Oath Kingdom - Crescendo

After leaving John’s room, Cain entered his and looked at the two fingers and the small bloodstains on the floor. Gently taking the fingers, Cain placed them in a piece of cloth he ripped from his shirt before placing them on the desk and cleaning the blood staining the floor.

Done cleaning up the room, Cain sat at the desk and wrote two long letters, one signed with John’s name and the other Seth’s. After the two letters were done, he placed the one for Seth and the two fingers in a small coin pouch.

Returning to John’s room, Cain gave him his letter explaining what to do when he found Seth, the pouch containing the other letter, and the two fingers before leaving the room.

From the moment he entered the room until he left, Cain didn’t say a single word, and neither did John.

John picked up the letter with his name and started reading it.

‘Take as much money and provisions as you need and rush south as fast as possible. It will take you a while to reach Blood, but I’ll do my best to keep Molly safe until you get there.

The contents of that pouch are for Seth’s eyes only. They contain a letter explaining the situation and insurance if he doesn’t agree to help.

Travel swiftly, friend.’

John moved the letter he had just read atop a candle, letting it burn completely, before placing the pouch inside his clothes and leaving his room, heading for the stables.

-

On the other hand, Cain gathered all his men besides John and had them accompany him into the city. He led them to a tavern, much of their confusion, and ordered food and drinks for everyone without explaining anything or answering any questions.

The group stopped minding their boss’s unusual behavior after the first few drinks and started partying loudly.

‘I hope you can slip by unnoticed, friend…’ thought Cain while watching his men drink and laugh loudly.

In the morning of the next day, when the rowdy party returned to the inn, Cain checked the stables before returning to his own room.

Once his men woke up from their hangover, Cain told them their plan was delayed and had them start taking various odd jobs around the city under the guise of not attracting too much attention to themselves.

In truth, Cain was concerned with not making the situation worse for Molly. He knew that Iris probably wouldn’t care about the death of some noble, but at the same time, he didn’t want to risk his friend’s daughter’s life.

-

While Cain was trying to act as an ordinary citizen and John was rushing towards the Blood Kingdom as fast as his horse would take him, Molly was being dragged around by Iris, not being allowed out of sight even when she slept.

Having someone watch over her whenever she needed to visit the bathroom was quite annoying. Still, no matter how much she swore and yelled at Iris, Iris ignored her completely, so eventually, she stopped trying and conformed to her life as a prisoner.

“Can you give me some clothes, at least? I’ve been wearing these same ones for over a week.” Said Molly while smelling her armpits with disgust.

Iris paused her pen and looked up from her desk. After sniffing twice, she crunched her nose and waved her hand. A small cabinet to the side opened, and a set of clothes started flying toward Molly.

“Wear there. You do stink like a pig.” Said Iris before returning to writing on a piece of paper.

“You’re the pig. I also want to take a bath. Changing clothes won’t do a thing if I don’t also wash up.”

Iris sighed and dropped her pen again, looking once more toward Molly. Smirking lightly, she waved her hand, shredding Molly’s clothes.

“Eek.” Molly quickly moved her hands to cover herself. “Crazy bitch. What did you do that for?”

Iris ignored her swearing and moved her air energy, cleaning all the pores of her body before gathering all the dirt and sweat in a small ball which she made disappear into a bright flame.

“You’re clean now. Get dressed.” Said Iris, turning back to writing.

Molly scuffed and started getting dressed, only to notice that her clothes were sagging at her chest and behind.

“These are too big. I’m not as fat as you are.” Said Molly.

Iris’s eyebrow twitched, and she lifted her head: “One more word out of your mouth, and I’m cutting out your tongue. Wear the clothes I gave you. No one will see you anyway.”

Molly blushed and started getting dressed, afraid she would actually do as she said.

-

A month passed. And then two.

Iris and Molly continued bickering daily, their nerves starting to stretch thin. During this entire time, Cain didn’t make any more moves, deciding to bide his time until he got a chance to strike back or Seth returned to the capital. He didn’t know if Seth would help, but it was his only hope.

The long waiting period made him highly paranoid. He felt an unseen eye looking over his shoulder every time he went outside the inn, eventually ending up spending most of his days in cultivation.

Today, Iris was experimenting with her energy, trying to find a way to break through to the seventh shell. She did that daily, and Molly was already long used to it. Today, Molly was reading a book on the side with a bored look.

Being forced to remain in that small office both day and night, to avoid going crazy, Molly started reading the books around there. Iris enjoyed the silence this brought her, so she also didn’t do anything to stop her either.

As she was probing her seventh shell with her energy, Iris felt something and turned towards the window while standing up at the same time and ending her experiment.

Molly noticed her sudden movement and turned towards the window with a curious look.

