Chapter 76: Cursed Child
All the people that were present in the main hall could not help but gulp nervously as they watched as the female elf burnt to death.
Her screams, even though they were no longer present, it was as if they could still hear her agony. The slave was an elf, true, but it still did not stop the people on the room to somewhat pity her after seeing how she died.
But they also felt relief. If Princess Sofia were to somehow get hurt, or worse, die in their care. The King is not to be trifled with, if even a single strand of hair were to be removed from the Princess then all of them present here and their families will surely perish.
Princess Sofia could only click her tongue. She noticed that the slave was not really holding a knife, but rather a sharp piece of wood. She could have taken that from anywhere.
Still, to try and kill her while she was lost in thought, it would seem that there is still fight left in these elves. She then turned towards the two other female slaves she had.
The two of them were kneeling on the floor, trembling uncontrollably. One of them even had liquid running between her legs.
"Did you just pee!? I told you to only pee in the bottle!", Princess Sofia started to rant, "How else could I check-"
"*Ahem* Let me tell you about this golden-haired beast, Princess Sofia", Lord Fynn cleared his throat as he gestured the Princess to relax and continue having their tea.
"Of course", and like a child, Princess Sofia sat down on her seat, excited for the new information she was about to receive.
Lord Fynn then began telling information about the special prisoner, but not before he signaled the guards to take away the burnt elf. The smell was quite… weird, after all. Those who had experienced war and those who have not had different expressions on their faces as they saw the burnt corpse being dragged out of the hall.
"Go ahead", Princess Sofia said with a calm voice. But the glimmer in her eyes was obvious for the others to see.
Albert's ears perked up as he placed his attention on Lord Fynn's voice. He slightly moved forward, pushing the special prisoner with him, so they could hear their conversation clearer. Is he finally going to learn the truth about this kid?
"If you may remember the reports 5 years ago, there was a huge fire near the Elves' territory in Bermud"
"Of course, I did. How is this relevant?", Princess Sofia clicked her tongue, clearly frustrated about something.
"Well, all your treants were burnt along with the forest", Lord Fynn continued to tell his story all whilst drinking his tea calmly.
"Where are you going with this?", Princess Sofia's tone no longer held any curiosity, instead, she was starting to get annoyed. She still remembered when the messenger arrived in the palace, telling her that all her babies… well treants, were burnt. Almost leaving none alive.
She worked so hard to breed them, only to find out they were destroyed by the elves on their first battle.
"We reported that it was an ambush by the elves", Lord Fynn then placed his cup of tea on the table beside him, "We did not report everything."
"You lied to the Royal family?", the pressure in the hall started to get heavy as Princess Sofia's annoyance turned to displeasure.
Lord Fynn quickly gestured with his hand, "Please, what I want to tell you is…", Lord Fynn could not help but gulp nervously,
"Well, after the fire was quelled, we found the golden-haired beast there. Wailing and shouting right in the middle of all the destruction, his body filled with ash"
Princess Sofia's lips started to tremble, "Are you saying…".
"Yes, he was the one responsible for killing all of your beloved treants. We have reason to believe that this golden-haired beast… is a Cursed child"
"A Half-elf!?", Princess Sofia instantly stood up as he heard Lord Fynn's final words, "Impossible. How were you able to capture it!?"
Hearing the word Half-Elf, the two remaining elven slaves of Princess Sofia could not help but look at each other.
"It was hard. There were other elves there who tried to rescue him, probably his tribe. It was a long battle but we managed to make a retreat, bringing the beast along with us"
"No! How did you capture a cursed child alive?", Princess Sofia looked at Lord Fynn straight in the eyes, "How are any of you capable of capturing a cursed child that burned all my treants? As far as I know, you have no mages that are capable of fighting such a force."
"Oh, that part was quite easy, in fact.", Lord Fynn then signaled something to a nearby guard.
The guard unsheathed his sword, and quickly swung it towards the special prisoner.
