‘Abandon Caspian? That’s absurd, Your Majesty.’

Jonathan raised his voice as if feeling wronged. Then he calmly explained the situation.

‘We cannot reverse the decision right now. The public’s resentment is too great, as they sympathize with the victims. We must wait for the right time.’

‘The public? They are merely dogs and pigs. Since when did the imperial family start catering to livestock, Your Majesty?’

At Sandra’s rebuttal, Jonathan let out a shallow sigh and continued.

‘Even if they are mere dogs and pigs, their numbers are too great this time. Isn’t this an incident that has drawn international attention?’

As Jonathan’s words were not wrong, Sandra could not find any more words to refute. Jonathan spoke again in a calm voice.

‘He just needs to stay quietly abroad for about a year and practice self-restraint. After that, I will have his punishment pardoned. I will make it happen. So please don’t worry too much, Your Majesty.’

‘……’

That was the end of it. Jonathan said to wait just one year. But Sandra could not simply wait, trusting only Jonathan’s words.

‘I can no longer trust anyone.’

Before she knew it, Sandra had arrived at the prison.

The prison where royalty and nobles were held was cleaner than ordinary prisons and furnished with furniture.

So there were no major difficulties in living there. Nevertheless, thinking of her son confined to a narrow space as a criminal made Sandra’s heart boil with resentment.

When she handed over the gold coin, the guard hesitated for a moment before opening the prison door.

“Caspian, my son!”

“Mother!”

The mother and son embraced each other. Their faces, weary with fatigue, were soon covered in tears.

“Don’t worry, Caspian.”

“Mother……”

“I will get you out. I heard there will be about 10 soldiers to carry out your exile. I’ve already hired 30 mercenaries. They will be waiting to rescue you.”

“Ah……”

“Of course, you’ll have to hide for a while. But if you stay hidden comfortably, I will definitely prove your innocence after a year. So just be patient and wait a little. Do you understand?”

“……Yes, Mother.”

At those words, Caspian let out a long sigh of relief. Sandra patted his back gently as he lowered his head and cried.

Though he had grown in size, he was still a fragile child at heart. Sandra thought that she was the only one who could protect this child.

Perhaps it was because they couldn’t control the sorrowful and pitiful emotions flowing out, the crying mother and son didn’t know. That there were ears eavesdropping on their conversation.

Before dawn broke, the exile procession began to move. Unlike ordinary carriages, the one carrying Caspian had no small windows, making the interior dark, and was designed so that the door could not be opened from the inside.

As Sandra had said, the number of soldiers guarding the procession was around 10, all on horseback surrounding the carriage.

Sitting in the dark carriage, Caspian was still handcuffed. He sighed heavily, seemingly nervous.

‘The mercenaries will start their attack when we enter the sparsely populated mountain road, right? Then I’ll have to stay like this for three or four hours without moving.’

Though he already felt dizzy and nauseous from the poor ride, he had to endure. The thought that he would be free in a few hours made it somewhat bearable.

There wasn’t much to do in the dark carriage. Just dozing off was all he could do.

“Ah!”

“We’re under attack!”

It was when Caspian was nodding off. A loud noise was heard from outside, and the carriage shook violently. Caspian’s face, awakened by the shock, filled with expectation.

‘Finally!’

From outside came the sound of clashing blades, along with screams. It seemed that a battle had begun between the mercenaries sent by Sandra and the soldiers.

Caspian stroked his pounding chest, waiting for the carriage door to open quickly.

“We must not let the prisoner be taken! Kheuk!”

“Aaaagh!”

Amidst the situation of shouting and screaming, the carriage door finally flung open. Caspian tightly shut his eyes at the sudden bright light.

“I’ll escort you!”

When Caspian gently opened his closed eyes, a mercenary was reaching his hand into the carriage. Caspian, with a broad smile, urgently ordered.

“The handcuffs are connected to a chain, so I can’t get out. You need to break the chain!”

“Yes, please wait a moment!”

The mercenary quickly struck the chain with a hand axe he was carrying on his waist. Thanks to this, Caspian, now free from the chain, jumped out of the carriage. The mercenary put him on his own horse.

With handcuffs still on his wrists, it was not easy for Caspian to maintain balance on the horse. Grunting, Caspian briefly turned his gaze to survey his surroundings.

