Chapter 583-The First Laugh
Clementine:
"This is my mansion," Ian said as he opened the large metal gate.
I knew Ian had several mansions.
One used to be in the North where his father lived.
Then there was one here, in his pack, and another near the academy.
His pack was right behind the academy.
The mansion stood a little further back from the academy grounds, yet it was still considered part of them.
We had decided to stay here first.
When I stepped inside, I noticed how the entire mansion was filled with dark walls.
Everything was either black or grey, with heavy red curtains that gave the place a suffocating feel.
"Father never liked anything bright. After my mother died, he thought there was no point."
It was as if Ian had heard my thoughts, because he immediately began explaining why the whole house was drowned in darkness.
"Don’t you think we should have visited your father’s mansion back in the North while we were there?" I asked, turning around to look at him.
I noticed the way he was glancing around.
He looked at the mansion as if he were seeing it for the first time.
But that wasn’t the real reason for his uneasiness.
The mansion was completely empty now.
Ian had lost everyone in a single day.
His entire family.
"No, it would have been too difficult. We were trying to get out of there. It wouldn’t have been right if we had gone deeper into the North ourselves," Ian explained quietly as he moved around.
"Let me show you around."
He quickly changed the topic.
I reached over and wrapped my arm around him, and then he started showing me around. He took me into every room.
He showed me each place carefully.
After his mother was poisoned, they moved here.
By that time, the North had already been shut down.
He showed me the bedroom where his mother used to stay.
The moment he stepped inside, Ian’s eyes filled with tears.
I had to comfort him, because I knew he was going through many emotions at once.
His mother was very beautiful.
His father was very handsome too.
That explained why Ian was so good-looking.
Then Ian took me through every floor.
He showed me how his father had never imagined his mother would die.
He had believed that after giving birth, he would somehow save her.
Holding on to that hope, he had created many beautiful things.
Rooms, playrooms, and everything she might have needed.
But when she died, he became distant from everyone.
From humanity itself.
"You know, my father never even considered that my mother would die. He always believed she would survive," he said, his hands in his pockets, slowly rubbing his eyes.
He acted like he was just rubbing them, but I knew he was trying to hide his tears.
I hugged him again.
We moved around the mansion. He explained everything in detail.
After we had walked through the entire place, we finally sat down in the living room.
"I did not want my brother to die like this. I did not want him to think that I would kill him," he whispered, his eyes filling with tears almost instantly.
"It’s not your fault. It’s just that the way he was born, and the things in his system, there was no way he would have believed anyone could do right by him."
I tried to make him understand that it wasn’t anything he had done that made his brother think that way.
We stayed there for a while, talking about everything, when we received a call from Haiden.
Ian put it on speaker, and Haiden began explaining what was going on.
"So you’re going to fight him?" I asked.
"Of course I am. I’m going to put this man behind bars. I hope you both will come for the match," he replied excitedly.
Ian and I both laughed. Haiden was speaking as if this were a children’s game.
I mean, it was for us. He was going to defeat his Uncle very easily. That much I knew.
After that, we discussed where the match would take place.
Then I noticed a smile on Ian’s face, as if he had something in mind.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I know what to do with the academy. But first, we’ll hold the match there, under the supervision of the lurkers. It will give them support, confidence, and the sense of control they’ve been denied," Ian explained.
I heard Haiden sigh in relief from the other side.
"I think that will be the right thing to do," Haiden agreed.
Once he ended the call, I turned to Ian.
I wanted to know what he meant about his plans for the academy.
"I thought we were going to make a place for the orphans," I asked.
"Yeah, you’re right, we must," Ian said.
Then he leaned back, casting me a confident smile.
"But that won’t be enough, Clementine. It’s a big academy," he added, glancing around the mansion.
"This mansion has more than thirty bedrooms," he continued, looking around tiredly. "All of them were created for different purposes. One for my mother to read, one as a playground for her children." he laughed.
"My father had imagined having ten children with her. It was meant to be a full house."
He paused briefly.
"I don’t want this place to be just our home."
As he began to explain, I already understood what he was going to say.
"So this mansion will be a home for the orphans, at least here. Then we will ask every Alpha to build a proper orphanage in their own packs," he explained.
I nodded, smiling widely.
Now that was what I called planning.
However, I was still confused.
"So what about the academy? What are we going to do with it?" I asked, watching him closely and letting him take the lead.
"Well," he murmured softly, then smiled. "The academy will be a prison, and the lurkers will be the guards."
As soon as he said those words, the hair on the back of my neck stood up.
"And we will start by bringing all the Alphas here, even the leaders, including Lady Sylvia. The lurkers will make the decisions for them."
His suggestion made my eyes widen.
It seemed like the only appropriate thing to do.
I was truly proud of Ian. The options he had suggested were good.
This was the right thing to do.
Those children had suffered greatly.
The girls had their entire lives destroyed.
They had been forcefully deprived of their emotions because their parents were no longer alive.
They had been turned into something else entirely.
Some of them had been given those injections at a very young age.
We still had to go to Yorick’s house and look into things there.
I had learned that many files had been left behind.
In fact, most of the files still had copies, and the laptop was there as well.
Yorick had given us the passwords.
We just needed to go through everything and read it carefully.
We needed to understand how we could help.
We also needed to see whose names were written in those records.
Many people had participated in those brutal actions, in those games.
All of them needed to be punished.
"So when are you planning to start the journey to Yorick’s pack?" I asked Ian, because we had another responsibility.
We did not want to let him down after the sacrifice he had made by staying back in the North.
"I mean, before or after Haiden’s fight, what do you think? We’ll have to start arranging the mansion and the academy for it. Let’s keep refreshments. People like entertainment, so why not give them one?" Ian suggested, smiling, knowing Haiden was going to beat Mr. Patrick easily.
"Well, I’m all up for it," I replied, a cheeky grin on my lips.
"But tonight, you’re going to cuddle with me in my bedroom."
He said those words as he slowly got up, leaning down toward me and pressing his lips against mine.
"Your Highness—"
A maid arrived, and we both pulled away.
"The food is ready," the maid said with a smile.
It seemed as if they hadn’t smiled before our arrival.
"Oh, look at you. You have a smile on your face," Ian remarked.
The maid chuckled softly.
"Actually, we are big fans of Clementine," she said, making my eyes widen.
"Do you want an autograph?" Ian teased, and the maids chuckled again.
"And you’re so handsome," one of the maids said, making Ian glance at me.
"No, you’re not supposed to compliment me. That one over there is a wild tigress," he declared dramatically, making me get up and hit him with a cushion.
"Oh, you don’t get to hit me," he protested, grabbing a cushion as well.
After that, Ian and I ran all over the house, hitting each other with cushions.
Our laughter echoed loudly through the mansion.
The servants and maids joined in playfully, running around and teasing each other.
It felt as if the walls of the mansion were witnessing happiness for the first time.
Someone had finally brought laughter into this place.
And I wanted everything to change now. I wanted us to stay this happy.