After the burial of the monarchs, Roth returned to the foyer as he walked on the velvety carpet. The remaining soldiers gave a salute as the de facto ruler walked past them, trekking down the halls as he eyed the guards that watched the perimeter and then recalled that Scarlet had an escort that followed her around like a guard dog.

He stood still for a brief minute.

Scarlet's foot soldier was shorter than most of the guards that were recruited for the army. His stature wasn't useful in terms of combat, though it was no secret that the insignificant soldier became infatuated with the princess. Lady Scarlet flatly refused to have a guardian at first until she slowly had grown fond of him.

The only admirable trait that Roth found in the foot soldier, was his perseverance. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't found the short soldier nowhere near the funeral, nor the burial.

His eyes narrowed conspicuously.

“He couldn't have perished so easily, his corpse was nowhere to be found. As a matter of fact, he would have given his life to protect her. He wouldn't have abandoned my sister in her state, unless—” Roth's eyes widened in realization “—unless the baby survived.”

“Senechal!” Roth bellowed.

The senechal rushed forward as the hem of his robes swayed in a frenzy until he stood in front of the monarch and curtsied, beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

“Yes, my lord?”

“Where is Salmon?” Roth questioned as his fiery amber eyes bored into the servant's dark orbs.

“In the library.” The senechal replied, then stood a couple of steps back as Roth trekked past him. The senechal gulped, his Adam's apple bobbed as the de facto ruler faded from sight.

The library doors parted as the de facto ruler of Röd stepped on the velvety carpet. The dim candle lighting made his shadow grow as it loomed to the lower rows of the bookshelves as he crossed further, ignoring the history of his ancestors and the volumes of faded leather-bound books while he searched for the current issue—Salmon.

The widower sat on a cushioned mahogany chair, intricately carved in waves and miniature chariots as the legs resembled a lion's paw, varnished. Salmon had his free hand on the velvet armrest while he read the Sanguine Scriptures as he read the next passage.

The land will mourn the death of three generations in one night.

As it has been foretold in the scriptures.

A great soldier will turn his heel against the nation. The king shall be beheaded, the prince will be pierced through the heart prophesying thy coming, and a maiden shall be found laying next to a tree, with her belly empty and her cord torn. The land will mourn the death of three generations in one night.

The last descendant of Röd will wage war against two nations; one for marring the maiden, and the other for treason.

The last descendant shall not desire coronation, but retribution.

Salmon then recalled what his father told him. “Roth cannot be trusted! Once he is crowned king, he will turn on you.”

“I take an oath, with Rot as my witness, that I will not be crowned king until the blood of every Rubrum that perished be repaid.”

The reign of the last the descendant of Röd shall be cut short to fulfill the prophecy. Thy kingdom shall end after a millenia.

Roth walked behind a farther shelf which housed a collection of candles, crystal bottles of various shapes and sizes, some containing an amber liquid, and potions of various colors as he found a hidden chamber within the library as the widowed prince read the book.

“There you are.” Roth spoke, the prince lifted his chin as he saw the uncrowned monarch come closer. Frown lines prominent on Roth's face.

“Your majesty.” Salmon replied, closing the book in hand.

“I do not want to hear any lip service. I want answers.” Roth glanced at Salmon's dark eyes, testing him. “What happened to Scarlet's child?”

The infant wailed while Carmine carried her in her arms, trying to calm her down. She had already fed her and changed her twice and Vermillion was nowhere to be found. Ruben II sat on the stool as he crossed his arms and pouted.

“Aunty, where is uncle Vermi?” Rojo Jr asked.

“Don't just stand there, prepare the kettle!” Carmine ordered, avoiding the question.

“He's probably saying goodbye to the princess.” Ruben II said, “It's so unfair! If it wasn't for those mean yellow men, our parents would be here.”

“Maybe the baby is missing her mommy.” Rojo Jr brought the kettle to his aunt.

“Well duh!” Ruben responded petulantly.

“You! Take a bucket and bring water from the river.” Carmine barked as she swayed the infant. Ruben stood up from the wobbly stool and grabbed the bucket. He frowned and pursed his lips as Carmine clicked her tongue and hissed for him to leave. As the chubby boy reached the door, Vermillion opened the door as he saw his nephew waddle out the door. “Well look who it is?” Carmine answered sarcastically, “The irresponsible louse that abandoned the cub on the first day of fatherhood.”

Vermillion entered the house as he stepped closer to Carmine and the crying baby. “I was busy.” Vermillion walked past his sister as he hid the adoption papers in the drawer.

“With what? Gallivanting for schnapps? You should be busy with the baby. She is at risk of getting malnourished for Rot's sake! She needs breast milk.” Carmine raised her voice while baby Scarlet was wailing.

“We're too poor to hire a milkmaid.” Vermillion reminded her.

“We don't have any cattle either. How are you supposed to feed her?” Carmine patronized him.

“I will think of something.” Vermillion retorted before Ruben came with a bucket of water. Rojo Jr. brought the kettle to the flinty stove.

“Vermin! Get the fire wood while you're at it.” Carmine shouted over Scarlet's wailing.

Salmon looked at Roth as he rose from the seat as he considered what to respond. “The child is nowhere to be found.” An awkward silence hung in the air.

“Explain.” Roth replied, his tone showed a hint of confusion though he remained firm.

“The infant has not been found, sire. There had been a search around the vicinity where Scarlet had been found. No one knew the whereabouts of the infant. There is a possibility that a beast had devoured the child after Scarlet's departure.” Salmon suggested.

