“So, what were you saying about being the son of our king?” David taunted, making all his friends laugh at and make fun of Jeremiah.The only ones who refused to do that were Kristin and Brenda, who had both taken a liking to Jeremiah, and that infuriated Desmond, because how dare Kristin have eyes for another guy when he was right there?The reason the two girls acted differently from everyone else was because they weren’t friends with anyone in the group, so they didn’t feel obligated to join them in what they were doing to Jeremiah.The group of visitors consisted of David, his four friends from college, Benson, who was his best friend and roommate in college, Desmond, who was Benson’s cousin, and then Kristin and Brenda. David had wanted to visit the estate, so he invited his friends from his department in college, who had told him about wanting to see what the castle looked like in person, and Benson, who had already visited the place before.Hearing about the visit, Desmond, wh
At their university, though David was a sophomore, he was the most eligible bachelor to every female who knew him, and that even included the teachers. Everyone knew that he was royalty and incredibly rich, so they wanted to do what they could to either be his friend or date him if they were girls and Kristin was no different.Knowing that Kristin, his crush, had a crush on David who was someone he could never compete with, once they arrived at the estate, Desmond pulled Benson to the side and asked him for a favor. The favor was to separate Kristin from David, so he could get the opportunity to woo her and give her reasons to like him, as she had been all over David since they arrived and started their tour of the estate.Agreeing to help out his cousin, Benson separated everyone into two groups. David took his friends and continued the tour of the estate, while Benson took Desmond, Kristin, and Brenda on a separate tour of the inside of the castle. They had just started their cas
All the guards who responded to the emergency call sent out by David when he pressed the bottom on his phone, had been in the throne room when Jeremiah had his meeting with Reginald. After the meeting was over and Jeremiah left with Kingston, they all were made to swear to keep everything they had heard and witnessed in the throne room a secret just like Reginald told Jeremiah they would.Reginald also told them to refer to Jeremiah as “Young Master” when other people were around as his identity as Lord Crimson was a serious and sensitive information that should be kept secret at all cost. It became extremely ironic the moment they all walked through the door and appeared in the corridor, hoping to take care of the nuisance bothering David, only to see Jeremiah and recognize him as their Lord Crimson and young master.It was like a funny joke and the only person being made fun of was David.On the flip side, Jeremiah who recognized all the guards and knew that they weren’t going to
Every guard who held someone pulled that person to the corner beside the door.“You too,” Jeremiah told Kristin and Brenda and the two girls' eyes widened. “Are we also supposed to go on our knees?” Kristin asked and Jeremiah shook his head.“No. You two are exempted from any punishment but like I said, I want everyone in one place so just follow them and stand in the corner” he instructed and they nodded.The two girls followed the guards who pulled the rest of David’s friends and they went to stand at the corner beside the door. “Not him,” Jeremiah told the guard who was pulling Benson to the corner.“I have something different in mind for him,” Jeremiah said and the guard assigned to Benson nodded.“Bring him over here” Jeremiah instructed and the guard pulled Benson over to him, making Benson stand beside David who was still speechless about everything that was going on. “Here he is, young master,” the guard said after positioning Benson to stand properly in front of Jeremiah.
Lynette’s eyes blinked rapidly. What kind of question did Jeremiah just ask her?Did he even know the weight of it?Did he mean to tell her that even after Benson had groveled and apologized like a sniveling dog, he was still going to be punished if she didn’t like the apology and chose not to accept it?That was just crazy. Also, what a massive burden to put on her, who was just a simple maid.And what about David? This was his best friend being punished after all.Would he just stand there and watch that happen in front of him, or would he, afterward, want to do something to her for allowing his best friend to receive another round of the punishment?It was something to think about because, at the end of the day, Jeremiah wouldn’t be around forever, so could he even stop David from getting retribution afterward if that’s what he wanted?During their conversation, after leaving the dining room, Jeremiah told Lynette that he was going to return home and wouldn’t be in Crimson Fall fo
Girls their ages were usually able to act wickedly and vindictively if they wanted, so shouldn’t coming up with suitable punishments for the five on their knees be easy for them? He thought.“You two!” Jeremiah said, and the two girls jolted.“Yes, young master?” Kristin said.“Your names are Kristin and…?” Jeremiah asked, ignorant of Brenda’s name ‘cause nobody had mentioned it yet. “Brenda, young master. My name is Brenda,” Brenda replied, while Kristin looked happy that Jeremiah remembered her name after just hearing it once.He really was paying attention to her, she thought.“Alright, Kristin and Brenda. Do you mind helping me out here?” Jeremiah asked, and the two girls looked at each other with confusion before staring at him with questioning expressions.“Help you with what exactly?” Kristin asked.“I need to teach these five a lesson for what they did but nothing comes to mind. Do you two have any ideas?” Jeremiah asked, and the two girls’ eyes widened.Did Jeremiah, the kin
