The Rules of Blood-Volume Two ; Chapter 75 (291) - Sera, This is The End
Sera closed her eyes lightly, letting her head turn towards the red grass below her feet.
So, this is the end then,
she thought to herself,
what a disappointing life this was.
“Do you know, Sera, why you stayed alive for so long?” Aidan asked, approaching his fiancée, his red-flaming hair and horns making him look terrifying to the soldiers surrounding them, “Come on, give it a guess.”
But Sera stood silent, refusing to answer, eyes still closed.
“ANSWER ME, BITCH!” Aidan yelled, getting in front of her face, making her startle and open her eyes, “Answer me.”
“I do not know,” she replied, hopes, pleasantries, or acting like a good Noble Blood, all but gone, “Maybe to use me as a bargaining chip against my Blood.”
“See, you aren’t as fucking stupid as you look, ay?” Aidan clapped lightly, “Yes, your brother is on his way to try to take your face back wherever home is now for you, homeless Noble Bloods.”
Sera’s eyes widened, but soon returned to normal, not believing a word the man in front of her said.
He did not care if she believed his words or not, so he continued, “But I do not want to. What I want to do is kill you, rid myself of the parasite my dear mother placed upon me. But I couldn’t do it directly, could I? My mother still thinks of you as somewhat important, so I had to plan something.”
Sera clenched the knife she held hidden behind her cloak, waiting for an opportunity. Luckily, Ida did not know about the knife, so she let him continue his monologue, waiting for one such opening.
“Ida, come here, dog,” Aidan waved for the woman to approach.
And Ida, without saying a single word, approached him, her face emotionless.
Once nearby, Aidan grabbed her by the back of her neck, “You see, by using my dog, I was able to get you away from my mother’s eyes, and rid myself of you. And you know what’s the best part?”
“What?” Sera asked, biding her time.
“When the worms eat you, when your brother comes begging to release you, I will catch him, torture him, tell him all that I did to you before I killed you. And then, when I make a dog out of him, too, I will send him off to your father straight into King Yalan’s dungeons, or perhaps sell him as a sex slave. What do you think? Pretty solid, right?” Aidan explained with a grin, his grip still tight around Ida’s nape.
And Ida's eyes were to the ground, refusing to meet Sera’s gaze.
“Before you kill me, can I ask Ida a question?”
“Sure,” Aidan’s grin widened, “Ask away.”
Sera looked her way, only a single word in mind, “Why?”
“Come on,” Aidan chuckled, shaking the poor woman he held, “Answer her, dog.”
Ida’s lips moved, but her words were too quiet.
“LOUDER!” Aidan ordered, clenching his hand around her nape.
Ida trembled, pain visible on her face, but she slowly met Sera’s gaze, “A dog will always be a dog. A slave will always be… just a slave.”
“Ain’t that right?” Aidan laughed, closing his eyes.
That was the opening she waited for.
With a focus on all the few Marks she had around her body, she tightened her grip around the hidden knife, and with a swift movement, pointed it straight towards Aidan’s neck.
Stolen story; please .
It was now or never.
She would still die soon after. But at least she would rid the world of trash. Rid her brother of the future he held for him.
A good death, one she would be satisfied with.
But as swift as she was, it wasn’t enough, since the eyes she planned to close forever opened way faster than she hoped to, just in time to put forth another target for Sera’s blade.
Ida’s neck.
Sera was too slow for him, but too fast to stop the inevitable.
And as the blade punctured through skin, cartilage, and bone, as Ida’s eyes widened in surprise, it was too late already.
Ida grasped Sera’s trembling hands, blood spilling from her lips as she tried to breathe in air, but with no hope of success as the blade blocked her airway.
Seeing this, in a panic, Sera pulled out the knife, hoping this would allow Ida to breathe. But all that did was make Ida start choking and drowning on her own blood.
“Such a valuable dog... Oh well,” Aidan sighed, letting Ida fall to the ground as she tried desperately to cover the wound on her neck, her eyes wide in terror, her blood making the red ground below a darker shade of red.
