Chapter 223: I Will Devour It All

The shimmering white veils of curtains fluttered elegantly. However, the windows and doors were closed shut. The dawning heavens painted the skies with an ethereal hue displaying an extravagant sight. Light began to break through the clouds. Rays fell upon the calm fortress.

However, slumbering on the furred bed of the master's chambers, a slender figure stirs awake. A piercing ache pricked in the youth's head. Slowly, his lethargic limbs were forced to move. It felt as though he wore a sleeve of heavy metal. However, Moulin opened his eyes with much effort. A crease appeared between his brows; confusion and indifference layered his silver pupils. 

He laboriously pulled himself to sit on the bed. The exotic furs folded below his slender waist, and an ominous silence washes over him.

"..." 

His gaze lowered, and he bent his head. The pain lingering on his nape was unmistakable. Wavy silver strands curtained his vision. The silvery tips were delicately brushing his clasped hands. Moulin didn't need to painstakingly remember the events that transpired yesterday. It came to him like a forceful surge. However, his expression remained neutral. His face, pale and despondent. 

'Why?...' He asked himself. Moulin buried his face in his hands.

'Why is this happening?...'

Moulin shut his eyes tightly. His mother... must be suffering at this moment. Hadrian wouldn't let him leave. He even knew his mother's circumstance, yet he didn't even tell Moulin. The feeling of betrayal engulfed Moulin's heart. The insufferable pain made his insides bled endlessly.  Everything happened so fast that it was all hard to take it in all at once. 

Moulin clenched his jaw, and he lifted his head. His eyes met the familiarity of his surroundings. Of course... Moulin's eyes darkened. Hadrian would have definitely thought of bringing him back here despite Moulin's desire to avoid this room. Unconsciously, he wrapped his arms around his body as he checked the room for another presence. However, Moulin could jot sense anyone. At this time, there should have been servants hurrying for him to refresh himself, but there was none.

However, Moulin wasn't bothered by his solitude. 

With cold eyes, Moulin removed himself from the bed and walked towards the balcony's doors. However, when his fingers reached out to touch the handles, formidable mana suddenly bursts out. If Moulin weren't quick enough to withdraw his arms, he would have been left with a charred arm. 

"Hah..." Moulin scoffed in disbelief. "You would even go this far to keep me from leaving?"

An icy white sheet spreads out from beneath his bare feet. It expands throughout the carpeted floors. When it finally reached the ends of the walls, it climbed viciously, hatefully coating the walls with frigid frost. 

Moulin released a breath. A cold light flashed in his eyes. 

The lover that I thought had finally understood me has imprisoned me.

Moulin lets out a frustrated sigh. He didn't expect the situation to come to this. It was unexpected and terrible. Moulin stares down at his hand. His eyes were slowly revealing hopelessness. 

Creak!

Suddenly, the sound of the opening doors reached his ears along slow yet heavy footsteps. Moulin narrowed his eyes, and he quickly turned around. 

"You asshole..." Moulin hissed with a sharp tone. "Did you think this thing can keep me here?"

Hadrian smiled faintly as he approached the bed  Moulin had slept on. "I am well aware of your strength, my love."

"Don't call me that..." Moulin snapped with cold eyes. 

"..." Hadrian stopped. His gaze lowers, and his mouth released a sigh. "I know you are angry. However, No matter how angry you are, I will not let you leave. You know well enough that it isn't right to return to your family's estate during this time. Your home has become a graveyard and the dwelling of the dying. I will not let you return there." His tone was resolute as though he would not accept any other suggestion of means. Golden eyes deepened with determination and decisiveness.

Moulin gritted his teeth. "Do not ever call my home a graveyard..." It hurt to hear such words spoken from the man before him. It made Moulin imagine the dreadful situation that has taken over his beloved home. A bleak estate filled with the stench of the dead and the dying. The warm people he had known become pale and hopeless, accepting the embrace of death. 

