Claimed by the vampire prince

Chapter 396: Chapter 396

Falein turned sharply and walked toward the center of the throne room toward his son. Arik’s body lay where it had fallen. Falein knelt beside him. For a brief moment, the anger drained from his face, replaced by something far more fragile.

He reached down and lifted Arik’s body as carefully as he could.

There was no weight heavier in the entire world than the dead body of one’s own child.

His arms trembled beneath the burden. ƒrēewebnovel.com

The floor had become slick with blood, and as he stood, his shoes slipped slightly. He nearly lost his footing before steadying himself again. Arik’s personal guards rushed forward to assist. Together, they carefully hoisted the body and began carrying him out of the throne room. No one spoke as they passed. The heavy doors eventually closed behind them with a dull, echoing thud.

***

Much later, long after the nobles had been dismissed and the throne room had emptied, Azul walked alone through the quieter corridors of the palace. He deliberately chose the parts of the palace that were rarely frequented.

His footsteps echoed softly with each step he took, the sound following him through the empty passageways.

For the first time since the confrontation, he was alone. Alone with the silence. And alone without the weight of every gaze that had been fixed upon him that day.

He had chosen this place precisely because he did not wish to be approached, a quiet corner where he could be alone with his thoughts. Yet even as he stood there, seeking a brief moment of solitude, he knew deep down that such reprieve was never meant to last.

For the longest time, he remained completely oblivious to the fact that he had been followed. Then, from the corner of his eye, he caught the faint, unnatural shift of shadows along the wall. The subtle disturbance set his instincts on edge, but before he could even react or turn to face whoever lurked behind him, a hand seized the front of his shirt. The force of it was brutal.

Azul was shoved backward and slammed violently against the stone wall behind him, the impact so harsh it knocked the air straight from his lungs. His head struck the unforgiving surface with a dull crack, and for a moment black dots burst across his vision, dancing wildly before his eyes. The world tilted dangerously, threatening to slip away from him entirely, but he forced his eyes to remain open despite the disorientation.

The assault had happened with frightening speed. When his vision finally steadied enough to focus, Azul found himself staring directly into Ragnar’s face.

Ragnar looked furious. It was not often that Azul had seen him like this. In truth, he could count the number of times on one hand. But when Ragnar’s temper did surface, it was never mild. It burned hot and merciless, like a wildfire tearing through dry land.

Before Azul could even open his mouth to speak, Ragnar drew his fist back.

The first punch landed squarely across Azul’s face. The impact snapped his head to the side.

The second came immediately after.

Then the third.And the fourth.

Four punches delivered in rapid succession, each one harder than the last. Azul barely had time to recover between them, his body still pinned against the wall by Ragnar’s iron grip on his shirt. A dark bruise was already beginning to bloom across his cheek where Ragnar’s knuckles had struck him. Blood filled Azul’s mouth.

"This isn’t even half of what you deserve for what you did today." Ragnar’s voice came out low and menacing, vibrating with barely restrained rage. "There is nothing I want to do more right now than kill you where you stand for what you did to Arik. I want to snap you in half. Break you until there is nothing left."

Azul’s teeth were smeared with blood when he parted his lips, but he did not seem to care in the slightest.

"Do it," he said, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "And you will give my mother the very reason she needs to put you down like a dog. Neither of us truly wants that, I’m sure."

Ragnar’s grip tightened around the front of Azul’s shirt, the fabric bunching roughly in his fist.

"You had no right to kill him," Ragnar gritted out, his voice thick with fury. "You had no right to even touch him."

"And what exactly did you expect me to do in that situation?" Azul shot back, his eyes blazing now with a fierce fire of his own. "Should I have simply stood there while he hurled false accusations at my mother and dragged her name through the dirt before the entire court?"

His voice grew sharper with every word.

"You might not have known your mother," he continued, "but I have mine. And it is my duty to stand by her side. I am certain you would have done the very same if it were your own mother being attacked like that."

"They were not false accusations," Ragnar replied harshly. "And deep down, you know it too. You know the sort of things your mother is capable of." His voice was hoarse, like he had spent hours shouting. The rawness in his throat made every word scrape painfully on its way out.

Azul stared back at him with open defiance.

"Why would my mother kill your wife?" he demanded. "What possible reason would she have for doing something like that? What could she possibly gain from it?"

Each question was hurled like a weapon. freeweɓnøvel.com

"Your reaction makes me question where your loyalties truly lie. You are a prince, yet lately it seems as though you hold every noble family in higher regard than your own. When it matters most, you stand with them, against us after everything this family has given you."

"Enough!" The single word erupted from Ragnar with explosive force, echoing off the walls around them. "This family has never treated me like one of its own, so stop pretending otherwise," Ragnar said, his voice trembling with a mixture of rage and old resentment. "Was it not this same family that accused me of murdering my own wife all those years ago? Or have you conveniently forgotten that?"

"Your mother had me thrown into a cell for days," he continued bitterly. "And now, because of your actions, my wife will never receive the justice she deserves. Lord Tomar was one of the only people who believed me back then, and you repaid that kindness by killing his son and worsening his grief. Your actions have destroyed whatever brotherly bond we once shared."