QUARTET ALLIANCE: LEND A HAND (Wild Duty & Judgement)

Chapter 46: King of Veracity

But he wasn't.

Cesal's weak smirk never fell of his blood-soaked face. He didn't like feeling so numb and emotionless, but he also didn't like his eyes taking on a sheen of water and the tension building behind them. His view of the prince was blurring, just like his impression of him. He didn't know who he was anymore. He couldn't recognize the man in-front of him. He didn't know if he was the same prince that he was once oh so infatuated with.

And then the pain stopped.

Cesal's rigid body fell limp against the wall as his head slumped down. His blue hair appeared almost a dark violet with the blood draining from his head. It started trickling down his long bangs and down it dropped to Veldra's exposed wrists.

The prince removed his hands and stepped back, watching the now insensate boy collapse on the cold floor. As soon as his head hit the ground, blood started pooling everywhere. Veldra lips curled and his eyes widened slightly.

He looked down on his hands and stared at the fresh blood on them. Maybe he had gone too far. Veldra glanced up at Cesal once more and spotted tears that ran down the boy's face just as his eyes shut before. A faint voice inside his head told him that there was no way he was dead.

No way he was gone, just like that. But it was faint after all, and he couldn't really hear or pay attention to it. Not now at least. The prince found himself stepping back even more. The further he was, the easier he found it to breathe, and so he turned around, pulled his sleeves down and covered his arms with his cloak before hastily leaving the room, still unsure if he left the boy dead or alive.

—————

The prince walked fast through the hallways, pushing every guard or maid out of the way. His brows were furrowed and he was feeling feverish, not because he extinguished the consciousness of a traitor, but because he was thinking of how disorderly he must've looked right now. He needed to sit down and think. Figure out what his next step was.

If Cesal was really dead, he would have to find someone to replace him and provide them with the extracted powers. Make sure they never step out of line, not even once, because look what dismissing minor slip ups led to:

A traitor.

If there was anything the prince hated more that peasants, it would be traitors. He made the mistake of allowing Cesal to have his way and now he had to fix it.

How useless. After all this time, he couldn't even get rid of a measly woman. That would've been the breakthrough in Veldra's plan. He would've had Cicero right between his fingertips in no time and he would've won his stuipd game once and for all.

But, no.

Victory retraced a step when Cesal hesitated to slice that peasant's throat and now Veldra has to backtrack as well.

However, if Cesal was still alive, then he would have to adjust his corrupt mind again. This time, the boy would have no mind of his own, just whatever Veldra fed him, because the prince was sick of the hints of defiance and anything to do with it. With the new mindset, he would be just like a puppet—-an obedient robot and that would be perfect. But, deep down he wished he didn't come out alive.

After all, it was easier to eliminate the problem. And speaking of problems, he knew the huge source of this whole disaster and obstruction to his plan.