That’s right, I couldn’t let it end like this. If nothing else, I had to save my brother.
They threw me in a cell. I thought maybe I’d find Ismail down there, but he wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
“Where are you, brother?” I whispered.
Please don’t tell me he’s dead. He can’t be. He’s alive, I know it. He’s waiting somewhere for me to save him.
“Don’t go breaking now, Aisha,” I said to myself. “Your brother needs you. There’s no one to save him but you.”
And once I’d decided that, there was only one thing to do: break out. There was only one guard, a man, and the key would be the one hanging from his belt. I pulled down the neckline of my dress and sat, bringing up the hem of my skirts so my thighs were visible.
“Guard,” I called.
“What?” he said, turning around like dealing with me was a pain, but his face went bright red when he saw me.
What an easy mark.
“You know, I am just so bored right now. Would you like to keep me company?” I invited, tilting my head and smiling slightly.
The guard gulped.
“Come on, it can’t hurt, can it? I just want a little time with you.”
“W-Well, if you insist,” he said finally, his expression softening into a vulgar grin.
He entered my cell. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pressed my chest against him, then scratched his neck.
That was enough to change the guard from a man happily fondling my breasts to a corpse foaming at the mouth.
“There’s no guarantee I’m unarmed just because I’m a woman,” I sneered.
“Poisoned nails? Hm. It seems Lady Selena was right. You do have talent,” came a voice.
“Who’s there?!”
I looked around, searching for the third person despite the fact I’d been certain the only people in the dungeon were me and the guard. I squinted into the darkness and glanced around but found nothing.
But I’d recognized the voice. It was a girl’s voice.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Aisha Alaban. My name is Sia. I was sent to deliver an invitation to you,” said the voice as a girl appeared.
“An invitation?” The girl had pure white hair and red eyes. The lack of emotions on her face made me feel like I was interacting with inanimate porcelain, but she gave a very different impression from Selena. “I’ll pass on your invitation.”
“You don’t have that option.”
“What?”
The girl who called herself Sia rushed at me, moving faster than my eye could see, and her fist crunched into my gut.
“Agh, gah, you, bitch,” I grunted before blacking out. The next time I opened my eyes, I was no longer in the dungeon. I was in a room.
“Ah, you’re awake.”
“Who are you…?”
They carried me off while I was unconscious. This couldn’t be worse. This wasn’t about saving my brother anymore. I needed to figure out what these people wanted and find some way out of this situation. Or…could I use them to help Ismail?
“Nice to meet you. My name’s Rick Oswald.”
“Who?”
“You don’t recognize my name? Well, I know you have royal blood, but you are still just the granddaughter of a viscount. Guess I can’t ask too much.”
What he said could be taken as an insult, but he was just stating the truth, not trying to make fun of me or insult me. I could tell by looking into his eyes. They were different from those of the people who’d insulted me before.
“I’m the nephew of the king of Astra. Also, the head of the dark guild.”
“Are you…going to kill me?”
I’d heard from my father that countries have what’s known as a dark side controlled directly by the king that goes back generations. He said they were the people who handled bloody matters for their country, their king. In some countries, that organization was led by a royal. I never imagined Astra would be one of them.
I can’t escape. He’s the real deal. I couldn’t even take on Sia, and she’s standing right beside him. They’ll kill me, and no one will ever know I’m dead.
What do I do? Oh, what do I do?
Brother, help me.
“Sia,” said Rick.
“Of course. Here,” she said, handing me a small box.
“What? Are you telling me to finish myself off?” I asked.
“Look in the box,” said Rick.
It’s probably going to be a vial of poison.
There were books that said some royalty take poison in situations like this, ending themselves. My teacher told me it was to protect their dignity, but honestly, I always thought they were idiots. I couldn’t understand how dignity could be more important than life.
“B-Brother…” I gasped, opening the box I thought contained a vial of poison to find a lapis lazuli earring. It matched my ring. It was made from one lapis lazuli cut in two. I couldn’t mistake it. There was no doubt in my mind this was Ismail’s earring.
“Agh! What did you do?! What did you do to my brother? Did you kill him?!”
I pushed Sia aside and grabbed Rick by the collar. He seemed to expect that reaction. He looked at me with composed eyes that showed no surprise. They were so cold. I felt like my heart would freeze if he kept looking at me.
“Your brother lost a duel with Shaghad and was killed. The two of you have shown contempt for and tried to kill Shaghad several times. I’m sure you did that while being aware that you could be killed or lose each other, right? You have no right to be angry with this outcome.”
“Shut up! What do you know?! You know nothing!”
He couldn’t understand; he wasn’t born and raised with people constantly pointing fingers at his back.
“Misfortune doesn’t justify killing and doesn’t give you the right to look down on others. I sympathize with you; I do. You did nothing but be born, and you two were forced to take on this fate, forced to take the cursed blood of royalty in your veins. I understand. You’re still just a child. You didn’t have the power necessary to go against your parents’ orders. This is just the way the world is.”
As Rick spoke, laying out the truth for what it was without any emotion, I finally came to see the reality I’d turned away from for so long.
“This world isn’t kind. It’s not going to sympathize with the life you were given. It’s not soft; it doesn’t care what situation you two were placed in. The world is emotionless. Callous. It just keeps on going, and this is the result.”
They say the lapis lazuli is a stone that gives trials and good fortune to those who overcome them.
I didn’t take it seriously. I didn’t believe it. It was just a charm, something to make us feel better. But that hope was always there in a corner of my heart. That a future of good fortunes would come to us, even though chasing away, scorning, and killing people could never lead to a happy future.
Some part of me always knew we’d fail, but I had no choice but to cling to that hope I shouldn’t have had in the first place and keep on going.
What was a weakling with no way to resist supposed to do?
“After the formal complaint was sent to Rienbul, your parents insisted you and Ismail did everything on your own, and they had nothing to do with it,” said Rick.
I wasn’t surprised. I may have insisted my parents wouldn’t sit by and let people get away with things, but it was a bluff. I knew in my heart that my brother and I were nothing more than disposable tools for my father and mother to fulfill their greedy desires.
“You are also going to be disowned by House Alaban for your serious crimes,” continued Rick.
All I had was my brother. All he had was me. It was that way from the moment we were born.
“Don’t you hate it?” he asked.
It makes sense for someone to be killed for attempting to murder or steal from royalty, I thought, like it wasn’t me who was facing that. That’s when Rick said in a voice like the devil’s whisper, “Selena told me about you. She said you seemed useful, and my guild is always lacking in skilled members.”
What do you plan to make me do, Rick Oswald?
What use do I still have? Someone who was abandoned by their parents and good for nothing more than having fingers pointed at my back?
“If you continue as you are, you will end up dead. Don’t you hate the idea of dying after doing nothing but being used by the adults?” he said.
“And, what? I should be used by you instead? What’s the difference between that and being used by them?”
“The fact that you’re being used is the same. I’m just giving you a choice. Though, if you refuse, you will die.”
“That’s the same as saying I don’t have a choice.”
Actually, no. In Rienbul, I wasn’t even given the choice of dying. In that way, this was much better. And Rick was right. I didn’t want to die after having all the blame put on me and Ismail. My parents abandoned me. If they said they didn’t need me, I could do the same and say I didn’t need them.
“I don’t want things to stay like this. I want to give them what they deserve,” I said.
“Good. I can help you with that if you work for me.”
“All right. Then I’ll happily join forces with you.”
This is good, brother.
I picked up the one thing I had left of him, his earring, and put it in my ear. From that moment on, I would be one with him. Together, we would get our revenge.
“Welcome to the dark guild, Aisha. We’re happy to have you.”