Chapter 244 - Master Showman
Chapter 244 – Master Showman
"What…?"
I flinched and turned my head at the sudden noise. My eyes landed on the book that suddenly came out of the shelf on its own.
"What is going on?" I whispered along with a deep exhale, looking around at the portrait. I had a hunch that book, whatever it was, would give me some enlightenment. So I sauntered to it and picked it up, brushing the dust off of its cover.
I shook my head lightly to avoid the grime whilst walking to the armchair covered with a white sheet. I removed the sheet, holding my breath to avoid inhaling the dust, before plopping my butt down.
As my hand touched the cover to open it, I hesitated. "I don't like what kind of conclusion where my mind is heading," came out a whisper before I shook my head and read the book.
My eyes grew colder as I read each and every word of the family history of the royal family in the Hendrik Empire. I didn't care about its history, so I flipped the pages and what I've seen about the record of the current royal family caused all the hair on the back of my neck to rise.
I was correct, which I sincerely hoped I wasn't.
The portraits hanging on the wall were a family of three. The late emperor and empress, and their one and only child, Niall. I looked up the certain family records to learn more about this family. My gut feeling had been screaming to read more, to figure out more.
So, that was what I did, which caused my heart to sink deeper and deeper.
A vampire's love was eternal. Once they spoke their vows to their spouse, their heart would only yearn for their other half and only their partner's impossible warmth was what they would seek. The late emperor's love for his empress was proof of the true love of a vampire.
After the death of the late empress, the emperor's heart still and would only belong to his deceased wife. Therefore, the emperor, despite needing an empress, didn't take anyone in to secure the throne for his one and only son, Niall.
In other words, the royal family only consisted of three members: the emperor, the empress, and the crown prince.
"Who is Azazel then?" I muttered blankly, feeling my stomach contract as my heart constricted. In a moment of silence, my mind automatically retrieved all memories of Azazel in my head and everything that I heard about him.
Nothing.
I blinked as if that would clear my head. From start until now, I never recalled hearing anything about Azazel aside from the words from his mouth to the werewolves. I didn't suspect it in the beginning, since I knew everyone in this place was under Niall's control.
But now that I thought about it, there were no other signs of other royalty in here. In this castle… I looked up at the dark, high ceiling.
"He… is cunning," came out a muffled voice through my gritted teeth before I flinched mildly once again.
CREAAK…
I turned my head to the eerie creak, squinting my eyes when the wall where the fireplace was attached to cracked ajar. A secret door. I held my breath as I put the book aside, pushing myself up to check on the secret door.
I swallowed a mouthful of saliva as I stood in front of the gap, reaching for it and opening it slightly. The long creaking continued before the gap was enough for me to fit. I scrunched my nose up as soon as I stepped foot as the pungent scent of rotting corpse wafted my nose.
A human rotting body had this distinct scent no one would ever mistake about. It smelled inexplicably terrible.
I narrowed my eyes as they glowed mildly. To my shock, what lies ahead in this small underground tunnel were countless women, hands and feet bound to the wall, all butt naked. Their only cover was the scars and wounds and blood across their entire bodies.
"What…" my lower lips quivered as I entered, approaching the first woman nearest me. I stopped a step away, studying her already purple and stiff feet. She was dead for quite some time now.
I clenched my teeth as I looked away, walking through this dreadful path with witches' corpses hanging on either side. Everyone was dead, and I was certain of that when I reached the end of the path.
I looked ahead at the end wall, seeing just a flat surface. I planted my palm on it and pushed it slightly. Dust fell on the back of my hand, so I pushed it more until it creaked open like a concrete door.
What welcomed my eyes didn't even surprise me anymore. It terrified me… to the core.
Gigantic and solid pillars in a circle formation, a woman hanged in the middle, a cup below her where the blood from the tip of her toe would drip, and the sunken lines on the ground.
I've been into this vast expanse a couple of times. However, from how I saw it, it was… clean. Not a speck of dusk could be seen. But from this side, it was the opposite.
The sunken lines were covered with dried blood, revealing a distinct marking of a huge magic circle. Around the pillars were prisoners—or rather, corpses of countless women, drained of their blood, inside the large cells.
I balled my hands into a tight first, walking ahead until I entered the inner circle past the pillar. When I looked back from where I came from, my heart stopped beating for a second. Everything I saw from there was gone.
An Illusion.
"The child of evil…" I ground my teeth as my breathing grew heavier, my knees and fist trembling with the little details I didn't notice back then. It was my fault; I was too complacent that I didn't realize the child of evil had been toying us all along.
"…. Ronmin is in danger."