“Then what happened to the escort?” The red haired prince enquired.

“The escort searched for aid while she was in labor.” Salmon responded.

Of course. The foot soldier failed with his mission and abandoned her in her time of need no less. Knowing the consequences, he preferred to end his own life by his own blade than to face judgement. The de facto ruler ruminated on the supposed suicide mission.

“Find him! If he is found dead, let him rot, if not, he will be acquainted with the guillotine.” Roth declared before he turned away from his cousin with a swish of the cape as he stepped out.

Prince Salmon knew where Vermillion lived and the considered the living conditions they were in. Vermillion, like the majority of the Rödian population lived in impoverished conditions. As such, Salmon went into his bedchamber and changed his attire to dress himself as a commoner with a dark tunic, chemise, cotton trousers and brown boots made out of animal skin.

Incognito as a common man, he mounted on his steed with a plain saddle and reins as he headed to the city and saw how the commonfolk were.

Mourning, fasting, children were crying to their deceased loved ones. There were homeless beggars that suffered injuries and burns from the siege. A throaty voice weakly requested for water, or for a crum of bread.

Salmon dismounted and offered a canteen full of water to the parched beggar.

“Here.” Salmon passed the canteen to the vagabond.

“May Aurah bless you, young man.” The beggar rasped before he sipped on the canteen greedily.

“How are you?” Salmon asked.

“Rot was merciful to me, but my sons and in-laws were not so fortunate.” The beggar started as he returned the empty canteen to him. “The enemy troops killed my sons and raptured my daughters-in-law. My grandson became lame and helped him out of our home before it got burned to the ground. One of my in-laws had gotten ill and my grandson is taking care of them while I search for food.” As the beggar told his testimony, a boy with wooden crutches balanced himself and warned Salmon, signalling him to not believe a word he said.

Salmon saw the boy shake his head.

“It must be very difficult.” Salmon commented.

“It is, but I'm grateful.” The beggar nodded.

“May Aurah bless you.” Salmon replied as he mounted on the horse, sat on the saddle and lightly pulled the reign for the horse to walk off.

Carmine stirred the soup while Ruben threw twigs and small chunks of plywood from the barricaded windows. “We only have ginger root, radish and rutabaga.” She warned him before Ruben gagged at the mention of rutabaga.

Vermillion had put the baby on his bosom and calmed down. Rojo Jr took leaned over to see the baby and watched the newborn was asleep.

“Uncle Vermi,” Rojo Jr whispered, “the baby sees you as a mommy.”

“No, she knows I'm the daddy.” Vermillion whispered back. Rojo Jr turned his mouth agape. Vermillion always wanted to marry princess Scarlet and form a family with her from the moment he laid eyes on her. He had shown his love, tenderness and determination to win heart ever since he was desiganted as her guardian. Unfortunately, she didn't love him the way he had hoped.

Scarlet was in love with another noble. First, she had eyes for Salmon since they were children, though the handsome prince had always seen her as a little sister. At the time, he had hoped that the princess would lay her eyes him the same way she longingly gazed at Prince Salmon. That hope slowly quivered when she became attracted to Prince Goldnerod, Vermillion became more vigilant than ever. A charismatic noble from the Yellow Kingdom, and third-in-line for the throne no less.

The reason that Prince Goldenrod and Princess Scarlet were well acquainted at the time was because Prince Roth and Lady Amarilla were forced in an arranged marraige by their fathers, a political marriage that would benefit both of kingdoms to trade crops and wine.

Roth remained a wild card even then, he preferred jousting, hand-in-hand combat and revelling than to settle down to a woman he didn't know. Surprisingly, both Amarilla and Roth had grown to love each other. The bond Vermillion witnessed reinvigorated him to fight for Scarlet's love.

On Roth's wedding day, Princess Scarlet met Prince Cyan and became mesmerized by him and it seemed that the heir of the Blue Kingdom also fell in love with her. The only predicament was that she was betrothed to Prince Goldenrod. Despite that Vermillion dueled for her hand in marriage and won against Prince Goldenrod, she chose Cyan.

Their engagement lasted for several months before there was an accusation of cyanide poisoning directed at Prince Cyan by none other than Roth himself. Amarilla became severely ill and died after giving birth to a stillborn infant. This scandal made the Blue Kingdom cut ties with the Red Kingdom, and Scarlet was devastated.

Just when Vermillion had a sliver of hope that Scarlet would see him for who he was and to give him a chance. Something came between them.

“I'll tell you a little secret,” Vermillion whispered to the baby girl, “when I discovered that you would be coming, I thought that I could be your daddy and I would be to marry your mommy.”

It was the day he discovered that Princess Scarlet became pregnant. She fainted when she discovered that her prince had been banished. The queasiness followed when she had to accept that Prince Cyan would not return. When the ladies-in-waiting noticed that her cycle had not occured and the rumors of the pregnancy began to surface.

“No, Vermillion. I know you mean well but I'm not using you to save my own skin. If they find out that I'm bearing a child, they will accuse you of deflowering me. You're innocent, you don't deserve this.” I didn't care what obstacles were stacked against me. “Scarlet.” I held her hand and confessed my feelings. “I fell in love with you the moment I laid eyes on you. I waited years for this moment, I want to spend the rest of my life by your side. I want to start a family with you, to be the father of your children. I vowed to protect you and that is what I'll do. I will fight to have the king's blessing if it's necessary. So please, say yes.” Even though she refused at first, I was certain I would get through her until I realized that she already made her mind.