A bloody mist soon took the form of an ashen-haired woman. Elise looked between Iris and Molly and asked: “Did you get a pet so you won’t get bored, Iris?”

Iris’s face turned dark, and she asked: “What are you doing here?”

“I just returned to the capital and decided to visit my friends. Why? Am I not welcome?” asked Elise, moving towards the couch Molly was sitting on. “So, who are you, little girl?”

Molly could see the frustration in Iris’s eyes and answered the intruder with a smile: “My name is Molly. Can I ask miss ascended’s name?”

“You shut up.” Said Iris with a frown, but both Molly and Elise ignored her completely.

Elise giggled and shook her head: “I’m no ascended, Molly. My name is Elise. So, how did you end up here? Did the fierce protector of the kingdom start kidnapping little girls in her free time?”

Molly bowed again and said: “Please excuse my misunderstanding, miss Elise. She did - “

“I said shut up.” Yelled Iris, sending an air slap Molly’s way. Molly was hit by the air energy and thrown into one of the office’s walls, blood leaking from the corner of her mouth."

Elise watched the show with a smile and finally turned towards Iris: “You have grown even dumber while I was gone. Kidnapping a little girl just because she happens to know Seth? You realize that if he cares about her, this will only spell your doom, don’t you?”

Iris scoffed and said: “This had nothing to do with you, Elise.”

Elise shook her head and turned into a blood mist, rushing in front of Molly and extending her hand to help her. Molly looked into Elise’s blood-red eyes for a moment before taking her hand and standing up.

“Thank you, miss. Do you know Seth as well?” asked Molly with a pained face.

Elise looked at the hand she was holding, her eyes fixed on the freshly cut fingers as she nodded.

“I do, Molly.” She replied before turning towards Iris, who was watching them with a frown. “You have really turned into a rabid dog….”

“The deal we made also suits my current objective, so I won’t interfere with this, but allow me to offer a few words of advice.”

“I don’t know much about Seth, but from the time I had observed him, I can tell he had a fixed set of morals, and his dear ones are his reverse scale. What you did to this girl… I pray for your own good that she’s not too important for him….”

“Let him come. Her body is already full of my energy. If he doesn’t fall in line, I’ll kill her with but a thought.” Said Iris with a scoff.

Seeing the crazy look in Iris’s eyes, Elise knew she meant every word she said.

‘It seems she’s ready to throw even her life away to get a small win over Seth... This girl is probably dead either way..’

Elise shook her head and sighed, releasing Molly’s hand.

“A pathetic and stupid dog that cursed itself to live under the king’s foot, turning more rabid by the day...”

“Let this girl go before Seth returns here. If you do this, he might have mercy on you again and spare your dog life again.”

Seeing that Iris turned her head to the side, not intending to listen to her advice, Elise sighed and turned towards Molly: “Be strong. I can’t do anything else than wish you the best of luck.”

After Molly nodded, Elise turned into a blood mist and started floating out of the window.

Iris scoffed and waved her hand, closing the window while muttering: “Great, that bloody troublemaker had to come back now….”

Molly placed one of her hands on her swollen cheek and moved back on the couch without saying a single word. She didn’t want to get hit again for no reason.

-

Inside Cain’s room, Elise materialized inside his room and said: “Quite the trouble you ended up in. To think I even wasted my breath in warning you...”

Cain opened his eyes and sighed: “Hello, Elise. Welcome back…”

Elise moved to sit down on the side of the bed, looking at Cain’s sulking face: “I told you not to draw Iris’s ire, but what did you do? You went and butted heads directly with her?”

Cain smiled wryly and shook his head: “I know… can you help somehow?”

Elise shook her head and said: “No. She knows my weakness, and I do hers, so we’re in a cold war where no one wants to move against the other.”

“She’s also gone crazier while I was gone. If I try to threaten her again using the king’s life, she might snap and kill us all anyway... who knows, she might even take the entire capital with her to her grave...”

Seeing Cain getting even more down, Elise said: “Don’t worry. That lass is fine for now, and she’s hunting for Seth. She wants to use her as a hostage to get an advantage over him.”

“I know.” Replied Cain before turning to look around. “Won’t Iris hear us speak?”

Elise shrugged and said: “Who cares? I guess you already sent someone to inform Seth, didn’t you? Even if you took all the precautions you could, she already probably knows and even counted on you doing that.”

“When I spoke to her, her eyes had a look I’ve seen many times in my work. It was the look of someone getting ready for their final fight.”

“I honestly hope Seth doesn’t come...”

Cain sighed and asked: “Do you think he has a chance? If he does come, I mean.”

“I believe that he won’t die... everything else...” Elise replied with a sigh.