"W-Wait!"
"You can't, this isn't how this works!"
His voice cracked.
"I'll return it! I'll return everything!"
"…Just don't-"
The soldier stepped forward. Steel flashed. A thud rang out. Then, silence
A woman covered her mouth. A man looked away. But others… didn't. They watched. Not in fear but in understanding.
Levi stands his hands form a fist and yells out to the citizens
"This kingdom will not be built on corruption. What was taken from you… will be returned."
His gaze swept across them.
"This is only the beginning."
The square had not yet fully settled. But the message had already spread.
The judgment had been passed. And it would not be the last.
Garrick steps in
"One is gone, but he wasn't the only one"
"the rest of the dogs will run now"
a soldier arrives
"My lord, some of the nobles have fled Ravenholt."
The execution had ended.
But the square did not feel lighter. It felt… unsettled.
Whispers spread as the crowd slowly broke apart.
"He won't stop there…"
"They're going to run..."
"The nobles will escape…"
Levi's gaze lingered on the dispersing crowd.
They will run. He exhaled slowly.
"…Then we'll make sure they don't get far."
Garrick glanced at him. A faint smirk formed.
"So it begins."
Levi turned.
"The hunt starts now."
Somewhere beyond the square…
hooves struck stone.
another soldier arrives
"My Lord we have spotted one of the nobles, he's fleeing quickly on his carriage but he's not far"
Levi thinks to himself
"so he wasn't lying"
he raises his hand Towards his side
"Prepare the Horses, We follow."
"Hunt them all! let not one even escape"
Inside the carriage, the world had become nothing but shaking wood and panic.
The wheels thundered against the cobbled streets of Ravenholt, each impact throwing the nobles against their seats. Curtains were pulled shut, but not tight enough to silence the outside world the screams of distance, the shouting soldiers, the fading echo of what had just happened in the square.
One of the nobles gripped the edge of the seat so hard his knuckles had gone white.
"This is madness…"
he muttered, voice thin.
"He actually did it…"
"No,no, no, this can't be real,"
another said quickly, shaking his head as if denial alone could undo reality.
"He wouldn't execute a noble. Not like that. Not in front of everyone."
A bitter laugh broke from the corner.
"You were there,"
the older noble snapped.
"You saw it with your own eyes. That wasn't a warning. That was a message."
Silence followed that.
Heavy. Pressing.
Outside, the carriage jolted again, harder this time. Someone inside struck their shoulder against the wooden wall and cursed under their breath.
"We need to get out of Ravenholt, fast"
one finally said, leaning forward, voice low but urgent.
"If we reach the outer roads before nightfall"
"Before nightfall?"
another cut in sharply.
"You think he's just going to let us reach anything?"
The words hung there. No one answered.
Because the truth had already settled in their minds.
They weren't escaping a kingdom.
They were running from a man.
From him.
The new Lord.
A faint tremor ran through the carriage again, whether from speed or fear, none of them could tell anymore. One of the nobles swallowed hard, glancing toward the sealed curtains as if expecting them to be pulled open at any moment.
"He's not normal,"
he said quietly.
"That Ashbourne prince… he looked at him like he wasn't even human."
"Enough,"
the first noble hissed, but his voice lacked strength now.
"We'll reach the border. We just need distance."
"Distance from what?"
the older one replied coldly.
"From judgment?"
"Can't you see he's toying with us he could easily catch up right now if he wants, you saw the battlefield the past week he annihilated hundreds of soldiers with a single move"
Outside, the hooves struck harder.
Closer.
Faster.
The carriage lurched forward as the driver whipped the horses into a frantic sprint. The wooden frame groaned under the speed, wheels rattling violently against stone.
Inside,
the nobles fell silent again.
But it wasn't calm.
It was waiting.
Because now, all of them understood the same thing without saying it.
They weren't being chased.
They were being hunted.
Levi's gaze narrowed as he followed the sound through the winding roads of Ravenholt.
"Faster,"
he said calmly.
The soldier riding beside him glanced over.
"My lord at this pace we'll overtake them in minutes."
Levi didn't answer immediately.
The wind pushed against his coat as the city lights flickered past.
"…Good."
A pause.
"Then let them realize they were never escaping in the first place."
a faint smirk in his face but then turns into a serious look.
inside the carriage. The younger noble exclaims
"we... we just need to reach the nearby city, t-then we can get the money or store t-this documents a-a-a-"
the older noble cuts him off with a slap
"Quit your blabbering, We're already done for, We're just stalling our deaths!"
"take a look around fools, WE'RE BEING HUNTED!"
"like damn preys to these fucking predators"
"We're already dead..."
