A metallic smell invaded her nose. On the ground, she could hear the sounds of sobs echoing in her ears.
Marc lay on the ground in a pool of his own blood. *His legs were broken in two places, his arms were also broken at multiple points, each arm pointing in an unnatural direction, and he had all his fingers fractured.*
But that wasn't what killed him. No, what ended his life was a cut that almost severed his head — from where all his blood spilled onto the ground.
"A–Ale—" Tessa tried to speak, but she choked on her words.
Alex was kneeling in the pool of blood, his hands tightly pressed against his childhood friend's neck, trembling.
His tears dropped into the blood, mixing with it and disappearing.
But he was silent. He didn't scream anymore, he didn't cry out loud — nothing. Just pure, silent pain. Yet there was something else mixed with it.
Her already quick pulse became even faster at that sight, and her hair stood on end. It was like Alex's mind had shattered with the shock — and with it, his rationality.
She took a couple of steps forward, trying to approach the man kneeling on the ground, but before she could, she heard him speak.
"Weren't you wondering why I hated nobles, Tessa?" he said between sobs, though the anger and hatred could still be heard clearly.
"This is why," Alex said, looking at Marc. "Because they don't see any lives beyond their own. They destroy anyone who dares look at them the wrong way."
He then removed his hands from the neck — it was useless now. Marc was dead, and there was nothing he could do about it.
He reached down and picked up a bloodied necklace — the one Marc had bought when they went shopping together.
"Do you think he deserved this?" Alex said, his voice trembling as he held the necklace tightly to his chest. "Do you think he deserved to be tortured like this? Just for helping?"
Tessa had no words — she couldn't find them.
What words could comfort someone going through this, anyway?
After placing the necklace in his pocket, Alex rested his hand on Marc's head, carresing his hair.
"They'll pay for this… all of them, I swear." His voice was shaky but cold as he made that pledge to the corpse of his friend. He stopped crying — there were no tears left to shed.
Tessa took another step forward. She raised her trembling arm as if to reach for him.
She was watching Alex begin to take a path that always ended in tragedy.
"Yo–you can't, Alex. This is not what Marc would have wanted, please." Tessa pleaded with him not to walk the path of vengeance.
"HE WANTED TO LIVE!" Alex shouted, rising abruptly and walking toward her. His voice cracked with grief. Then, forcing down his anger, he clenched his fists and continued, "He wanted to become a knight — to help others, to prevent injustice. And look! Look where that brought him!"
Alex was once again on the verge of collapse.
Tessa suddenly hugged him tightly, not caring about the blood that drenched him.
Alex, being held by her, broke down again, sobbing uncontrollably.
"You're right — what he suffered was unjust and atrocious. But vengeance is a path that poisons the soul. You can't do this to yourself — he wouldn't want that for you." Tessa tried to comfort him the best she could, desperate to stop him from taking a path of no return.
"Sorry, Tessa, but vengeance is the only thing I have left," Alex said quietly, his voice low.
Tessa wanted to keep dissuading him, but the sound of metal clashing broke the moment — heavy boots and armor echoed from the mouth of the alley.
They both turned.
Six guards, fully clad in steel, marched toward them. The torchlight gleamed on their helmets as they halted and drew their weapons, pointing them at Alex and Tessa.
"What's going on here? We received reports of shouting!" The lead guard demanded.
Alex's voice trembled, but he forced the words out."Yes... the shout was mine. This here is my fr— family. He was murdered."
The guard took in the scene — Alex's swollen eyes, the blood coating his hands and knees, the lifeless body lying in a red pool. From the looks of it, the killer had fled long ago.
"…I'm sorry for your loss," the guard finally said, his tone softening. "Do you know who did this?"
"Bren Alderfell," Alex answered, flatly.
He turned toward Tessa, his expression empty but his meaning clear: 'Let's see what they'll do about that.'
The guard hesitated. "I… would need the lord's seal to investigate someone from the Alderfell family."
Alex said nothing. His fists tightened until his arms trembled.
"I'll file a report," the guard continued, his voice less certain. "We'll… look into it."But Alex could already hear the lie between the words.
'Fuck this shit.'
"I'm leaving," he said suddenly, stepping past them.
"You can't!" the guard barked.
"Why not? You won't do anything — so what's the point of staying?" Alex's tone was sharp, raw.
The guard stiffened, unable to answer.
"I'll give the statement," Tessa said, stepping forward. Her voice was steady, even if her eyes weren't. Unlike Alex, her sorrow hadn't turned to rage — not yet.
When she finished recounting what had happened, Alex was still kneeling beside Marc's body, adjusting his friend's posture with trembling care — as if trying to make him look less broken.
"Thank you, miss," the lead guard said. "We'll send a report to the academy immediately. They'll be informed."
"Can I take him now?" Alex asked quietly.
The guard nodded. "You'll want to bury him soon. Go on."
Alex lifted Marc's body and motioned for Tessa to follow.
At the coachman's station, he placed fifteen gold coins on the counter."Anyone willing to carry a body home for burial?"
Three men raised their hands. Alex pointed to one.
They laid Marc, now wrapped in cloth, onto the carriage. Alex turned to Tessa."Can you freeze him? I don't want him to rot before he gets buried."
Tessa nodded softly and extended her hand — frost crawled over the cloth, sealing it in cold stillness.
"Wait here," Alex told the coachman. "I'll return within an hour."
Alex wanted to shower — he didn't want Susan to see him like this.
He walked away, his steps unsteady. His eyes were hollow, fixed somewhere beyond the streetlights.
That night, not only did his best friend die — a part of Alex did too. And in two days, both would be buried together.