Chapter 154

Jan 09, 2024

The Trap and the Noose

Knock, knock.

“Mother, it’s me, Luzark.”

He waited until his mother’s voice ushered him in before quietly opening the door and slowly stepping inside her room. He couldn’t help but frown as he saw what she was doing inside.

“I see you’ve been adding to your empty bottle collection a bit more frequently lately.”

He then darted forward and grabbed Badrisha’s hand just as it was about to tilt a nearly empty liquor bottle into her awaiting mouth.

“Don’t worry. This one’s from yesterday.”

She only conceded the bottle to her son after she realized that a few tugs weren’t going to loosen his grip on her hand.

“Fine, fine... You win. I suppose I have to show a bit more composure since we are in Yggdrasil.”

Luzark then noticed a few more empty liquor bottles decorating the larger table further into her room. Although the Red Master was well known for her sense of self-moderation, she had recently begun to rely more and more on alcohol as a means to wallow in her personal troubles.

“I hardly even feel a buzz these days no matter how many bottles I drain,” she said.

His mother leaned back in her seat as she watched Luzark pull up a chair to sit across from her. Badrisha had been rather solemn for some time. Even before they had left Castro. However, ever since she had set foot in Yggdrasil, her expression only seemed to darken. Then as if a comical idea had stricken her suddenly, a thin laugh escaped her lips.

“You know, if you think about it, drugs and alcohol are pretty much the same. They both make you feel... sweet despite their bitter taste. And they’re both hard to resist on just willpower alone. Especially once you acquire a taste for either of them. I suppose I was never really in a position to pay any mind to what others did.”

The humor in her laughter was consumed by her cynicism. As soon as he heard her speak, Luzark recalled the bloodshot eyes of a soulless man he had witnessed right before setting off for Yggdrasil from Castro.

“Drugs and alcohol are not the same. At all.”

His refute was borderline defiant. Badrisha turned her head toward her son and stared into his face. She blinked slowly before muttering to him in an almost whisper.

“To think that I would end up relying on the one thing I spent my entire life detesting.”

He immediately realized what exactly was plaguing his mother’s heart and stared intently at the now hopeless woman.

The Red Master had been keeping an eye on the Black clan ever since she arrived at the castle. The Red Heir had only come to learn the truth recently since his mother had done an exceptional job of hiding her secret from him and the rest of her clan in order to bear its burden in silence as their leader.

“Mother, why don’t y—?”

A sudden urgency to console her came over him, but he couldn’t find the right words to express it. She was the last person he could see himself nagging to cut ties with the person responsible for not only corrupting Castro to its core but also for her fueling of her own constant agony. As he fought desperately to choke back his concerns, a faint wave of nausea overcame him.

“Luzark.” After staring at her son in silence for some time, she finally thought it necessary to address him directly. “Of all my children, you resemble me the most. That is why I can often tell what you’re thinking and feeling so clearly.”

His nerves calmed slightly after hearing his mother’s relaxed and soothing tone. That was until what she said next left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“It would seem my shortcomings are slowly becoming burdens you’ll have to bear, and for that I am sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, Mother.”

“When the time comes for you to sit in my place, I ask that you not make the same mistakes I have.”

Upon making her request, silence fell over them and seemed to fill the large room right up to its ceiling. He once again struggled to find the right words to put his mother’s mind at ease. So instead, he picked up the bottle he had placed on the floor by his heel moments prior and poured its content into the glass in front of her.

“Didn’t you say I had added too many bottles to my collection?”

“One more won’t hurt.”

Both their voices and expressions had become stoic, yet they knew each other well enough to understand their true intentions. The son and mother sat across from one another in silence while taking turns emptying their glasses.

A sense of uneasiness prompted Luzark to look out through one of the dark windows. Had it not been for the pitch darkness that night, he would have been able to see the garden not too far into the distance filled with red flowers.

It was almost akin to a reminder of his brief encounter with the person he greatly despised as he was en route to Badrisha’s room. He then recalled the scene of the Agrece brother and sister in the rose garden. The memory flashed through his mind like a flame flickering to life on a torch. He had been struggling alone with his thoughts ever since arriving in Yggdrasil, so did not know with whom he could share these troubling emotions.

The Black clan was undoubtedly the target of his contempt and resentment, yet while watching the two siblings from a distance he couldn’t sense anything remotely evil about them. The brother and sister duo had also exhibited zero signs of suspicious activities or ill intentions toward the Red clan. And despite the rumored clash with the White clan, they had stayed out of the way of the other clans over the past few days.

