Vermillion arrived to his house. The windows and doors were barricaded. He knocked in a pattern, it took a while for his sister to open the door. No response until the baby cried. Carmine removed the objects that blocked the door to let him inside. Vermillion stormed in with the baby in his arms.  "Have you lost your mind?! What were you thinking bringing a baby in these conditions?" Carmine reprimanded him. Vermillion felt weary as he blankly stared at his sister while she scolded him, then walked to the kitchen to light the firewood to prepare hot water afterwards. The woman cleaned the infant that was bathed in blood.

Meanwhile Coral was gazing at the dead princess, to be more precise, what remained of her. "I always had my suspicions that the child you were carrying did not belong to my son. Your death confirms it, you paid for your sins with your own life." Coral spoke to the corpse. He heard galloping from another horse and saw that it was his son who followed him. Salmon got down from the saddle and approached him with his right hand clasping the hilt of his katana. Coral unsheath his sword, and he took a stance. "Well look who I found." Coral started as Salmon saw a silhouette of a woman and saw a strand of red hair dancing in the wind.

"What have you done to her?" Salmon gritted his teeth whilst he unsheathed his blade.

"I had no need to lay a finger on her. She brought her own demise. She swore on her own life and she paid the price." Salmon charged in and swung the katana but his father blocked it. A clashing of blades collided as a flurry of slashes ensued to determine which one of them was stronger. The traitorous general, or the knighted prince?

The baby wailed loud enough to wake two boys from their slumber. The older of the two had curly auburn hair, brown eyes, and freckles across his cheeks, round nose, and shoulders. Not to mention that the boy is fat. The younger one was as thin as a stick, his head shaven, though showing red stubbles, and light brown eyes. Ruben Cinnabar the second is the only child of Ruben, the eldest of Vermillion's brothers. And Rojo Junior is the only child of Rojo Cinnabar, sadly both of these boys lost their parents on the same day. Ruben's father was beaten to death and his mother was beheaded for helping him and other children escape. And Rojo's parents were killed, including his unborn sibling. With the baby's arrival, Rojo Junior kept asking about the baby whilst the other asked if there was any food left. Carmine silenced them and sent them back to bed. Vermillion asked Carmine if there was any way she would have been able to deliver the baby and prevented the princess from dying after childbirth. "Nothing would have made a difference if I were present to deliver the child. You know that the chances of surviving childbirth are very slim." To this he grieved, but on the other hand, he had to keep the promise he made to the princess.

One side of Coral's blade reflected Salmon's furrowed eyebrows and reddish-brown eyes. "I always knew that you were soft, but this is just pathetic." Salmon kept parrying and swinging his sword as best as he could to ignore his father's taunts. "You refused to marry Scarlet for years and the moment that she bears an illegitimate child, you take pity on her and proposed to her. You dishonored my legacy by marrying that adulteress." Coral parries and then swings the katana downward. Salmon takes a step back before charging in again, as the katanas clash. Both of them measure their strength. "You are a disgrace! Worthless! Just like your mother." Coral sneered, his son retaliated by stabbing him in the clavicle.

"I am nothing like you! I didn't have to betray my family and my people for the sake of power!" Salmon reminded him, his katana reflecting half of the general's face and the other half drizzling in blood. "You are nothing but a coward. You step on those who are weaker than you because you can't stand the thought of losing control." Coral tried to breathe as he got down on one knee. His vision blurred when he saw two silhouettes behind his son. "General Coral of Ja, you are under arrest for treason." Those were the words he heard before he fell unconscious.

The former general woke up inside four stoney walls of the royal dungeon. Coral has been stripped of his armor and of his title. He clutched the bars of his prison cell, he shook the prison bars and it rattled when he released his grip. A door opened and there was a shadow that Coral could easily recognize from afar.

Prince Salmon came to visit his father in the dungeon. His son descended, the torchlight illuminating half of his face. He could see Salmon wearing a ceremonial cape, and was dressed in black with red jewellery, ruby gems in shape of tear drops on the upper part of his chest plate. An elaborate necklace adorned of rutile and onyx, pointed ashen shoulder pads, metallic silver cufflings, and a silver crown made of thorns and spiked wires, his short dark ponytail loosened. And an circlet with a carnelian gem that belonged to the defunct princess Cremesi, Salmon's mother. Coral had almost forgotten that his son is now a widower, mourning for the death of his wife. He was speechless, Salmon certainly inherited his mother's elegance. "I hope that you are satisfied." Salmon said, his reddish-brown eyes glaring at his father. Coral could see his reflection in Salmon's eyes. He saw what Salmon saw, a rugged middle aged man in rags.

