The Guest Wing
The deafening chaos of the ruined ballroom faded away, replaced entirely by the heavy, suffocating silence of the Baron's private estate.
Heavy oak doors closed with resounding thuds. The armed estate guards escorted Lexel and Anthierin to separate, lavishly decorated chambers positioned at opposite ends of a long, shadowy corridor.
Inside her room, Anthierin paced nervously across the plush imported rugs. She wore Aunt Heriot's crimson dress, her mind racing with Kain's heavy promise.
Down the hall, Lexel stepped into his own extravagant room. He ignored the expensive silk sheets on the massive four-poster bed, his golden eyes scanning the dark corners of the chamber. He knew perfectly well that the ruling family hadn't invited them to stay out of the goodness of their hearts.
---
A soft, hesitant knock echoed through Anthierin's chambers. She opened the heavy oak door to find Kain standing in the dimly lit corridor. The arrogant Champion from the ballroom was completely gone. He looked exhausted, the heavy weight of his gilded life pressing down on his shoulders.
He stepped inside, his blue eyes swimming with deep, agonizing regret. He poured his heart out, confessing the bitter truth of his betrayal. The life of a noble was a suffocating cage. Being a celebrated hero was a hollow lie. He had met other Champions from the capital, and compared to them, he was absolutely nothing. He was at the bottom of the food chain, a big fish in a tiny, pathetic pond.
"I was a fool, Rin," Kain pleaded, his voice cracking. He reached out, desperately wanting to take her hand. "I can leave it all behind. I will abandon Einjaar. I will leave Mera. I will throw away this uniform and just be with you again. Please."
Anthierin stared at him. The painful flutter in her chest instantly twisted into white-hot, volcanic fury.
"Are you stupid or something?!" Anthierin snarled, swatting his hand away violently.
"Rin, please, c-calm down—"
"Calm down my ass!" Anthierin screamed, her voice echoing off the stone walls. "You left me for a wealthier woman with a title! That is all there is to it! Do you honestly think I'm still that naive little girl you once promised to marry? Well, guess what, Kain? She died alongside her father! Get out! Get THE FUCK OUT!"
Kain flinched as if physically struck. He let out a long, trembling sigh of absolute defeat. He turned around and walked slowly out of the room, the heavy oak door slamming shut behind him. He dragged his feet down the empty corridor, entirely unaware of his fiancée's current whereabouts because Lexel had been placed in the completely opposite guest wing.
Inside her room, Anthierin leaned back against the heavy door. She let out a ragged, fuming sigh. Her heart raced frantically against her ribs, and hot tears finally spilled over her eyelashes. Even after all this time, hearing his voice crack still hurt.
---
Across the estate, inside the Baron's private study.
BANG.
The Baron smashed his thick fist against his solid mahogany desk. The expensive wood groaned under the impact without breaking.
"We lost half a million gold!" the Baron roared, his face a terrifying shade of purple. "The guards completely lost the cloaked man in the alleys! Tell me you at least poisoned the damn peasant."
Standing near the fireplace, Mera curved her lips into a slow, deeply wicked smile.
"I did," Mera purred. "But I used a different kind of powder."
The Baron frowned, thoroughly confused. He looked closer at his daughter, suddenly recognizing that exact, predatory smile. His late wife used to wear it right before she ruined a rival family. He blinked, his gaze dropping to Mera's attire. She had discarded her imported silk gown entirely, wearing only a dangerously thin, sheer silk robe.
The Baron staggered backward slightly. He swallowed a heavy, nervous gulp. "Is that... is that why you're wearing a robe?!"
"I will have his last name by the morrow," Mera declared flawlessly. She turned on her heel and glided out of the study.
The Baron stood frozen for a moment. He watched the heavy door close behind her, a slow, dark chuckle rumbling in his chest. "And here I thought I was the evil one in the family."
Mera walked purposefully through the dimly lit corridors of the guest wing. The few night maids patrolling the halls took one look at her sheer robe and immediately cast their eyes to the floor, absolutely terrified to meet her gaze. She moistened her painted lips with her tongue. She was wearing something even Kain had never been permitted to see. She was ready to claim her ultimate prize.
---
Meanwhile, inside the lavish guest chamber at the end of the hall.
Lexel stood in the center of the plush imported rug. He had stripped off his tailored black formal shirt, standing completely bare-chested in the cool night air. He stared down at his lower half with a mixture of profound confusion and rising panic.
The transparent powder Mera had slipped into his wine acted as an incredibly potent, military-grade aphrodisiac.
"Well, fuck me, it won't go down!" Lexel groaned, running a frustrated hand through his hair.
