Chapter 28 - Consequences (Parte )

Alastor stood outside the Palace of Eternal Night, his serpentine red eyes fixed on the building with a calm gaze as he watched the agents of the Order clean the place, remove the dead, and aid the wounded.

From what he could see, there were at least twenty dead and it was getting worse by the minute. Some of the victims were teenagers who had spoken to him before the chaos began, but now they were lying on the ground with a sheet covering their cold, lifeless bodies.

There was a cold, heavy, almost suffocating atmosphere in the air, and the sound of wailing in the background made it even more unpleasant. It was a scene that could only be seen in times of war.

Alastor knew that these people had died indirectly at the hands of his father and the Great Mother of Midnight Citadel. To be honest, he didn't feel much for these people, after all, he could have had the same result if he hadn't been strong enough. Still, the responsibility for their deaths weighed heavily on his shoulders.

Suddenly, Alastor felt a pair of arms wrapped around his neck from behind and a small body pressed against his back. He didn't even have to look back to know who was hugging him. The smell of her and the warmth she radiated were enough for him to know that Roxane was holding him, comforting him with her arms.

"You know you don't have to blame yourself, right? You and they were in the same position, ready to die at any moment. Our father and no one else is to blame for this. Let him take all the blame and use what happened today as fuel to become stronger." Roxane kissed his cheek and spoke in a soft, tender tone to the boy she held in her arms.

"We're the same ten years old, but you've always seemed much more mature than you are, sister." Alastor commented in a helpless tone as he enjoyed the warmth of his twin sister's arms. 

"Of course! I'm the older sister." Roxane spoke with a voice filled with pride and a majesty one would only find in an older sister.

Will twenty seconds make such a difference? Alastor wondered, but did not pursue the matter further. He turned his eyes to a girl who had been staring at him silently for some time, about half an hour.

Wearing an intricate black Victorian dress, she was about twenty-five, with pale blond hair and golden eyes. She looked like a life-size porcelain doll with her perfect, expressionless face. If it hadn't been for the heartbeat he heard, Alastor might have suspected that the young woman really was a doll.

"Milady?" Alastor asked in a calm but distant tone. Being stared at by an inexpressive, cold gaze for half an hour was not a very good feeling for anyone. Roxane also stared at the woman with a cold gaze, she didn't like it at all that her private time was interrupted by an unknown woman who didn't seem simple at first glance.

"Odeliah Pedelian." A gentle but cold whisper escaped her delicate lips, causing both twins to look at the young woman in surprise.

They hadn't expected this young-looking girl to be the Natural Saint, Odeliah the Martyr.

Suddenly, Alastor and Roxane looked into Odeliah's eyes, although hidden by a golden light, they could see her eyes, the real ones. The Eyes of the Assassin or the eyes of Cain, whatever you want to call them.

If Roxane remembered correctly, House Pedelian hadn't practiced incest for hundreds of years. You could say they weren't even considered a Grimm by blood standards anymore, they were just another powerful house that fell by the wayside like many others before it.

Even so, Odeliah possessed the Eyes of Cain, as she got them, Roxane assumed that being a Natural Saint had its benefits such as purifying the blood, either that or House Pedelian was hiding its incestuous practices in secret. However, that was an impossible hypothesis.

Who in their right mind would pretend to be weak in a world where strength rules all? Losing all your possessions and stores, impoverishing yourself to the extreme?

Therefore, Roxane assumed that Odeliah's blood was purified because she was a Natural Saint.

"What do you wish, Lady Pedelian?" Alastor asked again, his eyes fixed on the golden eyes before him. They were very beautiful eyes, a different color from the Agrece's red. He wanted to paint that woman, but unfortunately, he couldn't at the moment.

"I've come to rescue you..." She whispered. "But you didn't have to."

Alastor looked strangely at the woman, he couldn't help but notice a look of helplessness in the Saint's eyes. It puzzled him. Was she helpless because she couldn't rescue him and win his appreciation?

I look like a princess trapped in a tower to you, Milady! Alastor thought with a strange look appearing on his face.

Roxane looked even more coldly at the woman, now she was absolutely certain that Odeliah had ulterior motives towards Alastor.

Perhaps noticing the look in her eyes, Odeliah wasn't frightened; they both stared at each other in silence, as if looking at an enemy.

Taking one last look at Alastor, Odeliah left, her body disappearing into space as if it were being erased by an eraser.

Making Alastor and Roxane narrow their eyes thoughtfully, it was quite a powerful ability involving space.

"What a strange woman." Alastor whispered to himself, after which he put these thoughts aside.

The next day, at Agrece Manor.

Alastor tossed aside the newspaper, which read.

[March 14, 2014 - During the Great Betrayal, as yesterday became known, the Marshall of the Golden Order, Rowen Gellert, already fallen to madness, was executed in the Palace of Eternal Night during the Birthday Ball by Duke Achille Agrece and Countess Morticia Addams. At the end, where the fight between two Princes of Chaos took place - Crimson Moon and The First Light - clashed amid mysterious circumstances. The number of victims reached sixty-four and the wounded more than three hundred].

Alastor was having breakfast with his family and a very special guest, whom he hadn't seen for five years.

Alastor lifted a delicious cup of coffee to his lips and looked at the woman with the long black hair in front of him. He could see the kind, warm look in her dark eyes.

Morticia Addams, his noble aunt and a Special Grade Witch with a specialization in Darkness, Shadows and Visions of the Future.

"Was the evening pleasant, Aunt?" Alastor asked, buttering his bread.

"An excellent evening, nephew, I killed so many people yesterday that I'm totally relaxed." She replied with a cold but equally gracious laugh, although the nature of her words was somewhat sadistic and sick.

Alastor pursed his lips and tried very hard not to show what he was feeling at that moment. His aunt was a rather... exotic woman? He didn't know how to describe his aunt very well, but he thought that was the closest word to the truth.

"How are things in the States?" Roxane, sitting next to Alastor, asked with a smile on her lips as she leaned her head on her hand.

"It's a beautiful country, although I'm still getting used to the different laws and other strange customs." Morticia replied with a smile as she looked at her nephews with a gaze full of sweetness and love for them.

Alastor understood, after all, it was a new country and there was still a lot to learn from it. 

As he lovingly watched Roxane and Morticia talking, Alastor realized that his father wasn't there. Which was shocking, to say the least, given that Achille Agrece prized punctuality above all else!

The injuries must be serious. Alastor thought, remembering the state his father was in after the fight. He knew the price of wielding the Dark Spear, the spear devoured its hosts every time it was invoked. Two patriarchs had been killed by the spear in the past. Showing just how ferocious the spear was, despite having been created by his ancestor.

"I must get stronger, not just for myself, but to protect her smile." He thought, looking at the smile on his sister's lips. He wanted to preserve that happiness at all costs.

Perhaps sensing his gaze, Roxane turned and smiled at him before going back to talking about fashion and dresses with her aunt.

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