That so-called secret place was no secret to all the residents of the castle. They all knew it was there somewhere in the castle, but they just wouldn't dare to go there, let alone snoop in what was inside! They feared their king extremely. They knew better to never cross their king. The room itself was forbidden even to his most trusted seven generals, and his Beta.
Knowing how the king's temper was, once someone got in his bad side, there would be dreadful consequences to bear. Especially when one was no longer useful or had value in his eyes, just like that witch. Violet was so ignorant. She overvalued herself like a fool she was, thus her awful end was expected.
Once the darkness moved away, it went to where it belonged, at the corner of the room. The eerie silence between the father and son was the only thing that was left inside the room. But Janus was still there in the dark. He moved forward to confront Jedrek.
"Say it all you want, that you despise me! But you always ended up keeping your end of the bargain." Janus tilted his head, a smug smile beamed on his lips. "You are indeed my son."
Jedrek turned around and walked away. He was not in the mood to listen to his father's nonsense. The main 'show' had ended, so there was no more reason for him to stay. With the end of Violet's life, there was no longer a witch inside his castle, and he needed to find the replacement to it soon.
"Don't blame me for what I have done, because you will do the same when you were in my shoes!" said Janus. It was the last thing Jedrek heard before he slammed the door shut behind his back. However, it was not the first time Janus said that sentence, and surely it wouldn't be his last.
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There was water dripping down from the ceiling to ground, the sound of it echoed through the dark dungeon walls. The smell of this place was awful, almost impossible to bear. For whoever inside it would be reminded of death that lurked from its every corner.
Tears fell from Lilac's eyes down to her cheeks, and crashed the odorous moisture on the ground. She held her left hand tightly. She bit her lips in order to endure the pain that she felt. But, it didn't work at all. Lilac was a guardian angel, but her physical was no different to those of humans. This kind of injury would be painful to her, and it weakened her.
She didn't have a healing ability to reduce pain in her hand, neither could she use her magic in her current state. She was having a hard time even lifting her own body. She had never felt this kind of pain before. All her life, when she was still under the Moon Goddess's training, she was never seriously injured. At least not this bad like now. This was her first experience of feeling her bones being broken.
She closed her eyes, and felt another tear streaming down her face again. She recalled in her mind what Jedrek had done to her. But the darkness and the quietness surrounding her was bringing her comfort, and peace. Lilac didn't know how long she had been there for. Every passing second was like an eternity for her.
But then, her instinct caught a movement, the sound of approaching footsteps in the dark. She snapped back to reality, realizing that the eternity in the darkness wasn't the end of her punishment. The footsteps could bring more agony, worse than what she already had.
Hope raised her right hand to wipe her tears, and with a great effort, she tilted her head slightly. She grimaced in pain when she moved her other hand. And then, she saw a shadow in the passageway, a figure carrying a lantern in hand. The light was warm and soft, but she couldn't adjust her eyes to it immediately. She raised her right hand to shield her eyes from the light.
"Lilac?" the man called her tenderly. She knew right away to whom the voice belonged to. It was Tordoff. He put aside the lantern. Lilac could see his figure, but the general didn't come closer. He was standing behind the bars.
"I brought this." He slid a folded blanket through the gapping bars, and dropped it next to her. "Are you alright?" he asked, concerned for her.
"Well, if you asked me that question a week ago, then yes, I was alright," her answer was a straight, full sarcasm. She didn't mean to act that way, especially since Tordoff was being all nice to her. "Sorry," she muttered under her breath. It was nice to be around with Tordoff. In this situation, and strange place he was the only person that was close enough to be considered as a friend.
"Don't be sorry," Tordoff said while sighing regretfully. "I know that His Majesty, the Alpha King had overreacted…" his voice trailed off and Lilac picked up the unsaid sentence.
"But I should have not listened to Violet and went with her," Lilac said bitterly.
Tordoff sat down, and pulled his legs closed to his chest. He rested his chin on his knees, watching Lilac who was struggling to put on the blanket around her body.
"I can't open the cell, but I will keep you company through the night," Tordoff said softly.
The expression on her face changed, it turned gentle and soft. "What about the day? Will he still keep me here?" Lilac snuggled under the blanket, the warmth that was offered by the blanket soothed her pain slightly.
Now Tordoff's expression changed, he looked sad by the question that he knew the disappointing answer to. "I don't know. It was not up to me to decide."
Lilac nodded. "Would you really stay the whole night here?"
"I will be here." Tordoff nodded.
"You have a kind soul," said Lilac.
Tordoff could only let out a wry laugh in response. "You only said that because I'm not the one who put you in here."
Lilac grinned. "Yeah, I think I was being a little bit sensitive now." In her current situation, to feel the kindness from others was supposed to be something very unlikely for her to experience. Of course, now that she received it from Tordoff, she felt grateful beyond words. There was silence between them for a brief moment. But then, Lilac was the one who broke the ice between them.
"What about Violet?" Lilac asked. It wasn't because she was concerned about the witch or anything. It was not the right time to place her concern towards the witch. Not when she was not in any better situation either. She was just curious.
"About Violet," He turned sour when he mentioned the witch's name. Judging by the way he said it, it wasn't a good sign. "Let's say that this dungeon is a far more comfortable place, and you're considered extremely lucky to be here, compared to her now."
Though Lilac didn't know how much damage that Violet had suffered, she wasn't curious enough to ask further about it. Thus, she dropped that topic and moved on.
"Do you have a mate?" Lilac looked at Tordoff, she wanted to know his feelings towards his mate.
In the dimly lit room, she couldn't really see Tordoff's expression that was turning rigid when he answered her. "I once had a mate."