Chapter 75: Hidden Truths

"Don't listen to him! How could that be true? I loved you so much!" Marcellus's voice trembled as if someone had struck the deepest wound in his heart. His body lurched forward before collapsing weakly to the ground. Pain and regret filled his eyes. "There was… a reason for it all."

Alia watched his disheveled state, her emotions in turmoil. She didn't know what to believe. The man before her had once brought her boundless sweetness but also endless pain. Her mind swirled with questions, yet she didn't know where to begin.

"A reason?" Elias sneered, a trace of disdain flashing in his eyes. "Your so-called reason is treating her with cold indifference, trampling on her feelings, and even using the cruelest words to humiliate her?"

"Enough, Elias!" Marcellus clenched his teeth, his hands tightening into fists as though struggling to control himself. "It wasn't like that…"

"Wasn't it?" Elias refused to back down, his voice sharp with anger. "Then let me tell her what really happened."

Elias turned his gaze to Alia, his eyes softening with a hint of pity. Taking a deep breath, as if steeling himself, he began slowly, "Livia, when you came to me back then, you were crying like a child. You told me that your marriage to Marcellus had been happy once. You thought you were the happiest woman in the world. But then… everything changed."

Alia's body stiffened slightly. In her mind, a vision of Livia's past began to take shape—a woman perhaps naïve enough to believe that marriage could always be like a fairytale.

"You said that after a while, he became cold toward you," Elias continued, his tone heavy but cutting. "He began mocking you, hurting you with his words. He deliberately ignored your existence, sometimes not even sparing you a glance."

"I…" Marcellus tried to interject, but the words died in his throat, unable to defend himself.

Elias ignored him, pressing on. "Despite this, you still tried to save the relationship. You naïvely thought it was your fault, that you weren't doing enough. So you tried harder to please him, to win back his love. But instead of changing, he only escalated his cruelty."

Alia bit her lip, a dull ache rising in her chest. She didn't know about Livia's experiences, yet the words struck a chord deep within her, stirring a sense of familiarity and an inescapable bitterness.

"And then one day, you couldn't take it anymore. You had a huge argument with him," Elias said, anger and frustration flashing in his eyes. "Do you remember what he told you during that fight? 'I never loved you. You were nothing more than a tool for a political marriage.'"

Elias's words landed like a heavy blow, his voice ringing with icy precision. "He called you a 'curse,' said you caused your mother's death by discovering the 'Holy Grail.'"

"Holy Grail? Mother?" Alia murmured, her brows knitting tightly together. The words brought a sense of foreboding that sent shivers down her spine.

Marcellus's face turned pale. He looked up, his expression a mixture of pain and struggle. "I didn't mean it that way… I was just…"

"Just trying to crush her spirit and force her out of your life, right?" Elias cut him off coldly, his tone growing harsher. "She told me that her heart felt like it was being torn apart. And yet, even then, she didn't leave you. Do you know why?"

Marcellus lifted his head to look at Elias, his gaze filled with conflicting emotions.

Elias's voice softened, tinged with sadness. "Because she wanted to know the truth. If what you said was true, if you really hated her, she was going to make you pay."

The room fell silent, the words reverberating like thunder, shaking everyone present.

Alia felt a suffocating weight on her chest as if the two men before her were shrouded in a thick fog. The truth about the Holy Grail and Livia's past seemed to be inching closer, yet it brought with it only more pain and confusion.

"What… really happened back then?" she asked with difficulty, her voice trembling with unease and despair.

"Livia, it's not what you think…" Marcellus pleaded, his voice filled with desperation. He reached out a hand as if wanting to touch her but hesitated halfway, afraid she would push him away.

"If it's not what I think, then tell me the truth!" Alia demanded, her gaze firm. She refused to remain trapped in this web of secrets and lies.

The room grew oppressively still, with only the sound of labored breathing breaking the silence. The mysteries of the past were beginning to unravel, yet the truths they uncovered threatened to change everything.

Marcellus remained silent.

The tension in the room became suffocating. Elias's gaze was sharp and unyielding, like a blade aimed directly at Marcellus, who sat slumped on the floor.

"Livia, I'm sorry," Elias said, his voice softening as he turned to her. His tone carried a deep sense of guilt. "Last time, I didn't tell you everything. What I know… you told me yourself."

Alia's heart skipped a beat. Her eyes flicked between Elias and Marcellus, searching for a hint of the truth.

Elias's voice rose, filled with anger. "Marcellus, what else do you have to say for yourself? Everything about you is a lie! Your feelings, your sweet words, even your regret right now—it's all an act!"

"It's not like that!" Marcellus slammed his fist against the floor, the dull sound echoing through the room. His voice trembled with frustration, yet he couldn't find the words to defend himself.

Elias's gaze turned even colder. "The man who said those things could never truly love Livia. She's seen your journal, Marcellus. She knows the secrets you've been hiding. Are you still going to keep lying?"