Alice's Secret

"Mother, it hurts…" 

Milani looked up at Veronica, her teary eyes begging to be free of the pain. By now her body is having splinters and burns from her boiling blood. Her organs are sure to be burnt inside too. 

She has no chance of surviving. And yet she's dying so agonizingly slow. 

Milani falls to the floor unconscious, unable to bear the pain. 

"My daughter is Sinhold's loveliest lady! How dare you put her through this much torture! You rotten monster," Veronica seethed. "I will never let you marry my daughter now! Fine, go on with Alice! You're both monsters, so you deserve each other!" 

But Sirius's attention is on Alice entirely. His abilities are busy at work trying to help her heal naturally. 

"Your power, does the High Alpha know?" She snickered when he didn't answer. 

"I knew it. The King wouldn't send out that decree if he just knew he had a powerful son. Why hide your power with your sickness? Are you scared of being judged? Feared? Misunderstood? Taken advantage of?"

Veronica started to feel confident when he wasn't answering. She felt like she hit a nerve.

What she didn't see were Alice's eyes that slowly fluttered open. He flinched and supported her head. Alice rested her head on his arms, breathing heavily. 

Her consciousness was fluttering. 

"Then again, being this sick monster who can torture others so casually must not deserve to rule over Naraina. Just be with Alice somewhere far away, so we can have two less sadistic vermins in Naraina." She hatefully spat. 

Vito held her tighter. "Don't go back on your words there…" 

"…" 

Alice parts her mouth, her eyes closed, "Shut up." 

Two words said quietly but enough to be heard by everyone. 

A strange blanket fell over them, like a gentle but firm order. Every beast in that building felt the primal instinct to attack. Sirius and the twins felt it subtly, only barely there, but Alice's animals were a different matter.

The bear growled and moved, its eyes only on one person.

Vito felt goosebumps and heard a familiar hiss from behind. His instincts immediately lit a red blaring light. Danger! 

Veronica fell to the floor after Vito released her and kept a distance. 

The yellow and black snake was swift in attacking her. It hissed loudly at her and flared its hood before biting her arm without hesitation. 

"Eek! This snake again! No! Stay away from me!"

Sirius sensed the dangerous venom that the snake inflicted on her and how it quickly spread all over her body, paralyzing her. 

The bear reached her at that time. It reared up terrifyingly on its hind legs and knocked her over. It bit off her arms with a vicious growl. It then grabbed her by the neck and violently shook her like a rag doll. Veronica only had time to scream in between the bear's attacks. 

And Sirius looked back at Alice who was once again unconscious. These animals attacked under her command. It was weak for them, but that wasn't the case for her animals.

The bear clawed at Veronica until her screams stopped. It wasn't hard to assume what happened. 

Once she was dead, the bear sat over her corpse and turned to them. Specifically, to Alice. 

"I'll take her home and have her checked out by a doctor," he says. The bear was intelligent, but it didn't seem to understand his words. Earlier, it only backed off when he showed his power. 

Maybe it wanted actions over words.

"Dante. We'll ride on your back." 

"Got it." 

Dante shifts, and the bear growls in threat. Before it could do anything, Sirius carried Alice and jumped on Dante's back. The bear paused.

"Let's go." 

"Your Highness, this girl is still alive." Vito looked at Milani who fainted from the pain. "Should I finish her off?" 

Sirius looked back at her. The bat was near her. She must've been hard at work. Death is too merciful of a punishment.

"No. Being the sole survivor is a better, longer torment. You know what to do here." 

"Yes, I'll clean up well." 

Sirius pulled a hood over his head and held Alice closer. Just like that, they were off.

Behind them, the snake crawled up to the bear along with a monkey and they also took off, following closely. The twin owls also flew overhead. Their eyes are only on Alice. Since the secret's already out, there's no use for them to hide anymore.

Vito watched this from behind. Alice has heavy protection from all directions, even from the skies. He chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. 

She may have been born into this sorry excuse of a family, but her newfound family is something anyone could only wish for. 

Now then…

The events of this day must not get out. This bloodbath is not a common mess since Prince Sirius doesn't do things flashily, but today is different. This was the embodiment of his rage, of how angry he was. He didn't look like it, but his actions today proved he was outraged. Just the kill count was telling something.

His Highness barely held himself together.

Vito sensed the arrival of some of Killian Fox's men, assassins born in the shadow.

They all landed behind him.

"Let's get to work."

—

A day after the bloodbath at Kingsley mansion.

The young master returns home from Oskandor. He had a fight with his father for marrying him off to Milani, so he drank away at Oskandor and refused to go home. It had been a week since he left.

But what he arrived to…

Was a funeral. In his home.

"Father?"