Jeremiah and David strolled to Reginald’s study and stood by the door, which, by the design, showed that it protected a room meant for the king. “Is this it?” Jeremiah asked, hands in his pockets as he looked up and down the door with intrigue.“That’s right. This is uncles— I mean your father's study,” David said, still finding it difficult to refer to Reginald as Jeremiah’s father.It was understandable because finding out that Reginald had a son was a very recent development and getting used to it would take some time. “Alright then,” Jeremiah said, gesturing that David should go ahead and knock on the door. Though he was going to do that anyway, David, who had always done what he wanted and, as such, didn’t like being made to feel like someone’s errand boy, grumbled discretely.He faced the door, took a deep breath, sighed, and then knocked.After a second, they heard “Who is it?” It was Reginald’s voice.“Uncle, it’s David,” David answered. There was silence and then footste
“What?!” David exclaimed as he sprung up from his chair. All he saw after hearing what Reginald said was red, and for a moment he had forgotten where he was and how to act. A few seconds later, he snapped back to his senses and calmed down. David looked at everyone in the room, all three of them staring at him with annoyance, and he realized just how much he had messed up. To think that he would lash out in front of and, more importantly, at the king like that. What a bad impression to give at a moment when he needed to give the best impression possible. “Sorry about that, uncle” David bowed his head and apologized. “Don’t just apologize to me. Apologize to both of them because you disrespected both of them too” Reginald instructed. David looked at Jeremiah and Kingston who were at his two sides then he cleared his throat and said “I sincerely apologize for my explosive and rude behavior” “Good, now sit,” Reginald said and David looked at him. “Thank you, uncle,” Da
Inside the Study, Reginald, who noticed that Jeremiah’s mind was elsewhere, asked him what he was doing.Jeremiah had actually been eavesdropping on David, wondering if he would say anything that would expose his involvement in the gas processing plant’s explosion and prove to Jeremiah that his suspicion was right. However, that didn’t happen and Jeremiah got annoyed that David stopped talking all of a sudden. From the last sentence Jeremiah heard David say before abruptly cutting himself off, he concluded that David knew he was onto him and was actively trying not to expose himself. Or perhaps it was just a coincidence, and Jeremiah was wrong about the whole thing—meaning David wasn’t involved in the explosion at all.There could only be one answer to the two possibilities, and time would reveal which one was correct because sooner or later, David was bound to slip up.All Jeremiah had to do was wait for that moment to come. Jeremiah replied “Nothing. I was just listening to what D
David, looking at Jeremiah, blinked multiple times to emphasize his shock.Even though he had once thought that Jeremiah had joined hands with Dean and Adam to kill all the guards—after seeing the dismembered bodies when he escaped the plant—the fact that this was only an assumption and was never confirmed left him with some doubt that Jeremiah had ever gotten blood on his hands.That assumption quickly vanished after he heard about how Jeremiah saved everyone at the welcome ceremony from the Rubik's Cube bomb and even traveled a great distance to save him.However, when Jeremiah admitted outright that he had killed Dean—and went on to elaborate on how he did it—it sent a shock through David's body. He realized he might have been wrong about who Jeremiah had killed, but not about the fact that he had killed someone.‘So he really is a cold-blooded murderer’ David thought and gulped.Just then, David noticed something that felt concerning.He looked at Reginald and the three other men—
David tried standing up but before he did, Kingston offered him a hand. David looked at Kingston’s hand but instead of accepting, he felt insulted. The fact that he had just heard that Jeremiah, his one competition for the throne, was a powerful being who could do whatever he wanted, made him feel weak and useless in comparison, and seeing Kingston’s hand annoyed the hell out of him.Still, he had to maintain composure.“No thanks. I can stand on my own” David said, feigning a smile.“As you wish, Sir” Kingston replied then retracted his hand and stood upright while David went on his feet and walked back to where he once was.“Are you okay?” Reginald asked.However, David, who was annoyed that Reginald felt it necessary to ask that question out of concern for his earlier reaction, forced a smile.“I am Uncle, so please, continue,” David said. Reginald looked at Jeremiah and said “You should also listen to what I’m going to say because it involves you as well” “Okay,” Jeremiah grim
