Chapter 1633: Traitor

"AAAHHH!"

A piercing scream erupted from behind the closed door, followed by the violent crash of something shattering against the wall. The sound echoed through the corridor before fading into an uneasy silence.

The maidservants in white robes flinched. Instinctively, they huddled together, exchanging hushed whispers, yet none dared step any closer. Dominique stood motionless in the room, her expression cold and unreadable.

It had been two days since Alinna’s first meltdown after the loss of what everyone believed to be her healing power. Since then, her outbursts had only grown more frequent and more violent. But Dominique knew the truth now.

The report delivered by the Noxcra agent had overturned everything they believed. Alinna had not lost her healing power. The truth was, she had never possessed one to begin with.

What she carried was something called an Ashen Gift, it’s called a gift, but that actually a curse, it’s an ability that transfers illness from one person to another. She had never truly healed the sick. Every disease, every wound, every affliction had simply been shifted into the body of another healthy, innocent person.

The realization made everything fall into place.

The surge in human trafficking had spread like a plague. The countless disappearances across the world. The strange, disfigured corpses discovered in the Black Fog Hills... They were never separate tragedies. They were all connected.

And at the center of it all... was Alinna.

Dominique had believed they had sacrificed only a healer. Who could have imagined they had also sacrificed countless ordinary people, women, and children, without a second thought?

When Dominique learned the truth, she couldn’t stop herself from vomiting up everything in her stomach. Afterward, she went three days without sleep. The horror was simply too much to comprehend.

All those innocent people, Gifted and ordinary alike... How could anyone do something so monstrous to them?

Dominique drew a slow, steadying breath.

Just then, she saw Alexander Behrenn approaching with Salvo de Rova at his side. She immediately straightened her posture and lowered her head respectfully as they passed. Even so, she caught Alexander’s irritated voice.

"There’s still no news from Lucia?"

Salvo’s expression tightened a bit. "No. Everyone is dead. All the records have been destroyed, and the entire area has been burned to the ground."

"Tsk. Call Ellias," Alexander said through gritted teeth.

Dominique watched the two men disappear into Alinna’s room, her brows slowly knitting together.

Lucia Viora...

Lucia Viora... the Constellation member? Was she missing? Or had she been captured by King Lucas’s forces? A faint smile tugged at the corner of Dominique’s lips.

’That’s good news,’ she thought.

Dominique had met Lucia Viora several times. From their brief encounters, she had concluded that the woman possessed no real loyalty. She was an opportunist and, above all, a coward.

Unlike Ellias or Salvo, Lucia would never risk her life for the organization’s ideals. She had joined them only because she believed she had chosen the winning side.

Dominique hoped her judgment was correct. As one of the organization’s elite members, Lucia possessed far more valuable information than Dominique ever could as an undercover spy.

If King Lucas’s forces had truly captured her, then the more intelligence they could extract from her, the sooner they could bring this evil organization to ruin once and for all.

_____________________________________________________

The soldiers escorted Lucia through the sprawling grounds of Sciron Military Facility, their synchronized footsteps echoing through the stone corridors. Once renowned as the kingdom’s premier academy for training soldiers, Sciron had since become something far more formidable.

It now served as the headquarters of the Royal Military, housing elite divisions, intelligence units, and the kingdom’s most dangerous prisoners. Every corridor they passed reflected the kingdom’s unwavering discipline.

Rows of polished armor stood between banners bearing the royal crest, while soldiers carried out their duties with practiced precision. No one spared Lucia more than a passing glance, yet the oppressive atmosphere alone made her shoulders stiffen.

At the end of a narrow hallway, a heavy iron door creaked open.

The room beyond was almost painfully bare. A single wooden table stood beneath a dim lantern, accompanied by one lone chair. Thick stone walls enclosed the cramped chamber, their weathered surfaces scarred by age.

There were no windows, only the reinforced metal door, which slammed shut behind her with a deep, resounding clang.

Lucia lowered herself into the chair and folded her hands neatly in her lap. She kept her back straight, refusing to fidget despite the heavy silence pressing in from all sides.

Leaning against the opposite wall stood Fargo.

His arms were crossed over his broad chest, his expression unreadable as sharp eyes silently tracked her every movement. The Archknight’s reputation had spread across the kingdom long before Lucia had ever set foot in Sciron.

Stories portrayed him as an unshakable warrior, a man who had survived impossible battles and earned the fear and respect of allies and enemies alike. Standing before such a legendary figure in person made Lucia’s heartbeat quicken.

Fargo was exactly as the rumors described, and somehow even more imposing. He stood well over six feet tall, his broad shoulders and muscular frame filling the cramped room with effortless presence. Dark hair framed an undeniably handsome face, though in an entirely different way from Zhao Li Xin.

Zhao Li Xin possessed the refined beauty of a noble sage, cold, aloof, and untouchable. He carried himself like a man born to rule the world, one who had never needed anyone’s approval. His gaze was always level or cast downward, never upward, as though destiny itself lay beneath his feet.

There was an effortless confidence about him, bordering on arrogance, the quiet certainty of a man who had never once questioned his own worth.