With downcast eyes, Moulin held his head with a sorrowful expression. He bent his neck as he tried to hold back his despair.

"Don't... Say that..."

"..." Hadrian expressionlessly stares at him. Worry filled his eyes. However, he does not feel pity. Too soft was his lover to endure the thought of losing one precious person. Moulin may be a soul of another plane, but he placed great attachment to the family that isn't even his in the first place. Countless times had Hadrian wondered of the life Moulin had lived before his rebirth. He knew his little lover was strong and impressively skillful.

However, he knew one weakness. Moulin was weak to affection and incredibly fragile with the people he cherishes. Although he might not show it, and people would think he was just slightly cold and indifferent, Hadrian knew Moulin at one glance. At least, most of the time...

Hadrian furrows his brows. He approached Moulin with soft steps. "You are aware of how this barrier stands against your strength. What will you do?"

Silver eyes gleamed with ferocity. Moulin opened his mouth.

"Break it."

CRASH!

A loud shattering noise entered both their ears. It sounded piercing and sharp. A sudden burst of mana spreads out as the shattering crystals of ice that had come from the sheet of frost, covering the whole room, fell from the ceiling. 

The glass windows and doors weren't spared. It wasn't only the ice that shattered but the crystal glass as well. In less than a second, the whole room had turned into a chaotic mess of frigid ice and sharp glass. 

The presence of the restriction mana diminished in the air. Moulin could feel its power dissipating, and he knew that he had broken the barrier. He was a bit surprised by the overwhelming power that had come from the little amount of mana that he had expelled. However, he didn't pay too much attention to it and focused his eyes on the Golden lord, calmly observing the wreckage of the room. 

He frowns slightly at his display of wolf figurines which was destroyed as well. "What a temper you have..."

"Don't get in my way." Moulin narrows his eyes and swiftly moves to walk past him. 

Whoosh!

"!!!"

Moulin gasped when he felt himself get dragged backwards by an invisible force. His eyes widened in shock as his back met the bed's surface, and his body bouncing at the impact. Moulin quickly sat up, eyeing the man with incredulous eyes. 

"What do your think you are doing!?"

Hadrian sat at the edge of the bed and faced Moulin with a faint smile. "I cannot let you return... I was wrong to hide the matter about your mother from you. However, you need to cease your stubbornness." Hadrian's eyes deepened. "Did you think your father, your brothers, and your mother would want you to return?"

Moulins forward while speaking in a menacing tone, "I know very well what they want. You do not. And clearly, you don't understand what I want either. Don't make decisions that aren't your own, Lord Hercullio. Your superiority means nothing to me. It will not do anything to me. So you better stop your little tricks and get out of my way." Moulin snapped. 

Silver eyes carefully assessed the expression on Hadrian's face but realized Hadrian was not the least affected by his words. The youth scoffs helplessly, "I don't know why I trusted you..."

Hadrian's eyes narrowed. A terrible aura then surrounds his form. As though taking the shape of a dark, ominous cloud engulfing the entire room. It was frightening. Yes, but Moulin unyieldingly faced it all. 

With a frightful voice, Hadrian coldly glared at Moulin. His gaze was alarming. His expression, openly revealing his emotions. 

"Have you come to hate my care? My trust? I wanted nothing more than to keep you by my side. To protect you from that damned prophecy that plagues my mind every night. I would have wanted to lock you away, blind you, cut off your senses and erase your existence to every single insignificant being in this realm. However, you always used charming words to try and lead me away from those desires. But did you really think it would work?" 

Hadrian inched closer until he forcibly grasped Moulin's chin. The youth was stuck in a frozen state as he listened.

Hadrian chuckled darkly, "You are not talking to some average innocent petty man, little doll. Although you entranced me so much to the point of blinding me, I am not an obedient paltry suitor." He narrows his eyes. "I never wanted your hate, your anger, your sorrow, but if you insist on provoking me..." 

Golden eyes darkened overwhelmingly.

"I will devour it all."