Chapter 191 - Rumors Felt True

Chapter 191 - Rumors Felt True
IVAN
I walked briskly through the cobbled streets of Lykos, the kind of quiet town that always felt like it was watching you from the shadows. The sky was dull, clouds hanging low as though the heavens themselves knew what night was drawing near. My mother had sent me on a simple errand, to fetch liquor from her trusted friend to entertain the noble guests arriving for Adeline’s sudden wedding. Though we had an argument before I later agreed, I still grumbled under my breath about the errand, but obeyed as always. She is still my mother. 
I was nearly at the vendor’s street when something cut through the stillness.
A sound.
At first, I thought it was the rattling of shutters in the wind. But no, there it was again. A sharp, muffled cry. Then the harsh thud of a fist meeting flesh.
My feet stopped. My heart skipped.
The sound came from behind me, from the abandoned house I had just passed. Its windows were boarded, its roof sagged, and everyone in Lykos whispered that bad omen lingered there. That’s Lykos for you, they whisper it, spread it, and believe it. Few dared even to walk by it after dusk. Yet now, unmistakably, there was movement inside.
I turned, hesitant. Every sense screamed at me to keep going, to ignore it, but the voice of my conscience was louder. I stepped closer, boots crunching on gravel, my pulse quickening. The sounds grew clearer, the frantic gasping of a woman, the deep, angry groan of a man, followed by another round of blows.
Slowly, I edged up to one of the warped wooden shutters and peered through a crack.
My breath caught in my throat.
Inside, under the dim orange glow of a lantern, stood Lord Caelum of Auradell. His coat was tossed aside, his sleeves rolled up, his hand raised as he struck a young woman again and again. She was half-naked, her gown torn across the chest and shoulders, her hair disheveled, tears streaking her face. She struggled weakly, but Caelum only grabbed her by the jaw and sneered something vile before shoving her against the wall.
And he wasn’t alone.
Sitting in a chair like a spectator at some cruel performance was the old nobleman I had only seen at the ball, my mother only introduced him as Caelum’s companion from Auradell, Lord Marrick. The man swirled a glass of liquor, his expression a grotesque mask of amusement, as though the girl’s pain was nothing more than entertainment.
My chest burned with rage. My fists clenched, my jaw tightened until it ached. My instinct screamed to storm in, to rip Caelum away from her, to put an end to it. But another part of me, the part drilled into silence by Eloise’s iron hand, warned me, if I acted recklessly now, it would be Adeline who paid the price.
Caelum struck the woman again. She cried out, collapsing to the floor. The old man chuckled softly and leaned forward, muttering something I couldn’t hear. Caelum spat at the woman, then kicked her as if she were nothing more than refuse.
My stomach turned. My heart pounded so loudly I was afraid they would hear it.
I drew back from the window, pressing myself against the wall of the abandoned house, my breaths sharp and uneven. Every nerve in my body screamed with fury. Even though I said Adeline is not my sister because of the soul in her, I can’t stand and let her get married to that monster.
For the first time, I understood the true danger Adeline was in. The rumors about him felt true.
And I knew one thing with absolute certainty: I could not let the wedding happen.
My legs refused to move at first. My back was pressed against the cold, rotting wood of the house, my fists tight enough to draw blood from my palms. I told myself to leave, to run before someone discovered me, but my eyes betrayed me, it was glued to the crack in the boards, unable to look away.
The girl inside screamed again, but it was weaker this time, ragged, her body too broken to resist. Caelum’s fists came down with the rhythm of a drum, each strike landing with a sickening crunch. Blood spattered the floorboards.
The girl was begging now, her voice hoarse and broken. “Please… please, no more—”
Caelum silenced her with another vicious blow, then another. His fist came down like a hammer, over and over, until the cries turned into wet, strangled gasps. 
And then quiet, her voice cracked into silence. 
The girl’s body shook uncontrollably before it slumped to the floor, unmoved. Her head bent at a terrible angle, her arm twitching once before it went still. Blood pooled beneath her cheek.
My stomach turned. My heart sank to my boots.
Caelum straightened, chest heaving with exertion, then tilted back his head and laughed, a manic, unhinged sound that made my skin crawl. The laugh echoed in the abandoned house, mixing with the dripping of blood, until it felt like the walls themselves were mocking the life that had just been snuffed out.
The Lord Marrick, sitting smugly with his glass, clapped once in lazy approval, smirking.
He swirled the liquor in his glass before speaking, his voice smooth, unbothered.
“Well,” he drawled,  “I suppose you’ve had your exercise then, always refreshing, isn’t it? A woman’s screams, your hands moving… then silence.” he said, his lips curving into a smirk. “You do take a certain… enthusiasm in it, don’t you?”
My nails dug into my palms until they drew blood. My heart slammed against my ribs.
Caelum chuckled darkly, buttoning his shirt with deliberate slowness, then he wiped blood from his knuckles with a rag, his grin still stretching wide. 
“Execise, yes. They always think they can withstand me. But they never do. They’re all the same,” he said darkly. “Greedy little things. They think wealth will buy them freedom, when it only binds them tighter.”
The old man chuckled. “She married you, didn’t she? Poor thing thought she’d pay her debt and leave Lykos behind.”
Caelum smirked, buckling his trousers. “And I let her believe it. Told her she’d have freedom. A home.” He laughed under his breath, then spat on her body. “All lies. I brought her back here… to satisfy myself.”
He inhaled deeply, almost in satisfaction, as though death itself was a perfume.
The old man lifted his glass in mock salute. “And the duchess’s daughter? Will it be the same fate for her, too?”
My stomach clenched at the words. 
Caelum didn’t answer immediately, “Maybe… let’s get the body buried first, before we get later for my wedding.”
I staggered back from the window. I couldn’t take another second of it. If I stayed, I would throw myself through the rotted wood and kill Caelum with my bare hands. But he couldn’t, not yet.
I need to expose him.
I had to save Adeline.
With shaking hands and my heart thundering in my chest, I turned on my heel and disappeared into the shadows of Lykos, every step faster than the last.