111 The Girl At The Mouth Of The Volcano
Selma Payne’s POV:
This was the first time I directly faced friction between the ruler and his subjects. My father was a powerful king. Without a doubt, in this confrontation, he easily dealt with the rebellious subjects who dared to offend their superiors.
I couldn’t help but think, what if I was my father? If I were to encounter such troublemakers in my rule in the future, how would I deal with them?
I imagined I’d be so angry that I’d explode and give him a good scolding. Then, I’d ask the guards to release this garbage into human society.
Clearly, compared to my father, my thoughts were still too childish and too impulsive.
Why would he lose his demeanor if he could resolve this without shedding a drop of blood?
I thought of my father’s teachings, “The respect the subjects have for the monarch is not a single component. Other than the monarch’s true inner self, they are more easily confused by your external mask.”
If one were impulsive, irritable, and lost one’s mind because of a small matter, then that group of shrewd old sly people would easily see that the person was a stupid idiot. They would try their best to perfunctory you and treat that person’s will as a child’s play. They would either obey on the surface or disobey it on the inside or take the opportunity to gain benefits for themselves.
Only when one became a ‘mysterious person’ who didn’t like to show his face would they guess and explore. In the end, they would retreat because they couldn’t find the real person, and obediently stay where they should be.
After dealing with the troublemaker, the people were finally willing to interrogate the witches who had been watching the show for a long time.
“That’s really eye-opening,” the witch said sarcastically. “I thought I was watching a movie. I don’t think it’s an adaptation of ‘Macbeth’, right?”
“Be honest!” The guard who was guarding the witch punched her in the abdomen.
The witch retched in pain, then laughed madly. “The royal palace of the royal family of the werewolves doesn’t even have an interrogation room? The play and the interrogation are held in the town hall, haha! You’re indeed an uncivilized hairy animal, rough and barbaric!”
“No need to argue,” my father said lightly. “Since we’ve brought you to the town hall, I think you should understand that we have no intention of torturing you. As you said, that would be too barbaric.”
The witch’s face darkened in anger, and she shouted, “Don’t try to be soft! I won’t say anything. I might as well say I just wanted to have fun. I also wanted to experience what kind of fairy-like life a noble lady is living! In the end, hah, it was nothing more than this.”
The southern Duke couldn’t hold it in any longer. He strode forward and grabbed the witch’s collar in anger, roaring, “Where did you hide Carolyn? Hurry up and tell me!”
“Oh, are you talking about that stupid little girl?” The witch replied contemptuously, “Let me think, where did I hide her? I remember now! I left her at the mouth of Hellfire Volcano!”
She smiled exaggeratedly, her eyes revealing a bone-chilling madness. She said excitedly, “But I didn’t leave anything for her. There was no water, no food, only a tattered scarecrow dragging his rotten legs to guard her.
“Would your daughter beg a scarecrow? Could it understand her words? How would it take care of her? Get lava for her to drink? Pick up sulfur for her to eat? Hahaha!”
Suddenly, as if she had lost all interest, she lowered her head expressionlessly and said stiffly, “But maybe none of this happened because maybe after I left, a gust of wind blew, and the scarecrow fell into the lava and turned to dust!
“Oh, poor girl. How scared must she be when she’s alone? The hot steam will roast her, and the sharp gravel will torture her. She’ll die of thirst in less than three days on a moonless night!
“The lizards and scorpions will tear her body apart and suck her bone marrow dry when the sun rises the next day, hah! All that’ll be left is a pile of bones, waiting for the vultures to play with them!”
The southern Duke’s eyes were bloodshot. He could not help but reveal his sharp wolf claws and ruthlessly attacked the witch.
“You vicious devil! I guarantee you’ll wish you were dead if anything happens to my daughter!”
The guards came forward to stop him, but he pushed them away. The dissuasion of the elders was of no use. At the critical moment, Duke Frank grabbed his hand tightly and growled at him, “Calm down, Lennon! Now is not the time to settle the score. Hellfire Volcano’s range is too large. You must wait for her to tell you the specific location, right?”
The southern Duke was panting heavily. I could even hear the uncontrollable sobs in his breath.
“Calm down, Lennon,” My father said, “I’ll immediately send people to Hellfire Volcano to find Carolyn. I’ve already informed the various witch clans about this witch. Once we find out where she came from, I promise I’ll make them pay a huge price for Carolyn’s misfortune.”
In the end, the southern Duke put away his sharp wolf claws and spat on the witch before turning back to my father.