CHAPTER 327: ELDRIC’S HERE

The last thing Violet wanted to do was move aside and allow Uva to pour any of the dark contents from the vial she held in her hands—even if she was convinced it would help Cain.

"Are you sure? What if this only makes it worse?" she pressed, unwilling to let Cain’s condition deteriorate any further than it already had.

Uva, on the other hand, only grew more irritated by her response. Her gaze hardened as she fixed her eyes on Violet, who stubbornly refused to back down.

Still, despite her clear reluctance, Violet didn’t dare stop Uva from moving closer to where Cain lay unmoving on the bed. The only indication that he was still alive was the soft rise and fall of his chest.

Even as she watched Uva tip the vial and pour the black contents into his mouth, the only thing Violet could do was dig her nails into her palms as she stood aside, watching with clenched fists and a racing heart. She said nothing, though a silent prayer rose from within her, desperate and pleading.

Please... let this work. Let him wake up.

To her surprise, Uva poured nothing more than a single drop into Cain’s mouth before stepping back, a visibly worried expression shadowing her features.

This only deepened Violet’s own worry. Her chest tightened as she glanced down at Cain’s face—still, pale, unresponsive. Nothing had changed.

He still lay there, unmoving, the minutes ticking by with a cruel silence that neither of them dared to break—until Violet couldn’t take it anymore.

"Nothing’s changed!" she said sharply, her voice high-pitched from barely restrained panic, just in case Uva hadn’t noticed. Her words did little to help as Uva’s frown only deepened, and she shot Violet a grim look.

"I can see that!" Uva snapped, her tone clipped as she stepped closer to Cain, staring at his motionless face. If his eyes had been open, she wouldn’t have dared draw this close—she remembered clearly how he had nearly killed her once before.

"It might just need a little time to work," Uva muttered, straightening again. She avoided Violet’s doubtful stare, instead fixing her eyes on Cain, her arms folding across her chest. One drop. That was all she had dared to give from the dangerous vial she’d scavenged. Giving him more would’ve been a gamble she wasn’t willing to take.

Violet’s anxiety only intensified with every minute that passed, her thoughts spiraling with fear. Her eyes flickered constantly to Cain’s chest, waiting, praying. Uva, though outwardly calm, felt the same unease deep within. She simply refused to show it.

More than an hour passed. The room remained shrouded in silence, the oppressive weight of helplessness hanging in the air. Cain didn’t stir.

Eventually, both women turned toward each other at the same time, their expressions etched with unease—an unspoken understanding passing between them.

"Could this be like the last time, when he couldn’t wake up?" Violet whispered, her voice trembling. Her wide, worried eyes searched Uva’s for answers.

But Uva said nothing. She didn’t know what to say. Because truthfully, she wasn’t sure either.

They waited again, the silence stretching until Violet’s panic was no longer hidden. It was written plainly on her face now, in the frantic rise and fall of her breath, the wild look in her eyes.

"We need to contact Lady June!" she whispered suddenly, her voice cracking under the weight of her desperation.

Uva was about to respond, her tone ready to snap with irritation—Lady June isn’t someone we can just summon!—but the words never left her mouth.

Because even though Violet was her daughter, Uva wasn’t blind to the truth: Lady June had no motherly love in her heart. She didn’t care—not really. That was why Uva always preferred to avoid mentioning her altogether.

But just as Uva opened her mouth to speak, a knock echoed through the room.

Both women froze.

No one was supposed to disturb them. Violet had given explicit orders to the head of guards that they not be interrupted.

Yet again, the knock came—this time more desperate, more urgent.

Without wasting another second, Violet moved toward the door. She pulled it open, expecting a mistake, maybe a nervous servant.

Instead, standing right there in front of the door was the last person she expected to see.

"Ravon?" she breathed, blinking in surprise.

But instead of stepping aside and letting him see into the room, Violet quickly stepped out and shut the door behind her, her movements sharp and tense. Her gaze shifted immediately to Cain’s head guard—Harry—who stood just behind Ravon.

Her expression was fierce as she questioned him silently with her eyes, demanding to know why Ravon had been allowed so close.

"Lord Cain has never restricted his movements," Harry answered with a low bow.

Violet frowned, her eyes narrowing as she turned back to Ravon.

"What do you want, and why are you here?" she asked, her voice icy.

His response made her heart lurch in her chest.

"Lord Eldric is here," Ravon said calmly, "and he insists on seeing Lord Cain immediately."

Violet’s breath caught.

Lord Eldric.

She tried not to let her fear show, but it was already there in her wide eyes, in the way her fingers clenched at her side.

Ravon remained still, but his mind raced. Though he was Ravon, his true allegiance had always been to Cain—not Eldric. What Uva had done to him on Cain’s orders had worked. There were no lingering doubts, no hidden dangers left behind.

"Lord Eldric..." Violet echoed, her voice hollow.

"Yes. He’s waiting in the lobby," Ravon confirmed.

Before he could say anything else, Violet turned abruptly and stepped back inside the room, slamming the door shut behind her with a thud.

Her heart pounded. The last time she had faced the lords, it had taken every shred of her willpower to keep from crumbling. And Eldric—Cain’s uncle—had been the one who scared her the most.

"Eldric’s here," she said, almost breathlessly, the moment she stepped back into the room.

Uva looked up—and for the first time that day, twice as much fear registered on her face, one she tried very hard to hide... and failed.