Edmund lay on the couch while Ariadne worked on her desk, as he always did. The sudden loud sound of wood splitting made him get up, but only Ariadne was holding the phone in one hand while looking at the destroyed desk. The door was open, and Edna ran to Ariadne, but didn’t know what to do with the situation.

  ‘What was that about?’ Edmund spoke with a confused expression.

  ‘My father is dead… no… my father was killed.’ Ariadne had rage in every word she spoke.

  ‘Ho, wait… killed?’ He walked towards her.

  ‘I’m going to kill every noble in the kingdom, or better yet, skin them alive for this treason.’ She threw the phone on the wall, breaking it.

  ‘We can’t do that. We need healers. I don’t think we can go to the other dungeon with only Eliza, even with whatever happened to her or us, for that matter. We need them alive.’ Edmund put his hand on Ariadne’s back.

  When she felt his hand, Ariadne grabbed Edmund by the throat and lifted him, making Edna freeze in total shock at what was happening before her.

  ‘Not… agai…’ He struggles to speak.

  He was having difficulty getting out of her grip, but he could make her let go of him using both hands. Right after getting to the ground, Ariadne grabbed him by the hair, dragged him to the couch, and threw him on it.

  ‘I don’t think every one of them was in this plan to assassinate the archduke. We can spare some.’ Edmund gets up while massaging his head.

  ‘I know these people. They would abandon my father in a blink.’ Ariadne looked at Edna.

  The maid trembled in fear of what was happening, and as Ariadne approached her, she got on her two knees and put her face to the ground.

  ‘Sorry, Sorry, I’m Sorry.’ Edna cried.

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  Ariadne took a deep breath, kneeled before Edna, and lifted her back up. Right after, she patted her head and smiled at her, confusing the maid, who was still in shock.

  ‘I should be the one to say sorry. Could you bring Alon here?’ Ariadne walked back to her chair.

  Edna ran out of the room as some people peeked inside through the open door. When Ariadne sat in her chair, still in front of the broken desk, she looked at them, waved, and smiled.

  ‘Before, I couldn’t let go of your grip, so I could say we are closer in strength, that was a good thing to know, anyway, what are you going to do about all of this?’ Edmund walked towards her while massaging his throat.

  ‘I’m going to go there with my army and kill every noble at that funeral, simple as that.’ She looked at him with a serious expression.

  ‘Ooorrr.’ He bowed to her and continued to walk.

  Edmund passed Ariadne and looked at the mark that was made on his throat in a mirror.

  ‘You could talk to some of them while there and, you know, see if some of them are not insane. I bet you have some nobles there already backing you as a god. The merchants would push merchandise to some faraway nobles.’ He looked at her through the mirror reflection.

  ‘I can sense some far away, but I don’t know if they are nobles or even where they exactly are, but when I’m there, I will know if there is someone who follows my will.’ She looked at the destroyed desk, deep in thought.

  ‘See? You need to know, and after that, even if there is none, show the recording of the battle, your strength, and the devices. They will follow you. Why wouldn’t they?’ He turned around, looking at the duchess.

  Alon entered the room quickly. Seeing the destroyed desk, he walked fast toward Ariadne and saluted her before speaking.

  ‘What can I do for Your Highness?’ He spoke with a firm tone.

  ‘My father is dead, and the nobles killed him.’ She had anger in her eyes.

  ‘I can’t believe they would do something like this.’ He had a confused look on his face.

  ‘Prepare those soldiers who have white hair. We will be attending the funeral, and I’m going to kill every single one of those noble bastards.’ Ariadne clenched her fists.

  Before Alon could respond and Edmund could open his mouth, Ariadne got up and kicked the left side of the split desk, making it fly, hit the wall, and stay there while she looked at it, visibly angry. This surprised Alon, but he just bowed to her and turned around. Edmund, seeing this, spoke up.

  ‘You can’t kill them all. We need them, Alon…’ He lost air.

  Ariadne again grabbed him by the throat, but was now lifted higher. Alon stopped and looked at what was happening, but his reaction was indifferent this time. Ariadne didn’t look like herself; a complete rage took over her. Edmund noticed this and started to panic, trying to let go like before, but she held his other hand.

  ‘You have no right to say what I can or can not do, peasant…’ She had anger in her tone.

  Edmund interrupted her with a full-force kick to the head, making her let go of him and get him to the ground, coughing heavily. Fortunately, no one was at the door, so Ariadne blew the doors open and broke through the wall, landing on the ground outside the mansion.

  ‘Holy… Shit… she almost broke my neck.’ Edmund was still gasping for air.

  This time, he remembered what he thought about her and how the feelings of her followers could mold her. When he looked at Alon, he was shocked at first, but he gave him a piercing look that went deep inside his eyes, making it clear that he didn’t attack Edmund right there because there was no point in it, but if he had a rifle, maybe he would shoot him.