As the horrifying gurgle sounds of a person drowning in their own blood haunted Sera’s ears, regret flooded her.
Half because she has just sent the person she considered her friend to her own death. And half because she failed to kill whom she really wanted to kill.
But this regret would be short-lived either way, as she knew. Now was her turn.
She jumped backwards, putting a few feet of distance between her and Aidan. And when her feet touched the ground, she placed the knife, still warm with Ida’s blood, at her own neck.
She closed her eyes.
Vita, receive my soul,
she uttered in her own mind, preparing to drag the blade across her neck in one quick motion.
“Oh no, you will not,” Aidan dashed forward, and with a slap across Sera’s wrist, sent the knife flying feet away from the two of them, near the soldiers, “You will not rob me of the satisfaction of killing you myself.”
With that, he pushed her to the ground before drawing his sword.
“Let me send you off if you are in such a rush, dear fiancée,” he said, pulling his sword upward, above his horns.
Sera looked between Aidan’s legs at Ida, who stopped moving by now, no sound leaving her lips anymore.
Then, slowly, as Aidan pulled his sword higher towards the sky, she closed her eyes, tired.
She couldn’t even choose her own death. But she hoped that Aidan lied and that Blanc would not come all this way for nothing. There was no reason to anymore.
She would be dead anyway. And she was ready for it, now, more than ever.
She was calm now, her heartbeat back to normal from the earlier panic of killing Ida.
“Turn around,” Aidan ordered to Sera, then turned to face his soldiers, “All of you, too, make sure none of my mother’s men get in the way.”
None objected.
Sera got on her knees, turning to the side and lowering her neck, hoping this man could at least deliver a swift, clean strike.
The soldiers turned around as well, facing the opposite direction.
“Now, where were we?” Aidan giggled like a child, his laughter a creepy thing to Sera’s ears.
“Uh, My Lord,” one of the soldiers spoke.
“Not now,” Aidan hissed.
“But, My Lord,” said the soldier again.
“Shut the fuck up!” Aidan yelled, his face red with anger and excitement.
He dreamed of this moment. Perhaps the only thing the engaged couple shared.
He wanted to kill her. She… wanted to die.
And now, as the sword began cutting through the air towards Sera’s neck, as Sera closed her eyes for the final time, both their dreams would become fulfilled.
But the sound of armor clanking, of men grunting, of metal striking against each other, of a sword falling to the ground, broke their shared dream.
And what shattered it all was the man who spoke next.
“Your head would touch the ground before you touch my sister, Lord Aidan.”
Sera opened her eyes, tears already leaving as she looked upwards at the man beside her.
That same gray in his hair as he always had. That same gray in his eyes as she did. The same red in his veins as she had. Blood of her Blood.
The child she had almost drowned. The boy she promised not to leave alone. The man she saw from the first day he was born until he finally became an adult. The boy who annoyed her, the man who argued with her, and the brother she loved with all her heart, now more than ever,
Her younger brother.
“Blanc of Blood Denegis,” Aidan clenched his jaw as Blanc’s sword pressed deep into his neck.
“I ought to kill you where you stand,” Blanc pressed the blade deeper, obvious hatred in the way he spoke, “Thank the Vita your mother is on her way, for if we had time to escape, I would’ve skinned you and made shoes out of it, you horned bastard.”
“You will regret this,” Aidan hissed, raising his empty hands in the air.
“Oh, will I?” Blanc muttered as the last of the soldiers fell dead to the ground, “Seems like you were wrong.”
Blanc then turned to a woman nearby, “If he moves, kill him.”
“Gladly,” the woman nodded.
With that, Blanc took the sword off the man’s neck, moving straight towards Sera, his earlier rage now filled with grief as he looked at her.
“B-Blanc? Is it really you?” Sera muttered, stretching her hand and grabbing his own as if he were a dream.
“This is the end, sister,” Blanc muttered, tears wetting his eyes, “You are safe now.”
Volume Two ; Chapter 75 (291) - Sera, This is The End
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