Sunlight finally announced the arrival of a new day.
The endless screams and wails ceased, and the wafting smell of blood also disappeared.
The main hall of the Imperial Palace looked completely different than usual.
All affairs of Ruwens, large and small, were decided here. Meetings were also held here every morning. On the magnificently laid red carpet, priests, members of the Imperial Family, and nobles always stood, bowing their heads before the Emperor.
However, today everything was different.
A disgusting smell of blood hung in the air, and corpses were piled up like bags of rubbish. Most of these people lay on the floor, cold as corpses.
The thin lips of the Crown Princess curved into a smirk, as if she was satisfied with the work done.
"We're leaving."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Kaena, who smiled a chilling smile, rose from her seat. After that, leaving the main hall, she stepped on several corpses.
As the footsteps of the Crown Princess and her people gradually faded, the few survivors began to leave their hiding places. Someone pretended to be dead, someone hid behind corpses, and some managed to hide under the rubble of destroyed structures. All this to survive.
"Has it finally ended...?"
The few surviving maids and servants shuddered upon seeing the bodies of the people they had served. After that, they began calling for the guards at the top of their lungs.
Previously, soldiers of the Imperial Army couldn't intervene in the battle, as the main hall was completely occupied by the Crown Princess's soldiers. This place was like an isolated island. But now, a horde of guards flooded in here. First and foremost, of course, they were concerned about the well-being of the imperial family.
"Your Majesty!"
As soon as the "cleanup" began in the palace, the Empress used the people around her as living shields. This allowed her to save her life. However, although she wasn't physically seriously injured, her mental state was deeply disturbed. The woman trembled and shook, as if on the verge of going mad.
The Emperor, in turn, managed to hide behind his throne. His left leg was seriously damaged by a fragment of a column that hit him. Because of this, the Emperor couldn't move on his own. Both spouses looked terribly pale.
"Your Majesty, lean on me!"
The commander of one of the army units hurried to the Emperor's aid and helped him up.
"Your Majesty, shall... shall we send a pursuit after..." the knight faltered when he couldn't even utter her name.
The Emperor, white as snow, stared at him with crazed eyes.
"Are you crazy?!" he barked.
"Forgive me?"
"Right now, just help me walk!"
The Emperor shouted at his subordinate, on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The commander swallowed and lowered his head.
"Yes, Your Majesty..."
The Emperor and Empress were helped to leave the scene, and they immediately went for a medical examination. After that, help also arrived for the Second Princess. It so happened that at that time, she was the only capable person who could offer any resistance to Kaena.
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Consequently, Jerica was now seriously wounded. The knights took the girl by the arms and helped her walk forward.
Despite the fact that the girl herself needed help, she was still trying to stay conscious.
The princess opened her eyes with difficulty and surveyed the entire main hall. Everything around was covered in blood.
"Anyone... Did anyone survive?" the princess's weak voice seemed to crack.
The knight who was leading her by the arm hesitated before answering.
"A few, but... There are survivors."
Jerica de Ronan exhaled heavily.
"Where... Where is she now?" came the counter-question.
"....."
"We don't know..." the knight stammered, "Her Highness just left the palace..."
The Second Princess said nothing more and only clenched her teeth. What her elder sister had done today was truly monstrous. The coronation ceremony, which was supposed to be the happiest day, had turned into a bloody nightmare.
Most likely, even decades later, descendants would remember this day as one of the worst in the empire's history.
So many nobles and ordinary people died today. Kaena Hessen de Ronan had crossed every acceptable line.
Jerica couldn't leave things as they were. The Crown Princess must stand trial and receive due punishment. But the girl didn't have time to finish the thought, as her sober mind was rapidly leaving her. Due to overexertion and blood loss, Jerica lost consciousness.
The knights immediately placed her on a stretcher and carried her to the imperial infirmary, where other members of the monarch's family were receiving aid. The remaining soldiers removed the bodies and wiped away the bloodstains. They gathered the corpses of nobles and servants in one place.
As soon as the few wounded were helped to leave this place, an ominous silence reigned in the bloodied main hall. At that moment, rustling and the creaking of chairs were heard in the empty hall. Two people, who had preferred to wait for the end of all the commotion to leave their hiding place, crawled out from under the tabletop.
"F-father... Are you alright?"
Yufil hit his head while getting out from under their shelter. He clutched his bruised head and let out a quiet groan.
The guy's face was pale, making him seem agitated. That's understandable. It would be a miracle if a person could still keep their mind intact in such a situation.
There was a lot of blood on his clothes, face, and blue hair. But not his own.
"I'm... fine. Yufil, you weren't hurt either, right?"
The family heir nodded, and then spoke again in a cracked voice:
"Father, what will happen now?.."
"..."
"I saw... I saw it. That woman who caused all this. She is..."
Suddenly, a painful ringing sounded in the Duke's ears. He clutched his head.
"Ugh..."
Corpses lay on the floor everywhere, like bags of sand. All these people were killed by the woman whom his youngest daughter had brought into their house not so long ago. The commoner... No. The Crown Princess of this Empire.
The Duke de Walte squeezed his eyes shut tightly. He couldn't believe all this was really happening.
The day the Duke had eagerly awaited had turned into a sheer nightmare. Yesterday evening, together with his eldest son, they had come to the coronation ceremony intending to have a good time. But instead, they almost died. And all because of one woman.
The Duke heard his son's incoherent muttering, trembling and shaking.
"So... what will happen to us?"
Despite the fact that they had managed to escape death today, the Duke also had no idea what was supposed to happen. The fact that they were still alive was truly a miracle.
At some point, the Duke had truly thought their end had come.
In the midst of the massacre, when blood was gushing everywhere, Victor lifted the tablecloth of the table under which they were hiding just a few centimeters to assess the situation. And it was then that he met the gaze of the mad Crown Princess. Golden irises, like the pupils of a wild beast, were undoubtedly looking straight at him.
"This is the end!" — the Duke's soul sank as he thought that he and his son would die right then. He prayed like crazy inside.
However... To his surprise, things didn't happen as he expected. Perhaps it was only a moment, but it seemed to the Duke that an eternity had passed. Kaena de Ronan was the first to look away. She did nothing.
Even when the Crown Princess left the main hall, she passed by their table without looking back. This puzzled Victor even more. He couldn't understand why this crazy woman had spared their lives.
And at the same time...
The Duke looked at his hand, which was cut by a shard of glass, with an absent expression. At that moment, the thought came to him on its own.
"Camilla..." — the head of the family muttered in a hoarse voice.
His daughter was still at home, unaware of what had happened. For some reason, Victor's body trembled and became hot. He vividly recalled the horror experienced that night. Ringing cries, the clang of metal, and the disgusting smell of blood. In addition, most of the bodies were not just mutilated, but chopped up.
The limbs of nobles were ground up and scattered across the floor. The Crown Princess did all this just for fun. She laughed, as if experiencing pleasure from this bloodshed.
"No, that crazy bitch!.."
The Duke de Walte clenched his fists very tightly. Before he realized it, the man resolutely rose to his feet. Yufil looked at his father with a bewildered face.
"We're going back."
"What?" the family heir stuttered mid-sentence.
"I need to urgently notify Sir Hilton that an attack is being prepared on our estate."