"By his Majesty's decree, at the strike of dawn, Azazel Von Astavore shall be executed publicly for attempting to murder a member of the royal family."
'This… This fucking piece of shit.'
Si-eun cursed inwardly, sending a subtle glare to the king and all members of the royal family.
Well that escalated rather quickly.
Where did things go wrong you might ask? Well let's have a flashback on what actually transpired.
****
Si-eun woke up in a rather good mood considering what awaited him, but of course he did, after all he'd played with his younger siblings Alvina and Nathan to his heart's content, if it could even be called that.
What he did was torture the two poor children psychologically without even doing a thing, although he had no intention of causing them discomfort, it seemed the former Azazel's problematic reputation had a way of doing so without effort.
He remembered complementing Alvina's culinary etiquette quite honestly but the poor child almost had a panic attack, choking on tea even.
Nathan on the other hand… well his spirit seemed to have left his body, the youngest of the Astavore's siblings was as pale as a ghost throughout the entire tea party.
Humming a cheerful tone, he went into the bathroom then washed up.
After doing that, the next thing he did was to check his appearance in the mirror and what greeted him was a sorry excuse of his previous self.
His eyes seemed sunken and a bit glassy, robbed of the previous intelligence and mischievousness they held just yesterday.
His skin was pale, unlike his milky white skin, this one seemed to have lost its tone giving him a sick look.
It didn't help that his rosy lips were now dried as well.
Despite his appearance, Si-eun still smiled because everything was going according to his plan, just the way he envisioned it.
Lily had delivered the ingredients yesterday quite on time and of course, with utmost secrecy.
It proved her competence and fueled his desire to acquire her as a pawn of his.
Just before bed, he'd taken the moonsbane flower which was in its powered form but not before using a drug to dope his mental fortitude a bit to avoid becoming a retard way too early.
The maids had rushed in to get him dressed but he dismissed them.
'What was that, who still dresses a sixteen years old child, was that a fetish of the old Azazel?' he pondered with mild disgust and a hint of embarrassment.
After dressing himself in a formal attire which consisted of a black tunic, a well designed red tailcoat and matching pants as well as a pair of black shoes and his signature half gloves, he left his room.
It took him about ten minutes before he arrived at the portico of the mansion.
Not too far from the portico out there in the carriage court, the figures of his parents standing beside the carriage caught his approach.
As soon as his mother saw his sickly appearance, she let out a gasp, drawing in shaky breaths while her lips quivered.
Even his ever serious father Duke Astavore was stunned, his face held genuine concern and a hint of fear.
Si-eun walked towards them with slow measured steps.
From the corner of his eyes he could see his siblings Alvina and Nathan watching with worried expressions.
Seeing this he couldn't help but smile.
Sure they hated his guts but the fact that they didn't wish to see him die brought warmth to his chest.
As he arrived at the carriage his mother reached out for his hands with hers.
Her voice sounded like a choked sob as she asked.
"You… Azazel, what happened to you?"
Si-eun took a steady breath then gave her a reassuring smile.
"I'll be fine mom, you don't need to worry."
Somehow his words only made her feel more bitter.
She couldn't control the tears anymore.
"Let's head out, I'll try to negotiate with the king somehow, after the trial." The Duke interrupted.
Si-eun nodded but his mother directed her attention to her husband.
"Viktor, I don't care if we have to start a bloody war… they're not going to kill my son, do you understand."
"Rose…" Duke Astavore tried to speak but she cut him off.
"I don't need you to be passive Viktor, this is our son we're talking about, if anything happens to him I'll see to it that this kingdom burns to the ground."
Duke Astavore let out a quiet sigh.
'He hasn't slept.' Si-eun noticed.
Although the Duke was often seen as unfeeling by others, he cared for his family a little too much, they were his entire world, even though the problematic spawn of a son Azazel was nothing more than a glorified hooligan, he still cared for him.
Sensing the quiet tension in the air, he quickly intervened.
"Mother, father… let's go, don't worry about me, I'm fine and I'm definitely not going to allow myself to die just yet."
The Duke sent a glare at him with a look that said.
'Don't do anything stupid.'
'Oops too late dad, I already did.'
His mother looked like she had a thing or two to say but chose to remain silent for the time being.
Duke Astavore signaled the coachman as soon as they boarded the carriage.
A whip-like sound cackled in the air followed by the neigh of the horses.
Hearing the whip Si-eun couldn't help but shudder inwardly, remembering what exactly had greeted him the moment he'd taken over Azazel's body.
The carriage ride continued in perfect silence, clearly they all had their thoughts bothering them, even Azazel seemed disturbed because while he had several back up plans to ensure that he didn't die, they all involved running.
That wasn't something he wanted, running that way meant he'd become a fugitive and a potential criminal of the empire.
He didn't want that, he didn't want to lose the family he'd just gotten recently because of a scheming royal ass.
'Kyle, just pray I don't survive this cause I'll make your life hell sooner or later.'
Finally the castle came into view.
It was a grand structure with well crafted statues and several other sights for sore eyes.
However Si-eun clearly was in no mood to observe the palace and so he didn't.
The guards had let them in the moment they saw the Astavore's crest on the carriage.
Things progressed swiftly from that moment as they were immediately led into the throne room by stationed escorts.
As they got in, Si-eun immediately felt like a zoo creature, noticing how everyone's gaze fell on him.
His parents were led to the bystanders seat while he was left in the middle of the room with two escorts stationed behind him.
A movement of white caught his eyes as his gaze wandered to the throne where the king sat.
Besides him was his wife and four of his kids, the missing one was most definitely the fifth prince who Azazel had nearly beaten to death.
Silence befell the hall the moment the King's herald cleared his throat then unfurled a large scroll with his hand.
He read.
"Azazel Von Astavore, first son of the Astavore duchy and the second child of Duke Viktor Von Astavore and Duchess Rose Von Astavore, your recent actions against the fifth prince, Elias Jerome Evangelion has been considered as a deliberate attempt of murder and an act of treason against the royal family, therefore…"
He paused.
"By his Majesty's decree, at the strike of dawn, Azazel Von Astavore shall be executed publicly for attempting to murder a member of the royal family."
'This… This fucking piece of shit.'