New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

"You aren't going to let her torture me, are you? This will only make Themiscus' retaliation worse. You are already looking at being banished from the alliance. Do you want an all-out war?!" Gerald asked, his voice cracking.

Astaroth looked at him with a smirk.

"Listen to yourself. Was that supposed to be the voice of confidence? I'm certain you already know what your kingdom thinks about your actions. Just like you know, they have already seen what you did.

"It's the reason no one has come to your rescue already. And the reason I am going to meet with them in a few hours, leaving you here, under guard by the very commander whose daughter-in-law you so savagely raped."

As he said these words, the man's face started paling.

"How did you—"

But Astaroth interrupted him by raising his hand.

"It doesn't matter anymore. I'm sure your Matriarchs are still watching right now," he said, staring at the man.

He could see the top of a marking on his chest, and from it, he could feel mana pulsing. That was how he knew he was being watched.

"If you are watching this, ladies, to you I ask this. Would you tolerate a man doing what he did to a young woman whose virtue he so violently wrenched from? Because if you do, then talking to you will be a waste of our time. Stellar Woodlands has no place for this type of lawlessness and cruelty."

His face had become hard like stone, as he said this, his anger flaring up. 

But when he felt the pulsing of mana stop, he knew his message had come across.

Phoenix returned shortly after, with Alena and Castien in tow, both of whom they could see seething with rage.

Astaroth stopped the pair before they ran to the cell bars.

"Before I let you in, I want to establish something."

Alena turned her head at him, her teeth clenched. And behind her, her son was looking at the man who had violated his wife-to-be.

The intensity in his gaze could be felt all the way down Gerald's spine.

If looks could kill, the diplomat would be suffering a million deaths. And it wouldn't even begin to soothe Castien's fury.

But Astaroth knew they were waiting for his okay.

"Two things. The first one, I want him to stay alive."

Castien's head snapped toward Astaroth, his mouth opening to say something, but a raised hand from Astaroth silenced him.

"Let me finish, Castien. I want him alive. Not because killing him is not what he deserves. But because killing him now only makes things difficult for us.

"Keep him alive until our return. I will make sure they grant us the death penalty for him, and you will get to do the honours yourself. I only hope this will be enough of a start for you to forgive me for letting him stay in the palace."

Castien's face untensed a bit.

"Your Highness. I do not blame you for this. You couldn't have predicted such a savage was a diplomat of a respected country. But I will get my vengeance, whether you allow it or not."

His words were meant to warn Astaroth, even though he was under him.

"Do not worry. I will make sure you do," Astaroth nodded.

"As for my second point. It is simple, really. Anything you make him endure, make sure he is still in enough shape to suffer when we come back to sentence him to death. I don't want his death to be a quick one."

Although Phoenix felt this was unnecessarily cruel, she agreed to it to an extent.

Men like him deserved cruel deaths. Not a rapid escape.

Hearing this, both Alena and Castien grinned.

That was all the words they wanted to hear. Now, they could deal how they wanted with the scum.

Alena mouthed the words thank you before locking her gaze on the prisoner.

"I have been trying to get to you for the entire night. Who would have thought that being a commander wasn't going to let me do all I wanted?

"But I have the king and queen's blessings now. You and I will be spending some 'quality' time together. I hope you are mentally ready."

Her sadistic grin was mimicked by her son, who couldn't wait to start getting his revenge.

Castien had to comfort Coral all night until she finally fell asleep from exhaustion. And he knew this was only the first night of many where she would feel this way.

So his wrath was already boiling, just looking at the responsible for this.

Astaroth looked at them one last time, before grabbing the keys he had taken from the guard at the entrance of the cell block and handing them over to Alena.

"I'll tell the Royal Guards to keep a healer close and to not disturb you unless necessary. I don't expect to be back before tomorrow. Keep him alive and in as much of one piece as you can."

Looking down at the man, whose face had gone ghostly pale, he said one last thing.

"I think Chele would also love to have a piece of him for attacking two of his employees. Try to share."

Alena chortled at his words.

"I will keep this in mind, Your Highness. Godspeed in Themisca," Alena said, saluting him.

"Your Majesty!" Castien shouted, slamming his fist into his chest.

Astaroth walked away, followed by Phoenix. The situation was now no longer of their resort.

They would deal with the diplomatic aspect of it, even though they had assuredly made it more difficult for them. They still believed this to be the right course of action.

As they left the jail section, Astaroth relayed his orders to the Royal Guards at the guard post, and the guards nodded and saluted him.

Already, some screams were reaching the entrance to the cell block, a mix of fear and pain.

They had a few things to prepare before leaving, and only a few hours to do so. So he and Phoenix went to the royal room to grab some things.

'This might be more than just a political visit,' Astaroth mused.