"Your Highness. Yes, I am guilty of this crime. I indeed had sex with officer Irene without her consent." I said with confidence.

The whole throne room shook with surprise at my words. Moreover, they couldn't digest the choice of words I used.

"Excuse me? Did you say 'sex'? You raped and murdered her! You are a monster." Shouted one of the male officers. He was young but was a relatively superior officer. He was almost to tears; his sadness was genuine. His ID read 'Shawn'.

"Ohh did you have a crush on her? I am sorry I was her first. Suck it up, bitch." I said.

My words offended him gravely and he was going to hit me but was stopped by the Ice-Queen.

"Enough. Charles, I wanted to help you out of this, but you leave me no choice now. I sentence you to death without any trial!" Queen proclaimed with her might.

"Your Highness, I am ready to accept my death," I said with my eyes closed and a drop of tear flowing down my cheek.

"After all, that's a fitting punishment to my deeds. I really loved Irene." I continued after opening my watery eyes.

"Yesterday I did have passionate sex with her, but in the heat of the moment, I didn't realize that she was in discomfort. My powers went out of control and unknowingly my penis got augmented to a monstrous size." I said.

Tears kept flowing from me before I could finish my next sentence. The audience in the throne room got mixed emotions; Ice-Queen was disgusted by my words; Vazer seemed to be in ecstasy. And the only person I couldn't figure out was Alyssa, she wasn't surprised at anything I said.

"I didn't realize it. But it tore her apart from inside. She winced in pain but I was lost in my augmented pleasure. I killed her. And no matter what I do, I can never atone for the sin I committed. I accept the death sentence. Only that will release me from this sin." I said.

After finishing my short speech, I sobbed harder than ever.

"Charles. That was... unexpected. Ahem, yes you shall receive the death sentence that you desire," Queen said.

"Vazer, prepare to take him to the gas chambers! He won't be hanged but killed using poisonous gas. That is the only death fitting for him," she continued.

I fell on the Queen's feet and with a guilty face and spoke,

"Your Highness, before dying, I have a final request. And I hope you would do the honor to fulfill my request. I want to see the face of my love, Miss Irene. Please, just let me meet her and give my prayers before I leave this world." I pleaded.

Vazer's POV

[Ah what a fool! He became mad at his final moments. Everything is going exactly as I planned. Soon, this kingdom will be ours! Just one more day and everything will be over.]

Overfilled with happiness and excitement, I and three other officers proceeded to escort the foolish prince to St. George hospital, one of the best hospitals in Ice-City. We pushed him inside Shawn's military Farcaster, and while he was still covered in crystal cloak, beat him to a pulp before reaching St. George.

I personally vouched to transport him. Not that I think he has any means to escape, but I better be cautious than sorry.

Reaching St. George, the robots opened the roof of its reception. The entire building was automated without a single human soul. 

The Autopsy room was on the third floor but there was no direct access to it. Using a hovering escalator, we reached the second floor, and from there we could open a mini-portal to the 3rd floor.

Suddenly a storm of wind appeared out of nowhere, blasting us away. When I came back to myself, I made sure that Charles was still covered in the cloak.

[From where did that storm appear?]

The minds of the other generals who accompanied me told me similar confusion. Attempting to read Charles's mind gave me no answers. I attempted again and again but it was in vain. In frustration, I hit him more, and he made muffled voices.

[Hah, his brain must have fried with madness at this point.]

I and my other two officers continued to escort him, we opened the mini-portal and reached the third floor.

[Are we missing one officer?]

On the way to the autopsy room, Charles's behavior got wilder, but we didn't pay attention to it. Stringent acidic smell pierced my nose as the doors opened. It was soon overshadowed by disgust as I saw Irene's disfigured and torn body.

[Those demons from UU6 sure fuck like animals. I wonder how Mother keeps them under control.]

As I removed Charles's cloak to see his reaction,  my jaw fell. I jumped with shock at realizing the blunder. Time ran in slow motion, as my mind went blank, unable to come up with an answer to this mystery.

With a flash of light and sonic boom from outside the window, the military farcaster that we came in flew right past this hospital, while I and the other generals were paralyzed with shock.

Charles's POV:

[We have reached the 2nd floor of the hospital already and I couldn't come up with any plan or opportunity to escape. Damn it! Now I am regretting what I did, maybe this was a foolish idea? I dug my own grave.]

My act earlier in the throne room was performed so that I could get away from Ice-Queen and Kaizer. No matter what plans I came up with, I couldn't think of a way to execute it with them around.

One could dilate time while the other could reverse time. Everything: flight or fight, seemed impossible in their presence. So I made up that act in the throne room, exploiting the rule of granting the last wish of a prisoner in death sentence.

I knew that Ice-Queen herself wouldn't escort me. And Kaizer would always stay beside her in this Red-alert scenario. So that was a last-ditch attempt to come up with opportunities to escape. But, now it seemed like it was a mistake. 

[What should I do? I don't know. I am out of gas and energy. I am so stupid! Who does this? I should have instead explained my innocence more. Maybe, I could have managed to convince the Queen that I was innocent if I had done that?]

I regretted my stupid plan deeply.

