WHO MADE ME A PRINCE
chapter twenty eight - reunion.

THE IMPERIAL KNIGHTS HAD currently broken all carriage wheels and completely surrounded the mansion, and were entering it from the various entrances they had discovered.

Arius and the rest had now reached the backstage , still invisible.

They saw several men standing around them but quietly walked past them. Winslow was guiding them to the area where he suspected the group of slaves to be.

As they passed they could hear the Auctioneer loudly announcing the prices of the children.

It was disgusting.

Placing a price tag on a living being, as if assuming their worth. Selling them like objects who had no mind of their own whatsoever.

They're not objects.

They're people.

Living

Breathing

Humans.

Arius caught a glimpse of the stage as he passed by and saw a girl with pigtails trembling in front of the crowd which kept on raising prices for her worth.

The thought of how the girl must be feeling made him want to switch places. The crowd of nobles looked like demons waiting to devour the girl. She trembled and wanted to call out for help but her voice was too scared to come out.

Even if she cried , who would help her?

If she screamed and shouted , who would save her?

The feeling of being completely alone and helpless. The feeling of inferiority and weakness.

Arius knew those feelings all too well and as he looked at the small figure trembling quietly he was reminded of his past life when his parents would raise their voices at him and scold him. He developed a fear of loud noises due to it.

Even if they end up saving all the children currently trapped in this mansion. They will be traumatized for life because of these scummy adults. The memories of these days would replay over and over again in the form of nightmares.

"There!" Winslow whispered as he pointed towards a familiar blue-head. Two men surrounded Cadell as he stood behind the curtains.

"And now ! I present to you this young swordsman!"

The curtains once again subsided and Cadell came into the view of the audience.

A sword was placed in the middle of the stage. A real, sharp sword was right in front of Cadell and his hands were not chained either. The three watched Cadell as he was taken on the stage.

Suddenly, Gunther ran forwards leaving Winslow and Arius still staring at the stage.

"WH–Hey! Where are you-" Winslow almost shouted but switched to whispering and ran after Gunther when he saw him run.

Step!

It's her. Her long green hair matched with Gunthers.

Step!

She's okay. Her golden eyes that even amidst the scary situation remained calm.

Step!

Thank Goodness. He suddenly pulled her into an embrace which made her flinch.

"Uh–Wha–"

"Shhh." Gunther whispered in her ear and she recognized the voice.

"B-Brother?" her voice cracked with doubt and happiness.

"Mhm." Gunther hummed in agreement.

Mia's grip on Gunther tightened and tears began forming in both of their eyes. They hugged each other tightly as they both confirmed that they were not dreaming and that they were finally together.

Winslow watched them from afar and simply smiled at their wholesome embrace. His eyes then fell upon the rest of his family. Lifa , Jasper, Ruby and Elio.

Their hands were bound by ropes and they were blindfolded. They were standing, somewhat far from Mia, near the curtains along with six men standing beside them.

'I guess it will be their turn to go on stage after Cadell...'

"Arion, Let's go and help them break free. I'm sure the knights would be arriving soon..." Winslow whispered and heard no response.

"Ario–"

'Where did he...' Winslow thought as he looked back to see Arius nowhere in sight.

ARIUS WAS CURRENTLY ON THE STAGE - still invisible. He was curious as to why Cadell was sent to stage without any guards to restrain him and the stage also had an extremely sharp sword simply waiting to be picked up.

Cadell was probably thinking the same thing since he looked baffled, but he didn't waste much time thinking and sprinted to pick the sword and point it towards the auctioneer.

Gasps were audible from the crowd as Cadell pointed the blade towards the auctioneer.

But the auctioneer was unfazed by his action, instead he smirked at Cadell and went on with his conduction.

"You see Ladies and Gentlemen! Such swift movements! so the starting price for this young lad will be.... Fifteen Thousand Gold Coins! "

The crowd began raising prices for Cadell without anyone being particularly interested that the boy was holding an actual sword and could potentially injure or kill the auctioneer.

This made Cadell and Arius even more confused. While Arius was thinking about a reason for their nonchalance Cadell charged at the auctioneer without thinking too much about it.

The sword was heavier since it was full metal, but Cadell still ran as fast as he could and aimed for the man's neck.

"Hya–"

But before he was close enough to hit the man , he suddenly hit thin air and fell down.

Clang!

The crowd broke out in small giggles and laughed as the boy stood up confused at the sudden fall. Blood dripped from his nose showing exactly how much force he put as he charged at the man.

'Of course! there's an invisible barrier surrounding the stage! That's why Cadell suddenly fell down.' Arius thought as he was examining the scene.

Cadell swung his sword a couple more times but in vain as the barrier around him always stopped the blade.

"Pst! Cadell, it's me, Arion!" Arion whispered to Cadell as he approached him, invisibly.

Cadell was only more baffled by this and took a few steps back while forming an almost frightened expression.

"I'm using magic to become invisible. Listen to me, you're surrounded by a barrier right now. I can break that barrier and when I do , that's when you should charge at the auctioneer. The imperial knights will be arriving soon as well so don't worry about the aftereffects." Arius explained while whispering.

Cadell didn't take too much time to understand the situation and nodded in agreement. Arius then began to inspect the barrier.

The crowds were still raising prices for Cadell without any hint of humanity present in them.

FELIX HAD MET UP WITH A GROUP of Imperial knights and were now currently making their way to the Auction room. The other knights had gone to various parts of the mansion.

One of them had already discovered the preparation room where the other children were and had taken the children outside for safety. Willow had joined up with Felix and was coming along with them.

Meanwhile, Winslow had freed Lifa and the rest and now they were hiding at the backstage waiting for the time to charge, which was when the Imperial Knights entered the room.

"Forty Thousand Gold Coins! Any other bidders?! " The auctioneer shouted.

Cadell was still on stage and several nobles were competing to buy him. He glanced at the audience and couldn't help but grow afraid at the way the nobles kept staring at him.

"Okay!" Arius whisper-shouted.

"On the count of three, Charge at him."

Cadell nodded and suddenly went into stance.

"One..."

Cadell gripped tighter on the hilt of the sword.

"Two..."

Cadell focused his eyes straight at the auctioneer who seemed to not care about what he was doing.

"Three!"

Cadell charged at him with unimaginable speed and in less than five seconds it was over. Silence remained for a moment.

The sword's blade stopped beside the neck of the auctioneer and after a second red fluid began to flow down his neck.

"AAAHHHH." the screams echoed in the hall. The auctioneer, nobles and all those who saw the scene couldn't help but scream at the sight.

But Cadell didn't feel anything. His red eyes grew brighter as he felt anger well up inside him.

He was trembling with anger as he thought about how the nobles had been enjoying traumatizing all the children here without a single regret.

They laughed.

They joke.

They expressed their pleasure so openly.

His anger only grew stronger as he heard the nobles now screaming with fear.

The children screamed like that as well, but did they let the children go? no. He was going to kill them all. All of them.

But then his eyes fell upon a few children standing behind the curtains who were frozen with fear as they stared at the blood splattering out of the auctioneer's neck.

'Ugh this is driving me crazy.' he thought as he once again made the decision to not kill another person and get blood all over his hands.

"You! little dog!" The auctioneer shouted as he immediately placed his hand on the huge cut on his neck to somehow stop the bleeding but it was futile.

The auctioneer began walking towards Cadell but fell on the floor long before he could. Cadell placed his right foot on the man's head and shouted as he faced the crowd.

"So, who's next?"