Chapter 248
Author’s pov
The darkness inside the castle was complete, swallowing everything in its path.
The only sound breaking the stillness was the soft hum of classical music drifting from a nearby speaker, its melancholic notes echoing in the otherwise empty room, like a forgotten memory.
Suddenly, the silence was broken by a knock on the door.
Belinda’s eyes snapped open. She had been reclining on the sofa, lost in the music, but now her gaze turned icy, her sharp, snake-like eyes narrowing as she stared through the window, her attention drawn to the vast, inky blackness of the forest beyond.
The knock came again, more urgent this time.
Without a flicker of emotion, Belinda stood, her movements measured and precise.
She walked to the window, her steps almost soundless, her expression one of cool disdain. She didn’t flinch. She didn’t panic.
“Enter,” she called coldly, her voice smooth, as though nothing could disturb her composure.
The butler entered in a flurry, his face pale and tense. In his haste, he knocked over a vase, sending it shattering across the floor.
He quickly regained his balance, but the panic in his eyes was unmistakable. “Miss Belinda,” he gasped, out of breath. “There’s a problem. The power’s gone out. The security room isn’t responding, and the whole castle ’s in chaos p>
Belinda raised a single brow, unimpressed. “What’s the fuss? No lights? Light the candles p>
The butler hesitated, then stammered, “The candles are all gone. Every last one of them. Even the ones on the candlesticks. They’ve all disappeared p>
Her gaze sharpened. She folded her arms and let out a bitter laugh. “So, you’re telling me we’ll be spending the night in complete darkness p>
“No, Miss Belinda,” he hurried to explain. “We’re already sending people to check the power room and the security room. We’ve also found someone suspicious in the storage area. They may have taken the candles. Our men are handling it p>
Belinda’s eyes glittered with something dark, her lips curling in a slight, mocking smirk. “Naturally. I trust your men will do better than your power team. Get it fixed. Quickly p>
The butler nodded, his uncertainty lingering in the air. As he backed out, he caught a glimpse of her expression–a combination of amusement and cold calculation.
Something about her demeanor left him uneasy, though he couldn’t quite place why.
With the door clicking shut behind him, another figure stepped into the room.
His voice was calm, measured, despite the tension hanging thick in the air. “We’ve heard from the forest,” he said. “One person made it out, but the others… they’re missing p>
Belinda didn’t turn around. Instead, she moved gracefully behind the sofa, her movements so fluid they almost seemed to glide. She continued speaking in a voice that was both light and laced with something darker beneath the surface.
“He’s already neutralized my men, and now he’s scattered them like chess pieces. What do you think he’ll do next?” She gave a small, almost playful smile. “My guess? He’ll come for me. He’ll want the honor of being the one to drape the necklace around my neck. How quaint. How romantic p>
Twenty minutes after the blackout, the castle had descended into full chaos. Screams echoed through the hallways, anger and fear laced in every shout, while sobs filled the air both inside the castle and from the woods beyond.
Darkness, when it came without warning, had a strange way of rattling people.
While the rest of the castle ’s inhabitants panicked, one figure moved with perfect calm, slipping through a side entrance and making his way quietly up to the third floor.
Two knocks, deliberate and precise, rang out on the study door, each one timed like a calculated chess move.
Inside, Belinda, still reclining on the sofa, didn’t even glance up. Her smile was faint, but it carried a knowing edge.
“Alpha Sebastian,” she said softly, her voice dripping with anticipation. “Right on time p>
The door creaked open, and Sebastian stepped inside. With a practiced flick of his wrist, he lit a candle, the flickering flame casting long shadows against the walls. His movements were fluid, his presence almost predatory.
He shut the door behind him with unnerving precision, locking them both into the room.
In the dim candlelight, his face was etched with hard angles, his expression cold and unreadable. His eyes gleamed with quiet calculation.
“Miss Belinda,” he said, his voice deep and smooth. “I must admit, you seem quite sure I would come p>
“I had faith,” Belinda replied, her smile soft but knowing, as though she could see through him.
