Aeren sat calmly on the worn sofa, eyes fixed on Lira.
"Why did you try to protect?" he asked in an even voice.
Lira leaned back, her arm still wrapped around the trembling princess. "Aeren, she's just a child. I've known her for months… doesn't she deserve at least one reward for surviving all these months?"
Something in her expression shifted, a faint smirk forming. "Actually, I just remembered—you once offered me a reward. I never answered you then… and now I want her as my reward."
The room went still.
Her words struck like a blade—more shocking than the idea that Lira had survived years of Aeren's experiments. Because everyone has been seen a Prison Hell Hole.
All eyes turned to him. No one dared to attack, because the moment they looked into Aeren's expressionless face, something primal whispered that moving even a muscle might erase them from existence.
Aeren's tone was almost bored. "Reward, huh? Take her. She's of no use to me."
Without hesitation, Lira pulled Elenya Veyra closer, clutching her like a child holds a favorite stuffed toy. The princess whimpered but did not move.
Renn's fists tightened. His instincts screamed to strike, but another voice—deeper and older—warned him that to act now was to die.
Aeren's gaze drifted across the hall. "If you leave quietly, I'll spare you all. If you'd rather test your luck… go ahead."
Amara, her chin high, smirked. She had never known fear. Why should she? In the kingdom, her status as the daughter of a powerful duke placed her above most. She thought herself untouchable.
'I wanted to spar with him,' she thought, confident.
No one moved. The silence was brittle, about to break—until one person stepped forward.
The next instant, her head hit the floor.
No one saw the strike. One heartbeat she stood, the next her body collapsed beside it. The hall erupted in screams.
Panic spread like wildfire. Some ran for the doors, and those who reached them were spared. Others hesitated, frozen in place—until heads began to roll again, falling one after another in the sickening rhythm of a butcher's blade.
It became clear—if he could kill a duke's daughter without pause, then killing viscounts, knights, or anyone else here would mean nothing to him.
The survivors stopped moving. Tears and trembling replaced bravery.
Lira's voice broke the silence. "He gave you permission to leave. If you leave, maybe you'll be spared… but if you stay, the darkness might eat you alive."
Her words shattered what little will they had left. One by one, they began to slip out of the hall, unable to look at the corpses. None dared to touch the dead.
By the time the last one left, the grand hall of Ghost Manor was empty except for the fallen bodies, the smell of blood, and Lira on the sofa, holding the princess close. Elenya buried her face into Lira's chest, gripping her with white-knuckled desperation.
And then—Aeren vanished.
One blink, and he was gone, already making his way toward the capital.
Eldric, Renn, Isolde, Liora, and the few survivors staggered away from the site of Aeren's slaughter. Whether it was called a massacre or something worse didn't matter — they were alive, and that was all they could cling to.
The moment they reached the outside gates of House Verdan, the dam inside them broke. Shoulders slumped, breaths shuddered, and tears came — not for the dead they left behind, but for the impossible fact that they had survived an existence that defied logic itself.
Some could barely stand. Others could not stand at all. Liora was among them — the one who had spent the most time with Aeren. Her legs had given out entirely. She sat on the ground, shaking, tears streaking her cheeks.
"M-my legs…! Ahh… they're not working…!"
Renn and Isolde could only stare, unable to bring themselves closer. Fear still gripped their bodies like chains. They stayed near the gate until, minutes later, the guards arrived to help.
One by one, the survivors were carried inside — even Lord Eldric himself.
Maid and butler alike rushed to assist, but when one of the butlers approached a guard he knew well, the reaction was anything but expected.
Butler: "Are you alright, man?"
The guard's eyes widened in pure horror. "Get away from me… don't come near me!"
Without another word, the guard fled the manor entirely, vanishing beyond the outer wall.
Eldric saw this. So did the others. And though none of them reacted outwardly, in their minds, the same terror lurked. The guard had simply acted on what they were all still suppressing.
Two days later, House Verdan was unnaturally quiet. The air felt heavier, as if the very walls remembered. Eldric, torn between his duty and his fear, considered warning the kingdom about what he had witnessed — but feared that doing so might cause more destruction than good.
He sat in his study and began writing letters to certain influential figures who might have the power to handle Aeren. Yet when his pen tried to write the name, it would not. No matter how hard he tried, the paper only bore the word "he." The letters were sent with no further explanation.
When the manor finally seemed to regain some fragile order, the peace shattered.
Two girls barged into the estate without warning. The whole house erupted in chaos. The few who didn't recognize them stood frozen, confused — but those who did know immediately fled.
Lira glanced around at the mess without concern and ordered one of the maids, who didn't recognize her, to bring tea. The maid hesitated, watching others run in fear, but obeyed. Moments later, Renn and Eldric entered the room, finding her seated comfortably on a sofa, sipping from a porcelain cup as though she owned the place.
Eldric's heart still carried the same fear from that night, but for the safety of the household, he forced himself to approach.
"Why are you here?" he asked evenly.
Lira set down her cup and replied casually, "I was bored. Being alone with the little princess isn't much fun. Besides, she's scared of that place, so I brought her here."
Eldric didn't press further.
Renn broke the silence. "What do you want?"
Lira glanced at him — her eyes making it clear she saw his fear — then ignored his tone entirely. "I want to go to the capital. The princess wants to go home and see her parents."
Both men looked toward Elenya. She sat quietly at a small table, nibbling cookies without saying a word.
Eldric and Renn exchanged a look before Eldric spoke. "My daughter is leaving for the academy next week. You and the princess can go with her."
It wasn't generosity — it was necessity. He knew that refusing her might mean the destruction of his household.
Lira smiled faintly. "Then I'll stay here for a week. Aeren's gone off somewhere, and there's nothing fun there anymore."
With that, she turned to a nearby maid. "Prepare a room for me."
The maid bowed and obeyed without hesitation.