Katherine had stayed silent for all the while that they had been in the carriage and had even told Carlos to not utter a word. He had been fuming over the fact that his own useless sister had gone ahead and did something preposterous.

Why the hell would she agree to the enemy’s plan? He knew Eric was not even close to anywhere near his status but having his own sister sabotage him when she proved of no use to him made him angrier.

He was quiet only because of his mother or he would have already smacked her face and showed her her place.

The trio returned to the palace and Katherina quietly got out.

"Come with me." She said.

The two didn’t say anything and just followed their mother in her palace.

Once inside her room she had all only Rita stay back to help her out of her heavy dress while both her kids remained standing. Rita gently removed the heavy earrings from Katherine’s ears pretending to be invisible.

"Would you care to explain why you did that Colette?" Katherine asked looking at the mirror which reflected Colette and Carlos.

Colette looked back at her with a blank face.

"I believe what I did was right, Mother." Colette said and Carlos scowled. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Like hell it was right?! Why would I be competing with that bastard and who is that Marquis Ocean to decide if I am fit to be the King or not?!" Carlos shouted at her and Colette simply gave him a cold gaze.

"This is exactly the reason why I agreed to this, Brother." Colette said and Carlos frowned.

Katherine quietly observed as Colette looked back at her.

"Brother Carlos is extremely aggressive and doesn’t think before acting. And since the factions have now evenly divided it won’t be long for Eric to push out of the way." Colette explained.

"He has not only Marquis Fairisles in his side but also a lot of Marquis Ocean’s supporters who are backing him, and if I’m not wrong even the Queen of Mordino has taken an interest in him." Colette’s words hit like a reality check.

"So what?! I’m still the one who would be the King."

"Repeating the same thing won’t make it true brother, you need to realise that the one you were underestimating has been gathering his power and he has grown enough to snatch the throne from you."

Carlos’ face paled while Katherine grimaced, Rita who was listening silently while helping Katherine out of her jewellery made sure to remember each word that was spoken without glancing at them.

"His reputation has soared since the time that he had made contact with the Crown Prince of Denril. He even has two of the sea routes that were bestowed on him by the Denril’s King while you on the other hand, brother, weren’t even invited to Denril."

Carlos grimaced and Colette went on. Katherine stood up and walked behind the changing frame while Rita followed her. She picked out a night gown from one of the hangers and helped Katherine out of her heavy ballgown.

"Eric had been continuously growing his reputation among everyone, a lot of nobles who were neutral at first are being swayed and they are taking his side. Before long we will only have our one family to rely on and no one else. It’s also clear that father is supporting him and not you." Colette said.

Katherine could see the logic in Colette’s words and sighed.

"She’s right, Carlos." Katherine sighed as she breathed freely as the tight corset was removed.

"So, what do you propose, Colette?" Katherine asked.

Colette smiled, "I propose that we let this competition happen. We still don’t know what Marquis is planning for these trials but, we’ll support brother to the full extent and also when the time is right we will cause an accident which would kill the wretch. Since Marquis Ocean is the one who is responsible for arranging the trials if a Prince died there it would be his fault."

Rita’s hands paused only for a split second as she was adjusting the frills of Katherine’s nightgown before she continued to pretend as she was just an deaf and dumb invisible person around them.

Katherine who heard that couldn’t help but chuckle as she slowly got out of the changing frame and Rita followed her.

Colette continued, "We could kill two birds with one stone, Mother. Let this trials happen. And also, I have another suggestion which could make sure that we win for sure."

Katherine smirked and waved her hand gesturing for Rita to leave. Rita cursed inwardly as she bowed and walked away. She couldn’t hear the whole conversation.

She stepped out of the doors and clenched her jaw maintaining the facade of a quiet lady-in-waiting before she turned the corner passing by the guards. She stopped briefly near them looking back and forth. These two were stationed outside Carlos’ room, one was Sir Richard and Sir Aldo.

She recited the whole thing that she had just heard to the two of them who listened carefully and then nodded curtly.

"The information is still incomplete, she had something else to say which I couldn’t hear." Rita spoke in a low voice and Aldo nodded.

"Don’t worry," He spoke in a low voice.

Just then they heard the sound of footsteps, it seemed like the night patrol knights. Rita glanced back and Richard and Also put on a smile.

"Good night, Lady Rita."

"Good night, Sir Richard and Sir Aldo."

They smiled and the knights who noticed them didn’t say anything as they saw Richard and Also nudging at each other pretending to be teasing one another as Rita walked by.

Ocean received the report in a short while and he smiled.

"All right, I understand. Good work you all." He responded.

"Yes, Master." He heard Richard’s voice before the communication brooch that sat on the lapel of his coat faded to its normal hue.

Ocean was currently flying high up in the air. The ball had ended and everyone had gone home. He carried a box in his hand which he had to deliver himself.

Ocean flapped his wings and sliced through the chilly night air under the full moon. Ocean looked at the clear sky and hummed before he snapped his fingers and the wind picked its pace. He smirked slightly as the dark, stormy clouds followed soon after.

Ocean could see the towns which were asleep until he reached his destination. The lights inside the room were off and he knew the one whom he had come to surprise was also fast asleep. He used telekinesis to open the balcony doors and stepped inside the room with the invisiblility spell on.

He made his way to the door of the room and placed a circular palm-sized metallic device on it which had a small pearl shaped crystal on it.

Ocean then placed the box down on the table, listening to the thunder that was brewing outside. Just then a loud lightning flashed close by and the sleeping person jolted awake.

She looked around in panic and saw the doors open, her eyes widened in fear.

"Wh-Why are the doors open?! Didn’t the servants close it earlier?" She muttered to herself.

She glanced around the room cautiously while Ocean looked around the spacious room which was filled with all kinds of luxurious and expensive items.

