“Damn it! Damn it all!!” a man screamed at the top of his lungs as he swept the desk clean in a fit of rage. From the papers to the quills and papers, all were swept to the ground. Ink spilt and spshed across the ground from the toppled bottles. As if that wasn’t enough, the man proceeded to flip the desk, all the while crying out his wrath.

  The man had a good face that would easily make any woman soon if he simply smiled. However, that face was currently warped in anger, distorted by rage. His hair, once a smooth seam of golden threads, was now a bundle of oily mess. One could only imagine how long the man had gone without a bath. At this time of the day, he would be in his best garments, made by the finest tailor in the country. Today was not like any other. He was in a simple robe that had more wrinkles than an elderly on their deathbed.

  The man was in a pathetic state. The servants that served him couldn’t help but sneer in disgust whenever they had their backs turned to the man. An Orc in the skin of a human, one could say about the man. But of course, no one dared to say it out loud. No one would ever dare to say such a thing to the man’s face. After all, the man was a king. More precisely, he was the king of the Argon Kingdom, Stefan IV.

  Unlike his ancestors and predecessors, Stefan IV was no brave warrior nor a wise leader. His strength was barely adequate for a man. He could hold a sword no longer than a human could hold their breath. His wits were duller than a peasant who had not read a single piece of literature for their life. In short, Stefan IV had none of the qualities a king should have. He was a king by the fortune of being born as the eldest son of the previous king. Else wise, he would be a ggard who would never amount to anything in his life.

  As Stefan was still throwing a tantrum in his chamber, the doors swung open with not a single creak but the individual made themself known with their loud steps.

  Stefan snapped his gaze to the doors. “Who!?” he roared. He had given orders to not be disturbed for the time being. Anyone who defied his orders would be sentenced to death. However, there was one who was an exception.

  “You look terrible, brother,” said Princess Lucianna, the sister of the king.

  “Luce,” Stefan growled. “What are you doing here? And it’s ‘Your Majesty’. I am your king before I am your brother.”

  “My king?” Lucianna scoffed. “If anyone can get a good look at you now, they would be hesitant to call you their king even if their head’s on the chopping block.”

  “Did you come here just to mock me?”

  “Mocking you is part of my intention but not only my intention.”

  “How dare you!?” Stefan snarled. “You will be cut down for this if you weren’t my sister.”

  “Be gd that I am your sister, Stefan. If I wasn’t, you wouldn’t have stayed as a king for so long.”

  Stefan froze, not out of fear, but out of anger. “Are you trying my patience?”

  “Are you trying mine, dear brother? You already know why I’m here. Or have you truly forgotten?”

  The king’s face turned even uglier. “I will die before I surrender my throne to you,” he spat. “And are you so stupid to believe that you can become king?”

  “I don’t need to be a king. I just need to be someone who can lead this kingdom on the right path.”

  “I can lead this kingdom! Not some ailing hag who can’t do the one thing she was born to do.”

  Lucianna sighed and approached her brother slowly. “What makes you think you continued sitting on the throne? You have many opportunities to prove yourself worthy but you have blundered every single chance you got. With the most recent failure of attacking Ulrum, no one in the court wants you as their king anymore.”

  “Lies! Or are you perhaps blind? I still have plenty of friends and allies in court.”

  Lucianna chuckled. “I suppose that’s the only thing you’re good for, being a puppet for the greedy nobles.”

  That was the st straw. Stefan couldn’t bear the insults any longer. He wanted to cut the woman in front of him down, regardless of whether she was his sister or not. He drew his sword… or at least he tried to. His sword was nowhere near him. It was on the other side of the room, dangling distastefully on a coat rack in its scabbard. He couldn’t remember why it was there but it was.

  “Stefan, if you want to kill me, you better hope you can do it in seconds. You know my shadows. Do you believe they would just let you do as you please?”

  “I am the king! I will do as I please as a king should! Including cutting my infernal sister down!” Stefan decred and stormed towards his sword. He had not taken a few steps before a figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere between him and his sword. The appearance of the figure shocked him enough to make him stagger backwards.

  “Your Majesty, please do not be rash,” said Marie, the personal handmaiden of the princess.

  “Y-you… mere maid dares to—”

  “Enough!” Lucianna shouted. “Are you retarded or are you simply too embarrassed to admit your blunders and shortcomings? Tell me, Your Majesty, just what exactly have you done for the kingdom?”

  “What have I done for the kingdom?” Stefan scoffed in utter disbelief. “What has the kingdom done for me? I’m their king! There won’t be a kingdom without a king! They should be grateful towards me! Not the other way around! They should be grateful that I didn’t already have their heads!”

  Lucianna scowled at her brother. “You have lost your mind, Stefan. A king is no king without his subjects. A king without his subjects is nothing more than a raving madman.”

