Quiet Rage

Trigger warning: Torture.

It's cold and dark.

Alice feels trapped in a dark, bottomless pit again.

Her eyelids felt heavy, her hair tangled and all over her vision. But it didn't matter, since all she could see was darkness. She fell back asleep.

When she woke up, she felt colder… and wet.

"Agh—!" Her voice got caught in her throat as water got in her mouth. She stumbled and fell to the ground, coughing.

"There she is."

Her body reacted instinctively with fear after hearing the familiar voice. N-No… It can't be… All those years of torment, with this voice as the source of her nightmares.

"Did you miss me, darling?"

Her faux sweet voice was grating to the ear.

Alice, who was still drenched in cold water, slowly looked around. This room is unfamiliar to her. This isn't their attic that she's used to.

She found the water bucket that was used to dump water on her, as well as the person holding it.

Milani smiled sweetly at her, the same smile that charmed the entirety of Sinhold.

"Sister! I heard you've found your mate. Such a pity it's to a weak Prince, though."

The word 'sister' made her flinch. She never had good memories with such a fond word.

"Stop rubbing salt on the wound, Milani," Veronica sarcastically said. Her arms were crossed as she looked down on her. "Her being his mate left him no other choice but to marry her. I pity that Prince. Born with an incurable disease and now mated to you. Don't you feel bad?"

Alice felt the familiar feeling of being weak and powerless under them. She wanted to forget about this after living with the Prince for a few days, but it seems that was too much to ask. Being happy for a few days was the most mercy the world could give her.

But after how well she was treated in the Prince's mansion and how kind he has been, she couldn't help but feel offended in his stead.

She doesn't care if they treat her like mud, but she doesn't want the Prince to be dragged with her.

The kind and merciful Sirius, meeting him and being mated to him is the only thing she is thankful for.

"This ill boy is mated to you. How unlucky is he? I hope he can rest soon so he won't suffer this misfortune any longer."

Milani chuckles. "Rest… forever? Mother, don't be so ominous—"

"Stop."

The mother and daughter paused, then turned to Alice with raised brows.

She never talked back to them.

She just lets them step over her and let it go.

So what's this now?

"Prince Sirius is so much better than all of you… He has done a lot more to me than you have in all the years I was here." Her voice was quiet, but the magnitude of her words didn't need to be spoken aloud. They heard it clear enough.

She stopped shaking. She was still on the floor, her face hidden by her hair, but they felt goosebumps with the shift in her aura.

"He does not deserve this ridicule."

Veronica was speechless for a moment before she laughed out loud. Cackling like a crazed witch.

"Look at you!" Her eyes shone with insanity. "You look more like the demon that you are! Finally, you're showing your true colors!"

Milani was visibly shaken. But seeing her mother, she started to smile too.

"Right? She's gone crazy, mom, right?"

"Heh. She was always crazy like her mother. But you're not hiding it anymore! Good!" Veronica grabbed her hair and forcibly pulled her up.

Alice held her hair with a cry.

"We're doing the Prince a favor here. We're taking you back so he won't have to see your true colors. You will be with the Kingsleys and you will do whatever they say. Milani will be the one marrying the Prince since he looked well enough when he came here. Got it?"

"No…"

Veronica frowned in disapproval and slapped her. Her daughter picked up a wooden bat and tested her grip on it.

"What did you say?"

"N-No…"

Veronica released her grip from her hair and took a step back while Milani took her place, swinging the bat.

"I'm not asking you so you can say no. Your only choice is 'yes'. Milani." Her daughter grinned at the signal and swung.

Alice's painful cry tore through her throat and was loud enough for the whole mansion to hear.

"Say it."

"No!"

"Milani, go."

She cries again as the bat hits her shoulder. She heard a loud crack and lost all feeling in her shoulder.

"Don't make me do it again, sister…" Milani whispers. "The Prince is so handsome. Do you think you deserve him? No, right? So just give him to me."

