Alex was shocked by this. "Unhand me! Unhand me this instant!!" He commanded, but his words fell on deaf ears.
"Sister Linda. Sister—"
A sharp heinous look from her shut him up. In his entire life, Alex had never seen her look at him with such blatant disgust.
A dreaded feeling sat in his chest. "No," he muttered.
Cornerstone immediately walked over to Alex, checking him out like one checking a fatty chicken at a meat farm.
He kept nodding his head, "hmmm, well fed. Strong.
Just then, Linda looked around, "Your Baron. He did not show, again?"
Cornerstone paused. He hurried to her, carrying an awkward smile, "Erm... You will have to excuse Baron Bones, Princess Linda. He had a mission with a tight schedule from the system and..."
She raised a hand to stop Cornerstone . "Don’t make excuses for him. The Coward has been dodging me, ever since he married that ugly Wench."
Cornerstone swallowed hard, turning to his companion who also looked away.
Even though the princess had just insulted their Baron and his newly wedded wife, they was nothing they could do about it.
And this was not just because of the princess’s position, but because of the kind of forbidden relationship they knew she had with him.
At the same time, no one noticed Linda’s gaze, focusing on a certain corner of the Forest.
Cornerstone immediately spoke up, feigning a smile as best he could. "The Baron does indeed regret not showing up. But please, he insists that business continues as planned."
Linda rolled her eyes. With a wave of her hand, her guards brought the struggling Alex forward.
"May I?" Cornerstone asked politely, and Linda nodded.
Cornerstone stepped forward.
He threw a punch that landed squarely in Alex’s stomach, forcing all the air from the boy’s lungs in a sharp wheeze.
Alex’s knees caved to the ground.
Cough, cough.
"Well, I’ll be damned. It really is a negative profession from royal blood." Cornerstone turned to his companion. "Can you believe it, I got an additional 3 points. The 24hours are not even over, and he is already producing so much."
The companion nodded, "let me have a piece too." He launched a kick to Alex’s face.
Alex was sent to the ground, bleeding from his mouth.
Both men chuckled.
Then Cornerstone reached for a bag on the carriage. He brought out a small pouch.
Respectfully, he handed the pouch to Linda. But she did not collect it.
One of her guards stepped forward and took the pouch. He opened it, and peeped inside. He shook his head.
Linda turned to Cornerstone. "Where is the remaining?"
"Erm... as you know princess, the Babarian tribes have been causing us a lot of issues at the borders. And your father, the king, insisted on a peaceful coexistence.
We... we have not been able to—"
"Stupid excuses. Tell your Baron, I expect the balance by the next full moon.
And do remember to get rid of the product immediately you are done milking it." She advised, before she turned to leave.
"Sis... Sister!" Alex managed to cough out, hand stretched for her. "Don’t leave me." He pleaded.
Linda paused. Turned to Alex.
"Such an eyesore."
Xander watched their interaction. From the moment he saw Linda, he had a nasty feeling about her.
He was right.
She did not even see Alex as a person—a brother was even out of the question.
Linda viewed him like a nasty book she was glad to be rid of.
But the most dreadful feeling for Alex was knowing that no one... absolutely no one in that palace would inquire of him.
And just like that, his life as a prince was over.
Once Linda and her guards were gone, a figure stepped out from the shadows while Cornerstone and his companion were pinning Alex to the ground.
Dressed in a manner that showed her status of noble birth.
She stopped before Alex, but her eyes were in the direction Linda had left.
Alex did not see more, a cloth bag was placed over his head as he was dumped into the back of the carriage.
They were others here.
...
The next memory Xander saw was Alex tied to a long thick wooden pole by his arms.
The air had the distinct smell of piss, dirt, and suffering.
Low, barely audible cries for help, and for freedom could be heard.
Below Alex was mud mixed with drops of blood that continually fell from his body.
They were multiple scars on his body. Scars that had peeled the flesh of his back like the peeling of ripe fruit.
However, he was not the only one in this position. By his left and right were others in similar positions
Specifically, to his left was the farm girl from the country side. The same one that had been given the profession of murderer.
If they had been caught, back at the capital, they would have had a merciful death at the gallows by hanging.
But here, far away from the jurisdiction of such enforceable power, things were different.
"Next!" A man with an eyepatch shouted, and a woman in plain clothes arrived at his table.
"I’d like points to increase my dexterity for my seamstress skill."
She placed some bronze coins on his table. He nodded, counting the coins. With a grunt, he signaled to a guard at his side.
"You get six strokes with the whip, make it count." The Eyepatch man advised.
The seamstress excitedly took the whip. The guards directed her were to stand.
With a desperate tug, she hauled the whip back. It recoiled and snapped forward, landing with punishing force on the farm girl’s already leather scarred bare back.
The farm girl SCREAMED in pain.
Again and again, the whip fell.
Until, the seamstress suddenly paused. "I got it. I got the points. I can finally increase my dexterity."
She was excited by this. The others at the queue kept congratulating her. She smiled as she turned and left.
"Next!" The Eyepatch man screamed again.
Xander frowned. Eyes on the back of the farm girl, it was in an even worse state than that of Alex.
The wounds she had were clearly infected. Flies buzzed around them.
Even worse, some of the flies had been crushed to death on her back.
The scars were so deep that even her muscle had began to tear.
Her tears fell, sob low. She had cried until she lost her voice.
At this rate of suffering, she was no longer far from death’s doors.
This was her fate.
Not because she had done anything wrong, nor because she had hurt anybody.
But because the Orb had decided she was a negative profession.
Xander could not help but tighten his fist.
He had been here before.
Not in body. But in every way that mattered.
He knew this place.
He had always known this place.