The Crown Prince In Hiding

Chapter 25

Tampa Bay

Rafinya froze in shock. She staggered backward in sheer terror, slipping and falling right before their eyes.

Casca and Dan saw it and immediately rushed over.

They, too, were stunned by what they saw.

“Are you alright?”

As Casca helped the girl up—

Dan stared into the crack in the wooden wall and then…

“Wait… this is…”

He reached out—and pried it open.

The young man forced the wood apart, piece after piece.

Casca stepped in to help him… until what had been hidden inside was finally revealed—

“!”

Rafinya’s eyes locked wide open. Both her legs trembled violently from shock.

A corpse.

A human corpse, hidden inside the wooden wall in an upright position. A sack covered its head, and the stench of rotting blood seeped out.

And it wasn’t just one.

The sound of wood snapping—Casca smashed another panel apart with her fist… revealing yet another corpse behind it.

Another.

Another.

And another.

Corpse… after corpse.

And then—

Rafinya realized.

Every single light wooden wall she had walked past… every foul, stale odor that had entered her nose—

There were hundreds of corpses behind those walls, all forced to stand upright, their heads covered with sacks.

Their skin had turned blackish-green, swollen and bloated. Some without sacks had faces frozen with gaping mouths, eyes rolled back white. Blood and pus seeped from their flesh—the unmistakable state of bodies dead for days.

Rafinya couldn’t take it anymore.

She couldn’t stay here any longer.

She ran back up to the deck—

And vomited everything out, over and over.

(The sound of the young girl retching)

The sound of waves crashing against rotten wooden posts, seagulls circling above, and sunlight breaking through the thinning fog.

A man in torn sailor’s clothes, his face burned by fire, sat restrained inside an abandoned ship repair shack. There was nothing around but decaying vessels.

The Tampa ship graveyard—

A place where people were often brought to “deal with things.”

It wasn’t empty because it was unlivable—

But because, in Tampa, it was known:

Anyone brought here… would often wash ashore in Velmount the next morning as a corpse.

As if this pirate city had been designed that way since its founding.

Rafinya stood at the very back beside Casca, watching Dan, who stood with arms crossed, staring coldly at the man.

When the seagulls flew away—

Only the sound of waves remained… and silence.

Then suddenly—

The sound of leather shoes echoed against the wooden dock, drawing closer.

In his hand, a man dragged a rum barrel along the ground, scraping loudly—accompanied by a soft whistle.

The captive sailor turned toward the source, his eyes trembling.

But Dan… Freya… and his two subordinates showed no reaction. Some simply stood watching. Others crouched.

The pressure in the air—

It wasn’t like a military operation.

It felt like mafia crime.

The worn wooden door swung open—Totti entered, dragging an empty rum barrel inside.

“What are the corpses on that ship?”

“…I just sold to them! I don’t know anything! I’m not involved!”

“You know exactly what it is.”

Dan stepped closer. Then he removed his glove, revealing the tattoo on the back of his left hand.

The man’s eyes widened in sheer horror.

Casca seemed to understand what was about to happen.

She sighed, walking past Dan, then tapped Rafinya.

“Let’s step outside first.”

Rafinya nodded hesitantly, but—

“Leave the kid.”

Dan’s voice came from behind.

Casca turned back.

“…It’s too soon.”

“You want me to teach her. This is my way.”

“…..”

Casca hesitated.

But in the end, she gave in.

“Rafinya, come here.”

“Y-Yes…”

“This… is the truth behind the honor you take pride in.”

Whether human or Diablo—

This is what must be done to survive.

There is no right or wrong.

Arresting someone and putting them through the justice system—that is the lightest thing this world can offer.

If you ever rise to become a Marshal, remember this well—

Behind national stability, behind the safety of the people—

Everything is built upon darkness like this.

You may not have to do it yourself.

But you must understand that these things are always happening, beyond your sight.

And one day—

You will be the one giving the orders.

So, Rafinya—

This is one of the prices you must pay for success… if you wish to stand where Casca stands.

When her eyes shifted—

She saw Casca Saint Maximin standing quietly in the dark corner of the shack.

…The faint golden light around her seemed dimmer—

As if ashamed of the truth.

So this… is “honor”?

Even Casca—the light of Luminus—

Was complicit in operations like this…

Operations that Luminus society condemned as barbaric and uncivilized.

And yet—

The truth was that Luminus did the same.

Then—

The scene cut to a filthy drainage hole. Moss clung to the ground… the view slowly zoomed in.

From afar—

A man’s muffled cry—“Ugh!”—echoed.

Followed by the sound of something being forced into his mouth—

Struggling—

A chair slamming against the floor—

And then… low, agonized groans.

A group of seagulls perched on a rum barrel drifting along the water, pecking at its lid, hoping to break it open.

Rafinya St. Pauli sat at the dock, staring out at the sea—

Her expression beyond words.

Her hands clenched tight. Her breathing uneven.

Then she spoke—

“Casca… if it’s like this… then how are we any different from the nations we look down on?”

“Hypocrisy.”

That was Casca’s answer.

“Luminus… has always been like this.”

No matter how cruel, how vile—

We, Luminus, have done it all.

But we hide it behind the words ‘for the nation and for God.’

We excuse it as ‘something God will forgive, if done for the country.’

Even the previous Pope said the same.

“Our religion teaches us to love all people without discrimination… but look at what we’ve done…”

“It’s completely contradictory… and yet no one questions it, even though it’s so obvious.”

Rafinya… if I had to sum it up in one word—

We’re nothing but hypocrites.

But what can we do?

Every nation uses the same playbook.

If Luminus doesn’t—

Then Luminus may be the one that falls into danger.

Faith in God does not stop invasions from Velmount.

It does not prevent betrayal or revolution.

It does not stop spies from turning the people against us.

Not every nation will accept the goodwill Luminus offers.

Some are nothing but serpents.

We can never truly know.

…It’s a dilemma.

Rafinya couldn’t find an answer.

And perhaps—

She never would.

“But one thing we can do… is accept the truth. No matter how bitter it is.”

If Fury had torn out Rafinya’s eyes and forced her to face this brutal reality—

Then Casca would be the one to gently hold those eyes…

And place them back into her sockets.

Casca’s hand rested on the girl’s back—

Gently stroking, offering quiet comfort.

Letting silence do its work.

At the same time—

At Dock 12—

Dan stood at the pier, surrounded by his subordinates.

“Should we inform Tampa’s governor?”

“…Hmm.”

Dan thought for a moment.

“Let Benfica handle it.”

Totti stepped out from the ship last and approached him.

“Your Majesty, it’s ready.”

“And if she doesn’t accept us?”

“Tell her I’ll come see her myself.”

Dan replied as he took a match from Totti—

And tossed it into the ship.

Within minutes—

A “fire” would be reported to Tampa’s authorities.

It might even spread across the entire dock—

They didn’t care.

By the time it became an untraceable blaze—

Dan and his group would already be gone.