Chapter 161: Chapter 161

TRISTAN:

I thought I was seeing things when I saw a body on the ground. As I came over, I realized that this man was someone I knew.

I flipped him over, and I was right. It was Sir Casior, Livia’s lover. I hastily carried him into the village straight into Sir Morland’s abode.

The dragon healer immediately set himself to heal him.

Vampires have really strong bodies. There were very few things that could kill them, which was why blessed artifacts – weapons that are blessed by the Moon Goddess herself and can kill vampires – were considered national treasures in the Werewolf Clan.

Judging by the deep gash behind Sir Casior’s back, there’s no doubt that he was attacked with a blessed artifact.

“He is out of peril now,” Sir Morland revealed as he wiped the sweat off his head after a few hours of trying to heal Sir Casior.

“Thank the Goddess then,” Samalah said.

I shot her a dubious look. I’m not sure if she and Sir Caisor knew each other, but maybe Livia did introduce him to her when I wasn’t around. After all, it was Samalah who was able to find Livia’s whereabouts when I asked for her help to find my sister.

“Isn’t he working directly for the Apricus king? Why was he here in this part of the kingdom,” Prince Kaist said suspiciously.

“I don’t think his loyalty will be on the Apricus king’s side. It isn’t officially known, but he and Livia had been long time lovers... He has also helped me and Livia several times in the past already.”

“How come you know so much about Lady Livia,” Prince Kaist asked suspiciously.

I looked at Samalah. She seemed to have understood. She asked Sir Morland and Thesla if we could talk together, just the three of us.

I sighed before I started.

“Prince Kaist… The real reason Samalah and I have come to Talandor was to take revenge against your father, Count Jeteris, and Duke Hurst. The same goes for Lady Livia. She has been on our side since the very start...”

The prince’s eyes rounded up in shock. “Let me guess… This had something to do with the Shadow Runes?”

I nodded. “Twenty years ago, under your father’s command, Duke Hurst and Count Jeteris entered Laudicia in disguise and slaughtered the whole Shadow Rune Pack overnight. They killed the pack alpha, Alpha Ruthor Daedrich, and they have taken the pregnant luna with them.”

“How do you know this? How sure are you that they are at fault and that my father commanded it,” the prince said, seizing me by the collar.

“I heard Duke Hurst and Count Jeteris speak of their plan, and I watched the slaughter of the pack myself… You see, I was the only survivor on that night...”

Prince’s Kaist’s grip against my neck eased as I continued my story. “You… You’re really a Shadow Rune wolf?”

I nodded hesistantly, and started the difficult story I must tell him.

“I was five years old when it all happened. It was in the dead of winter… I was playing at one of the secret passages coming to Laudicia when I saw a figure collapsing in the midst of the winter snowstorm… That man was Dahlia’s father, Duke Hurst.”

“I knew the alpha forbade taking any visitors, but I took pity out of the man who had collapsed from the cold. I took him inside the secret passage that goes directly into the palace gardens…”

“I nursed the man for hours, bringing him warm clothes and letting him sleep inside my room in secret. Little did I know that he was a traitor…”

“That night, he bound and gagged me and took me back to the secret passage we went in. He then left me in there to meet his men and lead them back into the palace.”

“By some miracle, I was able to free myself from the ropes that held me. I hurried back into the passage only to see smoke rising from the village…”

“I went back into the palace, and there by the hall way, I saw Count Jeteris pierce my father’s chest with a sword while Duke Hurst was carrying my unconscious mother in his arms. I screamed, pleading for them to let my mother go, but Count Jeteris only kicked me aside and slashed his sword through my back.”

“I was still semi-conscious at that time. I felt someone scoop me up and carry me to the Goddess knows where. I heard the two men bicker and fight about the orders the king had given them all throughout the ordeal…”

“The next thing I knew, I was inside the secret passage where I had first met Duke Hurst the day before, and the village and everyone in it were no more…”

After I had finished my story, Samalah’s eyes had shed more than enough tears to fill in a lake.

It was understandable. She was also brought to tears the first time I had revealed this part of my childhood to her many, many years ago while we were still under the guardianship of Uncle Milford.

“So you… You staged all this to get back to my father and also to hurt me and Dahlia?...”

“I would be lying if I told you that you and Dahlia weren’t part of those whom Samalah and I resented. You two led such privileged lives with your family while we had to suffer without ours… We really planned to get our revenge with the two of you included, but I didn’t expect that it will come to this…”

“So my father – you said he died by the cave… Did you… Did you kill him?” the prince asked breathlessly with angry eyes.

“No. Like I told you, he died due to the complications of Traitor’s Disease… Before he died, he also apologized and revealed something that concerns me, you, and Livia…”

“What is it? What the f*ck did he say to you?!”

I hesitated. The prince looked like he was anguished enough already with the information I just revealed. Did I really have to hurt him more?...

“Say it! Tell me what my father’s last words are!”

“He asked for my forgiveness for killing my father so that he could wed my mother, the woman who happens to also be your and Livia’s mother…”

The boy before me staggered. He no longer looked like the grand and proud prince he once was. He only looked like a little boy who was hurt beyond repair.

He also looked so much like my mother…

“Kaist… You and I, we are brothers…” I forced myself to say.

“No! It’s a lie! Everything you said was a lie!”

I tried to control the shaking voice inside me as I replied to him. “I wish it were all lies, but the proof that your father had committed an unforgivable sin and repented before he died was this.”

As I spoke, I took away the sleeve that covered my left hand – the hand that King Maurus clasped as he made the succession of rights ritual the moment before he took his last breath.

Kaist and Samalah could only stare at the white teeth mark that was etched on my skin.

“The king gave me the rights to the throne as an act of contrition, telling me to help you ascend in Talandor no matter what, for we are of the same flesh and blood…”

Those were the last words I was able to speak before Kaist took off, leaving Samalah and I alone in Sir Morland’s living room.