Before they could argue more about this, the husband, Arnold, spoke in a trembling voice. "Alright. I-I'll go. Just let my wife go."
Zion still continued to hold the knife with his small hands and stared at the elf man standing in front of him with a grievance expression on his face. "I'll let her go if you make a confession right now."
"I…." The man paused and then sighed before he wiped his tears and said, "Okay." Then he saw his wife struggling all of a sudden and smiled. "Don't worry, wife. I'll never let them know that it was you."
Wife shook her head with tears in her eyes. Her lower lips quivered when she saw her husband getting ready to take the blame on his shoulders. For the first time in heer life, she felt that she was selfish. Yes, she used her husband and blackmailed him into kidnapping children for her cause, but she also loved him. She didn't want him to die under the hands of her evil sister! She let out a mournful cry at this time as the thing in her mouth fell on the ground, but she didn't care about that. She cried out to her husband. "Husband! Don't! Let's confess together."
Arnold ignored Carol's plea and continued to walk with a stubborn expression on his face. It seemed like he wouldn't let his wife suffer in the prison in any way. He was a person who could even jump in the fire to save his lover. So how could he stand seeing his wife suffering from harsh punishment after confessing the crime?
When Carol saw that her husband was determined to take the blame for the entire crime, she cried loudly. Her shoulders shook as she continued to sob silently. Even Zion couldn't help it and loosened his grip on the knife as he continued to stand there like a statue.
After a long time, Carol took a deep breath and said in a shake tone, "Take me to the court. I can't let my husband take the entire blame at this time!"
Zion looked at her with skeptical eyes. He didn;t trust her at this moment, but he also knew that he couldn't pass the case if the real perpetrator wouldn't be punished. So he tore a piece of her clothing from the bottom of the long skirt and divided it into two parts. He used the first piece to stop Carol from speaking and then he used another to tie the woman's hand. Then he backed away a little and said in a cold tone, "Now let's go. You have a confession to make."
At this time, Arnold had already appeared in the throne room and bowed respectfully to the queen.
Odina was sitting on the throne and reading a scroll when Arnold came all of a sudden. She handed the scroll to an attendant nearby and frowned. She motioned the elf man to get up and said, "What brings you here?"
"Your majesty, I have a confession to make."
Odina's expressions became grave upon hearing those words. It wasn't like she didn't have any idea that her sister and Arnold didn't like her. She was well aware of their feelings for her, but she ignored them thinking they were still a family to her. But now when the man said that he had to make a confession, she could tell that they had probably committed a mistake that Odina wouldn't like, and would probably punish the man and her sister.
Before she could think more about this, she heard Arnold talking. "You must be aware of how the kids are getting killed these days, right? And we have also captured a suspect."
Odina nodded. At this time, she couldn't tell what kind of error these people had made, but what she didn't know was that she was in for shocking news.
The man took a deep breath and said, "I have something to show you, your majesty."
Then he called out a servant by clapping his palms together. A human servant walked toward him with a flat plate like thing that was round. There was something placed on the top of it with cloth covering it entirely. Then he told the human, "Bring this to her majesty."
The human didn't have a clue what the thing was inside the cloth. He was only told to bring this to Odina, and so he did. He handed it over to the attendant standing closer to the queen and went back. The queen frowned when she looked at the covered thing as a hint of ominous hunch crossed her heart.
Her lips pursed as she went for the thing. She quickly uncovered the cloth only to be surprised.
On the plate, she found a silver mask nicely placed on it. She picked up the mask and glanced at the elf man in front of her, bewildered. She didn't know what kind of mistake Arnold must have made. What was the point of showing her this strange mask? And just where did Arnold get this mask?
Her eyes squinted at this as she stared at the elf man in front of her. Was it that this man helped the dhampir girl find this mask? Or rather did this man own this mask?
As she continued to contemplate, Arnold finally opened his mouth and said in a low voice, "Your majesty, you must be wondering where I found this mask. In fact, you don;t have to think too much. This is mine."
Odina's heart sank after hearing this. She gripped the mask tightly, not wanting to accept the fact that her own family member was involved in such a grievous crime. Even now she couldn't think that the person she should blame for the murders occurring in her kingdom was her own sister and Arnold. Even now, she wanted to turn this reality into a nightmare and forget all about it.
Her family couldn't even kill an ant, so how could they own the mask that the murderer had used? Suddenly, her thoughts turned to the dhampir girl as she gritted her teeth. It must be that dhampir girl who probably had blackmailed her family into doing this! It must be her fault!
But even then, she felt something wrong with this entire thing. Her smart brain kept telling her to investigate properly and not believing her family members blindly, but how could she not trust them? She had lived her entire life for them, and even sacrificed so many things on the way. How could she not treat them nicely?
Her lips pursed as she tried to get rid of the thoughts of how her family could have made a mistake and forced a smile as she looked at Arnold and said, "That dhampir girl forced you into this, didn't she? She forced you to hand over the mask so that she could kill children. Is that what you wanted to say?"
Even now, she had a trace of hope in her heart that this person would say the words she had repeated. She repeatedly ignored her brain who kept hinting on what could be the reality and instead, stared at Arnold for a long time.
The elf man, who heard those words, instantly felt like choking with emotion. He had felt guilty of his actions, and he had wanted to just escape reality and run to the forest to practice meditation, but he didn't. He would always think of how he loved his wife, and how he wanted to make her happy. After thinking of this, he would often revert back to his original thoughts of commiting the crime.
But now when he heard Odina speaking like that, the guilt that he had repressed for so many years resurfaced again. He let a tear drop from the corner of his eyes as he glanced at her. "I have that mask because….because…."
Before he could say another word, he heard a childish voice that made him freeze. "Stop!"
He turned back only to see an elf child dragging his wife who was tied from top to bottom with her own torned clothes. His heart thudded inside his chest before sinking into the bottom of the sea. Why?! Why did his wife not listen to him this time? A trace of anxiety appeared in his eyes as he stared at his wife.
But Carol ignored her husband and glanced at the queen. Then she let out a frustrated sigh and took out a scroll that was hidden in her sleeves.
An attendant came and took the scroll from her before walking over to Odina and handing it over to her.
Odina's heart was beating fast inside her chest. She knew that whatever was inside the scroll might change the way she would think, and even her emotional life. She suppressed these emotions in her heart and opened the scroll.
At this time, the man realized that what was written in this scroll was probably the truth. He got anxious and turned to Odina as he said, "Your majesty, don't believe a word written there!"
This scroll was actually written by Zion under Carol's eyes. He had figured it all out already, so what was the point of letting the criminal go? Thankfully, even Carol didn't want to run anymore. She kept staring at the scroll with tears in her eyes.
"Your majesty!" Arnold spoke again in a loud voice.