He Did Exactly What They Said

I had always been obedient. Whatever people told me to do, I did. On the day the king and queen brought me back to the palace, my adopted brother leaned close and sneered, "How did it feel to spend three months as a gutter rat? If you have any sense, roll even farther away this time." I nodded, turned, and ran straight toward the edge of a towering cliff. My father and mother were terrified. They barely managed to drag me back, their faces drained of color. When my elder sister saw it, she grabbed my collar and said coldly, "Attention-seeking trash. If being crown prince embarrasses you this much, you might as well die." I said nothing. I grabbed a vial of poison and poured it down my throat. Blood burst from my mouth and nose. My sister froze on the spot, then scrambled out to call the physicians, looking at me like I was a monster. Not long after that, my adopted brother pretended to fall ill, and my sister held a knife to my throat, forcing me to donate blood for him. Before she could finish speaking, I followed the force of her blade and cut my own throat. The moment my parents pushed open the door, blood sprayed across their faces. The room went silent for one stunned instant before screams exploded everywhere. Amid the chaos, I weakly raised my head and looked at the transparent panel floating in the air. The number on it flickered again and again before stopping at 99. They did not know that as long as I obeyed one final time, I could complete the entire storyline for a cannon fodder character in a tragic novel. Then I could leave this world forever and return to my real home. Chapter 1 The royal physicians fussed around me for the entire night before the wound on my throat finally stopped bleeding. Seeing the king's and queen's ashen faces, Cedric Ainsley could no longer keep pretending to be sick. "Your Majesties, this has nothing to do with me. I don't know why Elias suddenly hurt himself..." He hurried to distance himself, so anxious he nearly dropped to his knees. When my elder sister, Helena Ainsley, saw that, she grabbed him and pulled him firmly behind her. "Father, Mother, don't let Elias fool you! This is obviously a sympathy ploy! "He deliberately used a rusty blade on his own neck because he knew he could still be saved, didn't he?" Seeing my parents' expressions loosen, she decisively dragged me straight out of bed and threw a sharp dagger in front of me. "Elias, you might be able to trick Father and Mother with this attention-seeking act, but you can't trick me! "Don't you love threatening to die? Fine. I'll give you the chance right now! "Use this dagger and drive it straight through your throat. That would be a real certain death. Not even God could save you then..." She had thrown me so hard my vision went black. By the time I recovered, those were the words I heard. I looked up at the transparent panel floating in the air. It was already at 99. Only one more time remained. Thinking that, I clenched the dagger in my hand. "All right, Helena. I'll do exactly what you say." Then I pressed the tip of the dagger to my throat and stabbed down hard. The entire family looked over at the sound, and their souls nearly left their bodies. Father and Mother screamed and lunged forward, coaxing and pleading for a long time before they finally pried the dagger from my hand. Helena still wanted to say something, but the moment she opened her mouth, Father cut her off with a sharp slap. "Enough! What kind of person would use a method like this just to get attention? Look at what you have driven Elias into!" Cedric's eyes widened in disbelief. Helena's expression grew even darker. She stepped forward and grabbed my collar again. "Elias, if you dare upset Cedric today, you'd better think carefully about how you're going to apologize to him. Otherwise, I won't let you off." She would not let me off. Those words slammed into me so hard my whole body shuddered and my face drained white. Deep in my memory, bitter laughter and the agony of breaking bones surged up like a tide. I fought to suppress my trembling and forced myself to reach out. "Cedric, I'm sorry..." Before I finished speaking, two streams of blood slid without warning from the corners of my mouth. Cedric backed away as if he had seen a ghost, but I crawled after him and clung tightly to him. I swallowed the taste of blood in my throat and spoke in broken gasps. "I'm sorry, Cedric. This is all my fault. I'll apologize to you right now." They had not yet realized what I meant to do. I had already dragged myself to the window, pushed it open, and hurled myself out under everyone's horrified stares. For one instant, the world went silent. Then a shrill scream tore through the air. "Elias!" Wind roared past my ears, and the cries behind me grew farther and farther away. I fixed my eyes on the transparent panel in the air until the numbers on it blurred. This time, I could finally go home. Chapter 2 I was shaken awake by violent movement. The instant I opened my eyes, joy surged through my chest. Had I gone home? But the answer was the sound of arguing outside the door. "Yes, Father, I admit Cedric pretending to be sick to force Elias to donate blood was wrong, but he only wanted to test Elias for all of us!" As she spoke, she glanced toward my door, the disgust in her