Axel chuckled softly, then said in an even tone, "I did it.
"It was me who stole all the treasures…"
The moment Axel finished speaking, he knelt down and spread his hands apart as though he had accepted his fate.
His parents widened their eyes, and even Old Man Don took a step back in disbelief.
The eyes of all the nobles were filled with shock as they stared at Axel. What was he saying?
Axel glanced at them, his gaze calm and steady. In the face of death, he was no longer afraid of the so-called nobles.
'In the end, they are just flesh and blood like me. Their heads can still be severed like those of animals in the hands of someone stronger,' he thought, chuckling darkly.
He met their eyes and said in a clear voice, "I took the treasures. Then, in order not to appear suspicious, I left the royal treasury quickly. I buried the treasures because I wanted to sell them and become wealthy. Even if you torture me to death, I will never reveal where they are."
Axel's voice was deep, firm, and unwavering. Not once did he falter as he spoke.
The nobles widened their eyes at Axel's confession. His words seemed far too perfect.
From everything he had said, they could not find a single fault. Even if they demanded that he hand over the treasures, he could simply refuse, and they would have no proof to act against him.
That left them with no choice but to believe him. They could no longer execute Modret, because now he had done nothing wrong.
'Such loyalty,' Ronald thought, clearly startled. However, Jarvis widened her eyes in fury.
'This brat!' she fumed, her face contorting. She fought the urge to curse at Axel, who was still kneeling on the ground, bearing the weight of the moment with unnerving calm.
She was filled with rage.
'I was so close! So close to killing that brat! I was so incredibly close! This damned boy just had to ruin all my plans!' Her fury boiled within her, and she struggled to suppress it.
She glared at the others and clenched her fists.
Axel saw every emotion in her face from the corner of his eye, but he acted as though he noticed nothing.
He continued to kneel, waiting patiently for their verdict.
After a brief silence, Ronald finally composed himself and said in a heavy tone, "Guards! Arrest him. He will be executed immediately."
As though needing to assert his authority, he barked the command with force.
The five guards instantly began moving toward the execution center.
As they moved, Axel's mother trembled. Tears streamed down her face as she fell to her knees and cried out, "Your Highness, perhaps you are mistaken. My son is not a thief. My son would never steal anything!" Her final words rose into a shrill wail.
The nobles ignored her desperate plea and walked out. The guards showed no emotion as they dragged Axel away.
He showed no resistance, acting indifferent, as though his life or death no longer mattered.
Old Man Don clutched his robes tightly. If one looked beneath them, faint blood stains could be seen.
It was clear that, despite appearing indifferent and composed, he was deeply enraged by what had just occurred.
He struggled to restrain his impulse, his gaze drifting toward a sword hung on a nearby rack.
In the end, he sighed and slowly unclenched his fists. 'I trained my son well. Perhaps a little too well…' he thought.
He already understood what had truly happened, but even he could not fully believe it.
There had never been any conflict between the siblings, so why…
Why would they want to kill the couple's son?
His back hunched as he collapsed into a nearby seat. In that instant, the weight of loss seemed to press him down.
It was as if he had aged twenty years in just a few breaths.
Dora looked around, tears streaming endlessly down her cheeks. She kept wiping her eyes, yet they continued to overflow with sorrow.
She remembered her brother's words and clutched her clothes tightly. Then, standing up from the ground, she rushed into the house.
Her eyes were red from crying, and even as she ran, more tears poured down her face.
In her hand, she gripped two plain white tickets with all her strength, as if terrified they might slip away.
…
Modret sat waiting in his room for hours, pacing restlessly as he waited for Axel to return.
'He shouldn't be gone this long, right?' Modret thought with a deep frown.
He sighed over and over again, the uneasiness in his chest growing stronger.
He could not understand why, but something felt terribly wrong.
After more than six hours, he finally heard a knock on the door.
'Finally! What took him so long?' he exhaled in relief and rushed to open it.
But instead of Axel, he found a beautiful girl standing at the doorway. Her jewel-like eyes shimmered faintly.
Modret immediately recognized her. 'Axel's sister?'
He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Dora? What are you doing here? Where is your brother?"
Dora hesitated for a moment before replying, "Brother told me to give you the tickets. He will come some other time. Father and Mother asked him to handle something."
As she spoke, Modret instantly noticed the cracks in her story.
'She's hiding something,' he realized immediately. 'With my enhanced senses, I can see the smudges on her face. She's been crying, and it's clear she took time to wipe her face before knocking.'
'I can hear the tremble in her voice. It cracks slightly, as though it pains her to speak. Did something happen to Axel? Or to their parents?'
He narrowed his eyes at Dora and asked in a low voice, "Tell me what happened."
Dora looked stunned. "Nothing happened, Young Master," she said, bowing her head slightly.
Modret stared at her again, this time letting a faint trace of his cultivation aura leak into the air.
"Tell me what happened."
The weight of his words crashed down like a mountain. Dora's small frame trembled, and she collapsed to the ground.
"Young Master, please save my brother!
"Please, he didn't do anything wrong!"