Chapter 169

Feb 13, 2024

An Omen of Treachery or... Liberation

Deon Agrece stood in one of the castle’s deserted gardens. Orange arcs began to undulate throughout the sky as the sun slowly made its way to the horizon. The garden was full of flowers that resembled the ones near the headboard of Roxana’s bed. They were not the same species of flower, but their petals were nearly identical. That was the only reason he had been captivated by the vines surrounding him since he would have normally ignored them entirely. His seemingly indifferent expression appeared colder than usual. Then without warning, a red hue clouded the edges of his vision.

A flower that had bloomed ever so peacefully only moments prior, fell victim to his merciless grip as he crushed it into a pulp. As he loosened his fist, the remains of a butterfly drifted down to the earthen ground along with the smashed petals. It hadn’t been one of his sister’s poison butterflies, but he reflexively took its life all the same.

Roxana is truly audacious. Ever since their last encounter, she had stopped spying on him entirely. He had been plagued by questions as to whether she was truly unafraid of his potential to retaliate after tearing him away from her side and deserting him in such a manner.

Then again, why would she? She was already well aware that he was her tame, little puppy. Why else wouldn’t she have offered him so much as a passing glance when he had continued to stalk her from the shadows? He was certain she knew he had followed her from the castle to the demon monster habitat at the edge of the neutral territory.

For a moment, his stiff lips curved upward into an icy smile. He couldn’t work out the reason behind Roxana choosing to return to fix what she had sought to destroy.

Deon was well aware that his sister had rejected any and everything Agrece out of spite. He would have been a fool not to since he had stubbornly pursued her all that time. But the true irony was that in the end... Roxana was still an Agrece through and through. Her intentions once she had entered Yggdrasil castle were so tangible that he could practically hold them in his hands.

No matter how much she pretended to be part of the Blue Pedelian, her essence would forever remain as dark as his soul. Even she couldn’t deny that their clan’s methods were the most effective.

“Deon, I no longer need you. You have indeed outlived your usefulness to me, so I wish for you to stay out of my sight while doing absolutely nothing at all. That is my final order, Deon Agrece.”

Words that had wrung out his soul once again flooded his thoughts. The desire he had so vehemently denied and kept chained down began to pierce his heart as well.

“Deon Agrece.”

Right then one of the few people who could drag out the worst of his tumultuous emotions appeared before him. His crimson eyes glared with the intent to penetrate his target much like an array of light beams converging to form a single stinging ray. He fixed his focus on the silver hair of the man as it wafted in the breeze and appeared to blend in effortlessly with the sunset.

The bloodlust he had been suppressing sprang to life the moment he recognized that Cassis Pedelian had found him. The gold of the Blue Heir’s stare appeared solid as he stared at the Agrece.

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

The frosty tone of the question grated against Deon’s ears. He could have easily soaked the very earth at their feet with his nemesis’ blood, but he chose to refrain. He instead simply replied with a tone of indifference. “What was?”

“You’re the one responsible for the Gold steward’s absence, and the one who set fire to the Castro wing of the castle.”

The dark-haired man’s unfaltering red gaze left little room for any further speculation, then his response coiled itself around the Pedelian’s ears like thorny vines. “I think you’re asking the wrong person. Why not try Roxana?”

His low voice was thick with mockery. A sharp light lingered for a moment in the golden eyes glaring him down.

“Don’t change the subject. And just what makes you think you have any right to utter her name in this situation?”

“You just seem rather certain that it wasn’t her.”

“Because it wasn’t.”

Deon’s face became cast in an ominous shade. In truth, Cassis was already well aware of the nature of the incident.

Nevertheless, the older man’s insides had begun to churn as he continued to stare into the unfaltering, golden eyes. “Yeah, you’re right. It wasn’t her. But what if she wanted both of those things to happen?”

“I don’t know how long you intend to waste my time with your nonsense, but I am not as readily available as you to dawdle here.” His silver hair appeared to snap back as if it had been swept up in a furious and blisteringly cold blizzard.

