CHAPTER 221: ESCAPE INTO ASHES

[Dark Forest—Lavinia’s POV]

The blade hummed faintly in my grip, its edge pressed to the soft skin of his throat. The only light in this suffocating forest was the pale moon and... Marshi’s divine flames licking the shadows, turning every tree into a torch of judgment.

One push. One breath too sharp—Caelum Virell’s blood would water the ground.

He smirked through split lips, crimson glistening at the corner of his mouth. "I... never thought you’d track me down so quickly, Lavi."

"Lavi?" My laugh cracked like a whip, sharp enough to make even the night recoil. "How bold. Are you hoping to make me your friend now, Caelum? After betraying me all these years."

His chuckle rang hollow, brittle as glass about to break. Fear shimmered in his eyes, but arrogance still coiled behind it—the kind of arrogance that thought shadows would always offer him escape.

"I’ll admit," he rasped, "you’ve grown sharper. But cornering me here?" His smirk stretched thin, his trembling body betraying the lie. "That’s not the same as caging me. I’ve slipped out of worse."

I pressed the blade harder until it kissed blood. A droplet slid down the steel, gleaming in firelight.

"Worse?" My voice dripped like poison. "You scurried like a rat through the dark, Caelum. Tonight—" I leaned in, red eyes narrowing, "—the hunt ends."

He bared his teeth in something between a grin and a snarl. "The hunt ends?" His laugh rattled, ragged but laced with defiance. "No, princess... you’ve forgotten."

His gaze locked with mine, fever-bright, unhinged. "I am not some mutt to be collared, not prey to be chased. I—" his chest heaved as he roared, "—AM A WILD BEAST!"

Marshi growled, flames flaring higher, but Caelum didn’t flinch. Instead he leaned into the blade, blood streaking his throat, his grin feral. "And beasts..." his voice dropped, venomous and mad, "...are never hunted. They hunt back."

Before I could strike, his hand snapped down, clawing up a fistful of dirt—

FWOOOSH!

The world exploded in a storm of grit and ash.

"Ghh—!!" My eyes burned, my throat searing. Marshi reared back with a furious roar, flames sputtering under the suffocating cloud. I staggered, coughing, blade wavering as fire and dust swallowed the night.

"Cough—cough—!" Tears stung my eyes shut. Through the choking haze I heard it—boots pounding, branches splintering, and a horse shrieking as reins snapped.

And then—silence.

When the storm thinned, the space before me was empty.

Empty.

The bastard had slipped away.

"DAMN IT!!" My voice tore through the forest, raw with venom. "That bastard!"

Marshi snarled, flames ripping through undergrowth in furious streaks, but the trail was already unraveling into the dark.

I clenched my sword until the leather dug deep into my palm. My pulse thundered, rage tangling with something sharp, electric—exhilaration. He’d escaped again. Clever. Desperate. Slippery.

But not invincible.

"Run, Caelum," I hissed into the night, my smile colder than steel. "Run until your legs shatter, until your lungs collapse."

Marshi’s flames surged, gold fire roaring with my vow.

"Because no beast—wild or not—can outrun me forever."

I turned to Marshi and pressed my hand against his blazing mane. Heat licked my palm, but I did not flinch. A razor smile cut my lips.

"That bastard thinks he can play hide-and-seek with us, Marshi." My voice sank, cold and verdict-clear. "Let him. Because he’s forgotten—" I leaned toward Marshi’s burning eyes, my own red gaze flashing like wet steel under the moon. "...no one toys with a Royals and walks away."

Marshi answered with a low, seismic growl; the earth trembled beneath his claws, as if even the ground acknowledged my fury.

I sat up straighter in the saddle, cloak snapping like a banner, and surveyed the empty swath of forest before us. The shadows seemed to shrink from the light.

"Come, Marshi." My command was a blade. "Let’s drag him from every hole. Burn every shadow he hides in until there’s nowhere left for him to crawl."

A thin, venomous whisper slid from my lips: "Tonight... the wild beast will kneel."

ROAAAAAAAAARRRRR!!!

Marshi’s roar cleaved the night, setting the treetops trembling. Flames spiraled with his fury, a tornado of gold that painted the woods in living light.

I cracked the reins and my horse lunged forward, hooves striking sparks from the earth. Marshi thundered at my flank, fire trailing his steps like a banner of war.

Into the dark we rode—not as hunters.

