Caesar was brought into the throne room by the five knights. Ministers and dukes were all over the throne room. They gazed at Caesar with both anger and fear. The king sitting at the throne stared at Caesar coldly, but also bewildered.
The knights escorted Caesar until he was just a few meters away before finally letting him stand; still, they didn't want to force him to kneel.
The king looked at Caesar quizzically before asking in a grave tone, "I know that my son was overstepping his bounds, but killing him in broad daylight is excessive! Not to mention you invited the elves to our kingdom without even consulting me!?!?"
Caesar looked up at the king and said, "If the I let the prince live, he would have done it again. Do you really think that the elves would have taken that with open arms?" Caesar asked the king a question instead of answering.
The king sat down at his throne and contemplated.
"Strife would have been created within the kingdom, and both the humans and elves would have another invisible barrier between each other… Aren't you tired of battle?" Caesar announced after pausing for a second.
The king on the throne roared back in response, "that doesn't mean you need to take it upon yourself to kill the prince like that. No matter how much of an asshole he was, he is still my son!"
"I needed to kill the prince like that. Not because I wanted to, but to let the elves know that I would protect them." Caesar snapped back, just as swiftly at the king.
The sound of the king gnashing his teeth could be heard throughout the entire hall. Nonetheless, he still looked down at Caesar coldly, "that is still treason. Even though you are the Marshall of our kingdom, and have given us so many merits, I also need to give a lesson to the people: no one is above the law!"
Caesar looked up at the king with a smile "the 5000 elves would not take too kindly to the person that saved one of their woman's dignity, and the person that they pledged loyalty too, to be punished."
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE MEPHISTO?" The king screeched and stood up from his throne.
Caesar looked up at the king calmly, "your majesty, your son, was a necessary sacrifice. If he had not been your son, I would have killed him sooner."
The king sat back down on his throne while the dukes and ministers in the throne room began jeering at Caesar.
"What insolence before the king!"
"How dare he kill royalty; I say we execute him!"
"Hmph, just a duke's son acts so arrogantly in front of the king?"
Many different types of voices echoed throughout the halls. The king soon waved his hand to silence all of the dukes and ministers.
He looked at Caesar one more time and asked in a majestic voice, "Mephisto, do you regret killing my son? He was just a boy. He could have been trained. He could have changed," he said in a sorrowful voice.
"Your majesty, with all due respect, I don't think he would have ever changed. And no, I do not regret killing the prince." Caesar replied.
The king sat down on the throne and was silent for a few seconds before finally standing up and thundering,
"I DECLARE THAT MEPHISTO PHELES IS UNDER ARREST FOR TREASON. HE WILL BE EXECUTED IN ONE WEEK."
Caesar smiled indecipherably before the reluctant knights escorted him to his prison cell.
Caesar walked in the prison cell himself and sat down.
The knights looked at Caesar and said, “M-Marshall, that bastard prince had been tormenting the citizens for a while now… Thank you for killing him!"
The knight's hesitated for a second before offering the key to Caesar's handcuffs. Seeing this, Caesar just smiled and said, "Don't worry, I will be out sooner or later."
The knights glanced at Caesar curiously before finally walking away. Right as they left, Caesar's muffled laughter escaped from the prison cell.
The night slowly passed, and the news of the Marshall being arrested for treason spread like wildfire. The elves and human citizens instantly grew enraged. Many of them went in front of the palace, screaming and throwing food.
"How dare you arrest the Marshall; he just defended the kingdom for us!?!?!"
"He killed that bastard prince, so what? Do you know how many innocent women he had his way with?"
"That bastard prince finally got justice for killing my son, but you arrest the man that gave him justice. Preposterous"
Crowds of people and elves alike started protesting in front of the palace. Crowley also got word of Caesar's imprisonment… He closed his eyes tightly and thought to himself, "what is your plan, my son…"
After about a minute of contemplation, Crowley walked into Caesar's room. After looking around for a bit, and feeling nostalgic, he soon spotted a letter on Caesar's desk. Surprise flashed in his eyes as he walked towards the table and slowly opened the letter to read the contents.
"Dear father, if you are reading this, I am probably already in a jail cell right now. To put it simply, the king is far too soft. The main reason why we were even in such a bad position was due to the king's softness. His sons were all moles, but he didn't have the heart to stop them. Because of my imprisonment, I am willing to bet the entire kingdom has become enraged and has started protesting. As a duke, and my father, this is your chance to lead a rebellion and take the throne yourself. I know the king is your dear friend. However, you don't need to kill him, just take the throne and let the king live a peaceful life."
Crowley crumbled the letter in his hands and looked up with a resolute gape. He exited his manor and walked towards the protesting crowd. Once the crowd noticed Crowley, they all parted ways and made a path for him to walk through.