The Agrece’s red eyes continued to stare at him coldly without so much as a word for a while. Then as if he’d been hit with a wave of clarity, his lips pressed together firmly to form a straight line. “As I thought, I’m clearly the one Roxana needs, not you.”

Cassis’ expression suddenly lost composure and looked visibly disturbed.

“No one knows her better than I do, therefore there’s no one more deserving to be by her side than me. Oh, and yes. I did everything. I did it for her.”

The moment Deon answered Cassis’ initial question, the Pedelian’s internal energy changed abruptly.

In a flash, the mild floral fragrance in the air became so sharp it practically stung the dark-haired man’s nostrils. All the while, the burning red glow of the sun as it melted into the horizon obscured his vision. The shadows of twilight covered half of the younger man’s face as his golden gaze dropped several degrees colder while staring at the grim character before him.

“‘For her’...?”

In the blink of an eye, Cassis flung Deon to the ground to come crashing down on a bed of flowers. He then proceeded to grab the red-eyed man by his collar to choke him. The surrounding leaves and petals fell helplessly around them as their fragrant scents flooded the air hanging over the two before finally dissipating in the wind.

“Did you honestly think I’d let you get away with such... such blasphemy?!”

His glare rained down upon his captive like shards of shattered glass, but the Agrece simply glared back at the younger man with an overwhelmingly icy gaze of his own.

“How was any of that for her sake?!”

Without warning, the dark-haired man raised his hand, but rather than aim for his attacker’s chest, he reached toward something else.

A crimson butterfly was just about to fly away before his vice-like hand closed in around it. There was no doubt that this time it was one of his half-sister’s butterflies. He took it as another way she was making a point to him of marking what was hers. The thought alone didn’t help him in containing his anger as he recalled watching the demonic creature trail behind the Blue Heir.

“Even your behavior now proves yet again why you aren’t worthy of being by her side, Cassis Pedelian. You don’t know her at all.” There was a cold twist in his face that resembled the chilly northern winds. “But, alas. Even you have a choice.”

The butterfly in Deon’s grip finally crumbled to dust, then scattered away in the breeze as he unclenched his fist.

“You’re the only person who knows what I’ve done. So are you going to rat me out to everyone in the castle like the good, little Pedelian you are?”

“You say that as if you’ll actually own up to your transgressions.” The Blue Heir’s words were audibly bitter. He did not have a shred of evidence that the crimson-eyed Agrece was the culprit behind either crime. The older man continued to speak while staring into his captor’s solid, gold eyes.

“I have no intention of denying what I’ve done. Nor will I try to stop you even if you run off this very instant to reveal the truth. Of course, if you were to do that...” He punctuated his speech in order to ensure the words slashed at Cassis’ insides. “...wouldn’t you just be making things more difficult for my sister and her plans to bear the weight of our clan on her shoulders?”

The corners of Deon’s mouth narrowed as if they were mockingly daring the young Pedelian to see if he could follow through with such a thing. “So will you keep your mouth shut?” He paused for a moment to observe the turmoil he was stirring before continuing to whisper like a snake. “Sharing your life with her would mean you’d have to carry that moral torment to your grave.” Then a piercing jeer began to form on his face. “There’s no other Agrece who’s more Agrece than Roxana. Even she can’t deny that.”

In truth, Cassis Pedelian was still very much in the dark about just how deep Roxana’s Agrece roots ran.

“Do you really think you can handle her?” Deon asked. I bet you’ve come this far thinking you know everything there is to know about her, but does that even include her very essence? “You live in an entirely separate world from ours.” Right. There’s no chance you know her that well. “Roxana’s poison will slowly choke the life clean out of you as it inches its way toward your heart.”

But even as he spoke the Agrece held a lingering doubt.

“In the end, the only thing she will offer you is your own death.”

Although he sounded as if he was foretelling a prophecy, there was a trace of uncertainty in Deon’s voice.