svetikya Chapter 220: The Traitor’s Relief
Chapter 220: The Traitor’s Relief
With a burst of absolute fury, Roland hurled the crystal goblet against the stone wall. It shattered into a thousand jagged needles, splashing the dark crimson wine across the masonry like fresh blood.
"Damn it! Damn it all to hell!" he roared, his chest heaving violently as he kicked a mahogany chair, sending it crashing into a display cabinet. "Someone intervened! Someone pulled that bitch out of the wreckage before the smoke could finish her!"
Serene watched him from her seat, her expression masked in a terrifying, calculated coldness. She didn’t flinch. She simply sat there, a frozen statue of nobility, watching him dismantle half the room with the predictable, mindless violence that had always defined him.
When his tantrum finally slowed, leaving his breath ragged and his hands trembling with residual adrenaline, Roland locked his bloodshot eyes onto her. He stormed across the ruined floor, stopping mere inches from where she sat.
"Don’t look at me like that, Serene!" he hissed, his voice dropping into a dangerous, defensive snarl. "You did your part. Your execution was flawless. If those sycophants hadn’t moved at the exact right second, our sweet girl would finally be avenged."
Serene met his gaze, her voice cutting through the heavy silence like a razor through silk. "How long do you intend to wallow in this madness, Roland? You cannot overthrow the House of Locron. It is an immovable fortress, and you know this truth better than anyone."
The strike was blindingly fast.
The heavy palm of his hand slammed across her face. The force of the blow cracked through the quiet room, snapping her head to the side.
Serene froze. Slowly, she brought her trembling fingers up to press against her burning, crimson cheek, but she never dropped her gaze.
"I can destroy them," Roland whispered, leaning in so close she could smell the sour copper of his rage. "Never undermine me again. Do you understand? I will tear them down piece by piece. I will slaughter them all, and I will personally pluck the eyes from their skulls."
Then, as if a switch had been flipped inside his fractured mind, the manic intensity vanished from his face. A sickening wave of faux-remorse washed over his features, his pupils dilating.
"Oh... Serene. I am so sorry, my love," he muttered, his voice cracking with a sudden, pathetic softness.
He reached out, his hand open and pleading, attempting to cup the very cheek he had just bruised. But before his skin could meet hers, Serene’s hand shot up. With every ounce of reserved strength in her body, she delivered a stinging, unyielding slap across his face.
"Leave me be, Roland," she hissed, her voice vibrating with a deadly, quiet loathing. "Do not dare touch me."
Roland’s jaw tightened, his hand catching her wrist mid-air with a bruising grip. Instead of striking her again, he pulled her closer, pressing his lips firmly against the crown of her head in a suffocating, possessive embrace.
"I know you just need time," he whispered against her hair, a chillingly calm smile returning to his lips. "We are on the same side, my dear. We share the same grief. Just... do not test my anger again."
"Fine, it matters not," Serene muttered, pulling her wrist coldy from his grip. "Just... leave me to rest."
"Very well. I shall take my leave now," Roland replied, his voice smoothing out into that terrifyingly calm, predictable cadence. He stepped back, straightening his disheveled coat. "Take care of yourself, my dear."
He turned on his heel and walked out of the ruined chamber, his heavy boots clicking rhythmically against the stone floor. But the moment the heavy oak doors shut behind him, the faux-gentleman completely vanished.
The moment the heavy doors clicked shut, a long, ragged exhale escaped Serene’s lips. She breathed a sigh of genuine relief, the suffocating weight of his presence finally lifting from the room. Being in the same space as Roland had become an utterly unbearable torture. If he ever discovered that she was in constant communication with Matthias—if he had even the slightest inkling that she was the sole reason his assassination attempt had failed so miserably—the consequences would be catastrophic beyond measure.
Slowly, she walked over to the velvet armchair and sat down, the absolute silence of her confinement closing in around her.
With trembling but deliberate fingers, Serene reached into the hidden lining of her bodice and pulled out a small, metallic object—a single piece of an earring. She held it up, staring at it with intense, unwavering focus, before gently wiping a speck of dust from its polished surface.
"You left this world first," Serene whispered to the cold metal, her voice tight with a terrifyingly calm resolve. "And now, my sweet girl... I will personally ensure that your father follows you into the abyss."
Staring at that fractured piece of jewelry was like looking directly into her daughter’s eyes. The grief didn’t make her weak; it turned into stone.
Instantly, the cold walls of her current prison began to dissolve, and her mind dragged her back to that faithful night. She remembered every single detail of how she had slipped out of the estate, moving like a ghost through the shadows while Roland was away.
It had been a colossal, terrifying gamble, but it was a risk she had to take. She needed to see it through—to witness what Matthias had coldly termed the final farewell. Even now, she didn’t know if Matthias had been an utter fool or if his trust in her was simply absolute when he revealed the secret location where he kept Elvira imprisoned.
The hideout had been desolate, an abandoned, decaying structure reeking of damp stone and forgotten secrets. Serene had stepped through the threshold slowly, her eyes scanning the suffocating darkness, searching the corners.
"She is downstairs."
The low, rumbling voice made her halt. Serene turned toward the sound.
Matthias was standing there, emerging from the shadows like an apex predator, his dark eyes locked onto her. He stepped closer, his posture unyielding. "I knew you would come."
Serene lowered her head, a sharp, agonizing pang of grief washing over her features as she absorbed his words. "Where is she?"
Matthias led her down the stone steps slowly, the chilling dampness of the subterranean air clinging to their skin. Just before he reached for the heavy iron handle of the cell door, he paused. He turned to face her, his dark eyes hollow, devoid of any light.
"You will not like what you see inside, and you may very well hate me for it," Matthias spoke, his voice dropping into a chillingly calm, low register. "But that madwoman... on top of every horrific thing she has already done, she sent men to assault my wife. She ordered them to ruin Olivia and murder her."
Serene’s eyes widened in sheer, paralyzing horror. The words suffocated her, leaving her utterly speechless. Her entire face hardened into an icy mask of absolute resolve. She swallowed the bile rising in her throat and looked directly into his murderous gaze.
"Open the door," she commanded, her voice barely a whisper yet unyielding. "I am ready."