I Will Avoid The Death Flag [It's Published]
32. As Princess Duke

What Clare Cyrill remembers in her life's photographic design is suffering.

Clare was born to be a marionette doll. All over her body, bound to threads to curb Clare.

Clare's life is dictated by Duke Cyrill's family. Clare was required to become a queen, even before she was five. Before he understood what life really was. However, Clare at the age of five has been given the knowledge to become the ruler.

Cyrill is a queen-producing family. The female descendant of Cyrill, will definitely become the queen. Whether it's through a political marriage or purely from a connected feeling. That was why, Clare, as the only daughter of the Duke Cyrill Family, was prosecuted even before she understood anything.

Clare's black eyes stared at the figure of her mother lying helplessly on the bed.

The servants lined up near the door with their heads bowed deeply, reluctant to make the slightest sound.

Clare's facial expression looked like she wanted to cry, but held everything back because Eleanor was staring at Clare with my eyes open.

"Clare," call Eleanor.

Clare clasped Eleanor's fingers thin and lost her essence.

"Mom, I'm here" Clare replied in a choked voice.

"Cyrill got whatever they wanted, no exception."

Clare bit her lip.

"Cyrill needs to get it, even if they have to do something dirty." Eleanor gave a pause in her sentence to take as many breaths as she could. Talking makes him tired and his throat feels dry.

"Mom, come on, don't talk."

"Listen to me, Clare," Eleanor said. Eleanor clasped Clare's fingers tightly, though Clare felt nothing through them. "The only way to attract your father's heart is to be queen."

"Mother, I don't want to be queen."

"Don't whine. Cyrill is a queen-producing family. That is absolute. And then you must be queen. That's the only way. That's it, Clare."

Clare shook her head briefly. "I—"

"You're just a weak presence here, Clare."

Clare looked back at Eleanor intently. However, his vision began to blur as tears fell.

"You'll die right away if this is a competition. Wh why? Because everyone in this residence sided with the Duke. And you managed to survive, because I was here to protect you. But, I can no longer protect you, Clare. The only way to stem the power, to survive in this cruel world, is to entice your father and become queen. That's ... the only way to ...."

Clare could not listen to the continuation anymore because Eleanor's arm in Clare's hand was heavy. Then, when Clare looked into her mother's eyes, the eyelids had covered the black bead.

"Mom-Mom?! Mama! Awake up!"

Clare yells.

What Clare knew was that she had been screaming until her flare was almost gone.

Eleanor eventually died of severe illness at the age of Clare the eighth.

From then on, Clare survived.

As long as Eleanor lived, Clare was apparently protected by Eleanor's shield. So that when the shield was destroyed, the spear and sword were directly aimed at Clare.

It was so terrible with the servants who were careless towards Clare.

Clare was getting ill treatment when she stayed in the pavilion in the Cyrill residence.

...***...

Just as the princess wanted her father's affection, Clare felt the same way.

Even since her mother was still a shield for Clare and protected Clare from sharp objects, Clare still peeked silently from the shield to see her father figure.

In Clare's dark eyes, there was a sense of awe when she recorded Eladio Cyrill in her brain.

Clare loves her father, but Eladio hates his daughter.

“Dare once the bastard child interrupts the meeting time.”

“The mother who educated him is gone, so be aware if her daughter grows up to be such a girl.”

“Similar to that former dancer. Both mother and child both do not have decency according to ethics.”

Clare ignored all forms of whispers leading up to her. Clare's only purpose in entering the meeting room was to meet Duke Cyrill.

Clare had only met her father five or six times during Clare's eight-year life. That too, Duke Cyrill would see Clare as a nagging pest and ignore her.

Seeing Duke Cyrill for the first time without Eleanor by his side made Clare's guts shrink a little.

The man had several times the size of a large body when compared to the body of a petite seven-year-old Clare. The man had an emerald hair color like him and an identical black iris. Both the man, Eladio Cyrill, and his daughter, Clare Cyrill, could be said to be absolute perfect replicas. Everyone also said that the two must be involved in blood relations with authenticity in facial posture. However, if only Clare's fate was a little better, surely she would be treated as Duke's daughter.

“What do you want?” eladio asked in a cold tone of voice. In his eyes, only a dark lake was imprinted that was capable of drowning, making Clare's skin and back feel cold and sweaty.

“Mr Duke.” Clare straightened her body and forced herself to stare directly at her father. Anyway, Clare still likes her father. What Clare was looking for was the affection in those eyeballs.

“Say.”

“I am part of Cyrill.”