*11:00 am 30 seconds*

As they were about to open the mini-portal, Vazer suddenly took his handgun and started shooting laser shots towards another hovering escalator which came to the 2nd floor, he seemed to react to an unseen threat. 

The escalator's doors opened and Alyssa jumped out from it, her lower kimono was torn into a short dress, probably to assist her mobility.

She had an energy-field based shield on her left palm and a handgun on her right. She deflected the shots which were directed towards her using the shield.

4 seconds passed, 11:00 am 34 seconds

The other three officers were shocked to see Vazer shooting Alyssa and blocked him. Alyssa used this opportunity to shoot a fire extinguisher near us which blasted on their face.

The shockwave and gas from that blast were too strong and created confusion as well as a smokescreen for Alyssa to reach me. 

8 seconds passed, 11:00 am 38 seconds

She came closer to me, threw away her gun, and touched my face with that hand. At the same time deflecting shots that Vazer threw randomly in the air. Her cold touch revitalized all my dying energy.

"God's time minor! Time reverse." Alyssa said gently. 

A blue orb appeared in her palm and she reversed the time of that clock. The world around us became like a pool of water and all the action that happened just now was reversing. We barely had any time to react or talk but the emotions glittering from her eyes were enough for my augmented brain to read her orders.

She removed my handcuff and the power dampening cloak. I Augmented my arms and muscles and using all my strength created a windstorm, much stronger than any other I created so far. The storm occurred around the same time as the world normalized.

*Alyssa reversed time by 8 seconds, 11:00 am 30 seconds.*

As they were about to open the mini-portal, a huge wind storm appeared and blew them away. I used the moment of confusion to handcuff the knocked down Shawn and made him wear the cloak. Alyssa had brought an expandable tape with her and taped his mouth tightly shut. She removed his clothes and I immediately realized I was supposed to wear it.

We both fleed from there before others recovered from the shockwave. I regained my stamina slowly and with a doubtful face asked Alyssa,

"Why did you do this? You had no reason to save me here. After all, I am a murderer and a rapist." I said.

[Yeah, at least that's what they framed me as.]

"Shut up, Idiot. You made a blatant bluff like that and I wouldn't notice?" she asked.

[You... you saw through the facade my augmenton produced?]

"Prince, you have been through enough troubles with me since childhood, that I can at least tell when you lie. I must be honest, I might have believed the accusations at first when I entered the castle. But, when you blatantly lied like that, I figured that you were innocent, even if it might have fooled others," she said.

I was surprised and glad to hear those words from Alyssa. It gave me a warm sensation in my chest, and I hugged her tightly. I couldn't control my happiness at knowing that there was something other than my tic that I could rely on. Now that I thought back, Alyssa was actually there all the time whenever I needed her, in my childhood, and even now.

She accepted my hug and helped me calm down.

"You are really stupid, Charles. To think of such a foolish plan, just to get away from mother and Kaizer. And what was with the monstrous p—, ahem, thing. That was beyond stupid." she said.

I didn't bother hearing her words. I was already lost in her magic. Her shampoo was pleasant; her voice was soothing; her calmness was a gentle shield to my heart, and most of all, her intelligence left me in awe.

Yes. I was in love. I was in love with this egoistic, Goddess complex woman. I didn't want to admit it earlier, but I was always, always in love with her.

That's all the more reason I should figure this ordeal out. I need to protect her and my brother at all costs. Right now, I have nothing more important than them. And there is no one other than me who can do that, for, no one will believe me, and no one will help me. Even Alyssa has her obligations to the kingdom, and this time it was my turn to help her.

"Vazer! Vazer was the one who framed me. He is a spy sent by UU6 as per my father's reports. My father has attempted to explain that to your mother many times, but she blindly trusts him. I cannot explain to you how I know this, but you need to trust me here, Alyssa, Vazer has some kind of telepathic tic. He can read minds, I know that. I know it for sure." I said after breaking the long hug.

"Hmm, those are some pretty wild accusations. But, I must say, it was shocking to see him shoot me in St. George. So, I will trust a bit of what you say. I will keep caution around him and keep my mind blank," she said.

"I am not sure what spiral of omens you have got yourself into, but whatever it is, I will help you out of it. But, I will need time. The clothes you have worn is of Shawn's, he is a top-level officer, one who has many grants and special permissions in the city. That ID fixed onto the cloth is a key item, don't lose it. It will help you get free food or stay and pretty much give you access to any Military Farcaster. Use it to get out of here, I don't know where, but get out of Ice-City, maybe to Palladium or to some other city, but as far from here as possible," she said.

She briefly paused and pushed her hair back elegantly,

"It will take at least 2 days before the systems can disable that ID, and that much time is enough for me to get into the depths of this case and solve it. I promise, Charles, I will find the real culprit and prove your innocence. And yes, I will take care of Snizel too," she concluded.

[And I promise, I will save you from whatever Vazer is planning.]

Saying our goodbyes, I flew away using Shawn's Farcaster. My heart was racing and mind was numb with fear and anxiety. But, there was hope burning deep within me. If I could get out of this helpless situation, then there wasn't anything else that I couldn't solve. As long as Alyssa was by my side, I could perhaps even conquer the Universe~