Chapter 127: Inside the Tower
Noir’s heart pounded as the words continued to echo in his head—she’s dead. He stared at Lexie, then Etienne, then finally Duke Eugene, whose frame stood firm against the door like a wall he could neither climb nor destroy.
"Move," Noir said, his voice trembling with rising fury. "Move, Eugene."
But the duke did not. He met Noir’s glare with quiet, heavy, sad eyes. "Your Highness, listen to me—"
"I said MOVE!" Noir’s fist struck Eugene’s chest with the force of desperation, again and again. "I want to see her! Let me go! Open that goddamn door!"
Duke Eugene endured each blow without moving. "You can’t," he said through clenched teeth. "If you go now, if the emperor finds out you were anywhere near the East Tower—he’ll suspect. You know what that means."
"I don’t care about him!" Noir shouted. His voice cracked. "I came back to this cursed world for her! Not for power, not for thrones, not for this party or this name—I don’t care about any of it anymore!"
Eugene flinched, not from the blows, but from the words. Came back to this world? He was puzzled, although he knew there was a mystery surrounding the group Noir came back with. But it stung his heart that wherever that was, Noir did not even think of him, or see him as a reason to return.
Noir slumped forward, his head resting against Eugene’s chest. "Please," he whispered. "Just let me see her... one more time..."
A tense silence enveloped the room. Claude’s fists tightened at his side, and Etienne couldn’t lift his head. The sorrow was too thick, too suffocating.