But as executioners.

***

[Osric’s POV — Everheart Estate, Midnight]

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The sound ripped me out of my nap. Solena’s golden feathers rustled as she stirred from her perch, eyes snapping open with mine. My brow furrowed. "Who dares knock at this hour?"

A voice came muffled, tight with urgency. "Lord Osric—it’s me. Aldric."

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and strode to the door, every step heavier than the last. The moment I opened it, Aldric was there—face pale, breath ragged.

"Aldric, what—"

He cut me off, voice sharp as steel. "We’ve received word from the Imperial Palace... Princess Lavinia—she’s found him. The Hidden Emperor."

The words slammed into me like a hammer. My eyes widened, my grip tightening on the doorframe. "Who?"

Aldric swallowed, his jaw locking. "The Marquess Everett’s adopted son... Caelum."

For a breath, the world went still. Then the heat rose, quick and merciless. My hand flew to my sword, tearing it from its rack. Solena leapt from her perch with a shriek, wings spreading, wind glinting in her feathers.

I strode past Aldric, my steps pounding the hallway. "What’s the update now?" My voice cut low, edged with storm.

He fell into step behind me. "The princess has already struck House Everett. Caelum fled—but she’s in pursuit."

"Damn it." My teeth clenched so hard it hurt. "Which direction?"

"Toward the dark forest, my lord."

By the time we reached the stairs, I saw them—father and grandfather already mounted, crimson cloaks flaring in the torchlight. They looked like war itself called to arms.

Grandfather’s head snapped toward me, his gaze burning. "Osric!" His voice thundered through the night. "Follow the princess. She may need you and make sure she doesn’t kill that hidden emperor. We need him for interrogation."

I nodded sharply, fire surging in my veins. "Understood."

Without another word, I dashed into the courtyard, steel flashing at my hip, Solena’s wings beating above me. The gates loomed ahead, already yawning open, the night beyond waiting like a battlefield.

And I swore—if Caelum thought he could slip through Lavinia’s grasp tonight... then he would find my blade in the dark as well.

I tightened my grip on the reins, the leather biting into my palms. My horse’s hooves pounded against the cobblestones as the city blurred past, every shadow stretching long like reaching claws.

Above me, Solena circled once before swooping low, her molten eyes locking with mine.

"Solena..." My voice rasped, breath harsh from the ride. "Fly higher. Find Marshi’s flame. His power will be raging by now—you’ll see it."

She gave a sharp, piercing cry, wings igniting brighter as though fire itself bowed to her command. Then she soared upward, disappearing into the ink-black sky, leaving a trail of sparks behind.

The streets lay empty, eerily still, but my chest was a battlefield of storming thoughts.

Damn that bastard... Caelum.

I should’ve known. I should’ve seen it sooner. When he smiled too easily. When his tongue dripped with honey but always had venom underneath. When Lavinia mentioned his absurd remarks. When, during that duel, his blade deliberately struck my hand...

Every warning was there. Every sign.

And I ignored them.

Now the truth twisted in my gut like a poisoned knife. If Caelum truly is the Hidden Emperor, then it was him all along—last life, this life—him weaving those poisonous schemes. Him slipping venom into her cup not once, but twice. He watched her falter with blood on her lips while he hid in plain sight.

My jaw clenched so hard it ached. "How could I have been so blind?" I hissed into the night.

A traitor.Living among us.Laughing with us.Eating at our tables.Smiling like a friend... while sharpening the knife meant for Lavinia’s back.

Rage scorched my veins, but I forced myself to breathe, to hold steady. Because rage without reason is weakness.

It doesn’t matter. Not anymore.

Because this time—this life—Lavinia isn’t that fragile girl forced to endure. No. This time she has Marshi at her side, his divine fire turning night into judgment. And more than that...

She has her father’s blood.

The blood of the Tyrant King.

A slow exhale escaped me, half a prayer, half a warning. "You’re stronger than any of us now, Lavinia... stronger than even me."

The trees ahead shuddered with a roar—Marshi’s roar—so thunderous the very earth trembled. My horse flinched, nearly buckling under its force, but I steadied it with iron fists.

I looked to the heavens, to Solena streaking across the sky in a blaze of fire, and clenched my teeth.

"I just hope..." My words cracked, lower than a whisper, as the forest swallowed me whole.

"...you don’t kill him before I get there."