Episode-883
Chapter : 1765
"Perfect," she whispered, her voice changing from the high pitch of a child to the smooth, oily tone of a Devil. "He didn't even ask for proof. Grief makes people so... predictable."***
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The Siddik Fortress was a masterpiece of defensive architecture. It sat on a high hill overlooking the capital of the Northern Province. Its walls were made of white stone reinforced with magic runes. It was designed to withstand armies, dragons, and siege engines.
But it wasn't designed to withstand Lloyd Ferrum.
Lloyd walked up the main road leading to the gates. The storm was at its peak. Thunder rattled the sky, and lightning illuminated the white walls of the castle in stark, flashing bursts.
"Halt!"
A guard on the battlements shouted down. He aimed a heavy crossbow at the lone figure in the mud. "Identify yourself! This is Siddik territory! No entry without authorization!"
Lloyd didn't stop. He didn't look up. He simply raised his right hand.
He felt the iron. He felt the heavy steel bolt loaded in the crossbow. He felt the chainmail shirt the guard was wearing. He felt the iron rivets in the massive wooden gates.
"Open," Lloyd said.
He didn't shout. He didn't need to. He clenched his fist and pulled back.
A screeching sound of tearing metal echoed through the valley.
The iron hinges of the massive gates—hinges as thick as a man's leg—didn't just unlock. They were ripped out of the stone. The metal groaned and twisted like wet clay. With a deafening crash, the giant doors fell outward, slamming into the wet earth and sliding down the hill.
The guard on the wall gasped, firing his crossbow in panic.
The bolt flew at Lloyd’s head.
Lloyd didn't dodge. He twitched his index finger. The bolt stopped in mid-air, caught in an invisible magnetic web. Then, it spun around and shot back upward, embedding itself deep into the stone wall inches from the guard's face.
"I am not here for you," Lloyd projected his voice. It sounded metallic, amplified by the vibrations of the iron in the air. "Get out of my way."
He walked through the shattered gateway.
Inside the courtyard, fifty soldiers were waiting. They were the elite Siddik house guard, clad in shining silver-steel plate armor. They formed a shield wall, leveling their spears.
"Stop!" the captain of the guard roared. "One more step and we will cut you down!"
Lloyd stopped. He looked at the wall of steel. To anyone else, it looked like an impenetrable defense. To Lloyd, it looked like a resource.
"You are wearing your defeat," Lloyd stated flatly.
He spread his arms wide. The blood in his veins surged, creating a massive, oscillating magnetic field.
"Lock."
The effect was instantaneous. Every soldier in the courtyard froze. Their armor, the very steel designed to protect them, suddenly became rigid. The joints of their knee-guards fused together. The overlapping plates on their elbows clamped down.
Fifty men cried out in shock as they toppled over. They couldn't move their legs. They couldn't lift their arms. They were statues trapped in silver cages. They crashed into the mud, a chaotic heap of clanking metal and frightened shouts.
Lloyd walked past them. He didn't kill them. They weren't the target. He stepped over a fallen spearman who was struggling to breathe against his magnetized breastplate.
"Stay down," Lloyd advised coldly. "Or I will compress the chest piece until your ribs snap."
He marched up the stairs to the main keep. He blew the lock off the great double doors with a pulse of magnetic force and stepped into the Great Hall.
The atmosphere inside was jarring. It was warm. Braziers burned with bright, steady fires. The hall was clean, orderly, and smelled of lavender and old paper.
At the far end of the hall, sitting behind a large desk covered in scrolls and reports, was Rosa.
She looked up as the doors burst open.
She didn't look like a villain. She looked exhausted. Her silver hair, usually pinned up in an intricate style, was loose and messy. Her eyes were red-rimmed. She was wearing a simple grey dress, not her royal finery. She had been working for days without sleep, trying to coordinate the defense of the kingdom, trying to find Rubel, trying to fix the mess Lloyd’s rebellion had caused.
"Lloyd?" Rosa gasped, standing up. The quill dropped from her hand.
