The Silent Heir

Chapter 40

An: 

Man I have underestimated how long this would take that my final exam caught to me first. I will explain why it was so late and why only now. Anyways.... enjoy a 3.9k of pain.

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He should have lied. Seth knew he would have damned himself to oblivion, but he should have lied. What was the point of telling the truth if it made her cry? If he knew this would have happened... he would have lied.

"But it wasn't me!" Seth cried out in protest, but it could not reach her. Her eyes watered in burning anger and freezing fear, but Seth wished that was all he had seen. For within those two glaring eyes, disbelief and denial consumed her soul..

The trust they'd built for so long lay in ruins before him. At that moment, all he wanted to do was hide. Far away from those betrayed and terrified eyes. How he wished to undo everything. If only he lied... if only he denied it. Just where did it go so wrong?

The red hair tried to wrack his brain for an answer. Anything to make sense of this madness, yet it was all for naught. The weeping form of the girl he loves was simply too much for the young man. All he wanted to do was to make it stop. No matter the price. "Lucy," Seth tried to reach out once more, desperate. "i-it wasn't m-me, y-you have to believe me. It w-wasn't-"

The words died on his tongue when Lucy suddenly stood still. For a moment, he feared the worst when her anguished eyes suddenly vanished into a blank stare. And then, blood-lust. Lucy suddenly bolted towards one of the abandoned daggers.

"W-wait! I-" Seth narrowly avoided a lethal strike, quickly retreating. "Stop! I don't want to fight you!" Seth pleaded on deaf ears as the young lady simply frowned in frustration.

"Slippery bastard." The young man froze, barely believing the sheer coldness in her voice. He barely had a second to register her contempt as she bounded after him.

"Lucy, please!" Seth cried out in dismay, barely sidestepping a lunge that would have pierced his lung. Unfortunately for him, his balance was off as he stumbled to the ground. Fortunately for him, however, the scarred lady overestimated her reach and fell flat on her stomach.

Seth quickly regains his balance as he pleaded out once more. "Stop! Just stop, damn you! I am not him. Whoever that bastard was, it was not me! I-"

"Damn it, flower head! You shouldn't have wasted all of it!" she spat out in frustration as she stumbled back on her legs awkwardly. Her breathing was sharp and shallow as she struggled to regain her control, but it mattered little for Seth. His thoughts were somewhere else.

Wait... what did she just say? Seth pondered in silence, eyeing the young lady carefully this time. Though his heart still aches, the young man manages to bury his dismay forcibly. A kind distraction from the turmoil within.

She turned towards Seth. "Just stay still, will you?" She sneered before approaching with caution this time. The blood-lust was still burning from within, but it was much tamer now. Controlled. "This doesn't have to be painful." Cold. Her voice was far too cold. Not distant. Cold.

This... this was not her. He may be pulling straws in pure desperation, but Seth did not recognize who the girl who stood before him. Too cold. Too... relentless. It can't be her. It's just can't! And if she's not her... then who is she? "W-who... who are you?" Seth whispered, though it felt more like an echo rebounding through the cold forest as she stood still. Eyes widening slightly as her shoulders tensed.

The young maiden silently stared back. Her hostility was as clear as daylight, but she remained quiet. Seth thought he would never get a reply when she suddenly smiled. "Take a guess, gobs. Who else could it be?" she innocently replied, as Seth's eyes trembled.