Torture Chamber

Seated in the dimly lit room, Lucien faced Robby, his body adorned with whip scars and blood, his face obscured by unkempt hair, breathing ragged.

"Hm... Still not talking, huh?" Cassius remarked, whip in hand, his shirt stained with blood.

"Let's try pulling nails and teeth. Might loosen him up," Lucien suggested, legs crossed in boredom.

"Or a good ol' electrocution," Seren chimed in, absorbed in her phone.

"We could get creative—hang him upside down, strip him naked, douse him with water, and leave him out in the snow to chill," Amane suggested casually. "Or use Lucien's chair to crush his toes 'til he talks."

"Wow, Mom, that's oddly specific," Seren quipped.

Lucien shook his head, hands covering his face in frustration at his family's macabre brainstorming session.

The reason why his family was here was simple, they were just bored and wanted to play a little. Well, except Cassius, who'd eagerly taken on the role of torturer.

After two days of fruitless interrogation, Robby remained stubbornly silent. Lucien had Amanda keep him alive each time he was on death's door. But Robby's resilience hinted at something more serious at play.

Lucien knew two things: Robby wanted to destroy the village, he knew it because of Lewis's loose tongue, and the so-called knights from Lord Edgarda were actually part of Robby's bandit group.

He considered that the bandit group might want revenge. But if it was that simple, why Robby didn't just spit it out?

As he glanced at his father, Cassius appeared unusually serious and tense. It was a rare sight and one that signaled trouble ahead.

Lucien sighed, "Have your men found their hideout and Jena yet?" he asked Cassius.

"They sent word they'll be back today," Cassius replied, twirling the whip in his hands.

As they discussed the hideout and Jena, Cassius noted Robby's growing tension and pale, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. He had a plan.

"They also found something interesting in the hideout and that woman too, I think we don't need this stupid ass anymore."

Cassius declared, delivering a harsh kick to Robby's stomach, eliciting a fit of coughing blood. He gestured to Lucien to play along.

Rising from his seat, Lucien feigned interest. "Oh, really? Could it be tied to someone of importance?"

"Likely. Given how stubborn this wretch is," Cassius sneered, seizing Robby's jaw. "I'll have a delightful time with your woman, and you'll have a front-row seat to all of it," he threatened menacingly.

The thing was, based on Gibson's witness, Jena ran away after getting a signal from Robby. Cassius also looked at how luxurious the clothes she used, they also shared the same necklace.

Jena was different from all the bandits and the fact that she was neat, it enough proof that somewhat she was important to Robby.

"Right, it was fun playing with a woman, they are easy to break. And I'm sure your little one would enjoy it too," she teased, catching Lucien off guard.

Was Jena pregnant? How did Amane know? Lucien shot his mother a questioning look, but she merely gestured for silence.

Robby's face drained of color, signaling his readiness to talk. But instead of words, a vile spit flew from his mouth straight to Cassius's face.

He chuckled darkly before unleashing a barrage of punches upon Robby, treating him like a punching bag. Amane joined in, delivering fierce kicks to his stomach.

"You bastard, how dare you do that to my husband!" Amane seethed, her blows relentless.

Lucien rolled his eyes at the sound of Robby's agonized cries and the sickening crunch of bones breaking. He rubbed his temples, resigned to the fact that they wouldn't extract any useful information from him.

Meanwhile, Seren shook her head in disdain. "This is getting tiresome. I'm out," she declared, exiting the room.

Suddenly, Gibson entered with an urgent message, "The men you sent are back, My Lord," he reported, his eyes widening as he took in the scene of carnage.

His eyes gazed at the room and became pale when he saw the bloody room and the man whose face and body looked like it turned into slime.

"Great, I'm bored to death here. Gibson, tell Amanda to heal this man. I don't want him to die yet," Lucien instructed, leaving the room with his bloodied parents in tow.

"Yes, My Lord," Gibson replied with a bow.

"I really need a smoke after this," Cassius sighed wearily.

"I want to take a bath. Let's do that together," Amane suggested, wiping the blood from her face and winking at her husband.

"Don't do it before we're done with all of this," Lucien interjected with annoyance.

The trio made their way out of the basement, leaving behind the torture room. They headed to a place that Gibson had prepared.

"I think we need a bigger house for meetings like this," Lucien mused to himself.

The house provided by Gibson was modest, with only five rooms. There were separate rooms for Lucien's parents and himself and Seren, with the rest serving as workspace. But still, it was too crumpled.

Upon entering the room, all eyes turned to them. Seren, Brigantiea, Lithira, Clyde, Kleith, and Auden were already present. The room became silent went they came in, especially looking at how bloodied they were.

Brigantiea greeted Lucien with a hug, "You look hot with blood everywhere," she flirted.

Lucien's grim mood lightened slightly as he returned her gaze, "I know, right," he replied, feeling the urge to release his pent-up emotions by fucking her.

It was a shame he had to wait.

All of them then took their seats around the round table, waiting for Gibson and Amanda to join them. After a brief wait, the two finally arrived.

Amanda wasted no time in voicing her concern. "You should know your limits before pummeling people to a pulp. I have healing abilities, but I'm not a miracle worker," she scolded.

"Nah, it was that bastard's fault for keeping his mouth shut. Anyway, did you find Jena?" Amane cut in, getting straight to the point.

"Yeah, she's bleeding a lot. It seems like she'll lose her baby," Lithira replied, her voice tinged with concern. She had been tasked with searching for Jena, using her golems to aid in the search.

"Let me handle her," Amane continued.

"Sure," Lucien nodded, "But how did you know she was pregnant?"

"She was touching her stomach a lot. That's how," Seren chimed in, her tone softening. "Don't be too harsh on her, Mom." Seren was pregnant once, she knew how hard it was to lose a baby.

Lucien finally understood, he was too busy focusing on Lewis and he missed all the details. He was glad many witnessed that fight.

"I know, I know. I won't torture her in the traditional way," Amane assured. She was bored with punching and kicking, she wanted to try something new like psychological torture.

"Finally, I won't need to waste my mana anymore," Amanda remarked with relief, she leaned her old body to the chair, relaxed.

"Then, what about the hideout?" Cassius interjected, lighting a cigarette and blowing out smoke.

He won't wait anymore, he has a bad feeling about all of this. That feeling sticks to him like glue, it becomes annoying.

"We found this at their hideout," Auden said, handing a box to Cassius.

Opening it, Cassius found numerous letters and a book inside. One of the letters was an official document from Lord Edgarda, detailing the collection of taxes by his knights. The rest were letters from two different individuals, each with a different seal.

One seal bore the initials LC, while the other was marked with RR and no one knew the owner of that seal.