"Not only have you brought dishonor to our nation, I will be the one carrying your shame for being your son." This is what Coral feared, to be despised by the only one he truly cared about. Coral had been ambitious during his youth, he fought his way up to the ranks from being a scrawny fisherman to a mighty general. He had conquered the hearts of many and struck fear to his enemies. His crowning achievement aside from obtaining the title as general, was that he had the honor to marry a princess. A princess that the Emperor himself desired, he had the privilege to have princess Cremesi as his wife and had the blessing to have a son. He went above and beyond for Salmon to become king one day that his lust for power led to his downfall. Coral realized that far too late, there was nothing he could do to change that. "Consider yourself fortunate that Roth postponed the trial. Even if you were innocent of Scarlet's death, it will not change the fact that you turned your heel against the Royal Family and the people that you wanted to lead. I came to tell you personally that I will not be attending to your trial." Coral felt shortness of breath as Salmon said this. "I will do everything in my power to search for my mother in all four corners of the world either with or without your help." Salmon turned away from his father to give him the opportunity to speak. "Salmon, listen to me! You don't know want you're doing." Coral started sweating, "Your mother is nowhere to be found. I've done everything in my power to find her. I went all over the world! I sent spies in every country. I infiltrated many organizations searching for her. She. Is. Gone!" Salmon heard excuses. He remembered clearly that his parents argued, his mother wept as she covered her bruises with cosmetics, and he once saw a prostitute walking out of his father's bedchamber. When Salmon returned after his first mission, his mother disappeared from his life without a trace. His relationship with his father was never the same.

"Wait...! Before you leave, there is something you must know." Salmon looked at his father once more. "I am listening." Coral held the bars for support. "You aided the one who is going to lead the Red Kingdom to ruin. Roth cannot be trusted! Gather as many allies as you can because once he is crowned king, he will turn on you." Coral warned him. "I am telling you this as a general. What I did pales in comparison for what is about to come. King Rory had the longest reign in Rubrum history for being the most ruthless ruler in his day." In the Rubrum history books, King Rori was the youngest king to ever rule the Red Kingdom, not to mention the meanest monarch in all of Röd. His reign lasted for 111 years and he started ruling at the age of 9 after King Kirmizi was poisoned, a kind ruler that had the shortest reign, which was 67 years to date. "If King Rory was able to kill Emperor Hóng-Long. Imagine what will Roth be capable of once he rules all of Röd. Hue-manity will be doomed." Salmon heard enough and walked away. "Stop him before its too late!" Coral warned him.

Salmon walked down the hall as he thought about the circumstances in which his grandfather, uncle, and wife died. The king was beheaded, the prince was stabbed in the chest, and the princess was found dead on a tree with her umbilical cord cut with no sign of the infant. There are accounts of regicide throughout history, but this is the first time that three generations perished on the same day. Salmon walked down the hall thinking how it all had ocurred, and it reminded him of the Sanguine Scriptures. One of the scriptures foreshadowed the birth of the heir. The king loses his head, the prince is pierced to the heart, and the princess gives birth before perishing on the same day. The Scriptures also foretold that the last king will be coronated after winning a war against three kingdoms. How the heir will end the millenial reign once and for all.

Salmon headed to the chamber to mourn according to the traditions set out by law, while Coral received another visitor. His silhouette was not easy to ignore. Nor his presence. "Your highness." Coral did not bow, nor did he kneel. Roth is wearing the royal crown. Even though half of his face could be seen his right eye flared with contempt. "Enjoy your last days of peace while you can, Coral. Soon, it will be you who will mourn after I put you on trial." Coral clasped his hands around the prison bars and shook it, yelling. "Do you think this will be the end?! No! This is just the beginning! One day your kingdom will fall, prince Roth. Your reign will be cut short. Your seed will bear no fruit. Even if my bones turn to dust, the sun will burn hot. Your legacy will be reduced to a crust and the world will know that glory belongs to Rot!"