"Thank you, Your Grace, for your cooperation," Elijah said, his pen scribbling the last word of Vyan's testimony. He looked up with a satisfied smile. "With your account and the evidence we've gathered on Fred McHale's cris against the Starlight Orphanage kids, he's looking at either lifeti imprisonnt or a swift execution. You can rest easy."
Vyan gave a small nod, acknowledging the lieutenant's words.
Elijah's gaze flicked to Iyana, professionally seated beside Elijah on the couch. A mischievous grin tugged at his lips as he stood. "Well then, I will take my leave and let you two lovebirds enjoy so alone ti."
Iyana shot him a glare that could have frozen the sun, but Elijah only responded with a sheepish victory sign before making a hasty exit. The door clicked shut, and Iyana let out a long sigh, slapping a hand over her face. "Sorry about that. I really should have been calr yesterday. Now, all my colleagues are buzzing with gossip."
Vyan chuckled, the sound low and amused. "Normally, I couldn't care less about gossip, but today, I have to admit, it was amusing. They all looked at in awe like I had managed to charm so kind of untouchable demon."
Iyana tried to smile but it ca out a bit forced. Her chest was still heavy from Vyan's narration of what happened to Vyan as a re child. She moved closer, slipping her hand over his. "I am sorry for what Fred did to you. I wish I could travel to the past right now and save you from that man."
Vyan's expression softened, and he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Hey, there is no need to apologize. I have made my peace with it."
"But you didn't deserve any of it," she whispered, and then, her eyes darkened with a dangerous glint. "And I swear, Fred McHale is in for so third-degree interrogation."
Vyan's smile was gentle as he brought her knuckles to his lips. "Just make sure to do that after I have a word with him first."
Earlier that morning, before leaving for Myca, Iyana, as the officer in charge, had agreed to let Vyan visit Fred, but only if she accompanied him. Now was the ti for that.
"Well," Iyana said with a wry smirk, "I did promise you that."
———
The silence of the imperial jail was broken only by the occasional scratching sounds against the cold stone walls. The dim lighting barely cut through the darkness, casting twisted shapes on the walls like tornted spirits.
Vyan and Iyana descended the stone steps, pulling them deeper into the belly of the underground prison.
As they reached the final level, Iyana halted, her voice a low murmur in the dark. "The first cell belongs to him." Vyan's gaze remained fixed ahead as he gave a brief nod. "I will wait here for you. Take your ti."
Vyan offered her a faint smile. "Thank you, Iyana. I won't be long."
He moved forward, his expression hardening with each step as he neared the cell that held Fred.
The man sat on the cold ground, his back pressed against the rough stone wall. His eyes were just as fiery as Vyan had seen yesterday, lost in the chaos of his violent revenge, but when they locked onto Vyan, his fire sparked up ten tis brighter and more violent.
"What the hell are you doing here? What do you want from now?" Fred shouted.
Vyan stood before the iron bars, his voice as cold as the stone beneath them. "Fred, I am here to tell you sothing."
Fred's lips twisted into a bitter sneer. "Tell what? How much you enjoyed pushing my son to his death?"
Vyan's eyes narrowed, a predatory glint flashing through them. "No," he replied, his voice cutting like a blade. "I am here to tell you that everything you have believed in for the past fifteen years, every twisted thought that has kept you sane, is nothing more than a lie. It wasn't who killed your son. It was the other boy in the carriage with . Rember him?
Buried under the rubbles?"
A cruel smirk crept across Vyan's face as he watched the dawning realization tear through Fred's mind like a jagged knife. The man's once fierce gaze faltered, confusion and horror taking root where anger had been.
"You see, the man who bought off the black market also bought another boy—Ryan Hughes. We were his perfect type; both of us small, pale, lifeless, and thin. You know the interesting fact? Both of us lost our families that night. Mine was lost because of a national conspiracy and Ryan's was lost because of a madman with a saw."
Fred's face was drained of color.
"I can't believe you butchered Ryan's family," Vyan hissed, his voice dripping with venom. "And followed Ryan to the black market because he sohow escaped your clutches. In your madness, you didn't even properly look at Ryan's face to have been able to differentiate between him and I. But then again, how would you? You didn't even stop to think that maybe your son's death wasn't a murder.
That maybe it was self-defense."
Fred's eyes widened, the words hitting him like a physical blow. "Self-defense…?"
"Yes, Fred. Your son wasn't the innocent victim you painted him to be. Ryan wasn't the bully. It was your son. Ryan had only retaliated that day and ended up pushing him a little too hard. But how would you know that?
You were content in the perfect little bubble you had crafted. You were satisfied with tornting —who has nothing to do any of this. You clung to that faith because you didn't want to face the truth."
Fred's lips moved, but no sound ca out. The realization was too much, the truth too cruel.
Vyan's gaze never wavered, his voice a death sentence. "I won't fault you for seeking revenge—I am no stranger to it myself. But you failed. You failed your son, you failed yourself, and now you will rot here, knowing you didn't even take your revenge properly. You failed at the one thing you dedicated your entire life to."
Fred's silence was deafening, so Vyan leaned closer, his eyes gleaming with dark amusent. "You are crying? Did I break you finally, Fred?"
Fred's tears fell silently, his spirit shattered beyond repair.
"Mission accomplished," Vyan murmured, his smirk widening. He turned on his heel, leaving Fred to drown in the misery of his own making. "Good luck with life imprisonnt."
The words hung in the air like a curse, and Vyan walked away, his heart cold, satisfied with the ruin he had left behind.
But as soon as his eyes fell on Iyana, waiting a few ters away,his heart ward up once again.
He happily approached her, bouncing a little on his steps. However, her expression wasn't as welcoming as he expected. Her jaw dropped as she stared at him in shock. "Here I thought you ca for so salvation. But no, you just ca for revenge."
Vyan's grin widened, his eyes sparkling with a dark, mischievous glint. "That was salvation for ."
She sighed, shaking her head as if trying to process what had just happened. "Where did you even learn all that information?"
"I was just trying to dig up information on the kid who supposedly pushed Fred's son to his death. But along the way, I stumbled onto so other interesting details and, well, I connected the dots." He shrugged, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"You sounded completely unhinged in front of him." She rubbed her arms, as if trying to ward off the chill that had crept into her bones.
Vyan chuckled lightly. "Hey, I don't actually think he should have sought revenge against a five-year-old for an accident. Revenge is only for calculated, cold-blooded evildoings." When she shot him a look of disbelief, he flashed her an obnoxious smile. "Co on, let's get out of here."
He was about to take her wrist when sothing caught his eye—a corridor branching off to the right of the stairs. He glanced at the steel doors at the end, realizing what they were.
Solitary confinent.
Vyan stared at the stark, barred doors, their dark iron fras seeming to absorb the faint light from the flickering torches on the walls. "Who occupies these cells?" he asked, his voice a low murmur, eyes tracing the grim rows of confinent.
"I am not sure exactly who." Iyana shrugged, her expression thoughtful. "This isn't really my area of expertise. I handle high-priority cases, the ones that are more publicized. These cells… well, they are likely reserved for the most dangerous criminals in the empire."
Vyan walked into that corridor, his feet moving on their way, as if he was being summoned towards them.
Reaching the first cell, his fingers brushed against one of the cold steel doors. The contact sent a shiver through him, a wave of discomfort rising in his chest. The solitude and despair trapped behind these doors seed almost tangible.
Suddenly, amidst the eerie silence, a whisper broke through, soft and almost ethereal. "Vee…"
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