The battle between the mercenaries and soldiers was still ongoing. Although the mercenaries greatly outnumbered them, the guards seemed quite skilled, perhaps because it was a carriage carrying a royal and noble criminal.

The mercenary behind Caspian spurred the horse. It was urgent to leave the scene before being pursued. The horse carrying the two began to run at full speed.

“Oh, there! The prisoner is escaping!”

“We must catch the prisoner!”

The shouts of the soldiers could be heard. But that was all. No soldiers were chasing after the horse Caspian was on. It seemed the remaining mercenaries were providing proper defense.

‘Farewell! I am free!’

Hoohoo, a deep smile spread across Caspian’s lips. Just a little further and he would be free from the world that had branded him a criminal.

‘I’ll have to live in hiding for a while, but well, I can endure that much. It’s much better than living in a place where I have no status, nothing, and can’t even communicate.’

Caspian thought the wind hitting his forehead was refreshing. At this moment, running at full speed cutting through the air, he was enjoying the greatest freedom of his life.

‘Actually, a status like being a prince can be cumbersome, so this might be for the better. From now on, I’ll be able to live even more as I please!’

Khahaha! Caspian finally burst into laughter. Although his handcuffed hands were still uncomfortable, this too could soon be removed, so it wasn’t a problem.

That’s when it happened. Thud! Along with a strong impact from behind, Caspian fell from the horse.

“Aaaagh!”

Caspian, who had rolled on the ground several times, was covered in blood. But he was still conscious and opened his eyes with a groan.

“Ugh… urgh!”

It felt as if every bone in his body was broken and his skin torn. He tried to move his body, but it was only painful and he couldn’t move at all.

“What… wh-what is this…? Kheuk…!”

Caspian couldn’t understand this situation at all. Surely the mercenary who should have been hired by his mother had pushed him off the horse. Why? He slowly blinked his eyes while spitting out the blood that was gushing up.

“…Ah!”

Only then did Caspian realize something was wrong. The horse he had been riding was too luxurious to be ridden by a mercenary. It must have been a horse boasting a world-class bloodline.

That wasn’t all. The armor worn by the mercenary who had helped him out of the carriage was also expensive. As if it were armor worn by nobles or royalty.

‘Then that mercenary… wasn’t sent by Mother? Oh no…!’

Keurk! Caspian, who had spit out blood once more, found it increasingly difficult even to breathe. Through his blurring vision, he saw legs wearing military boots. The mercenary who had thrown Caspian off the horse was approaching.

“You’re still alive, impressively!”

The mercenary let out a snicker while looking at the fallen Caspian. Though all his senses were fading, Caspian could tell that the mercenary’s voice was familiar.

“I won’t cut your throat. It’s better to transport one corpse; it would be troublesome to transport two.”

“…You, you are…!”

Caspian tried with all his might to move his body that wouldn’t budge. He barely lifted his head to look at the mercenary’s face. But the mercenary was wearing a helmet, so he couldn’t recognize who it was.

As if reading Caspian’s mind, the mercenary laughed again with a pssst, the sound of air escaping.

“Since it’s your last moment in this world, this much of a gift should be fine. I’ll at least let you know who killed you.”

The mercenary took off his helmet. Caspian’s eyes widened as if they would pop out when he confirmed the mercenary’s face.

“You… you are!”

That was as far as he got. Caspian couldn’t continue speaking. It was because the mercenary had stabbed a sword into Caspian’s back.

“Keu… ugh!”

Caspian, who had breathed his last breath, went limp. Tears of blood trickled down from his wide-open eyes.

“Farewell. Your body will be well delivered to your mother, so don’t worry. I wonder what expression your mother will have when she meets the son she’s been desperately waiting for.”

Heuheu, a vicious laugh flowed from the mouth of the mercenary as he swung the sword pulled from Caspian’s body in the air, shaking off the blood. It sounded like the voice of a demon that feeds on darkness.

A few days later, tears of blood burst from Sandra’s eyes as she faced Caspian’s corpse. Her jaw clenched involuntarily, and blood flowed as the tender flesh inside her bitten mouth tore.

“No! My son! Ah… No!”

Sandra embraced the rag-like corpse and wept loudly.

“Heu… This can’t be! My son couldn’t have died… No! It’s not true… It can’t be! Heu, heuuk!”

For days and nights, cries that could not be distinguished as screams or groans echoed throughout the imperial palace.