"No…" You don't deserve him either.

Milani's smile fell and she raised her bat again. Veronica watched with crossed arms.

"What a pity. I don't wanna hit you excessively, since you still have to marry Lorenzo. He's handsome enough to not be married to a girl with a beaten-up face. So just…" The bat swooped down again, to her stomach this time. "…say yes!"

"Aaah…" Alice felt like passing out. She can't bear the pain. "Help…"

Milani cooed. "Aww, asking for help now? We've been over that. No one can help you. Dirt like you don't need a Prince Charming."

"Don't waste too much of our time, Alice. Say it." Veronica is now impatient.

But Alice ignored them.

She tapped into her inner force and reached out to the souls she could feel. There were only several since she only had several animal friends that she made a bond with.

She desperately clung to them until her consciousness slowly faded.

And until her last breath, she said firmly, "No."

Just then, the door slammed open.

—

Earlier.

"My mate is missing, Lord Kingsley."

"I…Well, that is an unfortunate thing. But why… Are you perhaps assuming I have her, Your Highness?"

Sirius's eyes narrowed.

Lord Kingsley laughed humorlessly. "That is a heavy accusation, Your Highness. What proof do you have?"

It didn't take long for guards to appear from the house. They were fully armed with wolfsbane swords and thick iron armor. Anti-wolf gear.

Sirius chuckled. "Are your guards always in full anti-wolf gear like this?"

"What do you mean?"

"If anything, I'd think they were waiting," he said meaningfully.

But Lord Kingsley isn't intimidated. At least, he tries not to be. He knows the man in front of him is weakened by an inborn illness and he's just putting up an act. He's confident the Prince won't get past him.

"Nonsense, Your Highness. But I believe you're just wasting your time here. Who knows what's happening to Lady Sigertem right now while you're here, barking at the wrong tree?"

At that moment, Sirius caught it—her scent.

It's faint, but she's here.

He cocks his head to Dante. "Search the perimeter."

"Your Highness!" A voice called out from behind. He turns fully to see a disheveled Lord Sigertem. "Lord Kingsley, Prince Sirius, what is happening here?"

"Hmph, Lord Sigertem, how do you not know that your daughter's missing?"

"What?"

"And the Prince is accusing me of kidnapping her! I would not dare, but I feel offended that I've been accused of such."

"You better not eat your words, Lord Kingsley," Sirius cut him off. He stared calmly at the old Lord. "Are you certain enough to hold on to your words?"

He saw a flash of panic in the man's eyes. "O-Of course! If you want to force your way in, then you can try, with all due respect, Your Highness."

"Is that a challenge?"

Just then, a scream tore through the quiet mansion.

Sirius's heart hammered violently. Outside, he slowly approached the old Lord.

"Was that… Alice?" Lord Sigertem muttered from behind.

After I'm done with Kingsley, he's next.

"Your Highness, do you want me to clean out these guards?" Vito asks.

"No. Go inside and find her. I will deal with them quickly."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Vito passed by him like a gust of air, a true assassin, and cleared himself a path to get inside.

Now it's just Sirius against all of them. But only he can do this quickly.

"By the authority of the royal family, I hereby punish you, Lord Kingsley, for the crime of kidnapping a royal family member and denying your crime."

Kingsley laughed. "I apologize, Your Highness, but you should just go back home and rest. Your frail body can't take too much action in a day."

Sirius flashed him a saccharine smile, momentarily flashing the fury and rage he had tried so hard to conceal.

"Your last mistake is underestimating me."

Kingsley would continue to laugh, but his throat constricted all of a sudden. His gaze met Sirius's as all his blood rapidly rose to his head. His eyes were soon tainted red as blood overtook them. With overwhelming pressure, a large explosion made blood splatter all over the Kingsley's mansion.

The blood of their Lord.

What remained was his headless body, still standing, before it fell limp on the ground.