Chapter 55: Caelum, the Assassin of Elysium
Eiren’s POV
He was actually doing this. He was willingly choosing this treacherous, final route, driven by a desperate necessity to ensure Seraphel was permanently erased from his path.
His heart pounded like a frantic drum against his ribs as his boots crunched against the overgrown terrain of the Whispering Ruins.
To safely orchestrate this secret rendezvous, Eiren had been forced to deploy a flawless illusion clone of himself to remain behind in the harem palace, acting as a decoy for the guards and other concubines.
Cloaked heavily in dark, unassuming fabrics, he had slipped through the bustling capital town before finally reaching the eerie outskirts of the ruins.
As he had walked through the crowded town market earlier, the sharp, overlapping voices of the commoners practically echoed the bitter resentment brewing in his own chest.
The Prince’s grand decree was the only topic on anyone’s lips, especially now that official royal proclamations were being posted on every stone wall throughout the city.
"The Prince of Lust is taking a Crown Princess? Does this mean the realm will finally know some peace and quiet?"
"Do you honestly think a creature like the Prince of Lust can change his lifestyle?"
"I heard he has bedded thousands of omegas and simply cast them aside to die."
"He and his brothers are entirely sick in the head. Whosoever his chosen bride is, they are deeply unlucky."
Those harsh, critical words had brought a small, vindictive smile to Eiren’s lips beneath the shadow of his hood.
The public despised this sudden announcement just as much as he did, and just as much as the rest of the palace concubines.
In fact, the moment the high-ranking concubines had received the news, the entire harem had descended into absolute chaos. Lioren had been the first to completely lose his mind.
"My father was publicly humiliated because of him!" Lioren had shrieked, his face twisted in a venomous rage as he threw a priceless porcelain vase across the room. "How the hell is that filthy thing about to become our Crown Princess? He is an absolute nobody!"
Slyven had completely lost his composure as well, nearly marching straight toward Seraphel’s pavilion to launch a physical attack, but Kaevian had swiftly stopped him before he could make a fatal mistake.
"Don’t waste your energy," Kaevian had murmured coldly, his eyes narrowing. "I heard from one of my personal maids that the omega is being moved into the Prince’s private quarters tonight."
"The Prince’s quarters!" Slyven had gasped, his voice cracking in disbelief. "How the hell is that even possible? There is no way in hell Azriel would ever permit that! The Prince doesn’t let anyone sleep in his bed!"
Kaevian had let out a dark, mocking chuckle. "If the Prince can announce a common omega as his future princess, and if that omega is miraculously pregnant with his child, then there is absolutely nothing in this world that cannot happen."
"Then what do we do?" Lioren had demanded, his hands trembling with fury. "The wedding is in exactly one week!"
"Nothing," Eiren had responded calmly to the group, his voice cutting through their panic. "We do nothing."
And now, here he was, standing deep within the eerie, shrouded forest of the Whispering Ruins, searching for the mysterious entity who had authored the letter.
All he knew was that he was commanded to meet them at the heart of these ancient stone structures. Aside from that single instruction, he was completely blind.
After wandering deeper into the thick, suffocating fog of the woods, Eiren froze. There was nothing around him but endless, twisting trees and ancient moss.
A sudden wave of doubt washed over him, making him wonder if the letter had merely been a cruel hoax. But he sharply reminded himself of the supernatural anomaly he had witnessed in these very woods on the day he departed for the lower district. His eyes could not have deceived him, and no one in Katula was insane enough to play games with a high-ranking royal concubine.
Just as he was on the verge of turning back, a blinding, golden ethereal light erupted in the clearing directly ahead. The illumination coalesced into a solid, towering structure, and a mysterious door appeared out of thin air.
At the absolute center of the wooden surface, glowing crimson text violently burned into the wood, forming a single, bold command: ENTER.
Eiren clenched his fists tight at his sides, his instincts screaming at him to be skeptical. Before he could talk himself out of taking a step forward to ensure it wasn’t a trap, a new line of glowing script rapidly burned across the door:
TAKE A STEP FORWARD AND ENTER, EIREN FROM THE HOUSE OF NATHANIEL.
Eiren’s golden amber eyes widened in shock, his fingers slowly uncurling from his palms as the breath caught in his throat.
This wasn’t a trap. It couldn’t be.
The ancient house he was originally descended from was a deeply buried secret; not a single soul in Katula knew of his true lineage, not even Azriel himself.
Steeling his nerves, Eiren took a deep, stabilizing breath. He reached out, placed his trembling hand firmly onto the glowing golden doorknob, and stepped directly into the radiant light.
The brightness flared aggressively, forcing him to shield his eyes from what felt like a sudden flash of celestial lightning.
As quickly as the blinding pressure arrived, it vanished. When Eiren lowered his arms and opened his eyes, he found himself standing inside the rustic interior of a small, isolated wooden cabin.
Standing rigidly at the absolute center of the room were two tall, ethereal figures—a man and a woman clad in white ceremonial robes intricately woven with glowing golden celestial patterns.
Eiren let out a sharp gasp, nearly stumbling backward. He choked back a terrified scream as their piercing, inhuman gazes locked directly onto his. But as he looked back and forth between the man and the woman, the two figures remained entirely motionless, like lifelike statues.
"Are you... are you the ones who sent me that letter?" he asked, his voice trembling violently with every word.
Neither figure moved an inch.
They simply continued to stare through him with hollow, unblinking eyes.
"No. They are merely a protective facade, should anyone ever manage to locate this pocket dimension," a smooth, resonant voice echoed from his right.
Eiren whipped his head toward the sound.
A tall figure draped in a heavy, pitch-black robe slowly stepped out from the shadows of the room.
As the intruder moved forward, Eiren glanced back at the two white-robed figures at the center of the cabin, only to watch them dissolve into thin air as if they had never existed at all.
"Who... who the hell are you?" Eiren demanded, his posture turning rigid and defensive.
The man smoothly reached up, pulling back the heavy hood of his cloak. He ran a slender, elegant hand through his thick, dark hair, flashing a wide, wicked grin that revealed a set of sharp teeth. His eyes were a striking, polished shade of obsidian that practically shimmered under the dim cabin light. He possessed a staggering, muscular physique and a towering height that radiated an undeniable, celestial authority.
"I am the one who sent that letter to you a few days ago," the man said, stepping fully into the light to display his breathtaking, otherworldly form.
Eiren gave him a deeply questioning look, entirely captivated yet terrified by the stranger’s presence.
The man chuckled lightly at Eiren’s bewilderment.
Then, with a slow, deliberate movement, a pair of massive, breathtakingly brilliant white wings aggressively appeared from his shoulder blades, shimmering with a divine, blinding radiance.
"The name is Caelum," the man announced, his dark eyes gleaming. "And I am the second most powerful assassin in Elysium."