Can never be our king.

Richard felt his heart crawling to his mouth as his body stilled and all noise disappeared except his racing heart being loud to his ears.

He never signed up for what he was about to do. Kill somebody? No, his life should be at least peaceful and not carrying the guilt of ending anyone's life.

No one told him about the mess he was about to make. No one told him the ritual involves a person life. He had made a terrible mistake by agreeing to be the king of the abyss. By agreeing to join.

Now, his life was on the line if he doesn't commit murder.

"What are you waiting for? We don't have all time." Philip reminded, bringing the gun so close to his skin and Richard shivered at the contact made with the cold metal.

He shakily rose his arms up, pointing his gun towards the man while his wife kept pleading that their lives be spared.

I can't do this. I can't do this. I can't do this. Those words repeated in his mind but he dared not say it out loud or the wicked bullet would create a hole in his head, sending him to meet his parent quickly.

A loud sound shook his entire body, resonating his body and causing few seconds seize of breath. He slowly opened his eyes and just as he had thought, the man was lying in his own pool of blood.

He never shot his gun. He didn't and he can swear it. Another shot came from behind him, creating a hole into the skull of the woman who fell dead immediately.

"Enough Philip! You are talking to our new king and respect is demanded!" The voice of the one who had shot the gun said.

Richard slowly turned back and swallowed back his heart that had crawled to his mouth. The queen of hearts, Sira.

She walked closer and put back her gun in her pocket. "Don't we have a coronation to get to?"

Philip grunted and put back his gun into his pocket too. He looked at her for a few seconds and left the room, followed by others, leaving behind Richard, Sira and Rina.

"You can leave too, Rina."

Rina was hesitant at first but Sira was her boss and she couldn't disobey. She took her gaze to Richard and gave him a warning through her stare before she left.

At that point, he would ruin everything.

Sira brought out a handkerchief and cleaned her hand with it even though it wasn't stained with blood. Richard on the other hand, couldn't take his gaze off the dead people before his eyes.

"You should get use to this. There will be more to witness and most of them would be at your command." She said and stood beside him, looking at the mess she made on the floor. "Don't worry, the servants would get this cleaned up."

"Don't they have children? What would happen to their family? Why were they killed?"

"They have a daughter who stays with her grandma. They have family and I do pity for them, but, this is the abyss and they should have known before joining or even trying to betray this group to the public. Their end punishment is death and that is how it is here. We don't pardon," she answered and faced him.

"The rulership of this abyss isn't for the weak. You have to be physically and mentally strong to be able to do anything. Philip is lower than you but you made him override you. That is not a good start."

He finally took his gaze off the dead people and took it to her while she continued. "Be the king first and you can change some rules around here. You can actually make things right. But then, you have to be a stubborn king who wouldn't succumb to anyone. You should know the kind of position you hold now. Don't act like a puppet as that was your past life and act as a king as this is your present life."

He brought his brows together wondering how she found out he was living a poor life? Rina made sure to cover up that track.

"I am not just the queen of hearts for no reason. I knew when you came here that you weren't born with riches but the question is, how possible was it to get the ring of supremacy? A poor guy getting the ring? I am surprised." She sighed deeply and finalized, "Let me not bore you with talks. You have all your subordinates waiting for you." She patted his shoulder and walked out of the room.

Immediately she closed the door behind her, Richard let out the breath he held in for too long and held on to the wall for support as his leg got wobbly.

What was going on? What did he just put himself into? He shakily rubbed his face, trying to get over everything but who was he kidding. Immediately he opened his eyes, he would see the dead people and the consequences of his choice would weigh down on him immediately.

....

"What did you do Sira? How dare you go against me and killed those people?" Philip questioned immediately she walked into the large hall filled with people waiting for their new king.

She smirked as she got closer to him, "I should be the one asking the questions. What were you trying to do by going against the new king? Trying to mark a territory that isn't yours?"

He rolled his fist into a ball as he faced her. "That weakling can never be our king." His voice echoed around the hall causing everyone to gasp.

"Easy now Philip. Everyone are present and we don't want them talking about this." Jack warned but Philip wasn't ready to listen.

"He couldn't even lift a gun." He pointed at Rina. "What have you done? Is this some kind of trick? Did you hire someone to be our king"

She quickly shook her head and looked down. "I swear it's not so, my lord." She quickly answered to avoid getting killed right in front of everyone.

"Where is he anyway?" Juliana questioned looking around.

"Has he run away seeing he can't handle all these? If that's the case, we need to find him and end his life immediately or he reveals the secret of this group to everyone." Sophia chipped in.

"There is no need of doing that. I am right here and I am ready to take my throne!" They all swirled their heads to where the voice came from. There was Richard, standing before everyone but something was off about him.