The piano's notes floated through the hall, each one precise, deliberate—just like the first time he met Camilla.
He imagined she was the one playing .
He listened, eyes narrowing slightly, a shadow of a smile ghosting his lips behind the faceless mask.
A guard stepped forward, bowing low, and whispered into his ear before retreating into the shadows.
"Come in," Tenebrarum commanded.
A maid entered, her robes pale and plain, bowing until her forehead nearly kissed the floor.
"Rise," he said, his voice cold, measured. "You claim something important to report. Speak."
"Thank you, my lord," she began, her hands trembling slightly. "You ordered that no one was to give sustenance to the human girl in the lower vaults, yet someone has dared disobey."
"And who is this insolent fool?" Tenebrarum's voice rumbled, low and deadly, each word like a strike.
"It is Felicia, my lord," the maid whispered, trembling. "I saw her carry food and water to the vaults. She has been speaking to the human girl—disobeying your rules, and Lord Calvus's."
A shadow passed over Tenebrarum's eyes. His once calmed self shattered.
The piano's delicate notes, once sweet, now grated against his fury.
With a single movement, a surge of his power burst from him. The piano splintered, wood and strings erupting into shards, scattering across the floor like fire. Silence followed, thick and suffocating, broken only by the crackle of splintered wood.
No one dared move.
No one even dared to breathe.
That one snitch shattered the room's fragile calm in an instant,how could some people just be so ruthless, jobless and also wicked.
Is she happy with this room's tension now?
"Bring Felicia," he ordered, his voice sharp enough to cut through stone, "and drag the other fool here—then bring me the sword."
The guards moved like shadows, fast and silent.
The guards didn't walk Aurelia into the chamber—they hauled her.
One guard gripped her under the arms, another at her wrists, lifting her clean off the ground as if she were nothing but an inconvenience. Her injured leg dangled uselessly, every jolt sending a sharp, sickening pulse up her spine until she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out.
She didn't even realize where they were taking her until the world brightened.
The gates of the room swung open.
The dragged her rooms into rooms.
Till they finally stopped.
And she saw —
Felicia.
Thrown to the floor like discarded trash.
The girl lay crumpled at the center of the room, body curled in on itself, hands trembling where she struggled to push herself up. Her hair fell over her face, and she was shaking so badly it seemed like the ground itself quivered beneath her.
Aurelia's breath caught.
Before she could speak, the guards dropped her with force.
Her body hit the floor hard—her palms slapped stone, her injured leg buckled under her, folding painfully. The shock shot through her so fiercely she couldn't breathe for a moment. Her fingers clawed at the ground just to keep from collapsing entirely.
Her heart pounded against her ribs as she forced her head up—
—and then she saw him.
Tenebrarum.
Felicia hit the floor first, forehead pressing into the cold stone, bowing so low it seemed she could disappear into it.
Aurelia's leg throbbed violently; she couldn't take a step, couldn't even shift. Pain locked her in place as the room's cold authority pressed in from every wall.
"So," Tenebrarum's voice cut like steel, "you fools dared disobey me!"
Disobeyed!
The word rang in Aurelia's ears, sharper than any blade.
She lay on the floor, chest heaving, confusion and anger twisting inside her like twin serpents. Her fingers dug into the stone beneath her, nails biting into the surface, as if trying to hold herself together against the storm of fear and fury.
"Flavia, cut off her head!" Tenebrarum's voice thundered, reverberating off the walls like a war drum.
A knife spun through the air, sharp and glinting, landing mere inches from Aurelia's trembling hands. The cold steel kissed the stone floor with a metallic hiss, a warning and a threat all at once.
Felicia lunged, desperate to shield her, but the guards were relentless. They pinned her down, arms crushing her torso, knees pressing her into the unforgiving floor. Her screams tore through the chamber, echoing against the walls, but no one moved to help—no one dared.
Aurelia's legs throbbed with raw pain, swollen and bruised, every pulse stabbing like fire. She tried to crawl, but her body refused her.
Tears stung her eyes as she realized the full weight of her helplessness.
"I… I don't understand… why am I here?" she gasped, her voice ragged with fear and pain. "I won't do that"
"You won't," Tenebrarum said, his tone calm but edged with lethal intent. He stepped closer, shadow falling over her, the air thick with power and menace. His eyes scanned her pain-stricken form with the cold precision of a predator.
Felicia's cries grew frantic. "Please… my lord… have mercy!"
