THE DESTRUCTION OF THE KINGDOM PILLAR 2

The queen looked at the bracelet in the velvet box, whose color had faded, even though it was no longer the original color of the box. This bracelet was a gift from Benedict when they were lovers. Cassia loves Benedict very much, but she is greedy for something bigger than just being the wife of a hero and a pillar of the royal family known as the sword master.

When she was appointed as a woman who would enter the palace as a concubine, like the first agreement between King Gustaf the first with her family, the queen could not wait for confirmation from Benedict, who was going to war, and the queen dowager only thinks realistically. So she took the opportunity as a concubine before ascending the throne to become queen.

Her beautiful green eyes with blonde hair, typical of the Rodriguez noble family, and her white and slender hands looked gorgeous when she took the bracelet to take a closer look with longing feelings.

"Am I not that valuable in your eyes right now?" asked the queen into empty air. "I'm greedy, but can you give me what I want if I choose you anyway, Benedict?"

Emma, behind the queen, can only hold back her sadness. She knows how difficult it is to be a daughter in a merchant family where the majority are men. Excluded and demeaned, the opportunity to become a palace concubine is one of the steps so that no one belittles Cassia.

Even to do business and trade, a woman is not allowed. That is why leaving Benedict at that time was the right choice and the most challenging thing she took.

"Emma, was my choice wrong all this time?" now the queen asked her maid.

Emma looked down in response, "No, queen, you've made the right choice. Mr. Benedict, who could not understand your choice and position at that time," she answered, trying to please her master.

"That's right, and I think Benedict will understand my choice because he has always understood me very well. But in fact, that guy is just as devilish as Philips, who used me to fill the queen's seat but didn't give me any face to have a royal successor!!" said the queen in a hateful tone.

The queen hates king Philips for making her a queen with no power and no descendants. It happened because it turned out that the king of Philips gave her a barren potion. The cruel man wanted to keep his promise to queen Clementina not to have children with other women.

The queen was deceived by the king's good attitude to her. The man was so cunning and had no feelings for him as his wife. She was lulled by the fake love that King Philips gave before the queen realized something odd about her body. Tracing it found that the problem came from King Philips, who almost got her love.

The man himself admitted his cruel acts, all for his love and promise to his previous queen, queen Clementine, the birth mother of the current king Alaric.

And stupidly again, Clementine asked for a foolish promise. Clementine, the queen, known to be gentle, is selfish and crueler than her and will understand the consequences. Her son, who has now ascended the throne to succeed King Philips, is very obedient and submissive to her. She will make Clementine and King Philips watch their son fall into the abyss of destruction.

"Has father sent the final decision of the meeting to the Guinevere family?" asked the queen, squeezing the bracelet before putting it back in the box.

"Already, queen, I forgot to tell you. Sorry for the negligence of this servant," said Emma looking down.

"Never mind, just get the letter!" said the queen did not care.

Emma then gave the letter she got to the queen. Slowly the queen read what her father had written before folding it back.

"So the man still chose to die and let his beloved daughter be tortured for the rest of her life? It's miserable..." said the queen in contrast to her smiling face.

"It's true. The palace psychic said there was a prophecy in which the kingdom's destruction came from the blood of a descendant of a black magician. Must shed her blood with tears of pain as an antidote and atonement for life to protect the kingdom," Emma explained again to satisfy and restore the queen's good emotions.

"Hahaha— this time, I'm sure Benedict will regret not accepting my offer. That man will watch how his beloved daughter dies slowly and loses her identity. I will not be half-hearted in punishing Rania!" said the queen, mentioning the name of Benedict's daughter. "Even though I didn't get Benedict, his first son became mine. At least... there is half of him that belongs to me..." said the queen, losing her smile and happy glow for a few seconds.

....

The following day Rania had to see for herself how her grandfather, grandmother, and mother would be beheaded. But strangely, her aunt and uncle looked calm and didn't cry. But she tried to run there, but two solid armored warriors held back her body. They were like boulders that weren't even bothered by her actions.

Her mother was there, placed right under the big knife. The device she knew was because she had seen it in the square several times when the palace sentenced the defendant to death, and now it fell on her family's heads.

The guillotine towered sinisterly before her eyes, and everyone screamed in front of her family's eyes.

"Kill the traitor!!"

"Kill that black magic user. Kill immediately!!"

"Those who betrayed the kingdom must be killed!! Cry... Why do they have to live as gods? Kill these black magicians immediately!!"

The residents' voices were heard. Rania was scared but suddenly shouted back.

"MY FATHER AND MOTHER ARE NOT BLACK SWITCHES!! WE ARE NOT TRAINERS!—" Rania's words were cut off when she threw animal dung at her.

Benedict was silent and did nothing when he saw his daughter screaming and being thrown by dirt, but Hera didn't. She struggled to cry, but her mouth was gagged by a cloth, not allowed to call.

"Shut up, you dirty bloodline!! You, too, will suffer the consequences!" said the red-haired man who had just thrown dirt at her.

"Right, a filthy descendant should get his punishment too!!"

"Kill the black magicians and traitors!!"

"Kill!!"

Rania wept upon hearing that, crying so loudly at the notification that the queen dowager had come with her son, king Alaric the Gustaf II. One of the guards who held Rania immediately covered Rania's mouth with her hand. Rania did not rebel like before because she was afraid to see the queen dowager, who directly glared at her with her little friend, king Alaric.

King Alaric spoke a few words as he came before the people who had packed the hall, appointed ruler because he was the only descendant of the king. At the age of 18, he was made king.

But at 18, King Alaric accomplished many achievements that are respected by citizens, much like his father, the late King Philips.

"These traitors and black magicians have committed great crimes, plotted a coup against the kingdom, poisoned the second king Gustaf and almost killed the queen dowager who in the end had to lose the potential successor to the kingdom that was in the womb," said King Alaric frankly.