Eladio just raised his eyebrows.

“I want to get proper treatment as a daughter of Duke. I want to be treated as Duke's daughter. Therefore, Lord Duke, allow me to stay in the main residence instead of my pavilion.”

The people who were still sitting in the meeting chairs immediately whispered to each other. Talk about the same topic as if it was a very pleasant thing for them. As if this is an exciting show that has just begun and they are competing for fun in it.

“Why should I obey you?”

Clare smiled confidently. “Because I am Cyrill. Cyrill get whatever they want.”

Eladio only looked at Clare with a strange look, but his lips instantly moved to call the maid.

“Put this child in the main residence,” Eladio command on the waiter.

The waiter was just polite. “Follow me, Young Miss.”

“Follow?” Clare let her tone sound as cold as possible. “Why should I follow your back? You're the one who's got to follow my back."

At that moment, Clare managed to enter Cyrill's main residence.

...***...

Clare Cyrill was born out of a relationship without marriage. Eleanor is a dancer at a night bar and Eleanor falls in love with Eladio. The two get involved in a one-night relationship and eventually Eleanor becomes pregnant.

Eleanor was taken to the Duke's residence and given a pavilion there. However, Eladio ignores Eleanor and only provides enough money for the mother and child to survive.

Eleanor herself did not force Eladio to marry her. To marry Eladio is to become a duchess. And to be seen from any side, for a lowly dancer to become a duchess is impossible.

Everyone was kind to Eleanor because everyone knew that it was the woman who had attracted the Duke, and there was no guarantee that if they were to be rude to Eleanor, the Duke would spare their lives.

When Clare was born, she became a poor young lady. Young lady who does not know in what situation she lives. Clare was served by the servants who pointed knives at her, so Clare could only have Eleanor as her shield. Sheltering.

...***...

Clare was no longer unfamiliar with this sight.

Clare was used to it.

Clare was no longer vomiting when she smelled the thick smell of blood. Clare was no longer nauseous when she saw pieces of human flesh being chopped off. Clare no longer overreacted when one's head was beheaded so easily. That said, this was an incredible achievement for Clare.

Red blood flowed on the cold marble floor and some of that concentrated liquid splashed on Clare's dress.

“Is it fun, Dad?” ask Clare calmly. He kept sipping his tea even though Eladio had brutally beheaded a servant.

Eladio's pale face was covered with blood and his hollow eyes looked at Clare. “Fun,” reply. “As if you become more alive.”

It was there that Clare began her days with psychopaths inside Cyrill's residence. Death in a sadistic manner was common to Clare. Torture, beheading, murder. All of them are normal consumption for Cyrill. That was why, there were very few workers who survived inside Cyrill. That's because Cyrill is a family that is very closely related to blood.

Death God. Cyrill did it all as an offering to the God of Death.

“You've already called the servants to the pavilion?” clare asked her personal servant.

The waiter nodded. “Yes, Miss Clare. All the guilty have been collected.”

Clare smiled with satisfaction. He then walked down a path towards a pavilion that was far from the main residence.

It was a dark day and as the rain was pouring down, Clare enjoyed this as she whipped the servants who had done wrong in their work. The cries of the servants broke, hurt, and sounded so slashing. However, all sorts of tones of voice were disguised behind the swift rain.

...***...

“You want to be loved by me, Clare?” eladio asked as the two were at the dinner table, eating their food.

“Which daughter doesn't want her father to love her?” ask Clare back rhetorically. His fingers deftly cut the steak into pieces. The blood within the flesh was flowing, it was red.

“Then from that, show me why you deserve to be loved by me.”

Clare glanced at Duke Eladio, no, his father. In those two black eyeballs, Clare could find nothing but a mystery. However, Clare could not stop being amazed.

It's a lie that Clare doesn't thirst for Eladio's love. When Clare was a child, she lived alone with Eleanor. Maybe Eleanor herself got bored when Clare kept asking where her father had been? Will his father visit Clare today or tomorrow? Will his father hug and kiss Clare's head like in a typical children's fairy tale?

So, for Clare, getting Eladio's affection was her dream. Her hope. A glimmer of light that makes Clare has a purpose to survive. Where he could lay his life there.

“How to, Dad?” ask Clare calmly.

“Be queen.”

Eladio was the same existence as any other noble. He was greedy for a higher and undeniable position. He was greedy for the possibilities that he would eventually track the steps to the top.

And the only way is to make Clare a queen. So, the position of Eladio will not be shaken.

Therefore, Eladio supports every move Viten. Eladio knows best that Viten will be king in the future. That was because the Queen Mother was her older sister.

