Chapter 109: The Fresh Smell Of Lily
Seamus ran through the empty hallway, his boots echoing against the marble floor. The air felt thick, dense like fog, and the deeper he went, the more distorted everything became.
No footsteps followed his own. No voices whispered back. It was silence so complete that it pressed on his eardrums.
The emptiness gave him a sense of déjà vu, this place reminded him of Isolde’s realm.
That same hollow weight, as though he wasn’t walking through a building but through someone’s mind, a memory stretched into a dimension of its own.
"You’ll tell me if you sense any Corvane, right?" he asked quietly.
The tattoo on his arm shifted like ink swirling under his skin, a sign that Madeline was listening.
’Seamus, I couldn’t analyze much the last time we came here,’ she said, her tone colder, more focused. ’But now I’m sure, this whole house is alive. They’re vampires.’
He stopped dead in his tracks, staring down the long corridor that seemed to breathe. "You mean... the Emblem of Enigma is controlling this place? Like you said before?"
’Not exactly,’ Madeline replied. ’Tell me, do you know why Corvane experiments on children so often?’
Seamus frowned, taking a cautious step forward. "Because they’re easy to trap?"
’That’s one reason,’ she said flatly. ’But mostly because children break easier. Their souls are still fresh, pliable, their bodies untouched by disease and decay. They’re blank slates, perfect for manipulation.’
The way she said it sent a chill up his spine.
’They use everything, Seamus. Blood, bone, soul. I can feel it, there are trapped spirits woven into the walls. Some of them were probably once human, maybe even caretakers or servants. The manor is using them to maintain its illusions.’ She paused, her tone tightening.
"Then, why can we still move freely in this mansion?"
Seamus question hang in the air. If this house was human, they should have already welcomed him before he even entered. But, no one was here.
’Two possibilities: either the children are an empty vessel channeling the power, or Roanna knows we’re here and she’s letting us wander freely as she has another plan for us.’
He exhaled through gritted teeth, his heart pounding. "Then we need to find the Emblem as fast as we can."
’Oh, you’re smarter than you look.’ Madeline’s smirk was audible, smug and teasing.
As he turned a corner, the hallway expanded into an open bridge that connected two wings of the manor. To his left stretched a glimmering lake that reflected a full moon far too large to be real.
To his right, mountain peaks clawed at the night sky, impossible, since Brok had no mountains at all.
"Oh, fuck," he whispered. "I really am in another dimension."
The realization weighed heavy on his chest. He quickened his pace, running across the bridge. Then, something shifted ahead.
A massive figure dragged itself across the marble on the far side of the building. A wet, slithering noise filled the air.
’Hide, Seamus!’ Madeline barked.
He didn’t hesitate. He ducked inside a nearby doorway, crouching behind an armored display, his breath tight and shallow.
The monster came into view. It groaned, a noise somewhere between a human cry and an animal’s howl. The sound alone could twist a man’s stomach.
It looked like melted flesh forced into human shape: one huge head, two mismatched faces, and another half-formed face bulging from its torso. Two small tentacle-like arms scraped the floor, leaving a trail of blood behind it.
It had no legs, only a long, swollen body dragging itself forward like a slug. The thing was as tall as the ceiling and as wide as a car.
"What the hell is that?" Seamus whispered, covering his mouth.
’I can feel the children’s soul in that monster,’ Madeline said quietly. ’Five of them. They were fused together and used as a living core. A failed experiment, one meant to control the house’s illusions.’
Seamus’s heart twisted. His hands clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. He remembered the files he’d found before: the names, the reports, the cold records of "test subjects."
"Those bastards..." he muttered.
Corvane wasn’t just cruel, they were monsters in every sense of the word. Even the Velstraths had never done this.
"I’ll kill it."
’Don’t.’ Madeline’s voice sharpened like a blade. ’If you do, this entire realm will collapse and Roanna will know we’re here. You can’t fight her yet, not before we find the Emblem.’
Seamus bit his lip, jaw trembling in frustration. Her logic was sound, but his heart rebelled. The thought of leaving those souls suffering, it burned inside him.
Doing nothing felt wrong. It felt cowardly.
"Madeline... they’re in pain. They’re alive."