Albert, who was spaced out due to listening to the Lord's story, was too late too act. But even so, he instinctively tried to reach for the prisoner still.
"No, my specimen!", Princess Sofia said as she ran towards the special prisoner.
Both of them, however, were too late. The huge long sword was already only an inch away from the special prisoner's head.
But nothing happened. Not even a tiny hint of blood could be seen, not even a howl of pain. Only the sound of steel hitting something hard was heard.
"Do it again", signaled Lord Fynn.
But once again, nothing happened to the special prisoner.
"As you have witnessed, Princess Sofia, the golden-haired beast is… well, impassive", Lord Fynn stood up from his seat as he approached the bewildered Princess, "We have had the golden-beast imprisoned underground for 5 years. 5 years and not even once did the beast try to escape. In fact, he barely did anything at all"
Lord Fynn then once again signaled another guard, "We even had an incident yesterday, an intruder"
The guard then opened the door, revealing a female elf in chains. The guard then pulled her inside, pushing her enough to make her trip on the ground.
The female elf, however, did not let out any sound. Only when she noticed the special prisoner did she let out a voice, "Great spirit!"
Albert could not help but let out a surprised gasp. Wasn't this the female elf he fought yesterday, Ilrina?
"This dirty elf here tried to free our little beast, but even when the beast had the chance to escape, it returned to its cage without even a hesitation", Lord Fynn said as he approached the female elf, "We will even throw this one as a bonus. She is quite… the resilient one, if I may say so myself"
"So how about it, do you wish to purchase them from my hands?"
"Bu-"
Before the Princess could talk, Lord Fynn took out a small orb from his pocket, "The collar we attached on the beast is a Binding collar. Once you have placed your blood in it, the slave would no longer be able to disobey your commands. Doing so will only inflict them excruciating pain. Suffice to say, removing it is also not an option"
"Hm…", Princess Sofia placed her hand on her chin.
"T-then this orb here", Lord Fynn stuttered as he majestically raised the small orb that was in his hand, "Just by injecting a little bit of mana, it will be able to activate the binding collar. Here, please try it", he then handed the small orb to the Princess.
Princess Sofia held an excited expression as she held the small orb on her hand.
"N-no! Don't do this to the Great Spirit!", the female elf Ilrina struggled desperately to move, but was hit on the head by the guard beside her before she could even stand up.
Princess Sofia then glanced at the special prisoner, smiling from ear to ear. She was letting out small gasps of air as her face started to redden.
And then, the small orb on her hand glowed as she started to inject mana in it. The collar that was around the special prisoner's neck also started to glow.
"Scream for me!", Princess Sofia shouted.
As soon as she said this, streaks of lightning came out of the collar that the special prisoner was wearing, covering his whole body until he almost could not be seen anymore.
The lightning strikes were so strong that it shoot off towards the side, hitting one of the maids that were standing by on the side.
The maid howled in pain as she touched her arms that were grazed by the lightning bolt.
The one who was wearing the collar, however, was just standing there, almost unaffected.
Lord Fynn started to sweat buckets as he stared at the special prisoner. Even though it was hard to see because of the light, the prisoner's nonchalant expression could still be seen clearly.
The special prisoner then turned his head towards the maid who was currently shouting in pain. He then slightly tilted his head to look at the flashing collar that was on his neck.
And slowly, he lifted up his chained hands… and casually removed the steel collar that was on his neck. Ripping it apart like some kind of brittle necklace.
"…"
All of the people present were stunned, their jaws almost falling to the ground. Even the female elf, Ilrina, could not help but look back and forth, trying to find an answer to what just happened.
And then, finally. The special prisoner who has been quiet all this time, opened his mouth.
"You should be careful with things you can't control...", said the special prisoner as he casually folded the binding collar into a ball. He then looked towards Princess Sofia, and even though the special prisoner was still emotionless, there was a certain pressure about him that made the Princess slightly take a step back.
"...or you'll end up hurting people, miss."