Reginald started by revealing the history of Crimson Fall to David, who at first was confused as to why he was telling him an old folk tale but soon realized why when Reginald told him the part that only the king and a select few knew. The moment David heard about reincarnation, his eyes widened, asking himself if such a thing existed.Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only bombshell he was going to hear as the story continued to unfold.Reginald told him that it was the Garrick family's mission to make sure that Lord Crimson, the powerful dragon who ruled over Crimson Fall for centuries, reincarnated and like that wasn’t enough, he gestured at Jeremiah and told him that Jeremiah was Lord Crimson, reincarnated.“I’m sorry what?” David asked, trying to make sure he wasn’t mishearing things. “You heard me right. Your cousin, who we all thought was dead, is our one true ruler. The all-powerful, Lord Crimson” Reginald said passionately. David’s eyes blinked multiple times as he looked at
The boldness with which Jeremiah said “Yes, I did” demoralized David. It was like he was telling David that he didn’t regret what he did and was daring him to reprimand his actions. Knowing that he couldn’t lash out at Jeremiah for what he did, David had no choice but to gulp and accept what happened and move on— making him more mad because he hated being made to feel small and insignificant. “I’m sure you had your reasons but can you please tell me why you hurt my friends,” David asked, making sure to choose his words carefully so as not to sound like he was confronting Jeremiah. “Friends? I think you’re misunderstanding something, David.” Reginald said and David quickly looked at him, wondering what he was talking about. “Jeremiah didn’t hurt your friends but your friend. Only one person was hurt by his hands” Reginald clarified. David grimaced. He reflected on Reginald’s words and remembered that the king had said “friend” instead of “friends” when he revealed that the per
That’s right, he had completely forgotten about his punishment because of the night he had, but it’s a good thing Reginald was bringing it up now.What was his uncle going to say? Hopefully, something along the lines of, he had seen that David had learned his lesson and because of that he had decided to bring the punishment to an end. David thought and started smiling discreetly.“After the aftermath of the explosion at the welcome ceremony, I have decided that—“ Reginald said, but David cut him off.“Explosion at the welcome ceremony?! What explosion?” David asked and Reginald paused.“You haven’t heard about the explosion yet?” Reginald asked. “No, I haven’t. There was another explosion but at the welcome ceremony?” David replied.David had been so anxious to find out what Jeremiah knew about the gas processing plant explosion that he was tunnel-visioned from everything else. He had just gone to his room to freshen up, changed clothes, and then went to Reginald’s study for the mee
After looking at everyone in the Study and seeing how they were staring at him— especially Jeremiah’s whose stare was like a predator’s to a prey— David, who realized that he was in a hot mess, thought of how to get away from the situation.How could he spin the story and change the narrative in his favor? He wondered and his brain started working at a million miles an hour in search of the answer.Soon enough, a thought came to his mind and he decided to go with it.David started chuckling, making everyone wonder why he was doing that.What did he find so funny?“Uncle, what gave you the impression that I knew about the explosion before it happened?” David asked.Reginald, who thought about the question, grimaced and adjusted how he sat.“Well, if I remember correctly, you were rambling about how we should leave the area and were adamant about it for a good minute before the building exploded, so I thought that your behavior was because you beforehand that the building was going to e
Once inside the study, the first thing Jeremiah did was pause and groan when he saw David standing in front of the desk. Kingston, who was just as surprised as Jeremiah at the sight of David, jolted and asked “Sir David, you’re already here?”“Yes, he is. Truthfully, even I was surprised when he arrived before you two did, but for some reason, he seemed eager to have the meeting which I guess is a good thing because I have so much to ask him” Reginald said.David, who was trying his best to keep his cool and act normal, turned to Reginald and smiled. “I just wanted to tell Uncle what happened because I know how worried he was about my disappearance and maybe that will calm his mind a little,” David said.Reginald, who didn’t know the young man’s true motive and believed his words, smiled. He took David’s feigned concern for him as a sign of David changing and attributed it to the punishment he gave him working. Speaking of the punishment, what was going to happen now that the guard
Jeremiah, Kingston, and Steven went to Reginald’s study while Elizabeth went back into Jeremiah’s room to spend some more time with Lynette’s corpse.Since the body would most definitely be kept in Jeremiah’s room until the funeral tomorrow, this was going to be her only moment of privacy with her former protégé. Though it would be a one-sided conversation, as Lynette could talk back, Elizabeth was going to say everything she had in her chest and hopefully feel at ease with losing someone she cared about so soon.A couple of minutes later, after finally being at peace with Lynette’s passing, Christabel came to the room and she too got her chance to say goodbye to her friend and fellow protégé.After that, Christabel and Elizabeth reminisced on past moments they and Lynette spent together when she was alive and the experience made the remaining two form a stronger bond than what they had before.Just then, the room door was knocked. “Who is it?” Christabel asked after Elizabeth used