Fokay — West, Empire of The Damned.

Inside the underground prison of the Hollow Castle, Asael sat there, cross-legged, his clothes torn and worn, streaked with stains of blood, his body crusted with filth showing it had been a long while since he had taken a single bath.

But his expression was cold, carved in stone, and filled with a murderous desire so strong, so unfettered, that even without his mana there was a sense of suffocation reverberating through the prison's chamber — the angry shadows trembling at the state of their Prince.

The shadows couldn't stop writhing and swirling sporadically, as if they longed to surge forward and embrace Asael, but some invisible power restrained them, forcing them to crawl across the ground like maggots clustered together.

It had been weeks since Asael was captured and chained here like a lost lamb, waiting to be saved and guided by some heavenly spirit… or maybe saved by a treacherous shadow.

He had expected the Empress to come to him, to mock him, to threaten him with his daughter or with any torment she could conjure but she did none of that.

In fact, she hadn't met him once since he was thrown here, as if Asael was not worthy of her gaze, not even deserving of her scorn.

Asael would not have cared about this kind of behavior in normal circumstances, but this time… this one stung.

He didn't like it.

He didn't like the fact that he was so blatantly discarded by the one responsible for his suffering.

They dared lock him up, take his daughter, and then ignore him as if he were nothing more than something inconsequential, someone unimportant and worthless?

The more he thought about it, the more an unreasonable anger coiled around his heart like a venomous snake constricting its prey.

He clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth until a creaking sound boomed through the silent prison, like an old wooden door straining against the hiss of the wind.

But even in this state, he tried to think of the good side of things… it had been a while since he hadn't seen Rose.

And that, at least, pleased him.

'I never want to see that damned—!'

Asael's thoughts stopped abruptly as he heard the sound of heels clacking on the ground rhythmically.

His lips twitched. 'No way…'

Step by step, the sound echoed louder until a figure appeared before him, a stunning figure.

Red hair like rubies ground to dust and scattered across the wind, red eyes burning like a bleeding sun, a simple sleeveless black dress flowing down to her ankles with a crimson rose inscribed on it, her face softer and fairer than cream.

Rose Drought.

She was the type of woman any man would kill for just to look at a little longer and she knew it, as every woman does.

But she never cared for any of that. Except… except when it came from one man.

There was one man she delighted in seeing her as a wonder of the world. But now, as that same man looked at her…

…all Rose saw was scorn, contempt, and an anger beyond comprehension.

She bit the inside of her lips, though her outward expression betrayed nothing of the storm inside her.

She approached the prison's bars and stopped just an inch away, silently observing the state of her former lover.

It pained her.

But she could do nothing about it.

"What do you want?" Asael said, his voice cold, heavy with annoyance.

Rose fell silent for a while, seemingly reorganizing the thoughts in her head, before parting her lips.

"I have something to tell you," she said softly.

"I don't care—!"

"It concerns the life of our daughter, Asael." She cut in sharply.

Asael's face hardened into stone. He glared at Rose with resentment and fury.

"I told you not to call her your daughter. You have no right." He growled like a beast about to lunge and tear her throat open.

This time, Rose's eyes turned cold.

She stepped closer, squatting down. Now she was just an inch from Asael, separated only by the iron bars.

Their gazes clashed, cold against cold, and the tension was so crushing it scared away even the shadows.

"I have no right? Then you have even less, Asael," she scowled.

"I carried Valentine inside of me for ten whole months. I endured pain, suffering, and sweat while she gave me hell in my womb. I bore the agony of childbirth and did everything I could to bring her into this world."

She clenched her fists tightly until her knuckles turned white, gritting her teeth, fighting not to let tears spill before Asael.

Because it was too unjust.

"If you think that simply bringing a child into this world makes you a mother, then you're a damn fool, Rose," Asael said coldly.

"What kind of mother abandons her newborn? Tell me. What kind of mother leaves her child alone in her earliest days — when she needed her most — and runs back to her damned hollow castle?" he shouted, rage flaring as memories carved themselves fresh into his mind.

The nights he spent searching desperately for someone to feed his child. The endless cries that only a mother's arms could soothe.

A father could do much, but a mother had that innate softness that melts even the hardest hearts with a touch.

But Valentine didn't have that.

And Asael remembered everything he had endured for his child, the struggles against enemies circling his fragile territory, and the moment he realized how weak he truly was as a Master — the moment he set his goal to become Grandmaster.

But by rushing, by being hasty, he found himself, locked away from his daughter because of that dungeon.

And now here he was again, locked because of being hasty.

He hadn't learned his lesson the first time, it seemed.

He gritted his teeth, lowering his head to the ground, refusing to look at Rose's face.

Rose's heart was crushed in that moment, as if invisible hands had taken hold of it and squeezed mercilessly.

It hurt.

'I did this for you… I did this to protect you… it's all for you. For my daughter. For you, my love. I did this for you.'

She wanted to scream it.

She wanted to hold Asael, to tell him everything — that all she did was to protect him and Valentine from the hunger and cruelty of her mother.

She didn't want them dragged into the mess of this empire, under an Empress ready to burn the world if it meant her damned empire could rise from its droughted soil.

But instead of shielding them by keeping them unaware… she had trapped them by keeping them unaware.

Regret swelled inside her like a balloon ready to burst. But it was too late.

Asael's fury left no space for her words.

So instead, she spoke the reason she had come, beyond the aching need to see her lover.

"I spoke with my mother. I convinced her to let you out of this prison," she said.

Asael didn't move. His head stayed lowered.

"You'll be able to see Valentine again, to be with her. She… she asks for you whenever she sleeps. She wants to hear your stories. She hasn't forgotten you, Asael."

This time, Asael twitched.

"The price," he whispered.

He knew the Empress would never release him without one.

Rose bit her lip, finding it difficult to say the words, but she had no choice.

She had tried to convince her mother and failed. This was the best she could manage, the only way to protect Valentine, the only way to try to rebuild her broken family.

"You…" her voice shook.

"…you have to swear upon The Will to never harm the Empire in any way or shape until the end of your life… and to obey her every order."

Silence fell over the prison.

A silence so tense it was like the prelude to calamity.

Then Asael slowly raised his head. His twin pools of void locked into Rose's crimson eyes, his face filled with searing wrath.

"…you want me to be a slave to the Empire?" He growled.

"Me? Asael Shadeborn, Heir of Shadow?"

He rose from his cross-legged position and stalked toward the bars, seizing them with both hands, gripping so tightly the iron quivered, threatening to snap under his strength.

But Rose did not move. She stood firm, absorbing his fury, his hatred.

She looked at him with pained eyes and slowly nodded.

"…Yes. For our daughter, Asael…"

She paused, then whispered, pleading.

"…do it for her. We must protect her."

Her voice faltered under the weight of her heart.

"War is coming, Asael. And…"

Her voice cracked.

"…and I cannot do this without you."

I cannot protect Valentine from my mother's greed… alone.

—End of Chapter 216—

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