Once Crowley made his way through the crowd, he stood at their front and roared. "The king has imprisoned the man that had saved all of our lives, the man that gave us hope when we had none. The light in our darkness. He killed the prince who terrorized the civilians, the very same prince that attempted to rape an innocent woman in broad daylight. The king who protected his sons even though they were moles inside the kingdom that put all of our lives in danger! STAND WITH ME, LET'S USURP THIS FOOLISH KING FROM THE THRONE!" Crowley's roar resounded throughout a large area.
After a moment of silence...
"OOOOHHHHHH!"
The citizens roared loudly after Crowley's speech, and the knights that were keeping back the citizens from entering the palace stopped and roared with him as well. How could they execute the Marshall that gave them all hope?
Soon a large group of elves entered into the mix. "We swore loyalty to that general, not this king, we demand you release him, or we will forcefully release him ourselves!"
The large group of people was simply unstoppable. There was practically no one on the king's side. A considerable group of knights also soon entered the mix; they were the 2500 knights that were trained under Caesar. Even the royal guards were wavering, let alone everyone else.
"We swore under oath to protect the king, but we are willing to break our sacred words for both the Marshall and our integrity." The knight's roared out.
Soon, the citizens and many others walked up the stairs and entered the palace. The guards that were supposed to be defending the palace entered the rally, and they all stormed the throne room together.
The king sat quietly on his throne, watching this scene. He looked towards the sky and thought to himself, "I should have never made enemies with you in the first place. You are one dangerous man Mephisto."
Crowley walked in front of the king and bowed respectfully, "my old friend, I think it is time you stepped down... "
The king breathed a deep sigh before looking at Crowley "would you have done the same thing, my old friend? Imprisoning the person that killed your son. Even if your son was trash?"
Crowley looked up at the king, surprised before answering, "without a doubt!"
"That's all I needed to hear," The king said sorrowfully and stepped down from his throne. He placed his crown on Crowley and declared, "I hereby step down as king and appoint Crowley of the Pheles household
as the new king.
The crowd applauded and whistled at the king's quick submission. The king then glanced at Crowley and said, "I knew this would happen when I imprisoned him, alas, I could not just let him away scot-free for murdering my son."
Crowley nodded in understanding, "I know. I will not mistreat you, my friend. I have already prepared a large mansion for you and your family."
Tears fell down the king's face as he thanked Crowley, "thank you!"
Crowley looked towards a few guards and roared, "hurry up and release my son!"
The guards nodded up and down repeatedly before rushing towards the prison cells. They soon made it to Caesar's cell and saw him in a deep sleep with a smile on his face.
The guards looked at each other strangely and shrugged… They opened the gate and hesitated whether or not they should wake him up.
CHAPTER THREE
The guards stood there, looking down at the sleeping Caesar with complex gazes for a few minutes. Finally, one of the guards took a deep breath and tip-toed over towards Caesar.
Sweat streamed down his face as he got closer, and his back was already drenched by the time he was a foot away from Caesar.
The guard gulped down his saliva and slowly moved his hand toward Caesar's shoulder, nudging him, "Marshall… you're free!" The guard cupped his hands in front of his mouth and whispered into Caesar's ear.
Caesar squinted his sleepy eyes and slowly raised his upper body. He gazed curiously at the guard that was next to him for a mere moment before yawning loudly.
Caesar wiped the tears that formed under his eyes and slowly stood up. He then stretched out his limbs and glanced at the guards.
"What are you guys staring at?" he asked inquiringly.
The guards were at a loss for words for a few seconds, before finally, one of them got a grip and replied respectfully, "Marshall, no… Crown Prince, you are being released on the orders of King Crowley."
Hearing the guards refer to him as the crowned prince caused him to shiver in discomfort, "refer to me as the Marshall, please," he said with a dead-pan expression.
The guards looked at him, confused for a second before replying loudly, "yes, Marshall!"
Caesar nodded in acceptance and began walking out of the prison cell, "my father worked much faster than I expected," he grumbled quietly while walking out of the cell.
After Caesar left the cell, the guards just quietly followed behind him. The prison was damp and dark, and there was only one walkway. On both sides of the walkway were many different prison cells. Remnants of human bones were still in the cells.
Caesar looked at all of this and thought to himself silently, "it seems that the guards here don't clean up their prison cells. At least they put me in a relatively clean one."
Five pairs of footsteps echoed throughout the prison. Caesar noticed that there were no other prisoners here, so he turned around and looked at the guards behind him, "where are we? And where are the other prisoners?"
The guards gave birth to a troubled expression on their faces as they explained to Caesar, “our prison has ten levels. The lower the number, the further down you need to travel. We are currently at level zero. There is only one other prisoner here."
Caesar stroked his chin, "who is the other prisoner?" he asked, curiously.