...***...

“Your Highness Prince.”

It was also the first time Clare had seen Viten Darren Asher.  What Eladio said, was his fiancee.

“Mr Duke,” reply Viten with a fake smile on his lips.

“Please enjoy the meal, Your Highness Prince.”

“Of course. How could I not enjoy it if the host was Lord Duke Cyrill himself?”

Eladio's pale face let out another reaction other than cold or hollow, he chuckled. “You always manage to make me feel entertained. Please enjoy our banquet, Your Highness Prince.”

Clare ate her food in silence. Occasionally glanced at Viten with the corner of his eyes.

After lunch ended, Clare walked down the streets to visit the pavilion where she always tortured the servants.

Clare had a wonderful time when she whipped her personal servant as hard as she could. Seeing people suffer made Clare excited. Seeing them scream loudly in pain made Clare feel more alive.

Clare could not blame her intuition for seeking pleasure in the suffering of others. Clare had suffered first, when Eleanor died, and Clare was treated arbitrarily by the workers at the residence. Clare has been suffering enough. It was time for Clare to return the suffering she had endured to the right person.

When Clare felt that her servant was starting to lose consciousness, she handed the whip to another servant, and brought herself out of the pavilion.

“What makes you think that torturing people is a pleasure?”

Clare flinched as she listened to the sound when Clare had fully exited the pavilion. Clare turned her head and found Viten leaning against the large pillar leisurely.

“Your Highness Prince.” Clare looked down and gave a perfect greeting to Viten.

Viten just snorted a little and approached Clare. “You do this often? Torturing all your servants?”

Clare felt astonished why Viten asked, but she nodded. “Yes, Your Grace. They have made a mistake and they deserve to get a.” penalty

“Crazy basics.”

Clare frowned over Viten's sentence. “Did I hear insults from you, Your Highness the Prince?”

“Sama-sama. And yes, you are crazy. Don't you have a conscience?”

“Ya?”

“Where is your conscience, Miss Clare? Aren't you sympathetic to your own actions?”

“With all due respect, I will say that this is not your concern.”

Viten grunting. “No, it's my business. Is this how you treat everyone who is guilty? Did you do it all by way of torture and murder?”

“Didn't the world indeed work the same way, Your Majesty? He is the strong one who will dominate everything.”

“Nona Clare. This is the Asher Kingdom, not the forest. The Asher Kingdom does have its own rules, but we do not take the rules of the jungle. Asher Kingdom stands for alliance, not torture.”

“You are wrong. The Asher Kingdom was founded by war. And the war has claimed many lives.”

“At least that is what Asher did to survive. Then what about you who snatched away the right of others to live because they made one-two mistakes?”

“Your Majesty, I would like to ask you a question. Is giving the punishment a wrong deed?”

“Not wrong at all.”

“Then, from that. Let me do whatever I want. Because I am Cyrill. Cyrill will get whatever they want.”

“Cyrill has a cool live motto. But that's not the problem. I say this because I care about you.”

Clare felt her heart stop beating. Care about? It was a very foreign word on Clare's agenda. Concern. Caring. No one cares about Clare but her mother who died two years ago, so Clare drowned in a Pandora's box. In there, there is no affection, no love, no care.

“How old are you? Nine, right?” ask Viten. “And it is not normal for nine-year-olds to torture others in search of pleasure. It is not normal for you to be involved in more deaths than adults. You should be playing with kids your age, not torturing waiters because they made a mistake.”

Clare's two black eyes were fixated on the figure. The figure of a prince who suddenly visits his residence and instead arranges for Clare's life. In Clare's eyes full of darkness, it was now as if lit by a candle.

“Error is a humane thing. You can't be human if you can't tolerate human behavior. I'm saying this because you look so dead. At least, by tolerating human behavior, you will become more alive,” continued Viten. “So, stop torturing people at your ninth age, just play, and scatter Duke's money. He will definitely be fine losing some money.”

Viten turned around casually, almost leaving his place if Clare did not call.

“Your Highness, do you really care about me?”

“You are my future fiancee, I should care about you, right?”

After that Viten no longer turned around and continued to continue his pace leisurely.

On this side, what Clare was feeling was a stirring feeling. Where after all this time he came back to life, there were also individuals who still cared about the one existence that was expected to die by many people.

...***...

Clare Cyrill officially became Viten's fiancee a few weeks later.

As the Duke's daughter, Clare did whatever it took to defend the duchy. Clare is Cyrill's only child, making her Cyrill's only hope. Clare also sought the affection of Eladio so she tried her hardest to undergo education to become a queen.

