Dozens of corpses kept burning up in the air in the hall until all of them turned to mere ash. There weren't even bodies to bury, and as someone who was a royal member of House Drake, Iryna suffered great humiliation even after her death.
Since there was said to be no rebirth after death for demons, every single demon believed in burying their bodies just so that they would still live on in a way.
Asher dusted his noble robes as he thought that today was quite an eventful today. Who would have known he would get in the middle of a deranged woman's attempt to take the crown.
But all this time, he wasn't truly worried about dying for even a single second since all he had to utter was one word in his mind, and he would be indestructible for a while.
This feeling of confidence was surreal.
He looked around and saw how everybody was shaken by the whole thing and quietly dispersed as the guards helped them out. Still, there were a number of casualties as pools of blood stained the floor here and there. The atmosphere in the hall was quite grim and moody, especially since some of the powerful houses had lost important members of their house or family.
The corpse of the huge headless dragon lying in the middle of the hall was still a chilling sight.
He also saw how Rowena's expression was still not looking good. He could see her admonishing the royal guards as they all knelt before her, trembling.
He also wanted to know how Iryna and her people really got into the castle and stood near Rowena while Ceti also walked in from the side.
"My queen, no guards saw anything strange happening. They only knew when the doors to the hall were sealed. As we know, Iryna still possessed the Demonstone Grimoire and kept a replica here to fool us all this time. She must have used the spells in it to shut down the castle and evade the guards to get inside. Upon her death, it has been restored to its rightful place," Ceti explained.
The royal guards let out sighs of relief upon realizing that they really could have done nothing about it.
Rowena furrowed her brows and mumbled, "She must have planned this before it all happened…" Saying so, she gestured at the guards to leave, and they gladly bowed and apologized before returning to their posts.
Asher knew about the existence of a big black grimoire that contained advanced spells to gain more control over the castle and what it could do. However, he never expected it would cause this much damage.
Seeing how the spells in the grimoire even had the power to evade Rowena's Supreme Access and even summon a dragon inside, he was greatly interested in this grimoire, though now he was sure it would be heavily guarded after what happened.
However, his eyes glinted upon seeing the corpse of such a powerful dragon. He could think of a number of uses he could have for it. Even just a small part of it was filled with precious resources that could last a long time. Back on Earth, even S Rank Hunters would kill to even loot a part of it.
Ceti also took a look at the dragon's corpse at the same time and asked, "About Mevnir's corpse, should I—"
"I want its head," Asher interrupted Ceti, making her faintly scowl, seeing him making a demand just like that.
Rowena narrowed her eyes as she turned around and asked, "Why?"
"Nothing, really. Just as a trophy. It would look nice to have such a majestic-looking head as my possession," Asher said with a casual shrug.
Ceti couldn't believe he planned to keep the head of such a legendary creature as a trophy. Since she didn't want to refute him directly, she addressed her queen, "My queen, I must advise that desecreating the corpse of a dragon goes against our ancestral ways. Dragons have always been sacred, so the best thing to do would be—"
"Sacred? Might be. But don't forget Mevnir betrayed the kingdom and was no less a traitor than its Master. And traitors don't deserve special treatment," Asher said with a subtle smirk as his gaze pierced into hers.
Ceti didn't know why but she felt as if there was some kind of double meaning in his last sentence.
"Enough about this. You can have it," Rowena said as she walked away. It didn't seem like she wanted to stay here any longer.
Asher coldly smiled as he gave a brief glance at Ceti before walking away. Ceti felt like he was up to something, and she didn't like the feeling she was getting.
—-
In the queen's chambers, the room was barely lit by crimson light. Rowena opened one of her secret compartments and then looked at the glass vessel containing the head of the Golden Prince on the table.
She waved with her finger as a whip of blood materialized and wrapped around the glass vessel before lifting it through the air and placing it in the compartment.
Once she put it there, she walked towards the compartment and raised her hand slowly as if to touch the glass vessel, her crimson eyes quivering the entire time.
But then her hand froze as she closed her eyes. Her expression contorted as she took a step back and closed the compartment with a cold gaze before walking away.
—
Hours passed as night completely dominated the skies. Ceti had just finished wrapping up her duties for today when she walked towards her mother's room to talk to her after such a difficult day.
However, she was surprised to not see her in her room and only saw Kookus lying on the bed with a bandage around his head. Apparently, he was still knocked out cold after getting hit by a chair, and Ceti snorted as she left the room.
Since her mother wasn't there, Ceti decided to go by the corridor where that cocky consort's room was located.
And just as she reached there, she bumped into a red-skinned woman looking in her early 40s. Who could it be other than her mother?
"Ceti…are your duties done for today? I didn't expect you to be here," Merina said with a complicated look.
Ceti furrowed her brows and asked, "That is what I want to ask you, mother. What are you doing here at this hour? The royal consort doesn't need you till morning."
Merina rubbed her fingers behind her back, but she softly smiled as she looked at Ceti, "Things have changed, dear. He isn't soulless anymore, and I have to help him get accustomed to our world. So I have to work harder than ever."
Ceti had a skeptical look as she worriedly held her mother's hands and asked, "Mother, you can tell me the truth. Is he making you…do things?"
Ceti had a difficult look since she didn't know how exactly to put her words. Her mother was quite pretty, with a body that would tempt men, especially the younger and perverted ones. She was able to keep her safe all these years by asking the queen to assign her to the Soulless Consort so that she would never have to deal with anyone else who might try to take advantage of her. But who would have known that this decision would come back to haunt her now?
"What things are you talking about?" Merina asked with a confused look, though her hands were clenched tightly before her back.
Ceti cleared her throat as she shook her head, "No…It's nothing. But you have to tell me if he tries to bully you, okay? I just don't trust him at all."
Merina smiled and patted her hand, "Don't worry about it, dear," She then held her hands even firmer as she added, "Just take good care of yourself instead of worrying about me."
"Mother…" Ceti softly smiled as she hugged her and then added, "Still, be careful around him and you should let me know if he troubles you."
Merina softly nodded with a smile as Ceti let her go on her way. However, she still felt some kind of uneasiness upon seeing her mother walk toward Asher's door.
—-
Asher was in his room, standing near the window and appreciating the blood moon in the sky, which made the skies have a reddish hue, making the entire surroundings quite eerie for any common human.
But for him, this was normal for him by now. He was feeling at home better than he expected, making him wonder if he was born to be a demon.
However, he was keeping an eye on the clock since he also had to level up. But he could only do that after a certain someone—-
*Knock! Knock!*
Asher smiled as he said, "Come in."
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