eyes growing deeper. "Have you all forgotten how awful Elias used to be? He spent three months living like a commoner in the slums and suddenly changed completely? Who would believe that? "Besides, back then, didn't you deliberately pay those beggars in the slums to teach Elias some discipline so he wouldn't come back and bully Cedric again?" "Enough!" Father barked, cutting her off. A long silence followed. I leaned blankly against the headboard, looking at the old-fashioned wooden door. My eyes were empty. In the end, Father and Mother had still listened to Helena. From that day onward, everyone in the palace looked at me with scrutiny. Sensing my parents' indulgence, Cedric's tests became completely unscrupulous. When he poured an entire cup of boiling water over my head, I did not move. When he ordered the guards to shove me into the pond, I did not struggle either. Watching my body sink little by little, Cedric finally lost patience. Furious, he ordered them to drag me out, grabbed my hair, and shoved me toward red-hot coals. "Fine, you're not afraid of water? What about burning coals? "Didn't you say you'd do whatever you're told? Let's see how long you can keep pretending!" Father frowned deeply. Mother hesitated, as if she wanted to speak. Helena folded her arms and watched coldly like she was watching a show. They were all waiting for the old Elias, the spoiled crown prince who never accepted the smallest loss, to fly into a rage and fight back. Even Cedric tensed and signaled the guards beside him with his eyes, ready for them to act. But I only raised my head slowly and swept my gaze across their faces one by one. In the next instant, under everyone's stunned eyes, I threw myself forward, snatched up the glowing coals, and shoved them into my mouth without hesitation. I stuffed handful after handful in like a madman. The sound of burning flesh hissed in the air, and blood quickly spilled from my lips. Cedric froze for one instant. Then his face went white. When he recovered, he lunged over and shoved his hand into my mouth, his voice changing with fear. "Spit it out! Hurry up and spit it out! That thing will kill you if you swallow it! "Elias! Are you really insane?" By the time the royal physicians were dragged in, I was already lying on the floor, coughing up mouthfuls of bloody water. Inducing vomiting, cleaning wounds, applying medicine... Throughout the long and humiliating process, I was turned over and over like a broken doll. Father draped his outer robe over my shoulders with shaking hands, his red eyes cutting viciously across Helena and Cedric. "Look at the rotten ideas you came up with! Are you satisfied now?" Mother threw herself over me and broke down crying. "Elias, my Elias... what happened to you?" But I only lay there with my eyes open, staring blankly at the transparent panel above me. My gaze had already scattered. Chapter 3 Mother's tears struck my face and dragged my memories back to the past. I had once believed I was the luckiest person in the world. I had a father and mother who loved me, an elder sister who protected me, and a princess consort, Vivienne Calder, who loved me as deeply as I loved her. So when the number on the panel reached 60, I chose to stay without hesitation. But after Cedric entered the palace, everything changed. Whenever my parents passed by, he would suddenly drop to his knees and prostrate himself before me. Whenever Helena approached, he would throw himself into the water and claim I had pushed him. At first, Father and Mother would still speak for me, and Helena would still come forward to explain. But as time passed, all of them began to look at me with an indescribable suspicion. Until the final time. To frame me, Cedric knelt under the blazing sun in the royal garden for twelve full hours, until he fainted. When Father and Mother arrived, his face was pale and his knees were mangled. After waking, he insisted that I had punished him. I was so furious I immediately tried to rush forward and confront him. But before I could touch him, he abruptly spat out a mouthful of black blood. I froze where I stood. His weak voice rang in my ears. "Elias, I took the poison you gave me. I knelt because you told me to. Are you satisfied now?" When Vivienne and Helena arrived, they happened to see that scene. Vivienne's face changed. She shoved me away so hard her nails left a bloody mark on my arm. Helena stood in front of Cedric and looked at me with nothing but disgust and wariness. From that day on, everyone stood on Cedric's side. Even when Cedric poisoned me again, even when I crawled toward him while vomiting blood and clinging to the last thread of my strength to confront him, Vivienne still held me back and threw me back onto the bed. "Elias, that's enough! "So what if you were poisoned a little? Can't you just let Cedric vent his anger? Didn't you poison him first?" Helena, without any hesitation, advised Father and Mother word by word. "Father, Mother, Elias has been spoiled by luxury for too long. He is getting more and more fractious! How can he ever bear the burden of being crown prince like this? "If you ask me, he should be sent among the common people and made to toughen up!" And when Father and Mother saw the bruises on Cedric's arm where I had gripped him, they finally lost patience. They would