Reborn To Change My Fate-Chapter 302 - Three Hundred And One

Towards evening, the sun disappeared behind the tall buildings of the capital. The sky turned a dark, bruised purple. Inside Prince Liam’s private residence, the grand halls were usually quiet and peaceful. But tonight, the high ceilings echoed with a terrible sound.

The halls were filled with screams.

Ashlyn and Carlos had been dragged out of their home hours ago by the royal guards. They were thrown into the cold, damp dungeon beneath the Prince’s manor. They sat in the dark, shivering in fear, not knowing what they did wrong. Then, the heavy iron doors opened. The guards dragged them up the stone stairs and threw them onto the hard marble floor of the main hall.

Now, they were paying the price for the Prince’s anger.

Prince Liam stood over them. He held a thick, black leather riding whip in his right hand. He had taken off his heavy coat. The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up to his elbows. Sweat beaded on his forehead. The left side of his face was still swollen and yellow from Princess Dahlia’s slap. His eyes were wide and wild, filled with a violent rage that he could not control.

He raised his arm high in the air. He brought the whip down with all his strength.

Crack!

The leather bit into Carlos’s back. The fabric of Carlos’s shirt tore open. A bright red line appeared on his skin.

Carlos screamed in agony. He rolled on the floor, holding his arms over his head to protect his face. He curled into a tight ball, acting like a frightened child.

Liam stepped forward and swung the whip again. This time, it hit Ashlyn’s shoulder.

Crack!

Ashlyn shrieked. The sound was high and piercing. She fell onto her side, clutching her arm. Her beautiful hair was a tangled mess. Her face was stained with dirt from the dungeon floor and wet with tears.

"Useless," Liam hissed, his voice trembling with hate.

He raised the whip again.

Crack!

He hit Carlos.

Crack!

He hit Ashlyn.

"Useless!" he shouted louder, hitting the whip again and again. He did not care where the leather landed. He hit their backs, their legs, their arms.

Every time the whip fell, it made a sickening sound against their flesh. Every strike carried the weight of his humiliation. He was punishing them for Dahlia’s anger. He was punishing them for the loss of the spies. He was punishing them because he felt weak, and making them bleed made him feel powerful again.

"Your Highness, please..." Carlos cried out. His voice was broken and hoarse. He pressed his face against the cold marble floor, his body shaking violently. Blood seeped through his torn shirt, staining the white fabric dark red.

Carlos reached out with a trembling hand, trying to grab the edge of Liam’s boot. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Please," Carlos begged, tears streaming down his face. "Please stop hitting. I beg you. Have mercy."

Liam did not stop immediately. He brought the whip down two more times, striking Carlos hard on the thigh. Carlos let out a loud wail of pain.

Finally, Liam stopped. His chest was heaving up and down. He was breathing hard, gasping for air. His arm was tired. He looked down at the leather whip in his hand. The black leather was now stained with fresh, wet blood. It dripped slowly onto the pristine marble floor, leaving small red dots.

The hall was quiet except for the sound of Ashlyn and Carlos sobbing. They lay on the floor, broken and bleeding, too afraid to move.

Liam took a deep breath. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. He looked at the two pathetic figures at his feet. His disgust for them was stronger than his anger.

He slowly pointed the bloody tip of the whip at Ashlyn. She flinched away from it, squeezing her eyes shut.

Liam turned his head and looked down at Carlos.

"So," Liam said, his voice dropping to a dangerous, quiet tone. "This is the fine gift you gave me?"

He turned his fingers to Carlos, gesturing toward Ashlyn as if she were a piece of rotten meat.

"You offered me your wife," Liam sneered, remembering the day Carlos came to his home, begging for favor. "You said she was clever. You said she would help me trap Marissa. You said she was a valuable tool."

Carlos scrambled to his knees. He ignored the burning pain in his back. He ignored his wife crying beside him. Survival was the only thing on his mind. He was a coward who had failed in the war, and he was a coward now.

He crawled a few inches forward, keeping his head bowed low.

"Your Highness, I didn’t know!" Carlos cried, his words rushing out in a panic. He pointed a shaking finger at Ashlyn. "I didn’t know she caused you to have a fall out with the Princess! I swear it on my life!"

Ashlyn opened her eyes. She looked at her husband. Even through her pain, she felt a sharp stab of betrayal. He was throwing her to the wolves to save himself.

"It’s all her doing!" Carlos continued loudly, desperate to separate himself from her mistakes. "She makes her own plans. I was never involved in this scheme. I did not tell her to go to the Golden Swan. I did not know she was meeting you. It’s all her fault, Your Highness. Please, punish her, not me!"

Ashlyn stared at Carlos. Her heart turned cold. She had married a fool, but she never realized how quickly he would sacrifice her.

She forced herself to sit up. Her whole body ached. The cuts on her arms and shoulders burned like fire. She looked at Prince Liam. She knew Carlos was useless. She had to save herself. She had to shift the blame to the real enemy.

"No!" Ashlyn spoke, her voice cracking. She coughed, tasting blood in her mouth. She looked up at Liam with wide, desperate eyes. "It was not my fault! It was Marissa!"