Chapter 142
Warning: May contain sensitive topics.
Edgar Black
I never liked the silence that came afterward.
The feeling was different too—nothing like I imagined.
It wasn’t like killing just anyone, shooting point-blank, cutting and disposing of strangers whose names I never cared to learn.
But at least now I knew what it felt like, and I was sure that sooner or later, I’d get used to it.
I changed clothes. Threw the blood-stained shirt away.
Even then, the smell of blood still seemed stuck to me—maybe because I knew exactly who it belonged to.
Dawn was almost breaking when I went out to the garden to smoke.
I took the cigarette, lit it, and took it to my mouth, swallowing it.
I inhaled deeply and let the smoke escape slowly, staring at those fake, artificial lights. That place was far too beautiful for what had just happened inside.
But who was I to say anything?
I knew they were going to call me a monster. They’d done it before—even when all I did was obey orders. Even when I did what no one else wanted to do. The dirty work. The blood on the hands. The ugly part of history everyone pretends doesn’t exist.
Adrian, though?
He was always the hero.
The pretty name.
The perfect heir.
The son who could mess up, run away, play human, abandon the clan, and turn his back on the Council—and still be seen as… special.
And me?
I was just the useful bastard of Valehart’s brother.
The rejected cousin.
The shadow.
I tossed the cigarette to the ground and crushed it under my boot, grinding my teeth.
No.
I wasn’t going to stay in the dark anymore.
I spent years hearing that my father had tainted the family name. That his blood was dirty for having a child outside of marriage. That I should be grateful to even be there—breathing, serving.
I inherited my mother’s last name.
Years of doing exactly as ordered with no right to anything but contempt and clipped commands.
And what did Adrian do with everything he had?
He threw it away.
Rejected the legacy.
Spat on the inheritance.
Walked away from the Council like it was some simple choice, like the world was a place where he could just do whatever he wanted.
Someone needed to take that space.
And I was done watching from the outside.
“Edgar.”
The voice came from behind me.
Luke.
I turned, seeing that calm smile on his face—the smile of someone who had already won before the results even showed up.
“All good?” he asked, as if he were talking about the weather.
“Obviously,” I replied. Short. Dry.
He stopped beside me, looking at the same view.
“Was it harder than you expected?”
My jaw locked for a second.
“Not really. Just disgusting—like it’s always been.”
Luke chuckled softly.
“I like men who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. Who knows what needs to be done?”
What needs to be done… In the end, that was all that ever mattered.
No one ever asked if I wanted to.
The question was always, can you?
And I always could.
But Adrian couldn’t.
He didn’t even try—he chose to run.
So I did what needed to be done.
People would hate me even more now, of course, but they’d have to obey me.
It was as simple as that.
When power changes hands, hate becomes fear.
And fear becomes silence.
I’d seen it happen too many times to pretend it wasn’t true.
And that’s what I wanted.
Not glory—not even that.
I just wanted to be seen.
Recognized.
To have a place no one could rip away from me with a simple “no” from a spoiled cousin.
“Don’t forget what you promised,” I said, meeting Luke’s eyes.
“My name was cleared. My return to the clan. The place as heir.”
Luke turned fully toward me, his eyes gleaming under the garden lights.
“I keep my promises, Edgar Black. You’ll be recognized as heir soon. You have my word.”
Finally.
Years—years waiting to hear something like 'recognized,' like a reward.
“And the girl?” I asked, curious about what would happen next.
Luke raised an eyebrow.
“She’s our problem now… you don’t have to worry about her anymore,” he said, turning back inside.
I stayed silent for a few seconds, alone out there.
Remembering Adrian’s eyes before the shot.
The way he looked at me.
Maybe that was what bothered me the most.
“I won’t be weak like you were, Adrian,” I said at last.
I looked up at the sky—starting to lighten.
I exhaled deeply.
And repeated the phrase again in my mind:
“I did what needed to be done.”
Sacrifices have always been required to rise.
And I would never be anyone’s sacrifice.
Let them call me a villain, a monster.
When I sit in the Valehart chair…
When the name Black stops being a whisper and becomes a title…
No one will ever dare look down on me again.
Because in the end, in this world, there are only two options:
Die, or kill.
And I knew exactly which side I would choose.