There he was at the mercy of his greatest nemesis, groveling beneath him, in tattered clothing and looking absolutely pathetic
It was not always like this, there was once a time he was surrounded by love, admiration, envy, but it all came crashing down.
His family members slaughtered at the hands of the so called hero.
No one cared when "the hero" heartless killed his brother, they hailed him, called it an accident, a sacrifice for the better good but when he did the same, he was regarded as the villain, the scorn of society.
What heartless fickle beings bending with the flow of the wind so effortlessly.
"Lucien Thorneveil you have defiled the order of the emperor and you have also been found guilty of murder and treason
You have been sentence to magical binding in the hollow vault."
I casually raised my head to glance at the so called hero and his bevy of ladies and suddenly everything became hilarious to me and I couldn't control the burst of laughter that came out of my lips.
It must have been a shock for them as well as their expression flickered from shock to confusion then settled in disdain, well most of them.
My gaze flickered towards her, she stood farthest from the hero, maybe she thought this will ease her guilt, honestly the repulsion I have for her could easily surpasses the hatred I have for our beloved hero.
She must have felt my gaze and looked at me with eyes filled with guilt and something else I really didn't care to decipher.
I honestly felt quite disgusted by her gaze.
Aurelia virelle,the second daughter of lord virelle, his illegitimate spawn, this obsolete ingrate, not only did she fail to complete her task, she was also disloyal to her master.
Her father indulged in clandestine affections with a maidservant, unbeknownst to his wife but unfortunately one careless tumble in the linens and behold: a scandal in swaddling clothes .
The scandal was a luxury the main wife could not afford; thus she erased both mother and mistake from the halls of her estate.
By ill fate, the infamous maid met with my mother as she was traveling and pleaded with her to take her child, even as a slave, just as long as she lived, she the mother will be satisfied and ran before my mother could decline.
Faced with this unreasonable situation mother could only bring the girl as a maid.
As she grew up, eldest brother found her competent and trained her to be a spy and walking dagger for him.
Who knew this ungrateful bastard would have the nerve to backstab him literally then go ahead to frame second brother.
The crime of killing one's family member was a big offence, the series of action caused the downfall of the mighty Thorneveil, she betrayed the people that gave her a chance to live all for what.
The so called Love.
Bullshit.
I removed my gaze from with a look of pure indifference, she doesn't deserve my hatred.
" let's just take his core and kill him already " the lady next to the hero voiced out
I glanced at her to remember her name
Then it clicked
Cassian Dravell, also an illegitimate daughter, It seems our hero has an undeniable penchant for the discarded daughters of noble indiscretions ,
hmmm fascinating.
But at least Cassian case is more dignified than the ingrate.
Ah, but it's a curious thing, isn't it? To see how one man's desires shape the fates of so many. Unlike Aurelia, who was born of a marriage—however fraught with her father's unchecked indulgences—Cassian's beginnings were far more… clandestine. You see, before he pledged his vows, his father found his affections turned toward a chambermaid, a lowly woman who would have, under normal circumstances, been spared such a fate. Usually, a tincture of sorts would be given to prevent such entanglements—yet Cassian's mother, driven by ambition—*perhaps too much ambition*—chose to forgo such precautions. She believed her own designs could somehow rise above such earthly concerns, and in her arrogance, she allowed this child to be conceived. The child was given birth too but she the mother was discarded immediately after that.
"Cassie have some patience will you "
Another feminine voice broke him out of his thoughts, he looked at the cold beauty in front of him,
Elira stormblade, the Emperor's only daughter, did he hate her?
No not really, he simply didn't care for this his eldest brother ex fiance, to be able to share a man with a woman who killed your fiance, she not only had a strong mental fortitude but also a miniscule amount of brain cell.
"Quiet, all of you, Lucien Thorneveil come with us willingly, I don't want to hurt you ".
How can I forget our main hero
Kaelen Stormblade—yes, you heard right, *Stormblade*—has been involved in a forbidden dalliance with his own sister. Step-sister, people may argue, but hardly makes it better.. What was meant to be a bond of family became something far more dangerous. People speak of it only in hushed tones, because saying it out loud makes it all too real.
Disgusted are you ?
Well get in line.
He is the step son of the emperor, from his second wife with another man. He fought hard for his current position of crown prince by sleeping with illegitimate daughters and occasionally some people's mother's and killing innocent kids elder brothers.
I may be speaking with a touch of prejudice—but if that offends, so be it. I make no apologies
For the first time since this fight I decided to honor them with my speech
"If you think I will be following you, you are quite mistaken and if you also think I will hand over my power cores, yes you heard me cores, then you might as well kill me, cause I will rather burst it than relinquish them to you".
You can burst you power core encase of emergency, even though you will become useless, you will still be alive.
But in my case, in which I have four power cores residing in me, the impact will blow my body to smithereens.
" Lucien don't push my hand " kaelen said with gritted teeth.
" Please I request you call me with my surname, we aren't that close " I replied nonchalantly.
" this is for the empire, Lucien, can't you look at the bigger picture ". Aurelia softly muttered
"And what has the empire to do with me?" I asked, voice steady. "Spare me the insult of uttering my name—it sounds foul coming from your lips."
*"By decree of the empire, you are to surrender your cores to us." Elira coldly demanded.
"Then do pass along a message to your empire," I said coolly. "Tell them they may go to hell."
"You dare go against the empire " kaelen asked with feigned confidence.
"Yes I suppose I do" I calmly replied
"Seize him" he ordered coldly,men suddenly surrounded the area.
" You won't leave here with your life if you don't relinquish your cores" Cassian smugly said.
I looked at the people surrounding me, trying to get my power core my force for their own personal gain, using the banner of the empire as an excuse, and here I thought I was the villain.
The so called hero squad, who are in their mid-to-late twenties bullying a mere eighteen years old boy, forcing him to give up his life source.
So heroic *scoff*.
" Who said I want to live," as I said these words I activated my power cores and burst them all at the same time, I laughed hestrically as I watched their expression turn from smug to grim, my last thought was not about regret or hatred.
I just realized how hungry I am.
I was fucking starving.
I don't know whether is for love or food or money I was hungry for.
All I knew was that I was fucking starving.
.