Fargo’s appeal, by contrast, was raw.

He looked like a man forged for the battlefield rather than the royal court. Rugged features, piercing eyes, and the quiet confidence of someone who had survived countless wars gave him a dangerous kind of charm. He seemed like the type who could flirt with anyone without ever surrendering his heart.

In that regard, he reminded Lucia a little of herself.

She had long since learned to wield charm and seduction as weapons, using them to manipulate people in pursuit of her own goals. But Fargo was different. Whatever charisma he possessed was never used for personal gain. It was devoted to something greater than himself.

Loyalty.

Lucia realized that was what made him truly dangerous.

She drew a slow, steady breath, forcing her expression to remain calm as she buried the nervousness threatening to surface. Every instinct urged her to look away beneath the weight of his silent scrutiny, yet she held his gaze, refusing to appear intimidated.

Even so, she couldn’t shake the unsettling feeling crawling beneath her skin. It was as though those sharp eyes could see through every mask she had ever worn.

For a fleeting moment, an entirely unrelated thought crossed her mind. Are all the men of Harland built like this? Intimidating... and handsome as hell.

"Are you going to keep staring at me without saying a word?"

Lucia leaned back in her chair with practiced ease, as though she were lounging in a tavern instead of sitting in an interrogation room. A flirtatious smile curved her lips.

"If you keep looking at me like that, I might start thinking you like what you see."

The corner of Fargo’s mouth twitched into a faint smirk.

"Don’t flatter yourself. You’re not that cute."

Lucia clicked her tongue and answered with a teasing smile.

"Is this how Harland’s men behave? Always playing hard to get?"

A flicker of amusement crossed Fargo’s face; he had heard how Zhao Li Xin burned Lucia’s arms without a slight of remorse or hesitation.

A smile deepening ever so slightly on Fargo’s manly face. "No. We just have high standards."

The jab landed cleanly.

Lucia’s smile faltered for the briefest moment before she recovered, though the flash of irritation in her eyes was impossible to miss.

"Since you need me, shouldn’t you treat me a little better?" she pursed her lips in annoyance. "After all, I’m your most valuable asset to your country, right?"

"Not nearly as much as you need us." Fargo pushed himself off the wall and strode to the table. Planting one hand on its worn wooden surface, he leaned forward, his imposing frame casting a shadow over her.

"You came here because you didn’t want Zhao Li Xin to kill you. And now you can’t go back, because the moment you do, Alexander Behrenn will have you executed."

His voice remained calm, almost conversational. That only made his words more suffocating.

"Funny, isn’t it? No matter which way you turn, death is waiting for you. So you’d better start singing everything you know... and sing beautifully if you want to keep your life."

Lucia’s expression hardened. His words struck with ruthless precision, tearing away the flirtation and exposing the truth she had been trying to bury beneath sarcasm and charm. There was no mockery in his voice, no satisfaction, only quiet certainty that made arguing feel pointless.

She hated that.

More than that, she hated how effortlessly Fargo dismantled every defense she put up, as though every trick she had spent years mastering was utterly useless before him.

At that moment, Lucia reached one simple conclusion.

She really, really, hated Harland’s men.

"What do you want to know?" she asked at last.

Fargo’s eyes sharpened. "Where’s Zalchana?"

Lucia drew a slow breath. She knew exactly how valuable that information was. Her fingertips drummed lightly against the tabletop as she weighed her options.

"I want full protection, a safe house, a new identity... and five hundred million rohm." A smug smile spread across her face.

"I think my information is worth at least that much." She was confident Fargo would agree. Killing Zalchana would end this entire crisis, and as far as she knew, she was the only person in Harland who knew where Zalchana was hiding.

Fargo let out a faint smirk. "You’ll get a new identity and a safe place to live. That’s all."

Lucia’s smile vanished. "That’s it?!" Her voice turned cold. "With an offer that pathetic, you actually expect me to tell you where Zalchana is?"

Fargo’s expression darkened. "Or would you rather have this conversation with Zhao Li Xin?" He leaned in slightly, his gaze never leaving hers. "He’s been waiting for the chance to cut off the arms you worked so hard to grow back. Unlike me, he won’t waste time listening to your excuses."

The color drained from Lucia’s face.

At the mention of Zhao Li Xin, an involuntary shiver ran through her body. Her arms tingled with phantom pain, as though they already remembered the blade. She knew Fargo wasn’t bluffing. If Zhao Li Xin got his hands on her, he would do whatever was necessary to make her talk.

That man possessed neither patience nor mercy.

"...Fine." The word escaped through gritted teeth.

Fargo had expected as much. Invoking Zhao Li Xin’s name had proven even more effective than he had anticipated.

"Good." His tone remained flat. "Now... where is Zalchana?"

Lucia glared at him one last time. After a long, reluctant silence, she finally spoke."They moved her to the safest place in the world." She paused, watching his reaction."It’s beneath Elysium."

Fargo blinked once before letting out a quiet dissapointed scoff. "Huh... that’s anticlimactic."