Chapter 81: The Devil Hiding In The Shadows
"Hello, Prince Ivan," Ruslan said with a grin. "It’s been a long time. Years, I believe. But here we are again. How nice."
Ivan didn’t move. His jaw clenched tightly. His hands stayed near his sword.
"My apologies—you are now the Grand Duke," Ruslan added with a mocking bow, his grin not fading. "Quite the promotion. I didn’t expect the boy I once knew to grow into a man with titles."
His voice was smooth, too smooth. It slithered through the cold air like poison. And still, Ivan said nothing. He had come here to investigate the man behind Lydia’s pain, the one who had destroyed her life. He had never imagined it would be someone he once trusted. Someone he once thought of as family. Someone who had once been kind to him.
Now, standing face to face, it felt like the ground beneath him was shifting. The cold wind bit at his skin, but it was nothing compared to the storm rising in his chest.
He felt something shift inside him. Rage. Confusion. Betrayal. For the first time in a long while, Ivan was visibly shaken. His fingers twitched around the hilt of his sword. He didn’t draw it yet, but the weight of it pressed heavily against his palm.
Ruslan looked him over slowly. "I see you’re married now," he said, voice laced with fake curiosity, like a man admiring a painting he secretly wanted to set on fire.
Ivan’s brows twitched slightly.
"Didn’t take you for the marrying type," Ruslan continued casually, circling slowly, like a wolf with blood on its breath. "Always thought you’d die alone in a mask and a legend. But I hear she’s feisty—and blonde, with eyes as blue as the sea. Pretty little thing, isn’t she?"
Ivan’s grip on the sword hilt tightened until his knuckles turned white.
Ruslan tilted his head, watching him closely. His grin widened, crueler now. "Funny thing, she sounds exactly like the same girl I have unfinished business with."