Chapter 321: The Morph’s Masquerade
[Music recommendation: Rob Simonsen - Deep Water]
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"Ah... but I am glad I no longer have to pretend to be nice. I have waited for this day for so long that you cannot possibly imagine. I would have achieved my goals much sooner had that prince not been protecting you as though you were the most precious thing in existence." As Zora spoke, the disdain in her voice did not escape Eve’s notice.
Her heart pounded painfully against her ribs.
The woman continued, "But I am pleased we finally managed to separate him from you and can now have you entirely to ourselves. Isn’t that simply wonderful? And that person....oh, that person will be absolutely delighted to meet you. You will see."
"Come on now, chop chop! We need to get going! I promise we’ll catch up more later, Princess!" Zora said in a sing-song voice that felt entirely alien coming from her.
"Where are we going? And who is this person you keep talking about?" Evelyn asked through gritted teeth.
"We are going to the one who has been waiting for you for far longer than any of us," she said.
Closing her eyes, Zora began to chant, darkness pulsed within her hands, and a dark stone materialised before her. A moment later, a portal formed, swirling with thick, smoky shadows.
"On your feet, Princess," she hissed. "Walk through, and you will find the answers you seek."
Eve did not move; her body felt weak, her limbs heavy, yet instinct held her in place. She knew with chilling certainty that nothing good awaited her beyond that portal.
"Ah....maybe that wasn’t motivating enough. Rowan, dear, would you do the honours?" Zora purred.
Rowan smirked at Evelyn, and his eyes turned a sickly, scanty red as crimson tendrils swirled from his hands, wrapping around Damien’s crystal casing. He lifted the heavy weight effortlessly into the air and began walking toward the portal, taking Damien with him.
Betrayal was not something Evelyn was unfamiliar with, but right now, she truly felt cornered. These two depraved beings were casually dangling Damien’s life in front of her like a piece of meat before a hungry beast. They knew she would continue to do their bidding as long as it was the only way to save him.
"No! Stop!" Evelyn scrambled to her feet, though she stumbled immediately. She had to grip the bedpost for support, her weakened body trembling under the effort.
Her eyes turned a brilliant, fierce gold as she glared menacingly at the two figures. "Let go of him! Now!"
"I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Princess. One wrong move, and if you so much as scratch Rowan, the spell preserving the young duke will vanish instantly. So, choose your steps wisely." Zora spoke lightly, but the warning in her eyes was cold and absolute that she meant every word.
Evelyn closed her eyes briefly, and the only face that flashed in her mind was Ivan’s. She could almost see his crimson eyes looking into hers with so much love that for a moment, she felt wrapped in his warmth even in this nightmare. Drawing every bit of strength she could from the memory, she opened her eyes and looked toward Damien, who was already being swallowed by the portal.
She looked back one last time at Cece and Edward, who lay unconscious and slumped against the bed and whispered, "Forgive me..."
Hardening her heart, she turned toward the portal and walked into the darkness, her gaze fixed only on Damien.
Zora and Rowan smirked in delight and followed her. Seconds later, the portal collapsed, leaving the two unconscious figures behind in the silence.
Not even a minute had passed since the portal vanished when fire swirled through the infirmary. A figure cloaked in dark clothes emerged, with Alex and Caleb close behind him.
The first thing he felt was the thick, lingering trace of dark magic in the air. His eyes zeroed in on the empty beds and the unconscious forms of Cece and Edward. Dread coiled within him, sharper than he could explain.
Rushing toward them, he shouted, "Cece! Edward! Wake up! Where are Eve and Damien?"
No matter how much he shook them, they didn’t stir, as if they had been drugged with something extremely potent.
Panic and a profound sense of foreboding tightened around his chest. He felt as though he would lose his mind if he didn’t discover what had happened.
Alex and Caleb, sensing the prince’s spiralling emotions, extended their own senses to scan the room.
All at once, their attention snapped toward the door.
Wasting no time, Alex sprang the door open only to find a familiar, quivering figure. His eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?" he asked in a cold voice.
Prince Aden looked as pale as a ghost. He trembled at Alex’s icy aura, but that was nothing compared to the restless beast standing behind him. Ivan stepped beside Alex, his eyes already blazing a molten orange, looking as if he would destroy everything in sight if he did not get his answers.
Without being prompted, Aden’s lips moved. "They took her... her and Lord Damien."
The temperature in the room began to soar as Ivan took another step forward. "Who?"
...
The academy was in an uproar as news of Princess Evelyn and Damien’s disappearance spread to every person on the grounds.
Even more shocking was the discovery that the culprits behind the scheme were Prince Rowan and Dr. Zora.
An extensive search was conducted in every room within the academy. In Zora’s quarters, they discovered vials of blood belonging to an unknown source, along with several books on dark magic.
In Rowan’s room, numerous empty bottles were found, leading the authorities to believe that Rowan was not the prince they had imagined.
He was an imposter.
To be more accurate, he was a morph who had been consuming the real prince’s blood to maintain his form and remain undetected. But that was not all, another box of vials was discovered, leading them to suspect that Dr. Zora was also a morph.
Exams and classes were suspended until further notice.
Inside the expansive conference room of Blood Moon Academy, the atmosphere was even darker. The sound of shattering glass echoed through the hall.
Headmaster Charles, along with Professors Dante, Seira, Leo, and Lupin, could only close their eyes and wince at the harsh noise while the prince continued to wreak havoc, his rage knowing no bounds.
But they could do nothing because of the figures sitting across from them. King Iskara and Duke Regulus sat with Cece and Edward, their expressions grim.
Leaving several empty seats as a buffer on the other side of the table sat King Solan. Beside his king were Edgar Whitelance, Oliver’s father, and Marquess Victor Weaver, Edward’s father.
The tension in the room was so thick it was suffocating.
Two days had passed since both Evelyn and Damien disappeared, and as of yet, no one had been able to locate them.
They suspected the pair had been taken to the same hideout used after Evelyn’s previous kidnapping.
With each passing hour of failure, Ivan felt himself teetering on the brink of insanity. He was no longer the calm, composed leader everyone knew.
This Ivan was wild, raw, and consumed by an uncontrollable bloodlust. His eyes were filled with so much madness that no one dared to provoke him.
Even King Solan, who had arrived in Versailles the previous day after receiving news of his daughter’s disappearance, wanted to blame Ivan. However, he had narrowly avoided being strangled to death by the rogue prince only because Iskara had intervened.
As he sat, he still couldn’t help but mutter, "I knew this would happen. This is why I wanted them away from each other."
At his words, everyone held their breath.
They turned their eyes slowly toward the Lumen King, wondering if he had lost his marbles by provoking an already volatile Ivan. Was he asking for death?
Iskara let out a frustrated sigh, thinking it might have been better if he hadn’t stopped his son from strangling the lesser man sitting beside them.
There was a moment of silence before Ivan went utterly still. The professors, along with the headmaster and the three other Lumens, flinched when Ivan finally moved. Every footstep he took felt like the God of Death walking to claim another soul.
All eyes slowly moved to Ivan, and they saw an eerie calm in his expression, but it was his eyes that made their blood run cold. They looked like dangerous, molten orange suns burning with fury.
Stopping directly in front of Solan across the table, his low, dangerously cold voice rang through the room. "What. Did. You. Just. Say?"