The older lady cautiously stepped down from the bed and looked around opening her mouth and shouted, "Guards!"

Nothing happened.

She frowned looking at the closed doors.

"Guards! Have you all gone deaf?!" She shouted again but still there was no response.

Ocean made his way to the armchair and leaned against its back watching the woman panic and move towards the door.

"No one will hear what’s going on in here, Your Majesty." Ocean said and she froze.

Katherine turned her head slowly and looked around before making a run for the door but before she could even touch it. A strong force grabbed her and threw her across the room. The blow knocked the air out of her lungs and she lay on the ground crumpled, coughing blood, clearly in pain.

"Wh-Who the hell..." She managed to utter and Ocean used his telekinesis again to pick the box from the table and had it land softly in front of her.

Katherine gasped scrambling away from the box which had dropped before her on its own while wincing.

"Open it," Ocean said.

Katherine looked around unable to see her attacker and gulped.

"I won’t!" She shouted, "And whoever you are! I’m going to make sure that you will have the most gruesome death in the history! How dare you attack the Queen?!"

Ocean picked on his ear hearing her shout.

"Just like how you killed Crown Prince Soros, Crown Princess and... even the former King?" Ocean asked sounding completely nonchalant.

Katherine’s face turned paler than bone and she looked around again trying to locate the person who was speaking.

"Wh-Who are you?! And how can you blatantly accuse me of such a genius crime? Do you even know-"

"Yes, I do. I even have the evidence of all your crimes, Katherine." Ocean said having enough of her.

"Just open the box." He said and Katherine looked at the box that sat in front of her and with trembling fingers she opened the lid.

Her eyes widened and she screamed before scrambling away from the box and Ocean hummed.

"What’s wrong? You had the courage of killing so many people to get the throne, does a severed leg scare you that much?" Ocean asked.

"And if you can’t remember, this is the same leg that was smuggled to Denril. This is the leg of your latest scapegoat Marquis Owen Glines." Katherine’s eyes widened as she realised that her plan about assassinating the King and Crown Prince of Denril was also exposed. Moreover, even the name of the cursed body was known.

Katherine trembled as she stared at the box sticking close to the wall behind her.

"Wh-Who are you?!" She shouted.

Ocean chuckled, "Who am I? Well, I have many names but I guess you shall recognize me with this alone."

Ocean removed the invisiblility spell and stepped ahead.

Katherine’s eyes widened as she saw him, her jaw opening and closing.

"O-Ocean Ryujin!" She shouted and Ocean smirked, half his face was still covered by his black mask.

"Yes, that’s one name that you know." He said looking down at her.

Katherine couldn’t find the strength in her legs but she glared up at him.

"H-How dare you! Do you even know what you’re doing right now?! I will have you and all of your people executed right away! How dare you intrude in my room and attack me like this?!"

Ocean’s smirk turned darker as he stepped ahead, "And how will you prove that?"

Katherine opened her mouth and then closed it back again, how would she prove that someone had broken into her room and attacked her.

Ocean crouched before her and reached out taking a strand of her hair wrapping it around his gloved finger. The thunder flashed outside her room and the rain and snow rushed inside the room through the open doors.

"I had been quietly doing my work because you had left me territory alone but with this move," his eyes fell over the leg.

"You’ve dug your own grave, Katherine. I was going to take you out without much hassle but now, I’ll make sure you feel the most excruciating pain of your existence." Ocean smirked darkly making Katherine feel as if her heart would come to a stop.

"You did all of this just to keep the throne for yourself and your son, right?" Ocean said curling the strand around his finger.

"I’ll make sure that your son would never sit on it and I’ll also drag you down and show the world your true face."

Katherine stared into the blue eyes that glowed so dangerously that she felt like she was trapped in a predator’s grip with no way out.

"You should have just kept your attacks focused only on me, Katherine. You should never have gone for my people and my son. Now you shall see the wrath of someone who is capable of destroying everything that you’ve spent all your life building." Ocean said and Katherine opened her mouth but no voice would come out.

"And I also know about your deal with a witch, Katherine." He said making her eyes go wide, the tears had slowly started to gather in them.

"You can try and curse me all you want but it won’t work. I’m a being on whom the curses don’t work," he said with a devilish smile.

Ocean let go of her hair and closed the lid of the box picking it up.

"And seeing this you might have figured it out that I have gathered the entire body." Katherine stared at Ocean in panic as he continued.

"The curse that you casted is at bay until I’m keeping it. But if you try anything funny then, it won’t take me long to have it delivered to all your family’s houses as gifts. And even if I don’t do that, I have your son in my hand now."

Katherine felt her heart come to a stop hearing that.

"No! Anything but my son!" She shouted about to reach out to hold Ocean’s hand. Ocean smacked her hands away on instinct.

"Don’t touch me." He glared icily at her and Katherine stared up at him with tears streaming down her face and lower lip quivering.

"You should make sure to behave then. Your secret and your son are safe as long as you don’t interfere. I am capable of mercy but my patience has limits. If I hear that you or anyone from your side is plotting anything against me or my people from hence, I will destroy you and your people in a way that all of your generations would be erased at once."

Ocean’s warning rang in Katherine’s ears as she kneeled there trembling and crying. Completely helpless. Ocean reached out and placed his hand over her head for a moment healing her injury and then rose to his feet.

"Remember that there is a power beyond your throne and even if you get there. I’ll still be stronger than your likes." Ocean spoke carrying the box.

He retrieved the sound cancelling device from the door and then walked over to the open balcony doors.

Before he stepped out he turned and looked at Katherine.

"Good night, Your Majesty." He said with a smile before he leapt out into the storm leaving Katherine in her place, her pride and arrogance all crumbled.