Everyone on the scene stunned by this scene, n.o.body could believe this man!In front of the soldiers and his lord himself, he dared to shout such blasphemy!
"It"s over, it"s over" Though the wife of Usurios while grabbing her tearing face.
Even Usurios himself was surprised, however, he wasn"t surprised by the reaction of everyone on the room, no, he was surprised by the expression of his highness himself.
"He… isn"t he upset!?" Though Usurios.
The calm expression of Alfonso made him wonder, how is was possible that, when he delivered steeped on Alfonso"s pride, he was as calm as water!
"You will pay for that" Said Artemis while her eyes became red.
Although Demeter didn"t say anything, the temperature on the room suddenly went up by a huge margin and a small specter of light begin to surge on her hand.
"Why are you all upset? Calm down" Shouted Alfonso.
"But! My lord this man dared to-"
Deferio couldn"t finish his answer, before he looked at Alfonso back, he saw him straight into the eyes before unwilling nodding, he took a step and took his sword back.
"Why?" Asked Alfonso while Usurios.
Usurios was confused by Alfonso"s question.
"Why do you have to make other people suffer, just because you hate the way I do things?" Said Alfonso while signaling at Zeti and her baby.
"What do they have to do with this?"
"I.." Murmured Usurios.
Alfonso walk further to the front and grabbed Usurios collar.
"If you hate me, that"s fine"
"If you cursed me, that"s fine"
"If you talk behind my back, that"s fine"
"if you want to call me a failure, that"s fine"
Alfonso took a deep breath and looked at Usurios straight into the eyes.
"I am well aware of my flaws, I know that I am not perfect, I am not so egotistic to tell you all that you have to love me and praise me like I am a G.o.d or something, I treat you and everyone else here as an equal, I don"t see myself more or less than you, that"s why, I can respect the view that you of me, however, what I can"t tolerate is that you use the rights that I gave you to camouflage your stupid desires as some kind of retribution to me and my lords.h.i.+p, that isn"t justice, is just plain hypocrisy" Said Alfonso.
He let go of Usurios and walked back to his throne.
"Deferio and Cease, bring him to the plaza in the commoner"s area and call every single person in Wasteland Valley to see, everyone else, follow me" Said Alfonso.
Everyone nodded and follow Alfonso. Even Antiope and Susana, who had been hearing and looking from other room followed.
.............................................
An hour later, everyone was in the main plaza, it was in this place when Alfonso make his first public appearance back when the horde was about to invade, this time, the people on Wastenland Valley were more neat when it came to organization, however, the question that everyone has in their minds were the same, why does his majesty called us?
"I saw someone being dragged by the soldiers"
"You think his majesty is going to…"
"I don"t know, however… its possible"
"Really? What did that man do? Anyone know?"
"No, not really, however, I know that man, he is Usurios from the farming area"
Some gossips could be hear from the people while they waited for Alfonso and the others.
After half an hour, Alfonso came while he was followed by Demeter, Artemis and the rest.
He climbed the stairs and looked down, he made a gesture to the soldiers, Deferio and Cease dragged Usurios to the podium.
"h.e.l.lo, my people, I am your lord, Alfonso Lockheart, this time, I have gathered you here for this person, in front of you is one of the heads of the ten faming families, Usurios, today, he made two serious crimes, the first one was to hide value information to me so he could make some benefits for himself, Hiding information is a huge insult to me and the people who goes to train every day to train in order to protect you, if you hide things from us is the same as telling us that you don"t trust us, you think that we wont be able to help you and that, for me, its an insult!" Said Alfonso with a grave expression.
Everyone from the public trembled from his words.
"The next crime that this man did was to try to take advantage of his position so he could take liberties with a woman on this community, I won"t say her name but, I must remain you something, and this is for all of you, no matter if you are man or woman, adults or young man, kids or grow up, when you are in Wasteland Valley, everyone is equal in front of the law, so, think twice before you do things, I will set an example here and now, what would be the consequences for being a liar, guards, bring him here!" Shouted Alfonso.
Deferio and Cease dragged Usurios and tossed him in front of Alfonso.
"Open his mouth" Said Alfonso coldly.
Cease nodded and opened the mouth of Usurios.
"Wha… what are you planning to do!?" Shouted Usurios.
"The punishment for being a liar is…"
Alfonso took out a small dagger, he grabbed Usurios tongue.
"WAI-, NO, DON"T DO IT!" Shouted Usurios.
Alfonso only took a second glance at Usurios before making a quick movement with the together towards Usurios tongue.
