Chapter 226 - Confession

He was right, and Alexa was happy to be able to share things with him.

"Whatever is going on there, I'm sure it's not over yet. You are going back there, and you need to be aware. I'm worried because Alexander also made a deal with Letitia..." Magnus didn't refer to her as a mother, and Alexa understood why.

Alexa's heart was filled with consternation about what she was about to say, but she couldn't help saying,

"Alexander changed after he left Romeo ... in fact, he has changed a lot since he asked for the marriage to be annulled."

Magnus bit his lip, staring at the emptiness in front of him for a moment. "I didn't expect him to do that. But he knows how I feel about you. Even though he likes you... He understood that our situation was untenable."

"I'm talking about other things. Things I didn't realize before. He's not what I thought he was, or the person he showed himself to be in the beginning. Only that."

"What do you mean by that?"

"He's more melancholy than I expected. It is also tougher, and perhaps harsher than I expected either."

"He's a man, Alexa. A prince." Magnus stood up, suddenly looking nervous. "And what did you say ... If you are not going to be trapped by the power of the pomegranate seed ... Does that mean Alexander is the one who will be trapped?"

Alexa blinked, stunned.

"NO!" she exclaimed in denial. But if the seed functioned like the myth's pomegranate seed, then Alexander was under a new spell. They believed it would allow him to return to his body, but what was the catch? In fact, now she thought about it, Alexa was just as worried as she had been when she thought it was what would happen to her.

"He's going to go back to his body, but does that mean he'll never wake up again?" she bit her thumb, distressed.

Magnus looked down, hiding his face. She mused,

"Well, but maybe… Is he also counting on getting rid of fate like that by connecting with someone? Or…"

"Do you know anything about it?" he asked hopefully.

Alexa unfortunately only had bad news,

"I got the impression he liked Jette Allegoria, but he felt betrayed by her... And I'm under the impression she doesn't like him that way, either."

Magnus took a deep breath,

"That woman is an opportunist. In Alexander he found a patron and a fool to support her. And of course, he doesn't love her, at most he has some kind of jealousy for not being the center of attention of an artist."

Alexa knew that Magnus was biased against the troubadour by pure protectionism toward his younger brother. As for what Alexander felt for Jette, Alexa probably couldn't have known any better, but she knew he was shocked and disappointed. Besides, it had never been clear what the troubadour was actually doing at the lighthouse, but she would soon discover it. However, Alexa asked, barely controlling herself,

"He doesn't have a friend, as you did have that friend YOU WILL NEVER, EVER, SEE AGAIN?"

Magnus turned to her, reproaching her with his eyes,

"Stop worrying about my past in this regard. Since you appeared in front of me, all the other women have become as interesting as a Mass. But I don't remember any of Alexander's girlfriends… And that is worrying at the moment, if the requirement is the same. "

Alexa did not know what to expect now, and tried to remember everything that was said between Alexander, Gisela, and her, to give clues as to what would happen next, but her tired mind was not collaborating. He was probably going to have to wait until dawn to find out, which was not to be delayed.

"Magnus, lie here with me a little longer. We don't know what will happen, and we won't see each other for several days." she hit the thin mattress next to her. "Don't forget to take good care of Romeo on the way back ..."

But Magnus was still crestfallen, brooding over something.

"You can't stop thinking about your brother, can you?"

"Sorry, my love. This situation… It's largely my fault, and again, I am not able to redeem myself for all the harm I did to Alexander."

Alexa's heart sank for a moment. Alexander also said things like that. That he owed something and wanted to redeem himself. What were they talking about, anyway?

"I know that you care a lot about Alexander. I know how much you took care of him when he was asleep in the castle. But Alexander drinking the elixir was not your fault, Magnus..."

He looked at her.

"I have something to tell."

Alexa nodded, worried.

"I lied to you. The night you saw me giving Alexander some of my blood," after saying that, Magnus was quiet for a moment, but Alexa just sighed. She had recently begun to suspect this.

"Well, I really have to tell you this from the beginning. I ... It started well before the actual fact. My stepmother Gigi ... She had saved me. She had taken the place of the terrible mother I had, a woman I, as a child was just afraid of. A woman who took me to her insane services, who made me take part in... She used to say we had a secret from my father, and about how bad he was and how he would kill me if he discovered it... Well, that's how she was crazy. The day my father killed my mother, he also killed me, by accident. Or not by accident, I don't know. Maybe he didn't believe that I was his son."

"Mags… Your father Gutard has no doubt you are his son. He made it absolutely clear on the last day I saw him," Alexa tried to comfort him, but he just made a gesture with his hand, that it didn't matter.

"That woman, Gigi, was everything to me. A kind of first love. I was delighted that she took care of me and gave me care and attention. But then ... She had her own baby, my little brother. I didn't like Alexander's arrival. She shared the attention that was once mine, with her baby. A baby that had no defects..."

"What a jealous kid you were!"

"Yes, of course, as a child, I thought I was being usurped from what was mine. My father and my new mother had a better son than me. He was not patched up, he was not strange and silent, and he was not the son of the wicked madwoman. I secretly kept these feelings in my chest... And as I became healthier, it didn't mean I was a better child. Every time I was upset, my chest hurt, and I got angry... But I soon found out how to ease this anger. I was cruel to the servants, to the animals... And when my stepmother was arrested, I couldn't understand. I felt possessed by boundless anger. My father did nothing for her, my father let her be arrested and accused... I didn't understand why."

"It must have been confusing and difficult. You were just a child." Alexa was shocked by the revelations, and wondering how much of that was the influence of what was in his chest.

"My father disciplined me personally. Which made me really hate him. Now, I know how scary I must be, for a child. A prince, whom no one but his father could challenge and discipline. Alexa, believe me. I did horrible, unthinkable things. My father told me he thought of killing me, because I was possessed… I think it was then I understood I had to stop. I had to win over myself, or I would end up dead. Of course, I still didn't understand why."

Alexa controlled herself not to show any shock when hearing her husband's confessions.

"Still, I hated Alexander. And I hated him even more because everyone feared and avoided me, but they seemed delighted with him. He was handsome, cheerful, adorable ... Even though they said behind his back that he was the witch's son, everyone melted when he smiled. My father just had violence and horrible words for me, but he had smiles and gifts for Alexander... I stayed in the shadows, just refining that envious resentment... The whispers became louder."

"You mean, your mother's ghost? The Castle Shades?" Alexa asked, increasingly distressed about the secrets of Magnus' heart.

"Yes. Ghosts of people who died, and that I remembered taking care of me in the past. And her. You can guess what they suggested I do to solve 'the problem'."

All she could think of at the moment was the confused mind of a little Magnus, feeling lonely and frustrated, disturbed, and pressured by ghosts of cultists and spiteful servants. Tortured by ghosts who may blame him for their deaths.

"I was twelve years old, and Alexander was almost five when it happened. We were in the woods that today are Alexander's garden. There were tutors nearby, of course. But I was a smart boy. I had a small knife to peel fruit with me. I lured him into the bushes. And I killed him."

"Magnus!" she couldn't hide her shocked reaction, this time.

"Yes, Alexa. I killed Alexander," repeated Magnus, staring at her.