not hear a single word from me. They sent me into the slums with their own hands. When those beggars rushed at me with clubs, I struggled to pound on the door and screamed until my voice tore. All I got was Helena's impatient voice. "Elias, stop using these attention-seeking tricks!" It was not until I was pinned to the filthy ground and the clubs smashed my knees and arms apart. The crisp sound of breaking bones exploded in my ears. The agony made my vision black. Through the crack in the door, I happened to see Vivienne held in Cedric's arms. In that instant, my mind roared blank. I even forgot how to scream. After everything ended, the beggars scattered in satisfaction. Only I remained, lying in the dirty mud with my limbs twisted at strange angles. I stared straight at the floating System panel above me, my heart completely dead. "System, send me away. I don't want to stay here anymore..." Father, Mother, Helena, Vivienne. I did not want any of them anymore. Chapter 4 When I woke again, the royal physician's instructions rang in my ears. From that day on, everyone treated me so carefully it was almost frightening. Father could not relax. He even moved to the outer chamber of my room so he could work nearby. Mother brewed medicine and fed me by hand. At night, she slept on the narrow couch beside my bed and woke at the slightest movement. Even Vivienne, who had been far away at the front, traveled day and night to return. When Helena passed by, Vivienne was feeding me medicine. Seeing this, Helena stopped and sneered. "Elias, you went to so much trouble just to drive Cedric out of the palace, didn't you? "It must have been hard putting on this show. You may not be tired of pretending, but I'm tired of watching." Vivienne's hand shook. Scalding medicine splashed all over my face. But I acted as if I had heard nothing. I still opened my mouth mechanically and swallowed. "Stop drinking." Vivienne looked at me like this and suddenly grew angry. She threw the bowl down so hard it shattered. "Putting on this dead, hopeless look, are you deliberately throwing a tantrum at us?" Seeing me say nothing, she stared hard at my face. Her eyes churned with emotion. After a long while, she suddenly grabbed my collar and bent down to kiss me. Her face, suddenly close before my eyes, made my breath stop. The memories of the past tore through my mind. My whole body began to shake. When Vivienne noticed something was wrong and looked down, I was stiffly forcing a smile at her while ripping at my own clothes like a madman. Her movements froze. Her face went deathly white. Before she could speak, the palace maids' hushed whispers came from outside the door. "Did you hear? Lord Cedric's old injury flared up because Crown Prince Elias frightened him with that scene that day. He vomited so much blood..." "No wonder Crown Prince Elias has been acting like this since he came back. So he was waiting for this..." Vivienne's body paused. Her eyes cooled little by little. "Elias, so this was your goal? You went to all this trouble pretending to be mad and stupid just to scare Cedric into sickness?" Her voice rose gradually, and her eyes reddened. "I rushed all the way back for you. How could you do this to me? How could you do this to everyone who was worried about you? "Not only do you need to apologize to Cedric, you need to apologize to all of us!" She reached out to drag me up. But my knees weakened, and I dropped directly onto the shattered porcelain on the floor. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'll apologize..." I used the shards of porcelain to slash my skin, and blood ran down my whole face. As if I could not feel pain, I only muttered those words. Vivienne's pupils contracted. She grabbed my shoulders and hauled me up, her voice trembling. "Elias, are you insane? You're the crown prince! Are you really going to do whatever people tell you to do?" I lifted my numb eyes to her and nodded. "I'll listen to all of you. Whatever you tell me to do, I'll do it..." Vivienne's face went completely rigid. Her chest rose and fell, and emotions surged violently in her eyes. A moment later, she swept everything off the table and roared in fury. "Fine! Fine! You're obedient! You're so obedient! "If I tell you to die right now, why don't you go die?" The moment the words left her mouth, the room fell silent. On the transparent panel floating in the air, the number began to flicker. 99, 100, 99, 100... The System's countdown to departure sounded in my ear. Hearing that long-lost electronic voice, I finally regained a thread of awareness. "...All right. I'll listen to you. I'll go die." "Elias, that isn't what I meant..." Vivienne did not finish speaking. Her voice stopped abruptly. Under her stunned, widening eyes, I grabbed the largest shard of porcelain on the floor and drove it through my throat without hesitation. Blood sprayed out. At that exact moment, Father and Mother pushed open the door with a rare medicinal herb sent as tribute by a neighboring kingdom. The smiles on their faces had not yet faded before they froze in place. "Elias!" They stood stunned for one breath, then screamed and threw themselves toward me. Only Vivienne remained where she was, pale as paper. She stared at the blood covering the floor, staggered two steps back, and collapsed onto the ground.