Free Web NovelChapter 166: Chapter 166
Several instances flashed through his mind at once. Just the thought of Prince Ragnar using him as bait to possibly lure Narfor out and the ways he planned to accomplish such a feat caused the prisoner to recoil in fear, a sense of self-preservation taking over immediately.
He didn’t know what exactly Ragnar would do but the possibilities were endless. And though the prisoner already knew his life was forfeit, he knew that his family’s was not. They still had promising lives ahead of them, lives he didn’t intend to see destroyed because of him.
If Narfor found out about how much he already confessed to Prince Ragnar...
His heart stopped.
Narfor might go after his family for breaking his end of the deal.
"No! No, please. Your highness, I beg you." The prisoner’s eyes gleamed with unshed tears as he knelt in the dank cell, haunted by the thought of how far he had fallen, begging for mercy from a man he knew would grant none.
Ragnar was utterly immune to the pleading man in front of him. " Start with how you are connected to this would be assassin handler and I might reconsider using you as life bait."
Fear clutched the prisoner in its vice-like grip but it wasn’t because he believed Narfor would fall for Ragnar’s trap.
Narfor had proven to be too cunning and distrusting for that to ever be an option.
But if Ragnar truly followed through with his threats, Narfor would know instantly.
His family will be caught in the crossfire and that was what the Prisoner was truly afraid of.
The prisoner’s lips trembled as he took a shaky inhale. " I was telling the truth when I said I didn’t know him. But my father did. They knew each other well enough and they did some business together but I don’t think they were ever friends. My father apparently violated a term in their agreement. I only found out about Narfor the day after my father was buried and he hasn’t stopped tormenting my family since then."
Most people would have felt a twinge of sympathy upon hearing this, assuming it was true but Ragnar wasn’t one of them. He couldn’t bring himself to feel anything for the man who conspired to kill Circe. freēwēbnovel.com
" What does this have to do with my wife?" Ragnar questioned, even less patient than he was a moment ago. "How do you and your companion tie into all this?"
" It wasn’t something he and I discussed but I’m sure he also had his own secret dealings with him. Narfor was a business man who traded in everything you can imagine. Secrets, power, safety and people paid him with their souls. Narfor doesn’t have allies, he had workers and employees who he sends to do all his dirty work for him." The prisoner said, his voice trembling on the last part. " This was supposed to be my last time dealing with him. After this, I was supposed to have nothing else to do with him and he was going to leave my family alone."
A long second past and Ragnar remained silent, still processing the prisoner’s words.
The longer the silence lasted, the more the tension in the cell grew taut until it was ready to snap.
There was still so much the man was intentionally leaving out but Ragnar would consider this an impression from when they had done nothing but gone round in circles.
Then Ragnar’s lips stretched into a sardonic smile, eyes still as unfeeling as when he first walked into the cell.
" How touching, sacrificing one life for the sake of others." Ragnar said derisively, contempt oozing from each word that left his lips.
Words alone couldn’t even begin to describe how much Ragnar loathed the man kneeling in front of him.
The prisoner quickly realized that Ragnar wasn’t speaking of his decision to embark on the doomed mission that had ultimately led to his downfall.
Sacrificing one life to spare the lives of others. Only that the life in question had been Circe’s, not the prisoner’s. She had been their intended target after all and she would have been the one dead if all had gone according to plan.
Ragnar clenched his fists tightly by his sides as he felt a fresh wave of anger coursing through him. He clenched them so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
But the prisoner must not have been aware of the deep hole he had dug for himself because he just kept talking and saying all the wrong things. freewebnσvel.cѳm
"It was either her or my family and I couldn’t let anything happen to them. I don’t know why Narfor wanted her gone and I wasn’t allowed to ask questions. She was just one human woman after all and being the daughter of the late king of Westeria automatically meant that there were people who already disliked her." The prisoner said, still oblivious to Ragnar’s growing fury. "It wasn’t a difficult decision to make at the time and given the way you were practically forced into the marriage, I was certain you wouldn’t have cared for her presence, your highness."
It all happened so fast.
Ragnar’s fist shot forward a heartbeat later, slamming into the prisoner’s nose with enough force to break bone. A burst of crimson followed as the prisoner toppled backward, clutching his battered face.
"So you think that justifies your actions, don’t you? You think that gives you the right to harm my wife after I welcomed you into my home and fed you food prepared by my cooks?" Ragnar seethed, each question landing as hard as the blow to the face.
" Your highness, please." The prisoner grunted in pain. He wasn’t able to finish what he was about to say before Ragnar was gripping a fistful of his hair, pulling his head back to face him once more.
"You made the wrong choice. That one human’s life is far more precious than your entire bloodline combined."
