Lucien broke off the broom and used the wooden stick as a weapon, his swing was fast and directed at Nicholas's head.
But it never made contact. Nicholas pulled out of his so-called friend and managed to duck just in time, he sprang forward and directly punched Lucien.
He wasn't sure why Lucien was attacking him, nor did he care, he'd always hated this privileged half brother of his.
Lucien expected this much resistance, Elizabeth made sure his father had all her bastard children trained in preparation for one day awakening.
And of all her children, Nicholas was the most talented, not only did he awaken at the age of fourteen, a year earlier than Lucien who has always been praised for his talent, but he also awakened as a spirit, a very dangerous class of awakens.
But he hasn't awakened yet, and Lucien is far more experienced in the art of combat.
He side stepped Nicholas's punch and with a short rotation of his body, managed to position himself behind Nicholas, before his half brother could comprehend what happened, he once more swung his wooden stick, this time hitting him squarely at the center of his head.
Nicholas was about to scream from the pain, but the next moment, Lucien kicked the back of his knee, forcing him to his knees, before striking him once more on the side of his face, the pain confused Nicholas and paralysed his attempts to resist.
The ringing from his ear distracted him long enough for Lucien to break his wooden stick in two, before stabbing them both into his neck.
Nicholas finally managed to squeeze out a scream, but it was reduced to a couple grunts as he began to choke on his blood.
Lucien didn't want to touch his half brother's naked body, so he used the two sticks, and stabbed them into his brother's back, before using all his strength to throw him through the tower's window.
Nicholas's body vanished into the darkness as Lucien stood still. The wind from the broken window tugged at his pitch black coat, carrying the faint scent of blood and sweat.
His gaze drifted lazily to the other man in the room, Nicholas's trembling friend, staring at him like he was looking at death itself.
"Run," Lucien said quietly.
The servant didn't need to be told twice. He stumbled toward the door, half-sobbing, desperate to escape this nightmare. But before his hand could touch the handle, Lucien was already behind him.
The servant instantly froze. His breath hitched as the temperature seemed to drop, he looked down at the hole where his heart was meant to be.
Then Lucien's voice came, low and indifferent.
"Heretic Virtue, feast of a blackened heart"
The man immediately tried to scream, but his voice refused to come. The veins on his neck turned black as if ink was spreading through his blood. His eyes rolled back, and his body went limp, collapsing to the floor with a dull thud.
His body's skin immediately began to visibly decay until he resembled a corpse that had been buried for years.
Lucien stood over the rotten corpse, his expression a picture of dissatisfaction.
When he used his heretic virtue on the man servant, he felt a pulse of energy run through his body, but the pulse was so weak, he barely felt it before it vanished.
But at least Lucien was now aware that his heretic virtue could help him refine his physical body by absorbing other awakened, but to what extent?, that remains to be seen, he thought.
"It's possible the effects of my heretic virtue is limited by the strength of the awakened I use it on. This man here wasn't awakened, but he still supplied me with a fist full of energy, at the moment. I'm not strong enough to kill even the weakest rank one awakened, even though I'm technically a rank one myself…".
Lucien sighed helplessly.
"I need to strengthen myself by absorbing as many ordinary people as possible, before I gradually move on to awakens, my time is limited, Jacob and Kyle are way older than me and are already established awakens that have passed the divine trials of rank three, I also need to find resources to help Lily awaken, I get a feeling I'm going to need that divine virtue of hers very soon".
… …
Lily sat beneath the apple tree long after her master had gone, her hands clasped loosely in her lap. The sun had long fallen, leaving behind a bruised violet sky and the hum of cicadas. The field that once rang with the clashing of steel was now quiet, and yet, her heart refused to rest.
Then it came, a heavy thud that tore through the silence.
Her body moved before her mind caught up. She rose to her feet, her slippers barely holding to the dirt path as she followed the noise toward the tower, When she reached.
Nicholas's body lay mangled on the cobblestone, limbs twisted at unnatural angles. Blood pooled beneath him, His eyes were open, but empty.
Lily's breath hitched, her palms felt cold and chest heavy, she felt paralysed by the sight.
Trembling, her eyes went wide with horror, There was no question who had done this.
"Young master Lucien".
The Evil Young Lord had made his move.
Within moments, the silence broke, shouts echoed through the manor as guards and servants rushed in. A few women shrieked when they saw the corpse, one even fainted.
The guards barked orders as confusion spread like wildfire. Someone must have sent word, because before long, a woman's wailing cry cut through all the noise.
"Nicholas!"
Elizabeth pushed through the crowd like a storm, her gown half-buttoned, her long white hair loose and wild. She was five months pregnant, yet she ran like a mother possessed.
The moment her eyes fell upon the broken body on the stones, her legs gave way beneath her.
"No…no, no, please, no!"
Her scream cracked the night, She crawled to the corpse, her trembling hands reaching for her son's face. The tears came in torrents, splattering on the cold stone.
"Nicholas…Nicholas…boy, my sweet baby boy!"
Her voice shredded itself with grief. The courtyard fell silent again, the kind of silence that only comes from witnessing despair too heavy to interrupt.
Then, as Elizabeth gathered his head onto her lap, her body suddenly went rigid. Her eyes widened in shock. A thin stream of blood began to flow down her legs, darkening the hem of her almost transparent nightgown.
Lily rushed forward instinctively, pushing past the others to catch her before she collapsed.
"Elizabeth!" she gasped, wrapping her arms around her.
Elizabeth's tears had turned soundless. Her mouth opened and closed, as if words could bring back what she'd lost. Her trembling hand clutched at Lily's arm but there was no strength left in it.
The cries of the other servants faded into background noise, her pulse roaring in her ears. Lily's gaze drifted up toward the shadow of the tower, her eyes could almost see the figure of a white haired young man staring down at her with his lightless grey eyes
It was then that she understood. Every step, every word, every strange order from morning till now, all of it had been planned.
The visit to Elizabeth. The timing of the training grounds. Even Nicholas's death being a public spectacle.
Lily looked down at the woman in her arms, the once-powerful maid now pale and trembling, broken in both heart and womb.
Her hands began to shake, Not from pity for Elizabeth, but from terror.
Lucien Valeir wasn't just a cruel young lord, at least not anymore.
And for the first time since she'd met nobles and observed their cruel games of inheritance, Lily realized something she had refused to accept until now, her master was indeed the most terrifying of them all.