Sebastian’s lips curved into a faint smile. “I assume the blackout doesn’t count as cheating, does it p>
“In this world,” she said, her voice silky with authority, “there are only winners and losers. History remembers those who win. And the winners? They write the rules p>
Her tone was velvet over steel–the kind used by Alphas, cult leaders, and politicians.
“Sounds like your society and I have a lot in common,” Sebastian said.
“Exactly why we want you, Alpha Sebastian. You’re not afraid to break the system. You’re the kind who builds a new one p>
He gave her a polite nod. “You’re generous with your compliments p>
With the pleasantries exchanged, Belinda moved on. “Since you’re here, I assume you found the necklace?” Her voice held just the edge of a challenge.
“Naturally.” Sebastian didn’t miss a beat.
“May I?” She extended her hand, palm up.
“Soon.” Sebastian stood and walked to the antique phonograph in the corner. That wiped the smile off her face.
He slid open a hidden drawer beneath the turntable and pulled out the necklace.
The ruby pendant caught the candlelight. Her eyes widened, just for a second.
“Your clue was a piece of music,” he said. “Something about the forest and the castle. Poetic–but just vague enough to send everyone in the wrong direction p>
Belinda didn’t answer. She only watched him, her expression carefully neutral.
“That’s when I stopped chasing the riddle,” Sebastian went on. “And started paying attention to the composer p>
He stepped closer, lifting the pendant so it caught the light.
“Someone who plays Silverwake Nocturne every single night. Someone who never really let this necklace out of her sight p>
Belinda blinked.
“The last line–‘I wish to sleep in silver light’–wasn’t literal,” he said. “It wasn’t about a place. It was about the music p>
Sebastian tilted his head slightly.
“I heard Silverwake Nocturne drifting from the third floor on the first night. Same phrasing. Same hesitation in the second movement. That’s when it clicked p>
His gaze locked onto hers.
“The necklace never left your hands–because the music didn’t either. You weren’t listening like an admirer. You were listening like someone checking her own work p>
For a moment, the room was silent.
Then Belinda laughed–loud, dramatic, unapologetic. She clapped once. Then again. Slow. Deliberate.
“Well done,” she said. “Alpha Sebastian, you’re as dangerous as you are charming p>
“Flattery noted,” Sebastian replied evenly. “Let’s talk terms p>
Belinda’s smile sharpened, eyes bright with something close to delight.
“You’re too kind p>
Sebastian stepped behind her, the necklace dangling from his fingers.
Belinda’s spine stiffened slightly. She glanced back. “Will Alpha Sebastian do me the honor of placing it around my neck p>
“You said it yourself–finding the necklace and putting it on you counts as victory p>
He leaned in close, his smile catching the candlelight like a blade.
“Then I’ll trouble Alpha Sebastian with the task,” Belinda said, turning forward again.
He swept her hair aside, revealing the high emerald lace collar at her neck. His fingers brushed her skin as if preparing to fasten the clasp.
Then he struck. In a blink, his hands tore through the lace–and the skin beneath it.
She gasped. A scream rose, but Sebastian’s hand was already over her mouth.
The door creaked open behind them and clicked shut. A lock turned.
Cecilia’s pov
I took down the figure who’d been tailing me in the dark, quick and quiet. Then I made my way toward Belinda’s door. I eased it open, my heart thudding hard in my chest.
The sight before me stole the air from my lungs. My back hit the door with a dull thud.”Holy p>
The candlelight framed a grotesque assembly: the head of a golden-haired woman, her long tresses falling over the stark pale torso of the bald figure onto whose chest her severed neck was fixed.
It took a beat to register.
A mask. A full-face disguise made of human skin, complete with a wig.
Even though Tang had warned me Belinda was wearing a mask–and Sebastian had said he’d rip it off–seeing it for real was something else entirely.
But the face beneath it was worse.
“It’s really you,” I breathed.