Free Web NovelChapter 504: Chapter 504
Dawn had barely broken when the screaming began. A young maid dropped the basket of freshly laundered linens she had been carrying the moment she crossed the threshold and saw the gruesome scene awaiting her inside. The neatly folded sheets scattered across the floor as the basket slipped from her trembling fingers. Her scream tore through the quiet morning air, shrill and horrified, echoing through the halls like a warning bell.
Within moments, guards came rushing toward the chambers, swords half-drawn. But the instant they entered the room, they froze.
Azul lay sprawled across his bed in a pool of his own blood. His throat had been viciously slit, the wound so deep that crimson soaked through the sheets beneath him. A savage cut had also been carved across his face, mutilating the features that had once been so familiar to them all. The metallic scent of blood hung thick in the air.
Even for men accustomed to violence, it was a horrifying sight.
The maid had collapsed against the doorway, sobbing uncontrollably into her shaking hands. One of the guards, still pale from shock himself, hurried toward her and gently ushered her out of the room before she fainted entirely. The remaining guards lingered behind, exchanging grim, uncertain glances as they tried to decide what to do next.
Not long after, messengers were dispatched to the palace to inform the rest of the royal family of Azul’s death.
Jayran was the first to arrive.
The moment his horse thundered into the courtyard outside Azul’s private residence, he leapt from the saddle as soon as it came to a haltq. He barely handed the reins off before charging through the entrance, brushing past startled servants without sparing them so much as a glance. Panic and dread twisted violently inside his chest with every step he took.
One thought consumed him entirely. Getting to Azul.
Even as he raced toward his brother’s chambers, some desperate part of him clung stubbornly to hope. Perhaps the messenger had been mistaken. Perhaps Azul was merely injured. Perhaps this was some cruel misunderstanding.
His brother could not be dead.
By the time Jayran reached his intended destination, guards had already crowded outside Azul’s chambers, their expressions grim and somber. Without slowing to catch his breath, Jayran shoved past them and forced his way inside. No one dared to stop him.
But the moment his eyes landed on the bed, he almost wished they had.
He wished someone had grabbed him by the arms and warned him first. Warned him that the sight waiting beyond those doors would shatter something inside him beyond repair.
The world tilted violently beneath his feet.
The smell of blood and death filled his lungs. His stomach churned so hard he thought he might vomit.
"No," he whispered weakly.
His knees nearly buckled beneath him, but somehow he forced himself to remain standing.
For one terrible moment, Jayran could neither breathe nor think. Numbness spread through him so suddenly and completely that it frightened him. The sounds around him became muffled and distorted, as though he had been submerged underwater. The guards speaking in hushed voices, the shuffling footsteps beyond the doorway, even his own breathing all sounded unbearably distant.
Too many thoughts crashed into him at once.
There was too much noise. Too many people. He could not endure it anymore.
"Get everyone out," Jayran ordered hoarsely.
The guards hesitated, exchanging uncertain looks.
Something inside him snapped.
"Get out!" he roared, turning toward them with such fury that several visibly recoiled. "Now!"
The guards scattered immediately, retreating from the room like frightened animals.
Useless. Every last one of them.
They had been entrusted with Azul’s safety, and yet someone had managed to slaughter him inside his own chambers without raising a single alarm. Worse still, the killer had escaped unnoticed.
Once the room finally emptied, silence settled heavily around him once more.
Jayran slowly turned back toward the bed.
His gaze swept across the chamber with sharp, frantic calculation. The windows remained shut from the inside. There were no signs of forced entry. Only a single candle burned low beside the bed, melted nearly to the base, wax hardened along the edges of the holder.
Whoever had done this had moved like a ghost. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Bypassing guards and locked doors. Past every safeguard Jayran himself had ordered after the first attempt on Azul’s life.
Elka.
The thought struck him like a blade driven between his ribs.
She was the first person who came to mind. She had motive enough to want Azul dead. She had already tried to kill him once before and failed.
This... this was exactly what Jayran had feared.
Could this be her way of finishing what she had started?
Jayran’s steps felt unsteady as he moved closer to the bed. He stopped only when he stood directly beside his brother’s body.
Then he simply stared.
They had always been identical, but now, with Azul lying cold and lifeless before him, it felt like Jayran was staring at a corpse version of himself.
He did not know how long he remained there, unmoving, staring blankly at the blood-soaked sheets and the horrifying wounds carved into his brother’s flesh. Time seemed meaningless inside that room.
The sudden sound of the bedroom door opening barely registered. Neither did the sharp gasp that followed.
Only when he felt a hand settle lightly against his shoulder did Jayran finally tear his gaze away from Azul.
He turned to find Hairan standing behind him, his expression stony and grim, though tension tightened every line of his face. freewebnovel.cσ๓
Jayran’s eyes then drifted past him toward their mother.
Nheera stood frozen near the center of the room, silent tears slipping down her face as she stared at her dead son. She looked utterly shattered, just like how Jayran felt inside.
"I prayed it wasn’t true," she whispered brokenly.
The sound of her voice finally seemed to pierce through the numb haze surrounding Jayran.
Slowly, he removed Hairan’s hand from his shoulder. Then he turned toward the door.
As he moved to pass his mother, he paused briefly beside her without meeting her eyes.
"So did I," he said quietly. The words were meant for her alone.
Then he continued walking.