Relief washed over her face. For a moment, the "Ice Queen" mask slipped. She looked like a wife who had just found out her husband wasn't dead.
Chapter : 1766
"You're alive," she breathed, stepping around the desk. "Thank the gods. My scouts said you had vanished. Lloyd, we need to talk. The situation is critical. The cultists are moving in the west, and—"
"Shut up," Lloyd said.
His voice echoed in the cavernous hall. It silenced the crackling of the fires.
Rosa froze. She saw his eyes. They weren't the eyes of the boy she had married. They were the eyes of a dead man walking.
"Lloyd?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly. "What is it? Are you hurt?"
"Don't speak to me of cultists," Lloyd said, walking closer. His boots left muddy footprints on the expensive carpet. "Speak to me of maps."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the crumpled parchment. He threw it.
It fluttered through the air and landed at Rosa's feet.
Rosa frowned. She looked at him, confused, then bent down to pick it up. She unfolded it. She saw the map of the forest. She saw the circle around the cabin.
"What is this?" she asked. "A map to... the cabin? Lloyd, I don't understand."
"Look at the seal, Rosa," Lloyd snarled.
Rosa looked. She saw her family crest pressed into the wax.
Her breath hitched. She stared at the paper, her mind racing. It was a forgery. A perfect forgery. But the implications were terrifying.
"You think I did this?" Rosa looked up, her eyes wide. "Lloyd, this isn't mine. I didn't draw this."
"It has your seal!" Lloyd shouted. The control he had maintained in the tavern finally broke. His rage poured out, causing the iron chandeliers above them to sway dangerously. "It has your signature! Don't lie to me! Did you tell him? Did you tell Rubel where she was?"
"No!" Rosa cried, stepping forward. "Lloyd, listen to me! I would never do that! Mina was my sister!"
"Exactly!" Lloyd yelled, pointing an accusing finger at her. "She was your sister! And she was better than you! She was kind! She was warm! And you hated her for it!"
The accusation hit Rosa like a physical blow. She staggered back, clutching the map to her chest.
"I envied her," Rosa admitted, her voice shaking. "I envied that she could make you smile when I couldn't. But I loved her, Lloyd! I have been trying to save this family! I have been trying to save you!"
"Save me?" Lloyd laughed. It was a harsh, barking sound. "Is that what you call it? You isolated me! You drove me away! And when I found happiness, you sold it to Rubel to buy your throne!"
He gestured around the grand hall.
"Look at you!" Lloyd sneered. "Sitting here in your warm castle while she rots in the mud! You're liquidating the Ferrum assets, aren't you? My spies told me. You're selling my land. You're gathering an army. You took everything!"
"I am selling the land to buy an artifact!" Rosa screamed back, tears finally spilling down her cheeks. "To buy a core that can save a soul! I am trying to fix this!"
"Liar!" Lloyd roared.
He raised his hand. The iron candelabras on the tables flew into the air. They twisted and sharpened, turning into distinct, floating spears aimed directly at Rosa's heart.
"You're the final loose end," Lloyd said, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper. "Rubel was just the weapon. You were the hand that swung it."
Rosa stared at the metal spikes hovering inches from her chest. She looked at her husband. She saw the layers of pain and manipulation that had buried him. She realized, with a sinking heart, that she couldn't talk him out of this. The lie was too perfect. The grief was too fresh.
She straightened her back. She wiped the tears from her face. If she begged, he would despise her. If she fought back, she would have to hurt him.
"If you truly believe that," Rosa said, her voice regaining a shred of its icy composure, "then there is nothing I can say to convince you. Strike me down, Lloyd. If that will bring you peace."
Lloyd’s hand trembled. He wanted to do it. Every logical circuit in his brain screamed that she was the enemy.
But his hand wouldn't close.
Suddenly, the heavy doors of the hall burst open again. A messenger stumbled in, gasping for breath. He stopped dead when he saw the floating metal spikes.
"My... My Lords!" the messenger squeaked.
Lloyd didn't look away from Rosa. "Get out."