Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 216: Alistair’s Death

Chapter 216: Alistair’s Death

He carefully fixed the purple gemstone into the hollow space of the hilt, and he almost dropped the weapon when the blade mystically glowed with a purple hue, from the bottom all the way to the angled tip. He glanced hesitantly at Alistair who gave him a nod of assurance, as if reassuring him that he needn’t be scared to make a strike, and since everyone else had done it successfully, Maurice didn’t think there was a chance that anything would go wrong in his case. He was probably overthinking the matter like his worried self.

"Here goes."

Sucking in a deep breath, he took in his preferred stance and grasped the hilt tightly.

The purple glow of the blade magically intensified at his approach, it’s hues reflecting in the depths of his brown irises, and in one swift move, Maurice delivered a calculative strike, and unlike everyone else who had succeeded in creating a fine arc, Maurice’s arc mysteriously doubled, crossing over the other in mid-air, and when they struck Alistair who masterfully defended himself with the blade, the powers of the arc intensified, emanating a power that was shockingly both potent and deadly, and although Alistair’s blade managed to absorb it all, the arc had succeeded in giving him a cut just above his chest, like a blade slicing through his shirt and into his skin, whilst the sight elicited several gasps from the crowd as Maurice froze in shock.

Meanwhile, at the second to the top floor, Agathe was still helplessly trapped in the confines of her chamber. She had called out to anyone passing by to open the door, but unfortunately, the path leading to the chamber where she was trapped appeared to be empty. When Agathe was starting to lose hope of ever making it out of here, her ears perceived the footsteps of someone walking by. Quickly wiping her tears away, she stood up to her feet and banged harder on the door.

"Is someone out there?? Anybody??" She banged continuously, her heart thudding loudly in her chest as she anticipated for whoever it was to answer her call for help, and to her quick relief, she heard a voice that seemed to belong to a male servant.

"Who’s there?"

"Open the door!" She banged hard on it, and it didn’t take too long before the servant successfully opened the door. When he met Agathe’s stare, his eyes widened, and he immediately lowered his head in a bow, as if he had not known that she was the one trapped inside all along.

"Where’s everyone?" She asked the servant after stepping out of the room, and he answered.

"Everyone has moved to the court of celestial Valor."

"Already?? What time is it? No no!" Turning away from the servant while a look of apprehension dawned on her visage, Agathe quickly left the corridor and headed towards the court of celestial Valor, whilst hoping she wasn’t too late to end everything.

—-

Back in the court, awed gasps and gazes shifted between Alistair and Maurice, whose expression paled upon realizing he had struck a royalty. He wanted to apologize for his unprecedented actions, but when Alistair lifted his head to look at him, everyone’s expression turned ghostly aghast when the corner of Alistair’s lips dripped with blood, and the young man staggered forward, his grip on his sword falling from his grasp as he clutched to his chest, almost as if he got struck in the heart.

"Alistair...!" Everyone had rushed to him when he dropped to his knees, convulsing. Samantha, who was witnessing the strange horrific turn of events, wanted to move forward to see what had happened to Alistair, but Ivan kept her by his side. Unlike everyone who was in a state of panic, Ivan’s demeanor remained indifferent as he gazed at the people who continued to gather around Alistair.

"What are you doing? Something terrible has happened to Alistair! And.. Maurice, he could get into trouble." Samantha wanted to free her hand from his grip, but his hold was unmistakably firm against her delicate forearm, rendering her attempts futile.

"I told you," Ivan whispered calmly, ignoring the confusion in her glaring eyes. "Tragedy will strike the one who has hurt you. You can hate me for this, but if you go there, you’ll ruin everything."

"But Maurice will be..."

"Trust me." He uttered, his crimson eyes conveying that he knew exactly what he was doing. Samantha’s worried gaze returned to Alistair who was no longer moving on the ground, and Tobias was already by his brother’s side. The looks on everyone’s faces turned apparently aghast when a grim expression settled on Tobias’s features, and when he glanced at the wound on his brother’s chest, it hadn’t healed.

"What happened?"

"Is he alright?"

"He seemed fine before he got struck. Did that human do something?" The crowds began to murmur their worries, as if wondering who would be the next to get struck. Helena simply requested everyone to give Alistair some space, and her expression was tinged with worry, as she too was unable to comprehend what just happened.

"Alistair?" Abdiel had stepped forward, checking his son’s pulse, but he felt nothing at all, as if he was dead. He glanced at Tobias whose gaze dropped to his brother’s body, and his fair lashes fluttered frantically when he closed his eyes.

Maurice was shockingly frozen that the blade in his hand dropped, clattering to the ground, and before anyone could get the opportunity to point blames at Maurice, Agathe had made it to the court of celestial Valor. When her eyes fell on the blade Maurice had clattered to the ground, she knew at that moment something wasn’t right, and when she had the courage to move her eyes in the direction where the people had gathered, she made her way through all of them only for her gaze to settle on Alistair’s body.

The world seemed to take a stand still at the sight, the temperature outside dropped negatively, and Agathe had forgotten how to process her nerves into moving closer.

Her eyes widened, and her fingers gripped her gown upon realizing he had been struck with the blade containing poison. She dropped to her knees before her son, lifting her fidgeting hand to touch his face. It felt oddly cold, and instant tears filled the brim of her eyes when the reality of the situation hit her deep in the chest.

"Alistair...! Wake up... please... I didn’t mean to do this. My son.." the tears flowed freely down her cheek as she shook his limp body. "I promise I’ll make everything right just... wake up... Alistair...!!"

A sudden weight of grief enveloped Agathe who bursted into tears as she tried to revive her son, realizing at the last minute the awful mistake she had made. At this point, all eyes moved to Maurice who was confused, and all the more dazed by what had happened. Accusing glares were already shooting in his direction, and he immediately tried to explain but was interrupted before he could begin.

"You... you killed Prince Alistair?" One of the trainers had asked, his tone filled with disbelief, and Agathe, who had stopped crying and was surveying through the crowd, fixed her teary hostile gaze on Samantha who was trying not to cry out loud. In a feat of rage, Agathe rose to her feet and picked up the poisonous sword Maurice had dropped, and everyone was shocked to the brim when she charged the blade at Samantha.

"Agathe! What are you doing?!" Yelled Abdiel, but his wife paid no heed to his words as she had lost all her self-control, and she lunged at Samantha with the poisonous blade.

"This is all your fault! My son is dead because of you!"

Samantha’s pupils instinctively dilated, and she had been unprepared for Agathe’s swift and unforeseen attack. Looking away and blocking her face with her hands, the strike she was expecting never came, and when she dared to gaze at what had happened, her pupils constricted when Ivan already hindered the attack, saving her, but he was holding the blade itself, whilst Samantha’s face turned pale when blood dripped from his palm, yet he didn’t let go off the blade.

"I suggest you take a step back," Ivan calmly warned, "or I’ll have to make preparations for two burials."