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Chapter 333 – Anemone Aroma(3)
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I wasn’t confident in my ability to maintain my expression.
My anger wasn’t showing on my face yet, but I didn’t know how much longer I could hold it back. My people will most likely notice my anger and start to feel uneasy, which that dog-like Saintess will most definitely smell out. Getting away from here was my highest priority.
“Take me to where Daisy is.”
“Yes.”
Lapis couldn’t raise her head. It wasn’t until I shoved my anger down and tapped Lapis on the shoulder that she finally looked up. We left the hall and headed to my Demon Lord Castle. A few of my executives noticed us and tried to follow, but I raised my hand and stopped them.
It was fine until we reached the castle.
The issue followed afterward. We were going to the 9th floor and not the 10th floor which was where the executive dorms were located. I furrowed my brows.
“Daisy does not have a room here.”
“…….”
I see. So she was also isolated from her own room? I wasn’t given even a single report about how Daisy was subjected to this. We were approaching the climax.
The peak was reached when Lapis stopped.
“We are here, Your Highness.”
I looked forward silently. Lapis had stopped in front of an iron bar door. It was obvious that this place was made half-heartedly by the construction workers as the walls looked crude. It was no different from a cavern.
The underground prison.
“How……How……!”
I unknowingly gnashed my teeth. My veins protruded on my neck. I kicked open the door as soon as Lapis unlocked it. I hastily made my way into the prison. Water was flowing endlessly down the walls and the prison air felt unbearably stifling.
Daisy was being held here.
A vomit-inducing stench of blood emanated from her body.
“…….”
I was so angry that I couldn’t utter any words.
Daisy’s limbs were bound to the wall as if she were hanging from a cross. She seemed unconscious as her head hung down. There wasn’t a single piece of cloth on her to cover her body. There were gruesome wounds all over her white skin.
There weren’t only one or two wounds. There were clear traces that showed she had been whipped hundreds of times. Some wounds had become bleeding scabs while others were still openly bleeding.
She looked more like rags than she did human.
“……Explain, Lapis.”
Lapis kneeled in front of me.
“A portion of the executives suggested that the Head Maid could have been scheming to assassinate Your Highness.”
“Say their names!”
My voice struck the walls of the prison. It was empowered by the magic power of a Demon Lord, so it easily caused the walls to tremble. Lapis lowered her head further.
“It was Military Affairs Minister Laura de Farnese and Servant Ivar Lodbrok. The Military Affairs Minister especially made a point that the Head Maid must have tampered with the poison during the transfer. Thus, she announced she would personally punish the Head Maid while Your Highness was unconscious…….”
“How dare she!”
I let out a roar.
“How dare the head of the military personally punish a member of the inner court!”
“She secretly called for Daisy who was taking care of the Saintess and confined her somewhere in Amstel.”
Lapis started to talk faster. It seemed like she was trying to tell me as much as she could before I flew into a fit of rage.
“Afterward, Laura transferred her to the Demon Lord Castle and imprisoned her there. She then tortured her in various ways like whipping and branding. Laura asked the other executives to keep it a secret, saying that she would take complete responsibility. Please kill me.”
“—Laura!”
I bellowed in anger.
The child who was my adopted daughter and also the Head Maid was half-dead and hanging from the wall like a rag. The vassal whom I cherish the most in this world was on her knees and begging me to kill her. And finally, the general whom I trusted the most, the loyal retainer who had never betrayed my trust, had deceived me.
I was about to lose my mind.
“Bring all my vassals here!”
I felt like my eyes were going to pop out.
“Excluding Luke! Bring every last person here even if they aren’t involved in this!”
Lapis left the prison.
I was going to take a potion out and heal Daisy’s wounds, but I realized that I shouldn’t let the others see her after she’s been healed. I had to show them this miserable state in its entirety.
Was it because I had approached her? Daisy wriggled ever so slightly.
“……Fa…ther……?”
That was closer to a gasp than it was an actual word. I clenched my jaw.
“You idiot. Just how much did you get on the other executives’ nerves that none of them were willing to support you? You would be dead if even the Chancellor chose to stay silent!”
“……This is…not much.”
Are you trying to act tough when you’re covered in bruises? How ridiculous.
Daisy raised her head to look at me. It seemed like even that tiny movement was hard for her as her head and neck trembled. She was horribly haggard. Her black irises were hazy and blood was flowing from her lips.
“Damn it. Damn it……!”
Swears came out on their own.
I didn’t want to turn Daisy into a noble victim. All of the malice that went to Daisy should have been from me alone. This girl was supposed to be my work of art. She was supposed to become a flower of malice that’s born from my hands!
The malice that Daisy holds in the world should only be her malice to me! I am the only one allowed in her world……. That’s how it should’ve been!
This child is mine!
After making her look at only me, hate only me, and learn what revenge is from me alone, can I then be entirely acknowledged or rejected by her! This child is my living witness, my only lawyer, my only judge, and finally, my substitute!
How dare someone—
do whatever they want to my noble arbiter!
“…….”
Daisy struggled to stare at me as I silently boiled. She let out a small laugh. Once I glared at her and asked her what was so funny, she slowly moved her lips like a fish that was thrown out of water.
“It’s……so obvious…what you’re thinking…Father…….”
“…….”
“It’s funny……because I can understand…all that……without any words…….”
I quietly covered Daisy’s mouth with my hand.
