Chapter 78 - Swear... He Was Not Insane

[WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTENT CONTAINS A DISTURBING NARRATIVE. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.]

The soft click of the door as it closed brought forth nothing but silence in the dining hall. Abel let out a shallow breath, gazing at the long dining table filled with dead guests. 

Unlike the nonchalant air surrounding him in Isaiah's presence, his expression was just… dead. He didn't know what to feel about tonight. He had seen this coming, albeit not this soon. But he knew Aries would leave… since he already planned her departure. 

Even so, there was just this void she left in his rotten heart. A void that wouldn't be fulfilled so easily. Actually, it was impossible.

"Anger?" he whispered, sprawling his hand towards an empty plate. 

CLANG!

Abel dropped the plate, shattering it to see if that would make him feel slightly better. One plate was followed by more, shattering on the floor one after another. And yet, he felt nothing. 

He then picked up the cutlery, stabbing the leftover steak onto his plate. Like a boy throwing a tantrum, the plate broke in half as he stabbed the steak repeatedly. His expression remained the same. 

Nothing. He was just getting even more upset. 

"Violence?" he wondered, dropping the cutlery as he scanned the long table. Abel planted his hands on the surface of the table, pushing himself up ever so slowly. He used his chair as a step up until he stood on top of the table. 

"Wake up, everyone!" he clapped and exclaimed, kicking the serving pot to the side. He cocked his head to the person where the pot landed, sighing when the corpse didn't move a muscle. 

"How can you be so flimsy?" he frowned, approaching the man, who had his face buried on the plate in front of him. Abel nonchalantly pulled the man's hair back, clicking his tongue at the horrifying sight of the man's empty eye socket. 

"Right… you're pretty dead, huh?" he sighed, letting go of the man's hair and it instantly dropped on the plate, face first. Abel stood up once again, hands on his hips. 

"It's not working," he whispered, running his hand through his head. "It's not… working." 

Abel closed his eyes as he hissed, chest moving in and out heavily. When he took another deep breath, he opened his eyes ever so slowly. 

"Aries…" his eyes glinted, fangs letting themselves known. "… do you all know Aries?" 

He weakly glanced from his left to right, kicking all the plates and food on his way as he marched in the middle of the long table. He loosened his cravat, stretching his neck sideways.

"Aries… of course, you heard of her." He laughed, shrugging nonchalantly as he chatted with the dead. "She is my soulmate, after all. Haha! I bet she will cringe if I told her that…"

He paused in the middle of the table, frowning. He looked down at the person leaning against the chair, eyes falling on the hole in his chest. 

"What?" he asked out of nowhere, raising a brow at the already dead person. He smirked, taking a step forward, only to step on his pale face. "You're saying she will not react since she will not hear me say that? You got a lot of nerve."

Abel coldly kicked the unmoving person until it stumbled back. Despite that, only the brief thud of the body and chair was heard. No squeal or grunting whatsoever. Well, the man was already dead with that missing hole in his chest. 

As the piercing silence returned, Abel looked around once again. His eyes darkened, the side of his lips curling up evilly. 

"You all think I'm crazy?" he asked with a dry laugh. "And you agree that she's better off without me?"

Abel rocked his head lightly, laughing with his lips closed. He ran his hands through his hair, peals of laughter growing louder and eerie. 

"Of course, I am... not!" he laughed, clapping his hands in amusement. "Ahh… I simply want to see her. Why did she leave so soon?" he wiped the side on his lips, breathing out from his mouth. "My darling… my Aries…"

With a man standing on top of the table, laughing whilst hanging out with the dead, the sight of him was truly mortifying. Abel was crazy, indeed. But those who knew him would disagree. This was just level one. 

But they were certain he would snap in a few months. Why? Because he said so. There was only one reason for him to lose it. That was if his enemies weren't as fascinating as he thought they were. 

"Darling…" Abel slowly went down on his knees, hunching in as his waves of laughter subsided. "… you better not show up in front of me again."

If Aries showed up in front of him, Abel would surely not let her go. One or two opportunities were his limit. He wouldn't be so kind the next time. Even if she would end up hating him, he was already used to people's hatred. Adding another hater to that number wasn't a big deal. 

In the end, Abel found himself lying on the table, eyes on the ceiling. He didn't know how long he was lying there, but no one interrupted him. No one would dare get close to him, knowing they could end up being a test subject to quench the turmoil in the emperor's heart.

"Your Majesty." Abel blinked when he heard Isaiah's voice not far away. "The servants had deserted the Rose palace." 

Isaiah stared at Abel's side profile after relaying the news, keeping his silence. This was the first time Abel acted so distraught and stressed over someone. It was also the first time he had seen Abel be this sad. It wasn't obvious because the emperor hid it pretty well behind the crazy facade. 

"Why did everyone desert the Rose palace?" Abel inquired, making Isaiah's brows furrow. "Don't they want to take care of Aries?"

"Your Majesty, she already left the palace."

"Ah… right…" Abel blinked weakly, pressing his lips into a thin line. "She left."

"Your Majesty."

"Isaiah, hand me your sword." He slowly turned his head to his right, eyes instantly landing on his aide. "Or just slit my throat."

Isaiah frowned, eyes darkening at the emperor's request. However, he didn't refuse Abel as he walked forward, handing a dagger instead. Abel glanced at the dagger in his hand nonchalantly. 

"I said sword." His fingers slowly curled around the dagger's handle. 

"A dagger is enough, Your Majesty."

Abel clicked his tongue, assisting himself up to sit up. He gazed down at the dagger in his possession, stabbing his thigh without batting an eye. Isaiah clenched his teeth, eyes on the dagger plunged into Abel's thigh. 

"It didn't hurt," Abel whispered in disappointment, pulling the dagger, only to stab his stomach. Isaiah could only clench his teeth, watching Abel stab himself repeatedly: shoulder, arm, hand, legs, neck, face until blood was gushing out from Abel profusely. The sound of flesh and blood echoing.

"Damn…" Abel scoffed, blood soaking his clothes from all the stab wounds he inflicted upon himself. He was too numb at the physical wounds that they paled in comparison with the pang in his heart. 

"It's not working." Abel finally tossed the bloody dagger away, dragging himself out of the table. "Aries?" he called, walking away from the dining hall to the Rose palace. 

"Aries! Come! I'm bleeding!" he yelled, dragging his feet, leaving blood trails behind. "Aries? Aries!"