♥︎ 𝑩𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚 ♥︎

Chapter Nine

Y/N was starting to believe she'd made a huge error. Although her wing of the castle wasn't particularly bright or colorful, it was a welcome change from the west wing. Her eyes widened as she walked down the long hallway. The atmosphere was desolate. And it seemed to be very depressing. The walls were scratched and bare, but empty picture hooks still hang there, indicating that this wasn't always the case. The Titan's heavy hands had ripped the rug under her feet, making it faded and worn. And the air felt thicker in several ways.

Y/N was about to turn around when she saw a light at the end of the corridor. A door had been left slightly ajar, and Y/N could just make out what appeared to be a large suite through it. Y/N stepped forward, her curiosity overpowering her anxiety, and slowly pushed open the door.

She immediately wished she hadn't. This room was ten times more unsettling than the corridor. She could see evidence of the Titan's rage anywhere she looked. Curtains were ripped from their rails and hung in tatters. Vases that had once been lovely lay broken on the deck. A grey coverlet lay faded and dusty on the huge four-poster bed, indicating that it hadn't been used for a long time. She realized why as her gaze wandered around the room. A giant nest consisting of ripped bits of cloth, feathers, and antlers was tucked away in a corner. The sight of such a wild and animalistic environment in the castle filled Y/N with dread.

She turned around and screamed as she stared into a pair of bright green eyes. She thought someone was looking back at her for a long, awkward moment - before she realized the eyes belonged to a boy caught in what seemed to be a royal portrait. Y/N leaned forward, her heart thudding. The boy's face had been cut beyond recognition, and the canvas had been ripped apart. The eyes, on the other hand, had been spared. Y/N drew ever closer together. They looked so familiar...

As Y/N realized they reminded her of the beast's pupils, her breath caught in her throat. Levi's words returned to her. He'd described him as a prince. This had to be the prince he was talking about. She returned her gaze to the portrait, searching for traces of the past. A charming king and a lovely queen were also depicted in the painting. Although the woman's portrait remained flawless - with kind eyes full of laughter and love - the king's cold, distant stare had been sliced as well. Within these castle walls, Y/N wondered what the boy in the portrait would have been like, what anyone would have been like growing up with parents like those.

Y/N's gaze was drawn to the far end of the room as she pulled her gaze away from the portrait and stifled the strange feeling of melancholy that had developed in the pit of her stomach once more. On the other hand, huge doors had been left open, exposing a wide stone balcony. What piqued her attention, however, was what was in front of the gate. Despite the room's chaos and ruin, the table would have stood out simply because it was still upright. But it caught her attention because of the glass jar that stood on top of it.

The jar was made of fragile glass that was blown so thin that it seemed it might crack with the slightest contact. The jar's side had been carved with intricate designs that looked like frost on a windowpane. There was also a beautiful red rose inside, floating as though by magic. It glowed with a color that Y/N compared to the most stunning sunset she'd ever seen.

Y/N walked to the table as though in a trance. She moved her hand slowly towards the jar. Y/N's fingers tingled as she stepped closer to the smooth bottle, unable to fight the sudden urge to raise the bell jar and feel the silky petals of the rose. Her fingertips drew nearer...nearer...and nearer...

"How did you end up here?" The Titan's voice erupted over Y/N, jolting her awake from her trance. His green eyes blazed, his hands clenched with barely contained anger as he emerged from the shadows. When he looked at the sparkling rose, the fire in his eyes became even more ferocious. "What did you do it?"