"just accept it"
A noble let out a quiet laugh, leaning back as the carriage jolted.
"Of course… bickering among yourselves."
His smile widened slightly.
"Good thing at least one of you understands how reality works."
Unlike the others, he didn't cling to the carriage. His eyes lingered on the curtains… as if measuring distance.
In the same instant, the noble moved.
Before anyone could react, he threw the door open and jumped.
Wind swallowed his voice as he hit the ground hard, rolling once before forcing himself upright.
"Stop the carriage!" he shouted.
His hands shot out, gripping the wheel axle as it spun.
Wood screeched against bone and stone.
The carriage lurched violently, dragged to a grinding halt.
as the corrupt nobles go out one by one of the carriage
they meet Levis eyes, they look around to see themselves surrounded by soldiers.
they gulp in fear
the young noble backs off, before bumping into a soldier
"w-we can talk about this, My Lord"
"i-ill give you all you want, money, women, you name it"
Levi slaps him across the face, and then another, and another. one after another a slap rang out the forest.
The young noble, face swollen and nose bleeding
"s-spare me your highness..."
The older noble scoffs in disgust
"You pig cant keep your mouth to yourself, tch"
the nobles are brought into the capital, chained, clothes drenched in mud after the carriage lurched over
Citizens poured into view, voices rising into a storm of rage and grief.
Stones and pebbles struck the nobles body,
"Death to that scum!" someone shouted.
"Serves you right!" another voice followed.
"Punish them!"
The cries spread quickly, swelling through the crowd like wildfire.
Years of silence…
frustration…
and stolen wealth finally spilling over all at once.
The spy noble chuckles at the sight of the corrupt nobles
"Hahahahaha. I knew this pricks had it coming"
wiping of a tear of joy from his face
"Why isn't he chained?" someone in the crowd shouted.
"He's just standing there like he owns the place!" another voice followed, sharper, angrier.
Stones still flew, striking the carriage wheels and wooden frame.
Then amid the chaos an older voice cut through the noise.
"Wait…"
A pause.
"I always knew Count Gaius was an upright man."
The words landed strangely in the crowd.
Some scoffed immediately.
Others hesitated.
"…Now?"
someone muttered.
"After everything?"
But the idea lingered anyway, uncomfortable, uncertain… like a crack forming in something once believed solid.
the nobles all line up kneeling on the stage, begging for mercy
"Please spare me, My Lord i-i'll leave you wont see my face again!"
"y-yeah just spare me"
The noble's words were cut short as a sharp blade fell. A clean strike.
Thud.
Silence followed as the body collapsed.
Then another.
And another.
The square stood still.
Levi stepped onto the stage.
"Justice has been served."
His voice carried across the crowd.
"Let this be known to all of you…"
"That what is done in secrecy will always come to light."
He paused briefly, then coughed lightly into his hand.
he coughs into his hand
"And Count Gaius Varron…"
Levi's gaze shifted toward him.
"He aided in exposing their escape plans."
A faint murmur spread through the crowd.
"He informed us of their movements, when, and where they would run."
Levi's expression remained steady.
"That is why he stands here alive. Because he is not like them."
A murmur spread through the square the moment Levi spoke.
Not loud at first, just fragments of disbelief slipping between people.
"Count Gaius… helped?"
"So he wasn't with them?"
"Then why was he there?"
The crowd shifted uneasily. The certainty they had held moments ago began to crack, like stone under pressure.
Some still looked at Gaius Varron with suspicion.
Others stared at Levi instead, searching his face for deception, hesitation, anything that might tell them it was a lie.
But Levi stood still. Unmoving. Unbothered.
A woman in the front finally spoke, voice uncertain.
"If he truly helped… why were they all executed?"
Another voice answered quickly, sharper.
"Because they still tried to run."
"Because they were guilty."
The words clashed in the air, turning the crowd into a storm of disagreement.
Gaius Varron said nothing.
His expression remained calm, too calm.
Arms crossed, eyes steady, he watched the crowd as if their doubt meant very little to him.
That silence only deepened the confusion.
Levi finally stepped forward slightly, his voice cutting through the noise.
"Believe what you will."
"But understand this…"
His gaze swept across them.
"Ravenholt does not survive on assumptions."
"It survives on truth."
A pause.
"And today, truth has already spoken."
The square quieted again, but differently this time.
Not in fear.
Not in anger.
But in uncertainty.
Because for the first time… They weren't sure who to believe anymore.
but they knew one thing for certain.
Ravenholt was no longer in the hands of weakness.
It was in the hands of someone who acted.
Someone who didn't hesitate.
And for the first time in a long while…
that was enough.