The atmosphere turned cold as Zayden's gaze lingered on his face for an answer.
Dante leaned forward. He placed pictures of about 14 male alphas on the table, their names written at the bottom of each photo.
Zayden leaned forward to take them, but suddenly stopped as he realized something.
"Wait, why did you write their names on the pictures? Are they…" He locked gazes with Dante, who calmly drank water before speaking.
"Yes. They're all dead."
Zayden's gaze lingered on him, waiting for an answer, but Dante didn't look at him. He gulped the whole glass in one go and slammed it on the table with a thud. Clearly, he was anxious. Zayden watched his every move. Then he spoke slowly without breaking eye contact:
"You found something, didn't you?"
Dante swallowed hard. He took deep breaths to calm himself, then looked at him with slightly red eyes.
"Yeah, you got me, like always." He spoke slowly, as if afraid something would happen if he spoke loudly. Zayden stared at his red eyes. Whatever it was, it wasn't normal.
Dante bowed his head slightly and murmured—but the room was empty and quiet, so Zayden heard every word:
"So, boss, I don't know how much time had passed when it happened, but I heard it from my reliable sources." He took a deep breath and continued.
"It started when he was twelve—a very young boy—when his own father, Roric, first locked him in that room. I heard that was the first time his father found out that he was an omega. It was his own room, so he didn't get offended. The maids said he stayed there quietly, and they weren't allowed to go in. Only his sister was allowed in his room because, according to his father, she had saved him, so she had to take full responsibility for him. He was a quiet child. No one heard him talk much. But around the time he turned sixteen, one day they suddenly heard screaming from his room. The scream was so loud, like someone screaming their lungs out. Everyone heard it, so the maids tried to go there, but the guards stopped them. They argued with the guards, and then suddenly the screaming stopped and everything went back to normal. The palace returned to its usual state, but the maids didn't move from their spots. No matter what, he was still the young boy who grew up in the palace.
After an hour, his sister came. She saw everyone standing there, so she asked them what had happened. The maids told her about the screaming. Fear spread in her eyes as she grabbed a gun from one guard and ran toward his room. The guards stopped the maids, so she went alone. After that, they heard the sound of gunshots. Their eyes widened in horror. No one was allowed to enter that area unless they had the power to threaten the guards, so how had she fired bullets?"
Dante lowered his head slightly more, his voice growing louder with anxiety.
"The maids pushed past the guards and ran toward his room. When they saw the scene inside, there was blood everywhere on the ground. They turned their gazes around the room. That's when they saw both of them—a young alpha girl the same age as an omega boy, standing in the corner watching everything with cold eyes, while Seraphina, his sister, was grabbing her collar and yelling at her about some shame. She was none other than Livia, Roric's niece. The maids saw the horrific scene that day: 14 dead bodies of mature male alphas. Some were lying on the floor, while others were near the window, as if they'd tried to run. But no one was as young as him."
Dante pressed his finger on the photos. They were them. Zayden just froze, staring at him, and Dante continued.
"They didn't need to ask who opened that window. The evidence was right in front of them. The girls were still arguing. The maids were shocked because Livia was his childhood best friend, but she still did this horrific act. I think it's their tradition to hate omegas, so it's not surprising."
Zayden's jaw tightened at his words, but he didn't stop him as he continued.
"The maids didn't care about her. They looked for their young master—a sixteen-year-old boy, still a child. They tried to find him, and then they found him under the bed."
Zayden tightened his grip on the chair while Dante's eyes turned cold with anger.
"The person they saw that day wasn't their young master. He was a living corpse. His clothes were torn in different places, like someone had wanted to remove them but couldn't. There were bruises everywhere on his body. The skin was missing in some places, like someone had beaten him with a belt and the belt had taken his skin with it. One eye wouldn't open. He was looking at them with his only eye, half open. He was half-naked, trembling to himself, eyes wide with horror, trying to tell them something, but they couldn't hear him. Like he wanted to tell them something, but his voice died before it came out. Some maids vomited after watching the whole scene, some cried at him, while others couldn't bear to see him in that condition, so they left. One old maid tried to listen to him when suddenly Roric entered the room. The guards came in with him and dragged her outside. Then, after all that drama, that bastard didn't even help his son. He also forbade anyone from removing those corpses, because he wanted to punish his son for allowing those men inside. And you know what? The bodies rotted there."
Tears filled Dante's eyes as he explained the most horrific story he'd ever witnessed. "Boss, even I don't punish my enemies like that, and he was his own son. I can't imagine how much hate he had for his son to give him that punishment." He wiped his eyes and continued.
"I can't tell you in detail what happened after that. I don't have the courage. I'll just tell you the main information.
The maids heard his screaming every night, and one day he fainted there. Who the hell could eat and sleep well with rotten corpses? Even the maids could smell the rot from the second building." Dante angrily hit the table and took deep breaths to calm himself as he continued.
"He was removed from that room on his sister's appeal. His condition didn't improve much—it got worse day by day. And the twist came when he started acting abnormally. The fear spread through the palace with stories that he was possessed. Because they left him with corpses… just think, how can a person act normal after living with corpses? So after a while his sister realized that his condition was really bad. I don't know what type of sister she was that only after he was decayed completely did she realize he had a problem." Dante scoffed as he continued.
"So the doctor was called to check him. The doctor examined his condition for a few weeks but didn't understand his condition at first. They said he had a personality disorder, but soon they realized that wasn't the case."
Dante leaned back as Zayden's gaze lingered on his face. Dante locked gazes with him tiredly. Zayden lifted his brow at him. Dante nodded slightly. Zayden expression changed, suddenly his eyes turned cold.