Eladio supports all Viten moves. Eladio really meant to make Viten a king and Clare a queen.

Viten has also given some attention that Clare has never gotten before. Viten gives a feeling that the presence of Clare who still snatches oxygen greedily is natural.

However, the Sorena Krone incident made Eladio no longer expect his daughter to become queen. Not being a queen means not getting the affection that Clare craves.

Eladio thought that love was natural and could not be forced. Same is the case with Eladio who loves Eleanor who incidentally only a lowly dancer. So, when he heard rumors that Viten was giving a soft side to young miss Krone, Eladio no longer expected his daughter to be a queen. What Eladio doesn't expect is that, unbeknownst to him, Clare takes young Miss Krone to a special pavilion Clare always uses to torture servants. Clare tortured Sorena for 28 days and on the 29th day, Sorena was drowned in the lake.

Eladio spent a lot of money to cover up the rumours. In a glimmer of hope, Eladio still expects Clare to be queen. That's because making Clare the queen was Eladio's goal to be Cyrill's heir.

“Why did you kill Young Miss Krone?” asked Eladio one night when he had spent a lot of money as a cover-up on the Krone family.

“Sorena has snatched what belongs to me, Father,” reply Clare lightly. “Sorena captured His Majesty's heart. Though all the people in the Kingdom know that His Majesty's heart is only mine.”

“What you feel for Your Majesty is not love, Clare. It is an obsession.”

“Dad, I love His Highness the Prince. Only Your Majesty I love.”

“Your Majesty only said a few words to you and you assumed that His Majesty's sentence was light so you continued down that path.”

“Cyrill get whatever they want.”

“I know that it is our motto, but Clare, you can't kill the person Her Majesty loves.”

“Why not? I just reclaimed my rights.”

“Clare.” Eladio breathed. “Why did you grow up like this? Eleanor didn't educate you like this.”

“I learned from Dad.”

Eladio.

In his days, Eladio met himself with death by killing. So, no wonder if his daughter followed in the footsteps of Eladio.

“Enough, Clare. You let me down", Eladio rubbed his forehead. "Your chances of becoming queen are now only five percent. You know what that means?”

"That means I can't be queen?"

"The Cyrill family was a queen-producing family. What would people say if Cyrill's descendants this time were trash?"

"Dad, Cyrill got whatever they wanted. And I will make sure of that. I'll be queen."

"Hold your word, Clare." Eladio approached and whispered in Clare's ear, "For, if not queen, then there is no reason for you to continue living."

Eladio. "Go back to your room."

"Good, Dad. Good night."

Clare lowered her head briefly and turned to leave Eladio's room.

A few years later, Clare was never formally proposed to by Viten, now King. Clare seems to have been ignored by Viten after the incident with young miss Krone. Clare's exiled. But Clare did not give up. Clare attempts to attract Viten's attention so that the man does not turn away and eventually intends to marry her.

Clare imagined a queen crown on her head and she ruled the Asher Kingdom. Clare gives Viten a Crown Prince for the survival of the Asher Kingdom. Then, in the end, Eladio will give his affection to Clare. Hugged his daughter affectionately and dyed her hair while saying that Eladio was very proud to have had a daughter like Clare.

It was such a beautiful dream that Clare did not realize that one week later, she would be executed in the capital's square as a lesson to everyone if they nearly destroyed the continuity of the Asher Kingdom.

As the Duke's daughter, Clare has failed to fulfill her duties.

Clare has destroyed Cyrill's tradition, Clare has destroyed Cyrill's reputation, Clare has destroyed her own life.

"Are you satisfied now?"

Clare looked up and looked at the pale face of Eladio from behind bars.

"Dad! D-Dad!" Clare hurriedly stood up with her limp body, she then tightened her grip on the bars. "Dad, save me! Save me, please!"

"Then what's next if I save you, Clare?"

The cold words of Eladio made Clare flinch and stare at Eladio with a strange look.

"What will you be after I get you out of here? Become Cyrill's trash and further destroy Cyrill's reputation?"

"Dad—"

"Unhappy with Krone, did you end up putting yourself in jail?"

"Dad! Please! Save me, I don't want to die!"

"You look a lot like your mother. Begging like a cheap lady so I can accept you as part of the Cyrill family."

Eladio breathed.

"But forget it. Cyrill doesn't need anything to hold them back."

Then Eladio turned around and left Clare alone. Leaving her daughter behind narrow and cold bars just to wait for her death.