"A dwarf that snuck into this kingdom. When a few of our guards tried stopping him, he killed them in a fit of rage. Locke Pheles happened to have been the one that captured him, your grandfather" The guard relayed.
"Hmmm, take me to him. He sounds interesting." Caesar hummed for a second and declared to the guards with a smile.
The guards hesitated for a second before saluting and saying, "as you command Marshall!"
They turned back around and entered into an even darker part of the prison. One of the guards lit a torch as they moved deeper inside.
The wardens opened a large iron gate and led Caesar into a very spacious square room. In the middle of the room laid a decently sized cage. Caesar squinted his eyes and saw a small lump under the covers inside the cage.
The guards halted their steps and stood at the iron door, "w-we are just going to stay here, Marshall… to keep an eye on the surroundings, of course," the guards made a quick excuse.
Caesar didn't pay them much heed and slowly walked towards the huge cage. As Caesar got closer to the enclosure, he could see the lump under the covers visibly move.
"Err, what is that damn smell" a very rough and deep voice echoed throughout the square room.
Slowly, the blankets were pushed from the bed, and a three-foot-tall, muscular looking man waddled out. He possessed a long, red beard and flowing ruddy hair. His facial features were rough and were overall quite ugly.
The dwarf yawned lazily and sat on the ground cross-legged. He began picking his nose with his right hand and started grumbling nonsense.
"Man… where is the ale when you need it, I also want to marry one of those sexy elf women."
"Ahem," Caesar cleared his throat loudly and grabbed the dwarf's attention.
The dwarf raised his eyes and looked at Caesar…
"Huh, what the fuck are you?" The dwarf looked at Caesar with confusion while picking his nose.
Caesar didn't mind his rude tone and introduced himself, "I am the Marshall of the kingdom."
The dwarf looked at Caesar dumbfounded for a while before roaring in laughter "HAHAHA, I KNEW SOONER, OR LATER ONE OF MY KIND WOULD INFILTRATE!"
The dwarf held his stomach while rolling around laughing. After about fifteen seconds of laughter, he noticed the confused expressions on the guards and inched closer to the gate.
"OI! You should have told me that the humans didn't know… let me out already!"
Caesar stroked his chin in contemplation while looked at the dwarf, "does he know that I am not a human?" thinking to here, Caesar looked at the dwarf and put one finger over his lips.
"Shush," Caesar made a shushing sound and walked closer to the cage. He crouched down so he could be eye level with the dwarf and smiled at him.
A vein popped above the dwarf's right eye, "oi you ain't tryna mock my height are you?"
This time, Caesar chuckled softly and tilted his head at the dwarf, "do you want to leave from here?"
The dwarf looked at Caesar as if he were mentally disabled, "no shit, I want to leave here. Hurry up and let me out, or I am telling those guards over there you aren’t human!"
Caesar stood back up and smiled even more extensive, "are you proficient with making weapons and traveling?"
"Of course, I am you dimwit, stop asking me these stupid ass questions and let me out. God damn," The dwarf replied, frustrated.
"Haha, what is your name, dwarf?" Caesar asked calmly, asked in spite of the dwarf's frustration.
"They call me stone toe joe, but my friends just call me Joe."
"Okay, Joe, I'm going to let you out of here, but you have to promise me something!"
Caesar paused here, and Joe's expression turned anxious again, "what is it? Hurry the hell up and tell me!"
Caesar opened his lips gently, "be my subordinate."
"Haaah, forget it. I'm not going to work under no pretty boy like you" The dwarf let out a long sigh and growled.
"Is that so? Well, that is truly unfortunate," Caesar said with a regretful face as he started to step away slowly.
With each step Caesar took, the more anxious Joe got. Once Caesar was halfway towards the iron gate, he roared out, "WAIT, I-I AGREE ON ONE CONDITION!"
Caesar turned around with an 'as expected' smile and asked him, "What is the condition?"
"You gotta give me ale, and you need to supply me with ale at least once a week," Joe said after thinking for a while.
Caesar stepped back towards the cage and stood in front of Joe. Caesar subtly put a white glove on his right hand and offered a handshake.
"Oi, why the fuck did you just put a glove on? You calling me dirty?" The dwarf grumbled as he shook hands with
Caesar.
Caesar took his hand back and tore off the glove, he tossed it to the ground somewhere and introduced himself again, "my friends and family call me Mephisto, but you can refer to me as Caesar."
"Caesar, huh, a weird name you got there, buddy, but I like it!"
Caesar didn't respond and put his hand on the lock; he then squeezed tightly.
The lock crumbled and fell to pieces, and the gate slowly swung open. The dwarf looked at Caesar warily, "holy shit, man, what race are you?"
Caesar just shook his head wryly and led him towards the entrance of the prison. The guards looked at this scene dumbfounded. They couldn't hear their conversation, but they saw Caesar break the lock and open the gate.
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