"Don't," Zayden lifted his hand to silence him.
"Don't tell me! I—I'll pretend I never heard you."
Zayden stood from his chair to leave, but stopped at Dante's voice.
"How long, boss?!" Dante stood from his chair as he looked at him.
"Boss, how long will you pretend that you didn't hear? The person you are trying to become is more important than the person you used to be. Let go of the past. For once." He pleaded with Zayden.
Zayden looked at his watch. He had time for his next mission. He walked toward the window to get fresh air. He took a deep breath as he opened the window and looked out at the huge buildings of the city as he spoke.
"It's easier said than done. You think I never tried? He was my nightmare for years. At one point, I thought about killing myself. But maybe it was those omegas' prayers whom I saved, or maybe it was my luck, that I found one person who broke that nightmare for me. I slept peacefully for the first time with him. And now you're telling me he has the same disease?"
"Boss!!" Dante walked toward him. "It's not like he will meet the same end as him. We can contact international doctors and…"
"Stop that, Dante!!" Zayden turned and looked at him angrily.
"Stop!! I will never let that happen. I will do whatever I can to keep it from him. I will never let him suffer."
"Boss, just because you didn't tell him doesn't mean that he will not suffer." Dante explained worriedly as his jaw tightened.
Zayden walked and stopped beside him.
"Find that Livia. I want her, whether dead or alive. Tell me if you want anything." He patted him on the shoulder as he passed him and got out of the office, leaving him alone inside.
Dante looked back at the closed door and whispered,
"You never listen to me. I hope this time you get the happiness you deserve, boss!" and bowed slightly in respect even though no one saw him. He waited there for a while, wore his hoodie cap and the mask he had removed when he came inside. When he made sure that no one could recognize him, he opened the door and walked toward the hidden lift that no one could use except people like him.
---
Zayden was inside his car, lost in thoughts, when Elaine's voice pulled him out of them.
"Boss! This time we recovered two hundred omegas. Two died during the war. Sixty betas recovered, while one died on the spot because of smugglers' shooting. And we also recovered 10 young alphas. They're all safe."
"Hmm, just shift them to safe places. No one can get them back until I say so. If someone claims they're family and the alpha, beta, or omega is happy to go with them, still ask for my permission." He told Elaine while scrolling through some reports on his phone.
"But boss, they always make a fuss about it. And two families are already waiting to get them back. We can't force them, can we?" She asked as she worriedly watched Zayden, who was looking off now.
"Take me to them. I will hand them over myself," Zayden told her like it was a matter of fact.
"But boss, we're going to the mission." Elaine turned toward him slightly as she watched him confusedly.
"Then, after the mission we will go there." He looked at his watch. It was already 8:00 at night and he knew that he was going to be late, so he messaged Elara to stay with him and messaged Caspian to not wait for him.
Their car entered the black canal. They parked at a corner that was a hidden spot to hide from smugglers. They had gotten news about child omega smuggling and their men were already on a mission. Darius was on another mission to capture drug smugglers, so there was no one left among their men to lead the bodyguards. Because if bodyguards didn't trust their leader, morale fell and it could lead to their loss, so Zayden came himself. He was used to it before Caspian came. Before he came, Zayden didn't go to the palace every day; he just came there every few weeks. But now he had someone waiting for him, craving his return, so he needed to handle it fast.
He opened the photo of Caspian on his phone. Caspian was eating cutely when Zayden had taken the photo. Zayden watched it for a while and kissed his photo before switching off the phone and putting it in Elaine's hand. Elaine took everyone's phones and entered the car and locked it from inside. You couldn't see who was inside because the mirrors were black.
Zayden took a breath to calm himself and wore the mask, removed his coat and put on a long black hoodie. He took the gun the guard handed him and cracked his neck to focus. He checked the bullets and gestured for his guards to follow him. Only his dark brown eyes were visible, scanning everywhere cautiously as he walked far away from the cars and hid beside the road with them.
---
"Here, look, that's how you make your Instagram account," Elara told Caspian for the umpteenth time. "Now follow me."
Caspian watched her for a while and frowned his brows as he answered.
"But I told you already I forgot my phone password," he swing his phone toward her eyes.
"Ohhh, that's fine. I told you not to tell me. Tell brother when he comes and he'll help you. I'm telling you this because you need to remember it, so when brother comes and unlocks your phone, you immediately make your account and follow me on Instagram so we both can share reels with each other."
"But you told me to follow you," Caspian scratched his head as he explained.
"Come on, brother-in-law, don't make me mad. I told you not to follow me now, but when I leave, then you follow me," she replied tiredly.
"But how can I foll…"
They were both fighting on the couch when they both stopped at the voice.
"Hey, hey, why are you both fighting?"
They both turned toward the voice. It was Amanda, smiling innocently at both of them.
"Hello! Did you miss me?" she grinned at caspian.
Caspian's expression immediately turned cold, while the smile vanished from Elara's face. Not knowing the venom she was hiding behind her smile, they both looked at her in confusion.
Now, Why is she here?
---
Author Note:
This chapter was hard to write. I didn’t hold back because Caspian’s past deserves to be heard, even if it hurts. If it triggered you, please take a break. Your mental health matters more than any chapter.
Zayden’s fear, Dante’s guilt, Caspian’s silence… all of it leads somewhere. Thank you for reading this far with me.
Drop a comment if you think Livia deserves to suffer or if you’re team “let Zayden burn the world for Caspian”
Next chapter: Amanda enters + mission starts. Are you ready?
