Chapter 138 - No Remorse, No Mercy. II
Chapter 138 – No Remorse, No Mercy. II
No one could defend Adelia anymore. What she uttered was nothing but wicked. Rinnie deserved to die? Said who? She was manipulating everyone? Not just that, but did she just say the reason Hugo was fond of her was that Rinnie warmed his bed?
Adelia committed not only one grave crime. She had deepened the wound she caused, that even her family who loved her with all their hearts couldn't believe.
Balthazar, Hugo's trusted vassal, hung his head low. He knew it. He had always known he raised his only daughter incorrectly. Everyone knew how Emily and Balthazar showered their one and only daughter with love. Even her brother spoiled her.
Thus, Adelia grew up getting away from almost everything. But this time… this one time, she would never get away from it. Even a miracle wouldn't save their daughter and them anymore. What she did and what she said, it was already a surprise they got to hear all that without blood spilling.
"I already said it before, and it annoys me that I have to repeat it again." Hugo barely blinked while keeping his eyes on Adelia. "I promised to protect Belcoot and its people, but if Belcoot and its people cannot protect my Luna… then I don't need it."
Hugo was on the verge of snapping. He was angry, livid. And he didn't know what to do with this fury welling up in his chest. More than the shock of what Adelia spewed, his mind was being filled with the worst way to kill this woman.
"Adelia, I left Rinnie in the castle because I trust everyone in here. Although she was worried about my deep trust in everyone, Rinnie respected my decision and put her faith in everyone." His chest moved in and out heavily, balling his hand into a fist while recalling all his conversations with Rinnie during the night. "Do you know my answer when she told me betrayal never comes from your enemies? I laughed and shrugged it off."
Hugo let out a dry scoff, cocking his head to the side with mockery in his eyes. "I should've known. Rinnie lived her life surrounded by deception. Hence, she could tell if one was genuine and if one wasn't. I should've known that she could smell the wind blowing past the crack of what I believed an impregnable wall."
His crisp voice resonated across the entire throne hall, but no one dared make a sound. It was too silent that it was deafening. Hugo's words and this incident only proved one thing. Trust… wouldn't come easily again.
What Adelia did not only endangered Rinnie but also broke the trust that everyone built through the years. All went down the drain because of Adelia's foolishness.
"Rinnie is not a saint, Adelia. But she is honest and an overall kind person. She isn't a werewolf, but no one in here will ever win against her." Hugo stretched his fingers, and they instantly grew large, sharp claws coming insight. "Even if she can't wield a sword, a lot of people will take up their sword for her. I, for example, killed for her and I will do it again… happily."
Just as Hugo was about to sentence Adelia to her impending doom, one of her brothers hollered as he looked up. His eyes were determined, taking deep breaths.
"Your Grace, let me do it." He suggested with a stern voice, making Adelia look at him, wide-eyed. "Please allow me to take my sister's life for the atrocity she had done that disrupts the trust we had built in Belcoot. This may not be enough, but let me carry our deaths on my shoulder to atone for our sin."
"Brother, what…" Her complexion was pale, shocked that Hugo could look at her with killing intent. She couldn't believe that her brother would utter such words. Until now, Adelia didn't have remorse and still believed everything she had done was for the goodness of Belcoot.
"Please, Your Grace." The oldest son of the House Talon held the Alpha's intimidating gaze, even though his spine shuddered.
"Alpha." Ivo stepped in, eyes on Hugo's side.
Meanwhile, Hugo narrowed his eyes before shifting his eyes to Balthazar. "Bal, Emily, the House Talon will be stripped of their title. You two will leave Belcoot and cannot return ever again. Your sons will atone for their sister's sin all their life and the next three generations of the Talons." Hugo paused as he gave out his verdict, returning his eyes to the eldest son of his vassal, and nodded slightly.
Upon Hugo's silent permission, the first son of the Talon stood up from kneeling. As he walked over in front of Adelia, he unsheathed his sword.
"Brother…" his eyes flickered with bitterness as his jaw tightened.
"Adelia, forgive me for failing you as your brother. You will not be like this if I didn't turn a blind eye to your actions instead of disciplining you." Her brother expressed with deep regret in his voice, lifting his sword up. He didn't even close his eyes when he swung his sword down, ripping out his sister's flesh.
Before death, Adelia was unable to blink. She didn't even see the sword as her eyes were on the regret in her brother's eyes. When his brother swung his sword down, her eyes shifted to Hugo, who was standing behind her brother.
Hugo, the only man she loved and fantasized about, had no trace of affection while staring at her. Even so, during the last seconds of her life, she didn't learn her lesson. If anything, those cold eyes staring back at her only fueled her anger toward Rinnie — the person she blamed for her demise, since she couldn't blame Hugo.
THUD!
Her body collapsed instantly after having her throat cut, lying in her own pool of blood. And yet, the silence only followed afterward. Hugo stared at Adelia's body for a few seconds, thinking that he truly saw her as his sister. Pity, he thought. That even the last second, he didn't see remorse in her eyes. Hence, no mercy.
"Display her head on the gates of Belcoot as a warning to everyone and feed her body to the vultures," Hugo ordered as he turned around, disgracing Adelia even after her death without mercy.