Chapter 58: 58: Blood Before Fire (5)
In Celia’s mind, the broken merchant square disappeared for half a breath. The screaming merchants disappeared. The dead Velkhur disappeared. The political disaster disappeared. Even her own anger became confused and walked somewhere else to sit down.
Flowers bloomed again.
Birds sang again.
Somewhere inside her mind, a dramatic violin started playing for no reason.
Celia, the sharp main line lady of House Marovain, who could evaluate treasure, read contracts, and face young nobles without fear, stood there with a bloody hand over her mouth and forgot what she had been saying.
Her cheeks became red.
Lucard removed his hand and turned away as if nothing important had happened.
For him, nothing important had happened.
He had only stopped a noisy mouth and given an order.
For Celia, something terrible and beautiful had just happened to her brain.
Lucard looked toward Peter.
"Bring Jenny and Jake to the inn."
Peter swallowed and nodded. "Yes, Young Master."
Lucard then looked at Orven and Malik, the two Marovain guards assigned to protect them.
"Follow."
The two Rank Three guards looked at him.
They were Marovain men. They had been ordered by Celia to protect House Vardros. They did not serve Lucard. That was the proper truth. But after seeing him pull out Dorian Velkhur’s heart, absorb it, and then silence Celia Marovain with one bloody hand, neither of them felt like arguing about proper truth.
Orven nodded quickly. "Yes."
Malik also lowered his head. "We will follow."
Celia finally came back to herself when Lucard had already started walking away.
She touched her mouth with trembling fingers and saw blood on them.
Her face turned even redder.
Then she remembered the dead body, the witnesses, and the Velkhur guards still nearby.
Her expression changed again.
"Seal the square," she ordered sharply. "No one touches the body. No one leaves without giving a statement. Send someone to find Uncle Robi. And find out where the Velkhur guards went."
Her voice had returned to normal, but not completely.
One female guard beside her looked at Celia’s red face, then at Lucard’s back.
"My lady?"
Celia’s eyes sharpened. "What?"
The guard immediately lowered her head. "Nothing, my lady."
Lucard did not look back.
He walked toward the inn with blood on his hand, smoke still rising faintly from his chest, and the one million gold coins from House Marovain in his storage ring.
Behind him, Peter helped Jenny walk. She was still pale from vomiting. Jake held Peter’s coat with one hand and Jenny’s sleeve with the other. Orven and Malik followed close behind, their faces serious and their hearts secretly praying that no other duke family member appeared before lunch.
The merchant square remained broken behind them.
Dorian Velkhur was dead.
Celia Marovain was blushing.
And Lucard Vardros had just turned one noble family’s revenge into a problem for two duke families.
A few moments later...
Celia returned inside the Marovain shop with blood still on her dress.
The first floor became silent the moment she stepped through the door. The workers who had been peeking outside quickly lowered their heads. The customers who had not escaped yet stood stiffly in corners, afraid to breathe too loudly. A few minutes ago, this shop had been full of trade, polite voices, measured smiles, and the soft sound of gold coins moving from hand to hand. Now the air smelled of smoke, blood, and disaster.
Celia did not look at anyone for long.
"Close the front door," she ordered.
Two workers moved immediately.
"Do not let customers leave through the front. Take their names first. Anyone who saw the fight must be recorded. Anyone who tries to run will be treated as suspicious."
"Yes, my lady."
"Send someone to the back street and tell the guards there to block the side doors too. No shouting. No panic. If people panic, they create stories, and stories are more dangerous than facts."
"Yes, my lady."
Celia walked toward the staircase. Her steps were steady, but her mind was not. Lucard’s bloody hand had left a mark on her mouth. She could still feel the warmth of it even after he removed it. That made her angry at herself. This was not the time to think about that. Dorian Velkhur was dead outside. And his body was being cleaned by the guards. His blood was on the stone road. His body was still there. The Velkhur guards had run. Adrian Ravencroft had run. Tina had fainted. Dozens of witnesses had seen everything.
And still, some very stupid part of Celia’s mind kept replaying Lucard leaning close and saying, "Shhh."
She clenched her teeth.
"Focus," she told herself.
One worker saw her expression and immediately looked away. He did not want to know why his lady’s face was red while she was covered in blood. Some questions were not worth dying for.
Celia reached the third floor and went straight to the secure room where Robi Marovain had taken the spell pages. Robi was standing near a long table, reading one of the pages again under a magnifying glass. He was inside a sound proof room for safety. His metal hand rested on the table beside him. The moment Celia entered, he looked up.
His eyes changed at once.
"Celia."
She closed the door behind her.
"Uncle, something happened outside."
Robi looked at the blood on her dress, then at her face.
"I can see that. Are you injured?"
"No."
"Then whose blood is that?"
Celia took a breath.
"Dorian Velkhur’s."
Robi became still. The room was quiet for a few seconds. Then he slowly placed the magnifying glass down.
"Explain yourself."
Celia told him everything.
She started from the moment she came out of the shop and saw Lucard wounded on the road. She explained Dorian attacking him with fire magic. She explained that she blocked the second Heartfire Lance with a barrier. She told Robi about the damaged gate stones, statue, and pillar. She told him about Dorian demanding Jenny, Jake, and Lucard. She told him that she declared House Vardros under Marovain protection because Robi had ordered her to protect them.
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