  “I suffered your disrespect long enough!” Stefan roared as if he were a lion. He tried to dash past Marie but the maid was more skilled than the average knight. She easily grappled Stefan and threw him to the floor using his own momentum.

  “Cease this foolery, Your Majesty,” Marie said. “This is unbecoming for a king. Even for you, this is a very pathetic dispy of one’s self.”

  “Guards! Guards!” Stefan shouted as he struggled to climb back on his feet but it proved to be difficult with Marie still grappling one of his arms. “Let me go, you damn peasant bitch! I have your head and limbs for this!”

  The guards burst into the room with their swords drawn. There were six of them. They were prepared to strike down the ones who dared to wish their king harm. However, their hostility faded when they witnessed the scene. They saw their king in distress and in pain. It would be their duty and obligation to help him off of his torment but the princess stood in their way. Moreover, they couldn’t help but recognise the sad and pathetic state of their king. They heard everything from the hallway where they guard vigintly. They knew of their king’s continuous blunder with the most recent one being the failed expedition of challenging Ulrum.

  “You may leave,” said the princess.

  “Y-your Highness?” one of the guards blurted out.

  “I said, you may leave.”

  The guards looked at each other. Should they listen to the princess’ words, they all seemed to be wordlessly asking one another. They were the Royal Guards. Their job was to guard the royal family. The princess was royalty too, second only to the king. Though her authority was no greater than the king's, her tone made them feel compelled to listen.

  “What are you standing around for! Get this bitch off of me!” Stefan shouted as he filed his limbs around like a toddler who was caught in the act.

  The guards had their visors down. A fortunate thing. Otherwise, their pin disgust and disappointment towards their king would be pin for all to see. The decision was obvious. The guards turned towards the princess and bowed before promptly taking their leave.

  “W–what…” Stefan stammered in disbelief as he watched the guards leave the room without helping him. “G-Guards! Guards! Come back here, you damn fucking traitors! I am your king! Come back! Fucking— Argh!” He squealed suddenly.

  “Keep it down, Your Majesty,” Marie said. She had twisted the king’s arm slightly, enough to make him stop barking.

  “Do you see now, brother? No one wants you for their king.”

  “Silence, you daughter of a wench! You bribed them! These fucking traitors! When I get out of this… this… bind, I will have your heads for this! All of your heads!”

  “I did not bribe them, dear stupid brother of mine. You are a mess. You have no more allies and friends. Now, you can either surrender quietly or you can keep throwing a tantrum and I will have Marie drag you across the entire castle, including the courtyard, before throwing you into the dungeon. What say you?”

  Stefan fell silent upon hearing the ultimatum he was given. None of his sister’s words had gotten through to him except the one where he was told of the kind of shame he would be put through. If he was dragged across the entire castle by a maid, even if he was obtuse and slow, there was no way he wouldn’t realise that he would be stripped of all his dignity and honour.

  “You had so many opportunities, Stefan. More than I ever had. You are my brother. I never wished for this but it is clear that I had to do this. Stefan IV, in the name of Argon, you are hereby stripped of your throne and crown. You are under arrest for all the damages and dishonour you have caused to the Argon name and also the kingdom. You are—”

  A cry suddenly rang through the castle, interrupting Lucianna’s denunciation. It was a sharp scream of panic and terror. It was immediately followed by what sounded like flesh being cut apart. Then, an arm from a horn bred through the entire castle. It was a sign of a hostile presence within the grounds of the castle.

  Marie immediately released Stefan’s arm and rushed to her mistress’ side. “Your Highness, we should get you to safety first.”

  Lucianna nodded and let herself be dragged away by her trusty handmaiden who was also her personal guard. She spared her brother a single gnce and only a single gnce. She had considered bringing her brother along but knowing his temperament, he would sure be a huge liability. An incompetent ally is often more dangerous than a competent enemy.

  Marie had taken only a few steps out of the room but she immediately lurched back into the room, dragging the princess along.

  “What’s wrong, Marie?” Lucianna asked, rubbing her wrist. It was painful to be suddenly yanked but she understood her maid did it for good reason.

  “Enemy forces are at the end of the hallway,” Marie replied as she wasted no time in barricading the room using the various pieces of furniture.

  “Who are the enemies?”

  “Syers.”

  “Syers?” Lucianna was confused. Syers were most loyal to the royal family. Commands from the royals triumphed over all other commands. There was a certain restriction to this logic parameter. Syers could not harm other members of royalty. This was to prevent the Syers from being exploited in a succession battle.

  “I know what you’re thinking, Your Highness, but these ones are different. They are… bck, like the night and shadows.”

  Lucianna widened her eyes. A wave of fear washed over her, making her skin crawl with shivers. “These bck Syers… where did they come from?”

  “I do not know, Your Highness. But one thing’s certain, they are not friendly. I have just seen them kill the guards and the normal Syers with ease in the hallway. I’m afraid I will not be a match for even one of these things. Your Highness, you will have to invoke the Sanctuary Shift.”