*SWITCH*
"AHHHHHHH!" Usurios shouted while grabbing his bleeding mouth.
"Usurios!" the wife of Usurios run to her husband while grabbing him, she looked back at Alfonso with hatred.
"YOU ARE A MONSTER!" Shouted the woman.
Alfonso looked indifferently at the woman before making a small slice to the air to clean the blood. He took out a small bottle from his pocket and throw it to the woman.
"Gave this to him, it will stop the blood" Said Alfonso while getting out of the platform.
Everyone looked at the b.l.o.o.d.y scene and their hearts trembled for some time.
"Maybe… he isn"t that different from the rest of the n.o.bles, they only view us as lowly commoners" Murmured someone.
"Are you a r.e.t.a.r.d!? How can you say that to the hero of Wasteland Valley, that man deserves it! Is already good enough that his highness didn"t kill him on the spot!" Shouted someone.
"Yeah! His highness is a good man! Don"t you dare to insult him"
"But he is too brutal, how can he do that?"
Different opinions came to Alfonso"s ears; however, he didn"t turn around and just continue his way back to the manor.
.............................................
Antiope and Susana looked back at the back of Alfonso.
"He is a strong man" Said Susana.
"Why do you say so?" Asked Antiope.
"I have seen a lot of the so called "leaders", some of them are heroes to everyone else, some of them are selfish and egotistic, some of them even don"t give a c.r.a.p about their people, however, in all my years, I have found something in common in all of them" Said Susana.
"What?"
Susana looked down and turned around to the south, she seeing to be immersed in her memories.
"Any of them wanted to be a villain, at least, not in front of others" Said Susana.
"What do you mean?" Asked Antiope.
"Everyone wants to be loved, to have their names crafted in history but, they don"t want to be remember as "one more" of the rest, so they to do their best so they can be "heroes" in front of everyone, despite that, deep inside, they just don"t want to show their dark side, however… he is different" Said Susana while looking back to Alfonso.
"He could have say that this man was a monster, that he was the worst villain ever, so he could gain everyone"s admiration and respect, however, he didn"t do so, he told the true and was partial in his decision, he knew that his action would be bad for his image as a "hero", nevertheless, he did it, do you understand what kind of determination must one have to be able to support the labels of "hero" and "villain"?" Asked Susana while looking at Antiope.
Antiope looked back, the silhouette of Alfonso wasn"t there anymore, however, for some reason, Antiope could still see his back, this time, his back seemed bigger but, at the same time, lonelier.
"He really is a strong man…" Though Antiope.
"Maybe… if its him… big sis…"
.............................................
Alfonso was taking a small rest on his room, he was drinking a cup of wine while looking at the moon, this night, the moon was hidden by a sea of clouds.
While he drank his wine, he remembered the words of Usurios.
"YOU ARE A FAILURE"
Alfonso"s memories began to surge.
"YOU ARE THE FAILURE OF THIS FAMILY!"
"YOU KILLED THEM, YOU KILL THEM, MONSTER!"
"GET OUT OF HERE, YOU DON"T DESERVE TO BE MY SON!"
The memories of "Alfonso" made Alfonso felt a little bit of pain in his heart.
"After so many years, I thought I wouldn"t felt like this anymore, what was this feeling called it again?" Murmured Alfonso.
"The word that you are looking for is frustration" Suddenly, a voice came from behind him, Alfonso turned around and saw Artemis and Demeter behind him.
"Is time for the story already?" Asked Alfonso.
"Forget about it, I told everyone to go home already" Said Artemis.
"Why?" Asked Alfonso.
"Because… we want you to have a free day once in a while" Said Demeter.
Alfonso made a small chuckle before looking at the moonless night once again.
"You drink?" Asked Artemis after looking at the cup on Alfonso"s hand.
"No, I hate alcohol" Said Alfonso while taking a deep sip of wine.
"However, this night I feel like it for some stupid reasons"
Demeter only made a small smile and walked to Alfonso"s side, she grabbed Alfonso"s shoulder with her hand
"What are you doing?" Said Alfonso.
"Nothing just felt like doing in it, for some stupid reasons" Said Demeter with a smile.
Artemis did the same on the other shoulder of Alfonso.
"Your shoulder feels heavy" Said Artemis.
"How about you let us some of the weight?" Said Demeter.
Alfonso was surprised to hear this but, he only could make a small and yet reliable smile grabbed both of her hands with his and told them.
"I can"t carry this weight alone"
"So, Please, stay by me side"
"For now, and always"