"That's a good sign that you've matured. I'd be happy if you could keep thinking like that," Teivel said.Darius smiled, not expecting him to praise him like that. For a split second, his eyes turned red because he was so moved, but it quickly faded. He said, "Well, let's not bother about that anymore." He breathed deeply to calm himself, then continued, "After your battle with your old nemesis, your soul's power has diminished a lot. It won't be able to sustain you for long, so you have to merge with your body as soon as possible."Teivel took note of his grim tone and smiled faintly. "That's not something you need to worry about. I know how long I can keep going like this."Darius shut his eyes and sighed, lapsing into silence. He focused his attention on his life force and started channeling it to the places he wanted it to go. When it started flowing, his brows unfurrowed, and he smiled faintly.In the book realm, Teivel sat on the couch and crossed one leg over the other, a smil
"Anyway, I trust your final judgment," said Darius. He glanced at Edward, then continued, "I know you and how kind you really are. Chances are I won't find the people whose lives you want to end to be good samaritans, so you don't need to be too bothered by my opinion when you're dealing with these matters. If I were to be against anything you're about to do, I would've made myself clear. I wouldn't confuse you with an ambiguous attitude."Edward's eyes turned red at this, and he gave Darius a sharp salute. "Understood, sir." He was touched but didn't make it obvious from his tone. "This matter with the bodyguards is pretty much taken care of at this point, but I think I'll still need to report this to Bruce. I've actually been hesitant to do this because I feel that since Bruce has already given those bodyguards to you, they belong to you. No matter how they end up, it's a decision that you have the liberty to make. Still, Bruce is the highest authority when it comes to dealing with
"He suddenly showed up last night, pretending to be one of the bodyguards. He's been popping up before me quite frequently lately, and he told me his life story, from how he joined the Evans family to his fiancée to how he was forced to do many nefarious things. I only learned about him having come into contact with the Reid family's bodyguards last night, and this gives me the feeling that he's not as simple as he seems. It's imperative that we deal with him immediately." Darius' eyes darkened as he spoke. He was thinking about something.Edward stood beside him silently with his hands behind his back. He knew Darius' mind was on something; he didn't want to disrupt his train of thought. At the same time, he knew Darius would tell him what to do when he was done pondering, which would keep him busy for a while. Ten minutes had passed when Darius returned to his senses, and he turned to ask Edward, "Where did you lock him up after I told you to take him away?"Edward looked calm. "In
"On the contrary, I think you're here to end my life. Still, the fact that you've said so much to me proves that I'm wrong—you're not here to kill me, which means Darius needs something from me. That's why he hasn't given the order to kill me … yet. Of course, there's also the possibility of being genuinely kind and wanting to give me another chance," Winston said.Edward raised an eyebrow and scoffed, shaking his head as he said, "I've always thought you were smart; I even considered you a rival of equal standing. Now, I see that I was too naive. You don't deserve to be my equal!" His tone was matter-of-fact. It was as if he were only stating the truth.This got on Winston's nerves. He ignored the pain and shot to his feet as he stared at Edward in disbelief. Though he didn't say a word, Edward could tell what he was thinking—Edward wasn't there to end his life or force him to side with Darius. There was nothing Edward wanted for him, or rather, they could easily get whatever they wa
"You almost swore your allegiance to Mr. Reid, so you should understand what he's like. He may be kind, but those who betrayed him or did anything to cross his morals met terrible ends. I'm sure I don't need to go into detail about that for you to understand what you're up against." Edward didn't slow as he spoke. Winston clutched his chest, looking pained as he tried to keep up. Neither of them looked happy—Edward was impatient because he'd only intended to spend three minutes retrieving Winston from the basement and bringing him to Darius. Six minutes had passed, and they'd only just stepped out of the basement. To make things worse, Winston kept mumbling useless things behind him, making him feel like his patience was running out.On the other hand, Winston didn't look so good because he was in pain from his injury, and he could sense Edward's irritation. Everything he'd experienced from the night before up until this point made him realize something—Darius was more powerful than
"My injury hurts, and I didn't manage to get any rest in that dark basement. The more I thought about this, the angrier I got, and it just exploded when I saw you. That's why I had such an outburst."Darius raised an eyebrow and snorted. "Since you're here, tell us about yourself and the Evans family. I want to hear the whole story from the beginning, not mere excerpts like you've already given me. It's best if you start from your school days and work up to the present. You should know that my patience is limited, so your attitude determines your end. You might not be aware of this, but those bodyguards who were secretly loyal to other members of the Reid family are all dead. They died this morning, and I'm sure that's not something you would want to happen to yourself. At least, that's what I would think. I don't know what you think of this—those bodyguards were loyal to a fault; they just weren't loyal to me. No matter what I said or did, they refused to declare their loyalty to me.
"—Your account is problematic. Are you saying Ursula is unaware you already know the truth behind your father's death?"Winston nodded, tearing up from how emotional he felt while the whites of his eyes turned red from rage. "Yeah, she doesn't know. Apart from you guys and myself, no one in this world knows that I'm aware of the reason behind my dad's death. Therefore, I hope that you guys won't tell another soul about what I've just revealed to you. After all, those include many of my secrets."Darius cocked a brow but ultimately nodded at the former. "Okay. You may proceed.""So, I remained with the Evans family throughout my relationship with Ursula. By then, Bennett couldn't make me leave their family, so he approached me alone. He told me if I wanted to stay and avenge my father, the only thing I could do was leave his daughter. In theory, I couldn't remain with them if Ursula and I stopped dating. The only possibility was if I became a member of the Evans family's household staf
"My mom had always been distant from the Evans family while growing up, so she wasn't as cunning or untrusting toward others as the Evans family; she didn't think twice before refuting Ursula's claims. Mom was an anxious mess and nearly fell for Ursula's lies but ultimately didn't believe the latter. She told Ursula the latter couldn't have dated me because I had a fiancée, whom I loved dearly. Once Ursula learned that, she turned to all her social connections, and used every idea she could think of, to track down and kill my fiancée. Ursula even painted my fiancée's death to be a tragedy! Among everything Ursula did, that was the one thing I couldn't stand the most. Eventually, the authorities concluded that my fiancée had been having an affair for a long time behind my back. They claimed the other guy found out about me and killed my fiancée in a jealous fit—but I know my fiancée; she's a virtuous woman who would never do such a thing!" After saying that, Winston squeezed his eyes