I groaned. I had hoped that Crono would change his mind and would just let the nature punish the Sormonts because I was sure that the punishment that our family will receive was already in motion. We had a special scroll in the Castle. In the entire kingdom, it could only be found in Eliran and only the King gets to read it. Written in the scroll were the names of the citizens who were fated to be punished. It had been a year since I saw how the names of almost everyone in my family appeared on the scroll except for me and my cousins which took me by surprise. After dying a painful death, my family members were destined to reincarnate for the continuation of their karma.
The punishment was in order. All Crono had to do was just to wait a little more.
Theron cleared his throat after a while. “My King, if worse comes to worst, be assured that we are willing to risk our lives to protect you against Crono and-“
Theron did not get to finish his sentence when our carriage suddenly overturned. I swiftly held Theron’s shoulder as we teleported. Right after we landed somewhere safe, our carriage exploded.

“YOUR highness, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person. Every single day for the past seventy-seven years, I have dreamed of more than a hundred ways to kill you and your entire family. That’s why seeing you like this is more than a dream come true for me, especially if my very own target was right in front of me now. I didn’t even have to find you. Thank you for making this easy for me. I have waited for so long to see you and your entire family. I didn’t expect that you, who are the most important member of the Sormonts and also the most important person in this kingdom would be the first I would get to see after I returned. You seem to already know who I am.” Crono smiled and bowed his head. “I hope I exceeded your expectations, my King.”
“You did. This is such a grand and warm welcome, Crono. I appreciate the effort. There is no need for a dramatic explosion, though. This is just between you and me right now. You did not have to include the civilians. Spare them. They are innocent,” I said in a calm voice even if blood was starting to rush in my head because there were more than ten Armethians who got severely wounded because of the carriage explosion.
The people who were running a while ago were now bleeding profusely while lying on the ground helplessly. Some were stuck between the huge woods from the carriage while some had been crushed by the horses.
The explosion spell was cursed. No matter how I try to use magic to save the people, it just didn’t work which proved that all the allegations directed to Crono were true. The latter was stronger and wiser now. I still could not lift the woods and the three horses. I’m worried that if this goes on, the people would die any minute now.
“They are innocent? Are you sure about that? Did they listen to me when I was the one who begged them to spare my family? No! I dedicated my whole life in serving this damned kingdom, but I never asked for anything in return except to be heard that fateful day! But not even one person listened to me before! Justice was never served to me and my family! Only because for them, I was nothing but a low ranking Armethian who did not deserve to be heard! But I will claim that justice now, Alexandros! I will make sure to get back at you and your entire family a hundred times over! I will give you pain a lot worse than what I experienced!” Crono raised his voice.
With a snap of his finger, the people on the ground trembled. Their eyes became yellow and they vomited blood. Seconds later and their limbs were all ripped apart until we did not hear their breathing anymore. Their blood was scattered all over the place, some of it even splattered to our shirts.
I had sacrificed so many things in my life just to protect my countrymen but in a matter of minutes since Crono came, about ten Armethians already died. My body went rigid as I stood there, unable to do anything, while my chest tightened out of so much anger. I was furious, but not only because of Crono. I was furious because of the situation and because of the past that we could no longer change no matter what we do.
I knew that if I did not play my cards well today, more and more people would die for every passing second. Damn, I did not risk my life to heal the Armethians just to let Crono take their lives away just like this.
“In my eyes, all Armethians are the same! You are all rotten to the core!” Crono screamed, his eyes narrowed with fury. “You are all traitors, pretending to be innocent! You are all the reason why my family and I suffered! You all deserve to die!”
I signaled the Knights to stop when they were about to attack Crono. They were shocked, but they followed my order anyway as they hesitantly allowed the old man to walk towards me. But their swords remained pointed in Crono’s direction. I know Crono was trying to provoke me, but I would not give in.
At least, not yet.

I USED to be the captain general of the royal army and I had aided my countrymen against the rebels who wanted to invade some of our nearby provinces. I did that for over a decade before I was chosen as one of the candidates to become a King. Every prince was required to serve in the army. But compared to the other princes, I had served for a longer time and did my best to contribute in the civic and military affairs that’s why the Knights and I had a deeper bond.