."
He had known that everyone associated with the princess who was the closest to her side during that day was all killed off along with her.
The princess was confirmed to have been killed as her ship had blown up while most of her other loyal subjects had either been caught up in the explosion or were killed in battle.
That was what he had been informed by the others so he did not know about how the survivors were handled if there were any.
He never imagined that those carrying out the task of killing off everyone were greedy enough to take those they found alive to make some extra Berries on the side.
With the information he was provided, everything was handled to perfection and would leave no room for there being any survivors or anyone who could come back for revenge.
The all too familiar smile of Jester was difficult to forget since he was the one who helped mold Jester into what he had become.
The many times he put Jester through many difficult trials and suffering as he used his power to seek entertainment from the weak and young boy during his youth was something that had made a permanent trace on Jester that had not been removed.
He had the very same fake smile that never changed even when he was experiencing all kinds of different emotions due to him always masking his true self behind his jester smile.