His dark trousers pitched upward at an aggressive, unyielding angle. The fabric stretched so taut it looked ready to rip at the seams, creating a biological tent sturdy enough to shelter a field mouse from a thunderstorm.
His pupils shrunked.
A terrifying, unnatural heat erupted directly from Lexel's core.
The transparent powder had finally bypassed his monstrous immune system and directly hijacked his bloodstream. His vision blurred into a hazy, feverish red. His thoughts turned incredibly foggy, melting down into raw, primal static. His broad shoulders heaved, and his massive hands began to tremble violently. The blood in his body was aggressively abandoning his brain, pooling entirely in his lower half with singular, agonizing purpose.
"So hot," Lexel gritted his teeth, his jaw clenching against the overwhelming fever.
He tore off his dark trousers and undergarments, throwing them haphazardly onto the imported rug. He stood completely naked in the center of the lavish chamber. The cool night air filtering through the cracks in the stonework offered absolutely zero relief. The military-grade aphrodisiac was actively boiling his blood.
Driven by pure, feral instinct and a desperate need to escape the suffocating heat of the enclosed room, Lexel stumbled heavily toward the balcony. He shoved the heavy glass window wide open. He gripped the stone ledge with trembling fingers, hoisted his bare, heavily muscled frame over the sill, and vanished into the night air.
He scaled the sheer outer wall of the guest wing. Using his monstrous agility, he parkoured silently up the estate's grand architecture, launching himself across the dizzying gaps to reach the roof of the opposite wing.
Seconds later, the brass handle of his bedroom door slowly turned.
Mera slipped into the room. She looked like a vision of absolute temptation in her dangerously sheer silk robe. She pushed the heavy oak door shut with a soft, decisive click. She locked it, ensuring there would be zero interruptions.
She turned around, pasting her most seductive, victorious smile onto her painted lips.
The smile vanished instantly.
The lavish four-poster bed was completely empty. A pile of discarded black formal clothes lay scattered across the rug.
"No..." Mera whispered, her stomach dropping into her feet.
A cool evening breeze rustled the expensive silk curtains. Mera practically threw herself across the room, leaning heavily over the open windowsill. She frantically scanned the moonlit courtyard below, then looked up.
A massive, impossibly fast shadow was bounding gracefully across the Baron's steep slate roof.
High above the sprawling estate, Lexel crouched entirely naked on the highest ridge of the roof tiles. The cool night wind whipped across his bare skin. He panted heavily, his chest rising and falling under the silver moonlight. His golden eyes had melted into a feral, glowing amber. The civilized, eloquent prince from the banquet was completely gone. The beast was officially out of its cage, and he was hunting.
---
Anthierin stood rigidly in the center of her dimly lit chamber, her breath still shuddering from the chaotic, emotionally exhausting encounter with Kain. She aggressively wiped the lingering hot tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand, determined to compose herself.
Thump. Thud.
A heavy, deliberate sound echoed directly above her head. Anthierin froze. The heavy slate roof tiles of the estate groaned under a massive, shifting weight. Someone—or something—was pacing directly over her room.
Her brow furrowed in deep confusion. She took a cautious step toward the heavy glass window. The moonlight streaming through the panes offered very little illumination against the dark stone walls. She reached out, her fingers just grazing the brass latch.
Before she could even unlock it, her pupils contracted violently.
A massive, shadowy figure plummeted down from the roof overhang, entirely eclipsing the moonlight.
CRASH.
The heavy glass window exploded inward. A shower of glittering shards rained across the imported rug.
Anthierin didn't even have time to scream. A massive, crushing weight tackled her backward onto the floor. The wind was instantly knocked from her lungs as she slammed against the plush carpet.
She lay perfectly still, utterly paralyzed by shock. Pinned beneath a wall of heavily muscled, burning-hot flesh, she stared straight up at the vaulted ceiling.
A ragged, heavy breath ghosted across the sensitive skin of her neck, sending a violent jolt down her spine. The man above her felt like a roaring furnace.
"R-Rin..."
The voice was a low, desperate growl.
Anthierin slowly turned her head. Lexel was hovering directly over her, his broad shoulders heaving with every labored breath. He was completely, unapologetically naked. His golden eyes were wide, feral, and glowing with an unnatural, predatory amber light. His jaw was clenched so tight the muscles in his neck strained visibly under his skin.
He dug his fingers into the plush rug beside her head, violently trembling as he fought a losing battle against his own instincts.
"Something's wrong with me, Rin!" Lexel growled through gritted teeth, his hot breath washing over her cheek.