“Taking revenge is my job, so I will be the one to carry it out.”
“Haa…….”
Daisy let out a breath of air that sounded like both a normal laugh and a mocking laugh before her head drooped back down. I checked her pulse just in case. It was fine. She had just passed out. Daisy went through a surgery that was far more painful than this. There was still time left.
Shortly after.
My executives entered the prison one by one.
Among them, there were executives who let out gasps after they saw Daisy and those who only furrowed their brows as if they had already known. I’m not sure if I should say it was fortunate or unfortunate, but only one person had done the latter.
“Everyone.”
I spoke once everyone had arrived.
“Kneel.”
Everyone prostrated themselves the moment I gave them the order. Lapis, Laura, Parsi, Jeremi, and Ivar, a total of five people. Blingy and the fairies were watching us nervously from a distance.
“Lapis.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Raise your head.”
Lapis slowly raised her head. I then slapped her without any hesitation. A clear sound echoed as Lapis fell powerlessly to the ground. Lapis herself didn’t let out a cry, but the people who were watching held their breaths in shock.
It is well known that Lapis receives almost all of my affection; however, I had struck that very person. The other vassals couldn’t utter a sound as they lowered their heads further.
“Stand.”
Lapis pushed herself up. I immediately slapped her. Lapis stumbled.
I continued to order her with a cold tone.
“Stand.”
And repeat.
Lapis didn’t let out a single sound and I didn’t say anything beyond my cold commands. Only the sound of brutality echoed throughout the prison.
I withdrew my hand after I had struck her exactly thirty times. I didn’t go easy on her. I had put my all into striking Lapis’ cheek. This was clear by how her shoulders would silently tremble after each strike.
“Even though, as the Chancellor, you were supposed to have thoroughly supervised every department and made sure that no one overstepped their authority, you neglected your duty. The crime of not stopping the Military Affairs Minister’s dogmatic action is heavy. I am deducting your stipends by two years.”
“Thank you……very much…for the merciful punishment.”
Lapis bowed with her trembling body. Her two legs could no longer support her body as she collapsed.
Silence and fear loomed over the prison.
I said a person’s name in the coldest way I had ever done before.
“Laura de Farnese.”
“Yes, Your Lordship.”
“I will allow you to give a final defense.”
Laura pressed her forehead against the ground.
“This lady of humble birth has committed a great crime.”
“Very well, then.”
I nodded. This meant that she had no excuse.
“Jeremi, tie the criminal to the chains on the ceiling.”
“Yes, Your Greatness.”
Jeremi’s tone was different from usual as it didn’t have even a tiny bit of playfulness to it. She was an assassin whose expression, tone, gestures, and emotions were like that of a seasoned assassin. Jeremi immediately stood up and bound Laura’s hands with chains. Laura was then hung from the ceiling like some slab of meat from a butcher shop.
“The Military Affairs Minister decided to take matters into her own hands and punished the Head Maid for a crime that I did not even blame her for. Laws have been violated as this was also not done through a fair trial, she went against her duties as vassal and lord by deciding upon something on her own, and the foundation of the state has been distorted as she had punished the head of another department.”
I grabbed the whip that was placed at one side of the prison.
“Therefore, Laura de Farnese will be removed from her position as Military Affairs Minister and serve in war as a commoner. Additionally, she will receive thirty strikes from a whip.
“Y-Your Highness!”
Parsi shouted in panic. He was the only person here who was unrelated enough to this incident that he didn’t have to ask for permission to speak. This was because he was in a separate position from the other executives as he had to manage the territory.
Parsi, who would usually always talk to me like a friend, was acting like a different man as he followed etiquette.
“It would be difficult for a young girl to withstand thirty strikes from a whip! Instead, please equally punish the rest of us!
“The rest of you will have your wages cut by half a year. However, the criminal’s sentencing cannot be reduced.”
“Your Highness!”
Parsi raised his head.
“……!”
Parsi froze the moment our gazes met. His grizzly face filled with shock as if he saw something he shouldn’t have. Parsi blankly stared at my eyes for a moment before he helplessly lowered his head.
I tightened my grip on the whip.
“Reveal the criminal’s back to me.”
“Understood.”
Jeremi took off Laura’s top, revealing her pale nape and back. The body of the girl whom I had made love to countless of times was there before me.
The whip cracked through the air as the sound of flesh being torn into resonated.
Laura screamed.
I didn’t give her a moment to rest as I kept swinging the whip. Her skin was already completely torn by the second strike. Blood scattered in the air with each swing of the whip. I received that blood on my face as I swung my arm.
Laura passed out around the ninth hit. I glanced at Jeremi.
“Wake her.”
Jeremi poured cold water over Laura. The water seeped into her wounds. Laura was forced back to consciousness due to the sharp pain. I swung the whip again.
Again.
And again.
Laura passed out a total of seven times. The muscles on her back had become ragged. Blood washed blood as it flowed to the ground.
I breathed heavily. My stamina had been exhausted after punishing Lapis and Laura in succession. That was how much I refused to show mercy.
I spoke while panting.
“The responsibility of a vassal’s crime lies in their lord. I, Dantalian, had appointed the wrong person as my chancellor, I did not realize that one of my ministers had committed a crime, and I did not realize that the head maid had been tortured.”
I handed the whip to Jeremi.
“I must decide upon my own punishment. Civil Militia Captain, from this moment on, you will give me sixty lashings.”