~Y/n pov~

We stood outside of the throne room.

"Four cardinal heroes come in."

We were greeted by the Queen sat on her throne, beside her stood Melty.

"I thank you all for coming." The Queen's authoritative voice called out.

"Myne isn't here." Motoyasu looked shocked.

"Neither is the King." I pointed out.

The Queen turned to the guards, "You can bring them in now."

"MYNE!"

"MOTOYASU!" Her annoying voice screeched .

Both Myne and the King were in chains.

Oh, so was my hunch right ? The King was also working with Myne?

"What's going on?" Ren asked.

"That should be obvious." The Queen stated, "These two are criminals."

Everyone looked at her in shock.

"Let's start the trial of the foolish King and the first princess."

"Mama please.." Myne continued to shriek and beg for mercy, pretending she wasn't guilty when she clearly was .

The King also pleaded, "What is this my Queen? What caused you to do this to us? This is an accusation!"

They were getting more desperate by the second .

"With the four cardinal heroes in attendance, this trails seeks to punish those responsible for shaking the country to its core , as Queen I shall serve as judge ."

"What!?" The King growled, "Don't tell me the devil of the shield has brainwashed you."

The Queen held her hand up and froze him in place, "The shield hero has no such ability and you know it! I can't believe I even have to say that."

A man holding a tray walked up to her.

"What is that?" Myne panicked .

"To ensure a fair trial, you will be given a temporary slave crest."

Myne struggled in the guards arms , yelling protests as they made the slave crest.

"How could you do that to your own daughter!?" Motoyasu was angered.

"Because my daughter is a pathological liar." The Queen answered calmly.

Myne protested, "I'm not! You know I'm a good girl, an honest girl!"

"Let us officially begin the trial now. Your crimes are clear for all to see, you can't worm your way out of this."

"What so called crimes are you claiming they committed ?" Motoyasu yelled.

The Queen ignored him, "Let us begin with recent events, using a fabricated holy weapon, the pope of the three heroes church tried to murder the cardinal heroes and frame the shield hero, but he was killed in the attempt. We are gathering the remnants of the church as we speak."

"What's that go to do with anything!?"

"The King and first princess were colluding with the church all along."

"No that can't be."

"Any objections to this charge."

Myne immediately started spluttering out nonsense in her shrill voice.

Though, she was immediately hurt by the slave pact.

"It's appalling to think the first princess would try to overthrow the state." The Queen remained expressionless.

"No I didn't!" This time Myne didn't get zapped.

Motoyasu looked at the Queen, "See she's innocent."

"All right then, what about your scheme to assassinate Melty and then frame the shield hero for her murder?" The Queen's voice cut in.

"I didn't do anything!" Myne screamed shortly after as a huge shock came from the slave mark.

The King who had been quiet the whole time spoke up, "No Malty! You didn't!"

"It's not true papa! I promise !" She blubbered like a child who'd been naughty.

"You conspired with the church and attempted to use them to kill Melty so that you would become air to the throne yourself. When that failed, you falsely accused the shield hero of abducting her and set fire to the forest she'd escaped into. Do you deny it?" The Queen's icy gaze stared in her soul.

"Melty is my own sister." Myne wheezed, "Of course I deny it."

She let out a strangled scream.

"It's true." Ren spoke up, "It certainly looked like she was trying to kill the princess."

"I agree it can't just be coincidence ." I nodded seriously .

Itsuki then chimed in, "Yeah that's true, we saw the whole thing."

"She wouldn't ." Motoyasu's eyes were the size of saucers.

"Malty you wouldn't do something like.." the King was cut off by the Queen.

"King Aultcray, you conspired with the church as well. You worked with them to summon the four, no five cardinal heroes , while I was away."

"I only did that because we needed them in order to encounter the impending waves of catastrophe. On the first night the shield hero committed an unspeakable crime." The King continued to plead guilty.

"Oh shut up." I glared at him, "You expect us to believe that crap?"

A few nods were shared.

"Naofumi assaulted Myne!" Motoyasu accused.

"Oh lord!" I clasped my hands, "Please save us from this idiocy , I hope it's not contagious . Amen."

Itsuki grinned, "Amen!"

"Why don't we ask her about that? Malty," the Queen ignored our dumbasses but I knew she secretly wanted to laugh, "were you truly assaulted by the shield hero?"

"Yes I was!" Myne yelled, "The shield hero assaulted me!"

She let out an ear piercing scream as I covered my ears , I thought they were gonna bleed.

Eventually they were both proven guilty and were sentenced to death.

~*~

All four heroes were requested to watch the execution. I know they did bad things but I don't want to watch them die.

I stood slightly behind Itsuki, partially shielding myself, unsure whether I wanted to watch to not.

He didn't seem to mind me hiding behind him, though he interlocked our hands and gave me a reassuring squeeze .

Both the King and Myne stood in front of guillotines, awaiting their end.

"These to criminals will now be beheaded!" The Queen announced , "Those who betray the country and it's people deserve death, especially if they happen to be royalty . We will prove that right here and now."

The crowd started cheering , but I didn't feel like this was something to celebrate.

Their head were now locked in the guillotines, sword raised above the guards heads, waiting for the signal to swing down and chop the rope that was stopping the blade from swinging down and beheading them.

"Hold on," Naofumi shouted, effectively silencing the crowd, "I think the death penalty is too good for this vermin, death is instant release . Do we really want to let them off as easily as that?"

The shield hero had walked into the arena, "Her slave crest didn't react just now, she's got such thick skin she dares to beg the guy she was trying to kill for her life and actually meant it. Think about that, I wonder if the guillotine could even cut through."

The crowd laughed.

"So I've got a better idea," Naofumi smirked, "from now on, the King will be named Trash and the first princess will be named Bitch."

They both immediately protested.

"That's your name now and it will be for the rest of your life." Naofumi announced proudly.

~*~

The four cardinal heroes and the Queen were having a meeting but everyone just seemed to be arguing and nothing was really going well.

The Queen told us about Cal Mira , where all experience was boosted, so it was probably good for power levelling.

Naofumi asked for some information but it just resulted in everyone arguing.

I sighed, even after all that we can't get along.

~*~

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1257 words

A/n we're getting near the end of the first season, but don't worry I will definitely continue when the next season comes out. Only a few more chapters left.