Luzark’s actual purpose for trying to approach them in the rose garden had been rather clear, but in hindsight, he supposed he would not have found the right words to say upon meeting them. Thus, it may have been for the best that circumstances prevented him from doing so.

Alas, his efforts amounted to no more than a sour memory. The scene that had seared itself onto his mind like a scar slowly faded as he closed his eyes.

* * *

As she sat in her dark, empty room, Roxana began to summon the butterflies she had released throughout the castle. A week had already passed since the gathering in Yggdrasil had commenced. It was scheduled to take place for a month provided that no unexpected issues arose to derail the event. According to the Vertium messenger Pavel, Noel would be arriving in three to four days’ time.

As for Deon Agrece...

Roxana hadn’t seen him since their last meeting in front of the castle’s rose garden. Even so, his presence continued to linger in front of her as if she need only to reach out her hand to touch him. As always, it was a rather unpleasant feeling.

Clack.

The sound of a thumbnail-sized pebble she had been flicking about her table shook her from her thoughts as it fell to her feet. There were sorcery markings clearly visible on it. She studied it more closely in silence. Her somber stare seemed to darken as she did so. She hadn’t told anyone that apart from visiting her mother Sierra, she’d also made another stop at one of her clan’s demon monster habitats located near the neutral territory before arriving at the castle.

It was there that she found the stone. The rock possessed properties that attracted monsters to a single location, thus it was often used to replenish the monster hutches at the Black mansion. Despite its enchantments, the rock hadn’t been detected by the anti-sorcery barrier when she reentered Yggdrasil since she hadn’t completed the spell’s magic circle. Thus, it was useless to her for the time being. And even if she had completed the markings, they would likely have little to no effect within Yggdrasil.

It would be a different matter should she choose to use it just outside of the barrier. Therein laid the greater dilemma of whether she should make up her mind to use the stone or not.

She had become far more indecisive ever since meeting with Cassis several nights prior. For the moment, she simply continued to toy with the pebble as she reviewed the visions her butterflies imparted of what they had witnessed after she planted them inside the Red clan’s chambers.

Despite their attendance at the gathering, some of the Castros had spent most of their time in their rooms. Luckily, they seemed to collectively vacate their rooms in the early evenings, which afforded Roxana the slightest bit of flexibility.

Around this time will likely be the best for me to strike. At the moment, she had two plans in mind but had yet to decide on which one to follow and knew she couldn’t afford to be indecisive for much longer. After observing a few more of the Red clan members move about suspiciously, she proceeded to clear the pebble and other items from her table before standing up. As she made her way to the banquet hall, she was approached by a familiar face in the hallway.

“Roxana! Long time no see.”

“Grizelda?”

She reflexively smiled the way she always did at her older half-sister as if they had only just seen each other the day before.

“When did you get here?”

“About four days before you.”

“And yet you’re only talking to me now? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were avoiding me.”

Roxana tilted her head slightly as the edges of her mouth curled up ever so slightly upon hearing Grizelda’s playful chide. Since she could have made the exact same accusation, it was quite obvious her sister’s words carried little weight.

Grizelda was aware of that as well. “And here I thought my day couldn’t get more entertaining, then I saw you!”

She then reached for her younger sister’s blond hair and began to play with it. “You know, we’ve never had the chance to come to Yggdrasil together before. Had I known how fun these assemblies could be, I would have come in Fontaine or Deon’s stead sooner!”

Although she could not fathom what inspired the random thought, Roxana could not deny that she and Grizelda had indeed never attended the Big Five assembly together.

“But I suppose that’s to be expected of the bombshell who tamed two of the wildest beasts in our clan with such ease.”

Roxana’s scarlet eyes narrowed sharply at her sister’s cavalier words.

“I mean, after all, you did manage to tame Cassis Pedelian of all people,” Grizelda continued.

At the mention of his name, she recalled that she had in fact been meaning to ask her older sister something regarding Cassis. She had neither forgotten what had happened in Vertium, nor how Isidore had attempted to say something to her on their way back to Pedelian.

“Oh, and by the way, whatever happened to that puppet? I know it’s locked up somewhere in the castle, but I just can’t seem to pinpoint its whereabouts. You know, this is the real problem with not being able to use sorcery. It’s just a shame that I wasn’t able to see it for myself since I only got here after the Blue clan.”

Roxana took hold of the hand her sister was using to play with her hair, then with an even thicker smile, she whispered, “Before I answer your question, isn’t there something you should explain to me?”