CHAPTER 53: THE TRUE MONSTER

Seamus stepped into what was no longer a room. Corpses littered the floor, walls lay in ruin, and in the center stood Isolde. Viviane was gone, swallowed whole by her mother’s blood.

The sight was so horrifying that Lulu covered her mouth, her body trembling, unwilling to step a foot farther.

Seamus wanted to stop this. To do something. But he was too late. Far too late.

And now he understood: every eye of the Seven Great Covenants would soon turn toward Velstrath because of the "agreement" Isolde had shattered.

He didn’t yet know the details of that pact, but he knew the woman—no, the monster—before him had orchestrated this mess deliberately.

Suddenly, Madeline’s words made sense.

"Why did you leak information about me? What was your purpose?" Seamus asked.

His voice was steady, though his heart thundered in his chest.

Isolde could kill him where he stood. Her nightmare still lingered beside her, more than enough to end his life in a breath.

Even the power he carried—the one he’d borrowed from her—was meaningless against its source.

But Isolde loved control and power. She wouldn’t simply destroy him. Not when she could bend him. Break him. Find use for him.

"Whatever are you saying, my dear? I would never do such a thing."

Her voice was smooth, without a trace of a lie. But Seamus knew better.

After all the sadistic cruelties she had committed, after what Viviane herself had revealed, there could be no doubt: Isolde was a true-born psychopath.

Even animals did not torture their young for being "too kind." It was despicable. Disgusting.

"I don’t believe you," Seamus said, his gaze narrowing.

"After what you’ve done here, throwing me into hell itself wouldn’t be out of character. You did the same to Viviane, didn’t you?"

For the first time, he saw her crack. A flinch—brief, sharp—but then it was gone, her mask sliding back into place.

"She is my daughter," Isolde said coolly. "And if a daughter acts against her mother, I have every right to punish her."

"For being kind?" Seamus barked a laugh, harsh and disbelieving. "You punish people for kindness? That’s your reasoning?"

He never thought a being like Isolde could be so absurdly unreasonable.

But she neither smiled nor frowned. She only stared deep into his eyes.

"I don’t expect you to understand, Seamus," she said, her voice cold and commanding as she stepped closer.

"Those who live in the light cannot comprehend the darkness. Kindness may serve you in your world, but in mine, it is weakness. And weakness is death."

"You are a bad mother, Isolde." Seamus clenched his fists, his voice trembling with anger.

"You destroy your daughter over things that haven’t even happened. You punish her for what she cannot understand..."

His jaw tightened. "You don’t deserve to be called a mother—you’re a monster. Even I, a powerless human, understand that much."

’I can’t imagine how she endured centuries under your roof. A roof that should have protected her... but instead, it’s the very thing that broke her."

He lowered his gaze, shame flickering across his features as he remembered the cruel words he had once thrown at Viviane without knowing the reasons behind her pain.

"I can’t imagine the betrayal she carries in her heart."

For the first time, Isolde looked stunned. Her expression faltered, though only for a moment, before she closed her eyes as if accepting his insult with deliberate calm.

When she opened them again, she was standing so close he could see the faint gleam of mockery in her gaze.

"And it seems," she added, "you’ve finally learned to stop being a doormat. You involve yourself now. You act."

Instead of being insulted, Seamus scoffed. "Oh, I learned. From the cruelest teacher I could imagine."

He straightened, meeting her stare without flinching. "Now tell me the truth. Why did you do it? Do you hate the thought of me as patriarch so much?"

It was the only explanation that made sense. That she wanted to snuff out his dream, to prove just how weak and laughable he really was.

But her answer struck him like a blade.

"Of course not. Your determination is foolish, yes, but I would not waste my efforts on something so trivial."

She tilted her head, eyes glinting. "It was for Madeline."

Seamus froze.

"Do you think I’ll stand idle while that little rat scurries about, making alliances left and right to destroy me?"

Isolde’s voice sharpened, venom-laced. "If I fall, she—and all of Velstrath—will fall with me."

She leaned in, her face hovering inches from his.

"And I will drag you all into the abyss with me."

Seamus was flabbergasted. He didn’t know what to say, but something like that was undeniably Isolde-like.

And yet, it felt wrong. Killing everyone along with her because of her own flaw, her own failure as a matriarch?

He couldn’t understand it. Maybe because he was just a powerless being who had only gained strength a moment ago.

But deep down, he believed this never would have happened if Isolde had changed, if she had become a better version of herself.

Knowing what she had done, he began to understand why Madeline despised her.

It was just her ego that ruined everything.

"You are insane."

Isolde chuckled. "Insane? This world made me insane, Seamus."

"You’re still young. Live for hundreds of years as I have, and you’ll see the world differently."

"Or maybe it’s just you," he sighed, "twisting everything until it bends into whatever shape you want it to be."

Now his suspicions were confirmed. The culprit behind all of this mess stood before him. Seamus had only one thing in mind.

"Where is Viviane? What do you plan to do with her?"

Disappointed as he was by her betrayal, his anger wasn’t strong enough to let her die.

He wanted to hear her voice once more: her sincere apology, and the truth of the terrible things she had endured that had driven her to seek vengeance against her mother.

And maybe then... he would let her go for good. Or maybe he would forgive her.

"You are such a kind person, Seamus. I only hope that kindness won’t lead you to terrible things," Isolde said suddenly, freezing him in place.

"Oh, I know you went to Hesse to stop her," she smirked, as if reading his mind. "And something must have happened, since you didn’t return together."

"Just tell me where she is!" he said impatiently.

"Oh, she’s here." Isolde touched her chest. "And I won’t let you have her so easily."