Next day, when Martia gained consciousness, Acastius was with her. She looked at him anxiously. Acastius told her that the Prince was alive but imprisoned. He told her that she had to start training and make herself strong again if she wanted to save the Prince.

  It took Martia some time to get healed and start training again.

  Whenever she went to Promanthae’s house to see the Prince, she was not allowed entry into the house by the guards.

  Unable to find a way to see the Prince, she trained ruthlessly all the time. Months passed by, and she still couldn’t get a glimpse of him.

  Acastius informed her that he was well and alive, but she was losing her patience and wanted to see him herself to know his condition.

  Martia went outside Promanthae’s house and shouted, “Promanthae, if you don’t want me to kill these guards and break your door, then welcome me inside your lifeless house. Don’t you know the basic rules of blackmail?

  If you want to use me as an assassin again, then let me meet the Prince.”

  Her declaration was heard by most present there and also by Acastius and Minver

  Promanthae opened the door, smiling. “Who said I didn’t want you to see the Prince? I was just waiting for you to get back to your original form, and that is a vicious assassin. Since you are at a disadvantage and still threatening me, I think you are completely healthy now. Welcome, Martia, welcome to your lifeless home. You were raised here. Did you forget?”

  Martia retorted, “Yes, I did. It is not worth remembering.” She entered the house, scanning the room in which she thought the Prince was imprisoned.

  Promanthae asked, “How should I welcome you? Should I organize a feast?”

  Martia curtly said, “Where is the Prince? Let me see him. And what do you want now? Tell me clearly what your useless plans are.”

  “Is freedom from oppression a useless plan now that you are in love?” asked Promanthae.

  Martia replied, “You can’t get freedom from oppression by being the epitome of oppression yourself. And if you really want to desperately be free from oppression, then begin by getting yourself assassinated first.”

  With a devilish smile, she continued “And I will be more than happy to help you with that!”

  “This is the first time you are talking back to me,” said Promanthae. “I always wanted you to rebel against the castle, but you didn’t, and after a few days with this ordinary person, you became a rebel against your own village?”

  “Ordinary?” Martia laughed scornfully. “He is not an ordinary person. You all are. This whole Absyleous is. He is the only person who deserves to live. And I will make sure he does, even if I have to kill you all.”

  Promanthae looked at Martia, stunned, and replied, “Kill King

  Coaleme. Eliminate this royal system. And after that, he will not be a Prince anymore. I will let him go but, of course, not you. I will kill you with my own hands for going against me, that too, ferociously.”

  As Promanthae spoke, she heard the Prince, who was standing at a distance, handcuffed, and held by two guards. “Don’t accept this deal, Martia. I don’t mind dying, I don’t care about it. My brother raised me with love and affection, like a parent. He is like my father, my guardian. I cannot see him die by the hands of my lover. There will be no point in saving me like this. If this is the condition, then let me die. Please don’t

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  accept this condition to save me.”

  Martia looked at the Prince helplessly. She couldn’t assure him that she would not kill his brother. In a miserable voice, she said, “I can’t let you die.”

  Promanthae interrupted, “His life is not just your responsibility; it is his, too. That’s why I gave him a drug to liberate himself. Just like the liberation you wanted for me. This world is too cruel for him.”

  Martia hurriedly took out her knife, went up to Promanthae, and

  anxiously asked, “Did you give him poison?”

  Promanthae indifferently replied, “I gave him a chance to save himself from seeing his brother getting killed by his lover. I just offered him the medicine to relieve him of his pain. He took it himself.”

  Martia, completely devastated, said, “That is not possible. He would never do that.”

  The Prince, uncuffed now, came forward and took Martia’s hand and took her to the room he was imprisoned in and closed the door.

  He embraced her tightly and said, “This is not a sad ending. Until

  now, everything is good. I am with my lover. I always wanted to ask you to stop killing people whenever I saw you come home with bloodstains on your hands, on your clothes. No matter how much I tried to bear it, I was anxious all the time. I always wanted to hold your hand and stop you from going far away from me, but I couldn’t. I was scared.”

  Martia was dismayed by the entire situation. She asked the Prince in a broken voice, “You were scared of me?”

  “No! I was not scared of you; I was scared of losing you. I was scared that if I asked you to stop this, you would think I can’t accept you and you might leave me. Martia, I understood that if we have to survive, you always have to fight and kill people. You are so trapped in this cycle that no matter where we go now, we cannot escape this reality of yours. Just let me die in peace. I love you more than anyone, but my brother is my family. I cannot see him being killed. And I cannot bear that you will be the reason for it.

  Please, Martia, just let this end here.”

  Martia saw the Prince’s eyes drooping and knew he was losing

  consciousness. She laid him on the bed. She saw him starting to get pale and his hands becoming colder. Seeing him in this state traumatized her. She felt like she couldn’t breathe, and along with the Prince, the life within her was also fading quickly.

  She then understood that no matter how hard living would be, no

  matter whether the Prince loved her anymore or not, wanted to be with her or not, or if his affection turned into hatred someday, she just couldn’t bear to see him dying.

  She hurriedly stood up in a panic and ran towards the door, opened it clumsily, and said to the Promanthae, “I will kill King Coaleme, eliminate the royal system, and put this village at the center of the administration of

  Absyleous.”

  In frustration, she loudly declared, “I will do whatever you say.

  And you can kill me after that. Just save him. The healthier he is, the more effective and faster the assassination of Coaleme will be.”

  She then left Promanthae’s house, scared that she might go insane

  from this pain if she stayed even a second. She went to the infirmary and asked them to sedate her for a few hours to calm herself before she lost her mind.

  Even after taking the drug, she still found herself unable to calm down, so she imagined a moment . . . a moment where she was in the embrace of the Prince and the Prince was very happy. That very moment, she went into a deep sleep.

  Promanthae saved the Prince’s life and was very proud of himself for successfully manipulating both the Prince and Martia without using any

  force.