Hours after the ball.
“That fool!” Kohath cursed at the top of his lungs as he barged into the dining hall, stomping towards the table, fuming.
The maids and servants who were preparing dessert quickly distanced themselves from the table and watched Kohath lay his hands on the tablecloth, yanking it with all his strength.
The sound of plates crashing, food splattering, glass cups shattering, and the yelps of some soft-hearted maids filled the atmosphere as they covered their mouths.
“He dared to humiliate me in front of everyone! How dare that arrogant brat!”
Kohath spun in fury and approached a chair before slamming it against a servant who was about to run, making the man tumble.
Blood streamed down his head, but it didn’t satisfy Kohath. He approached the servant, lifted the chair and slammed him a couple more times until the chair was destroyed.
“Who built these fake chairs? Have him executed!”
He turned only to see his mother at the door, looking at the mess he had created.
He rose up.
“Don’t look at me that way.” His eyes were no different from that of a vulture, and his voice boiled with uncontrollable fury.
Wrapping his bloodied hand around another chair, he locked eyes with a trembling maid.
Bam!
Jessica watched as he brutally hit the maid until she was barely hanging on to life by a thread.
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Huff~ Huff~
Panting, he looked at his mother. “What do you have in mind?” His tone was much calmer.
Jessica leaned against the doorframe. “Instead of taking out your anger on the weak… why don’t you strike the one who caused you the humiliation?”
Kohath scoffed. “What? That bastard barely released his force, and we were already halfway to the land of the dead. How do you hurt a man like that?!”
Jessica snorted. “He might be strong, but not all Ashbourne are that strong.”
Kohath cocked his head, his eyes moved about in confusion but then it settled in.
Mary Ashbourne!
His eyes shone.
“Mother…” A smile spread across his face as he kissed his mother’s forehead and hurriedly approached the door.
“Don’t do it yourself,” Jessica advised. “Remember he sent one of the Tigris boys here. Use him. The enemy of your enemy is always your friend.” She smiled knowingly.
Nodding frantically, Kohath left. After he left, Jessica turned to the servants and maids, her gaze hardening.
“Clean up this mess, and the Duke shouldn’t know about this.”
“Yes, Mistress!!”
_____
The wet slap of the soles of a boot against the wet floor fell into the ears of disheveled men and women locked behind bars.
Most scrambled to the gates of their cells, stretching their hands at Kohath and the two soldiers trailing behind him.
Kohath didn’t even spare them a glance and walked straight to the last cell in the dungeon, a cell that had a sealed gate.
It wasn’t the usual iron bars but a steel door!
“Open it.”
One soldier inserted a key, twisting and turning it until the door clicked open with a metallic creak. Both guards then pushed the door away, revealing a white tiger crouched on the cold floor, looking at them in silence.
Levi’s death gaze made the guards stiffen, but Kohath was confident that Levi understood there was no way he could force himself out of here.
“Levi Tigris, son of Count William Tigris. I come bearing news that your father is now late, beheaded by the same man who sent you here.”
The white tiger’s eyes narrowed. Then, in a fluid motion, he morphed into his human form.
“What about my brother?”
Levi’s lack of empathy made Kohath quite shocked, but he quickly composed himself. “I’d assume Count Asher has him working in the mines… or has fed him to his wolf.”
Levi’s gaze changed. Although his force was sealed off, the sheer pressure he gave off was daunting.
Kohath smiled. “I have a proposal for you. Disfigure Mary Ashbourne, and I’ll make sure you leave the north before anyone traces you.”
Levi grunted.
“No need to sound displeased,” Kohath continued. “She’s in this castle, and I’ll make sure there are no guards around her.”
“When?” Levi said just one word, and it excited Kohath more than anything.
“When the moon comes.”
“Till then.”
Levi sat on the cold floor, leaning against the wall.
“Till then.”
Kohath replied.
_____
A gray-haired woman sat on a bench in the garden, looking at a small letter in her hand.
She had little to no idea what Asher would think if he saw this letter, so she hid it from her.
This letter was from a man!
Unlike others that made her run into her room and shut the door in panic, she found herself pacing around the garden, the spot they were supposed to meet.
She looked at the castle at times and then around her, but unbeknownst to her, the man who had sent the letter stood behind a window looking down at her.
He had spoken to Yuna about Mary, and Yuna went ahead to arrange this meeting when she figured out Mary wasn’t really against it.
But, as much as Lucas would love to spend the night chatting with the damsel down there, he feared one man.
Strange thoughts came to his mind.
What if Asher planned to wed his own sister?
After all, they were the only Ashbournes remaining, and if they wanted a purer generation, it would be best to wed each other.
It was uncommon now, but in the First Age, it was the norm, even in part of the Glorious Age!
If that was Asher’s plan, then merely being around Mary could cost Lucas his head.
While he was drowned in his own thoughts, a figure emerged from the darkness, creeping towards Mary with a short sword in her hand.
Though the figure’s aura was stealthy, Lucas could very well feel the animalistic force hidden inside that man.
Bam!
The window was pushed right open.
“Mary!”
At this moment, Levi burst forth with a terrifying speed—
But Mary manifested her wings and shot into the sky.
Her graceful flight stunned Lucas, but in the next moment—
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A short sword pierced through one of her wings, leaving a trail of blood in the air as she curved, falling back downward with greater speed!