You can not leave your mother and your unborn child here

You glance over to Sir Dietrich and whisper, "I will not be leaving my mother and my unborn child's life in the hands of someone that commits treason against me." Meanwhile, your hand twist on the metallic pommel of your royal saber, ready to draw it.

Sir Dietrich understands your words perfectly. He pulls out a whistle and gives a strong blow before screaming, "GUARDS!! THE ARCH DUKE IS ATTEMPTING TO TAKE YOUR KING'S LIFE!"

All at once, chaos breaks out as your guards come rushing in. While most of the people try to flee, there are few who remain to fight your guards, arming themselves with whatever they can find. Knowing taking you out would mean the Arch Duke's victory, four of his guards charged toward your position. They quickly defeated your personal guards that are standing just outside the door.

Despite the perilous situation, you remain calm. You don't need to defeat them, but delay them long enough for your guards from outside to come to your aid. So you mount a defensive battle, keeping them at bay and not taking advantage of any opening to kill them. Why should you, since there's a chance that they're baiting you into making a mistake?

While you're calm, Sir Dietrich is not. He is an excellent orator, a deep thinker, and a skilled economist that is vital for your managing the country. A fighter, he is not. Sir Dietrich swings his purely decorative blade wildly, overextending as he jumps toward his enemies whenever a chance presents itself. However, one of the Arch Duke's guards takes advantage of this to stab his short sword through Sir Dietrich's right arm. Unprepared, Sir Dietrich's was quickly disarmed by the guard and is stabbed in the gut.

With Sir Dietrich being mortally wounded, the fight is back to four-on-one, forcing you to back into the corner to minimize the number of attacks you have to fend off. Fortunately, a minute after Sir Dietrich succumbs to his injury and dies, your guards arrive and quickly kill off your four opponents.

You look at Sir Dietrich's body with regret; you've just lost a very competent man due to him being impatient. Turning your attention around the room, you can see the fight has ceased. While the Arch Duke's supporters were willing to fight you when they have the numerical advantage, they quickly faltered and surrendered when your fifty fully equipped and well-trained guards entered the room. Despite the earlier chaos, there were actually very little deaths, with the casualty count being Sir Dietrich, your two guards that stood outside your door, and four of the archduke's personal guards.

Meanwhile, the cowardly perpetrator, the Arch Duke himself, had fled on horseback the moment the fighting broke out. From the direction, you conclude he is going to pass the mountain range to Frankia to seek his cousin's protection.

You are left with one crucial question, what to do with the former queen left behind by the arch Duke. Yes, you don't want to leave her in the Arch Duke's hands. However, but you're not sure whether she's an accomplice in the Arch Duke's plot.

You easily found the queen behind the thick door to the Arch Duke's chambers. You bang on door three times before saying, "I demand you unlock the door NOW!

"Sophia, her lady-in-waiting answers, "Not until I have your word that my Lady life is safe."

However, her voice is shortly followed by your mother's soft voice, "Sophia, my dear, how long do you think that door will stop him from getting in? The fight's over, and what will happen will happen. Let's not waste any more time on futile efforts. Please let my son in."

Her statement catches you off guard. The last time you heard her refer to you as 'her son', was the day you left for the convent years ago. To be honest, you find it oddly off-putting.

You hear the cold metallic turning of three locks before the door slowly opens. Your eyes fall to your mother, who is facing away from you and looking into a mirror, wearing the same gown as you saw her earlier, calmly brushing her hair. She makes no effort to turn toward you or glance back at you as she says, "So, my son, have you come for your mother's head?"

Her calmness after so much commotion, after having her wedding interrupted, and with the context of what she actually said, is almost stomach-turning. So you walk up and place your hands on her shoulders. "That depends on how much you were involved in the Arch Duke's plot."

She glanced back at you in the mirror. Her calm countenance is being betrayed by her emotion-filled eyes. You can see in them she is struggling to present you with an image of a strong woman ready for any punishment that will be meted out. Your mother says, "The only thing that should matter, and the only thing that I will say is that I was engaged to the man that plotted to take your life."

Before you can respond, Sophia interrupts, "That's not all! My Lady is with your child!"

Lady Beatrix quickly commands, "Silence, Sophia, Your begging and pleading for my life is beneath us and should not change his opinion."

To be honest, you are already missing Sir Dietrich; You and your father always relied on his sharp mind in times like these.