At this mont, Albert was quietly seated at the dining table with all his children, except for Strax, who was on his way back.
"Vigil and Demonic are dead," he said. A heavy air passed over everyone as they felt the chill of his words.
Xenovia was the only one who showed no reaction; to her, it was obvious. She had known from the beginning that this would happen. In fact, she had expected sothing to happen, but Strax had crossed all possible limits.
"I understand very well that the rules an a lot to us, but I don't think you fully grasped that, did you?" He said with disdain, his eyes fixed on Darius, who trembled at what was coming. "You, I'm sure you'll find a way to get rid of this problem, right? I an, you wouldn't enter a dispute like this without knowing the correct rules?" Albert questioned.
He knew Dominic and Vigil were fools; their behavior had shown that. But Darius was a different case.
"F-father, I..." He tried to counter, but he had nothing to say, just a vast silence between his words, an emptiness that couldn't even be questioned. "So, you're as stupid as your two dead brothers." Albert concluded, simply silent. That was all they could do; the won just exchanged glances, especially Hinna and Vine, who were really disturbed by the situation. "Can't we negotiate?" Hinna asked.
She didn't want more bloodshed. The look on her brother's face when he died... was engraved in her mory, and it was driving her mad.
"There's no room for negotiation anymore, sister. Strax won't accept anything else." She heard Xenovia's cold voice echoing through the room. "Darius's problem wasn't just ssing with soone who was quiet, but ssing with sothing he didn't even know." Her tone of superiority lood over the man, "Or should I remind you all that, except for Eva, all of you turned your backs on Strax?
Especially Dominic and Vigil, who frequently beat him for nothing more than his re existence." She concluded.
"You talk as if you're different, sister," Veronica said. "Yes, I am different from you. At least I realized my mistakes, apologized, and helped him in the best way possible," she said, as if boasting about sothing.
"Are you going to keep lying, Xenovia?" Liam questioned in a rather calm tone. "You only helped him to get rid of the problem with the King. You're trying to make him fall in love with you and fight against the prince," he completed, and everyone looked at her.
Of course, this could be the reason Xenovia was helping the failed boy who had always been judged for being weak. They all thought the sa... "You're all so foolish..." Albert said in a lower tone, his arms crossed and eyes closed. It seed like he was concentrating on sothing, but they didn't interfere.
"So, Xenovia, tell us! Is that why? Do you want to marry your brother?" Eva said enthusiastically. She was a bit... contrary to everyone else who seed reserved and just watched each other... "No, little Eva, I'm not here to marry him because of that." Xenovia replied with a calm smile as she stroked her head, which had a big smile on her face.
Xenovia's answer opened up a rather... complicated question.
Mason, who always remained quiet and didn't show if he was even awake, was the first to question Xenovia upon hearing that strange response. "You didn't deny marrying him." The single statent shook everyone in the room, except Albert and Diana, of course, who continued silently listening.
Despite... "Damn it, was he toying with ? Tsk!" Diana was imrsed in thoughts, "That damn bastard!" She roared internally. She was married to Albert only for Skills and Interests.
"And what's it to you?" Xenovia responded, the coldness in her words made them recoil, the intention behind Xenovia's words made them afraid. It was like winter.
Silence reigned in the room after Xenovia's words. Everyone seed imrsed in their own thoughts and fears. Hinna looked at her siblings, searching their faces for so response, but found only the sa emptiness and dismay she felt in her own heart. The atmosphere was heavy, almost suffocating.
Simultaneously, the atmosphere shifted abruptly as a colossal aura began invading the estate. Everyone present was reasonably strong and could sense everything around them, but what so felt was simply unbearable.
"Ahhh!" Hinna, one of the weakest among them, clutched her head, feeling excruciating pain. Vine wore a similar expression but endured the pain silently. "He's coming," Xenovia said, rising to go to the entrance of the room. She felt his steps approaching calmly, yet their weight was imnse.
When he reached the door, Xenovia was the first to open it and greet him. He was furious, holding by the hair... the head of the Olarin Clan leader. Despite this, she advanced and hugged him tightly. The shock of her action was enough to stun everyone in the room. No one had ever seen Xenovia display any kind of affection like this before...
It was like witnessing a lie.
[Final Act – Reclaim What Was Taken From You]
The System sounded again, but he ignored it. All the ssages had beco aningless. He just wanted to end this quickly before things worsened. He had already done everything necessary, ensuring the safety of Beatrice, Samira, and Monica, who were now locked in his mansion, guarded by over forty assassins under Christine's command.
His entry and exit from the mansion were swift; he barely spoke to his wives, not wanting them to see this side of him.
"Are you alright?" Xenovia asked, once again shocking everyone present. Her? Xenovia Vorah? Worried about soone? The coldest woman they knew appeared like a... princess.
"Everything's fine. I'll finish this quickly, and we can go ho, dear." Strax's words passed through everyone's ears swiftly.
"What do you an by that!" Liam was the first to roar. "Yes, what's this 'dear' nonsense?" Hinna followed, but Strax wasn't patient enough to hear her out. "Shut up, Hinna." Strax commanded, his eyes blazing with pure rage, making her step back a bit. "Read what's in this scumbag's mouth." Strax said, throwing the man's head onto the table.
The head was deford, full of holes and cuts, but its jaws held a letter firmly between the teeth. Darius felt a shiver down his spine at the sight. "What's the matter? Afraid?" Strax questioned, but Darius remained silent as Albert picked up the head, retrieving the docunt.
Albert calmly unfolded and read it. It wasn't very long, more like a receipt for the services the Olarin Clan was supposed to provide the Vorah Clan in Darius Vorah's na. In summary, it detailed everything that happened to Beatrice: the places she stayed, how she was treated. Strax could barely bring himself to read it all.
"I understand," Albert said, placing the paper on the table.
"That should be more than enough proof, right?" Strax asked, a macabre smile starting to form on his face. He was already getting excited about torturing and killing Darius in the most vile and repulsive way possible, so even his soul would live in constant fear in hell.
"What do you want to do with him?" Strax heard Diana's voice, who had been silent since his arrival. "You know very well what will happen to him. Your oh-so-important rules don't allow him to survive this, or have you forgotten?" Strax thought of nothing else but Darius's death. Nothing would satisfy this fury, this hatred, except seeing his body crushed like jelly on the ground.
"You can't just kill him," Diana said, but Strax... His eyes turned neon red as he stared deep into Diana's eyes. "And are you the one who will stop ?" He questioned.
Strax already knew Diana was just a puppet, a trophy in the corner of the room that did nothing but listen and accept. This bothered him, as she seed more like an object than a person, which angered him. Especially since...
Well, she was a great beauty, and Strax hated seeing beautiful won suffering like that. At least he wanted to force her to do sothing, to take so action, but just when she seed willing to do sothing...
"Darius," Albert said, drawing everyone's attention and cutting off the conversation between Strax and Diana. "Handle your problems alone. You and your dead brothers caused this." He said without any emotion, as if... his own son's life didn't matter.
"I don't need losers in my family." This statent was almost laughable from Strax's perspective. After all, he had been in Darius's position. He had been the one called a loser, a failure...
"What a joke," Strax said loudly. Everyone quickly turned to Strax, sensing a direct challenge to Albert in his words, but he remained unfazed. "Let's settle this quickly, lamb to the slaughter," Strax continued, with Ouroborous gleaming, ready to strike and kill Darius.
"Without those swords, you're nothing," Darius retorted, and the room fell into silence. In a fit of anger and arrogance, Strax shot back, "Oh, really? Who said I need them to finish you off?"
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