’Alive?’ she scoffed softly. ’You think what’s left of them still counts as living? Don’t think too much, Seamus. Nothing good ever comes from kindness in this world.’
Her words froze him. They sounded eerily like Isolde’s He let out a bitter laugh. "You and her really are two sides of the same coin, huh?"
The tattoo pulsed faintly in irritation. ’You talk too much. Move. The Emblem’s energy is shifting.’
Seamus exhaled, pushing the guilt down. He slipped out from behind the armor display and kept walking deeper into the dark, leaving the groaning monster behind.
Each step echoed like a heartbeat. The deeper he went, the more he felt the house breathing around him.
’Don’t get too scared. You know illusion and dream manipulation have a thin line between them. Some illusions feed on your terror and shape themselves into reality,’ Madeline said.
Her attempt to calm him only made Seamus more nervous, especially when he began hearing it, someone humming a melody he knew too well.
He froze. Not far from him, a woman with red hair sat on the windowsill, her hair swaying softly in the breeze. When her golden eyes met his, his breath caught in his throat.
"Oh, Seamus. Long time no see. What are you doing in such a hurry?"
He couldn’t breathe. For a moment, his body went cold. It was Viviane: her voice, her smile, every little movement was the same as he remembered.
But his trembling hand reached instinctively for the pendant at his neck, gripping it tightly as he tried to steady his breathing.
’She’s dead...’ he murmured to himself again and again, forcing the truth to drown out the illusion.
Her Vitalis Core was still sealed within the necklace, unmoving, even when he faced Elle, no response even before Roanna. It was the last proof of Viviane’s death. Only now did Seamus realize how deeply Isolde had used him.
But the damage was done. The rice had already turned to porridge. He couldn’t abandon Corvane, not after what they had done.
Not after the horrors he’d seen. He couldn’t let those children die with their souls trapped in this cursed house.
He couldn’t let David search endlessly for Elle or let Maria’s transformation into a vampire become meaningless.
Madeline’s laughter echoed in his head, sharp and eerie.
’This is so good! Seamus, the Emblem is near, it’s inside Viviane’s illusion.’
"What?" His chest tightened. He had a bad feeling about where this was going.
’Yes. You need to kill her and gouge out whatever that thing is inside her heart.’
Her words stole his breath again. Slowly, he lifted his gaze back to Viviane, who was still smiling sweetly at him.
"What is it?" she asked, tilting her head with that familiar playfulness. "You forgot your task again? Or do you want another present for beating my score in that subject?"
She laughed, a soft sound he hadn’t heard in so long.
"What are you doing, silly? Come here. Let me give you a hug, you’ve been such a good student lately!"
Seamus bit his bottom lip, memories flooding back uninvited. That exact conversation had happened not long before he got involved with the Velstrath family.
Back then, he had no trouble with his grades, but he’d never cared much for studying. For someone with little drive, academics felt like a waste of time. He’d rather work, live quietly.
But Viviane had changed that. With her came small rewards: a kiss, a game, a challenge. Little by little, she made him want to do better.
Her affection became the reason he tried. He’d wanted to graduate quickly so they could build a life together.
"Ah, yes... we had that kind of promise too," he murmured, a bittersweet smile curling on his lips.
The memory stung. They had been so young, so foolishly hopeful, already planning a future that never came.
But the woman before him wasn’t Viviane. She was nothing more than a cruel shadow, an illusion meant to twist his heart and make him suffer again.
He stepped closer. She opened her arms, her expression warm, welcoming—exactly how he remembered. Her voice trembled with affection. "Come here, Seamus."
He did. He reached for her, and for a fleeting moment, he felt the warmth of her body, the softness of her breath against his ear, the faint scent of lilies that always clung to her skin. Then the metallic tang of blood filled the air.
Viviane gasped, eyes wide, her golden irises trembling as she looked down at the bone dagger buried in her chest.
"Wh... why? Why did you do this to me?"
Seamus’ hand shook, but his voice was calm. He brushed her cheek gently, watching as her pale skin was stained crimson.
"You’re not real, Viviane," he whispered, his voice thick. "You’re dead. And I’m the one who killed you."
He pushed the dagger deeper. "And now," he said quietly, "I’ve killed you once more."