Tenebrarum's lips twisted into something like a smile, cruel and slow. "Mercy… is a luxury for the obedient," he said, the steel of his words cutting deeper than any blade. "You've broken my rules. You've dared… to defy me."
The guards tightened their grip. Every movement Felicia made was met with bone-deep pressure, suffocating, relentless. Aurelia felt the sharp sting of tears mingling with sweat and blood, the scent of iron thick in the air.
"You will remember this day," Tenebrarum continued, his voice low and commanding, echoing like judgment itself. "Pain… obedience… submission… tonight, you will learn the cost of defiance."
Even the stone walls seemed to shudder under his presence, the chamber alive with the tension of dread.
"Wow… you love to shed blood, don't you?" Aurelia's voice trembled, strained by fear and pain. She struggled against the guards, but her legs refused to obey, stiff and swollen, as if betraying her. "What… what is the reason for this?"
"Ask her," Tenebrarum said, his tone low, lethal, the faintest amusement curling at the edge.
Felicia's sobs ripped through the chamber as she fell to her knees, forehead pressed to the cold floor. "No one… no one was supposed to give you food… or water," she choked out, her voice breaking under the weight of terror. "I… I disobeyed the master's rules!"
How stupid, just because of little piece of bread she's in this situation.
Aurelia's chest heaved, fury and fear tangled together. The girl's confession barely mattered now—why was everything always about obedience, rules, and cruelty?
Tenebrarum's eyes glinted, cold and merciless, as he studied them. "You dare defy my commands… and yet, you plead for mercy?" His voice cut the air like a sharpened blade, slow and deliberate. "Then you shall learn… the price of your insolence."
"Stop it! Stop it!" Aurelia's voice cracked, desperation shaking her words.
He didn't move. He didn't even glance at her. One motion of his hand, and the guards approached Felicia, dragging her forward with force. Her screams echoed against the stone walls, sharp and pitiful.
Aurelia's stomach twisted. She wanted to move, to scream, to intervene—but her legs refused her. Swollen, battered, useless. She could only watch.
"Do you think mercy belongs to those who disobey?" Tenebrarum asked, stepping closer, his mask hiding any hint of emotion. The torchlight flickered across the sharp angles of his face. "No. It belongs to me—and I take it freely."
The executioner's sword gleamed in the dim light. Felicia's eyes met Aurelia's for a fleeting moment—an apology, a plea, a shuddering farewell.
Aurelia's fingers clawed at the cold floor. Her teeth gritted. Her voice had vanished, but her rage burned brighter than her fear.
With a single, merciless swing, the sword fell.
The sound—sharp, final—cracked through the chamber like thunder. Felicia's body collapsed instantly, the impact echoing off the stone walls. For a moment, her limbs twitched with leftover nerves before falling still, silence swallowing the last traces of her.
Blood pooled out , staining the floor.
A suffocating hush followed.
Aurelia's breath shook violently, chest rising and falling as if she were drowning in the thick air. She couldn't move. She couldn't look away. Her pulse hammered in her ears, loud enough to hurt.
Tears streamed down Aurelia's face in uncontrollable waves, hot and relentless.
She cried like a child ripped from every safety she had ever known, her chest rising and falling in sharp, uneven jerks.
Her breath hitched—hard, trembling gasps that barely made it past her lips.
Her fingers clawed weakly at the cold floor, her body curling in on itself as if trying to shield the last unbroken pieces of her soul.
Tenebrarum didn't blink.
His gaze swept toward her—slow, deliberate—like a predator turning its attention to the next helpless creature in its path. There was no fury in his eyes. No satisfaction. Only cold certainty.
"Now," he said, voice low, controlled, and terrifying in its calm,
"you will learn what it truly means to disobey me."
Aurelia pressed her hands over her mouth, trying to stifle the scream that threatened to escape, tears still flowing unstoppable. Her body shook violently, legs still useless beneath her, pain and fear twisting together into a raw, choking knot.
Her eyes darted to Tenebrarum, to the sword, to the empty space where Felicia had been—every movement, every shadow, magnified by the pounding of her own heartbeat.
Her chest heaved beneath her trembling hands, the muffled sound of her scream lost mistakenly to the cold stone walls. "You're a demon!" she spat, venom lacing her words despite the fear that threatened to swallow her whole.
Tenebrarum stopped, letting her accusation hang in the air, thick and electric.
Then, slowly, almost with amusement, he leaned closer, his shadow falling over her. "Yes," he said, voice low, smooth, and terrifying,
"I am the demon prince."
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To be continued...