Chapter 470: Exposed_Part 1
Rav’s body had begun to go through the real stage of corruption, as the severest symptoms were when one lost control and gave in to the savage hunger for flesh. Once it reached that point, one could turn completely at any given moment.
He hadn’t meant to do that to the maid, and the realization that he had eaten human flesh for the first time, and that Angel was still out here, terrified him. He was scared that he might lose control and bite him. Only one bite, and a person would turn rogue, which was why many families got rid of any root of corruption in Nightbrook.
"Uncle Rav..." Angel called as he stepped down from the kitchen steps and began to make his way toward Rav, who immediately held out his hand and exclaimed, "Don’t come close! Stay right there!"
The last thing he wanted was to turn his master’s son into a rogue. He was losing control of himself faster than he had thought possible, and he had no one to help him now. If he hadn’t been so assured that he would be cured until recently, Rav would have long left the castle and said his goodbye to Evenly and their unborn child.
It seemed fate played with one in the cruelest ways possible. One moment you’d accept that you wouldn’t live long, and then you’d be given hope, only for that hope to be crushed...
He had eaten flesh, there was no way out. The only way out was by getting killed or killing when he lost full control. He was caught in between, his heart beating like a drum, and the pain running through his entire body was so terrible that even the smallest movement hurt.
And to make matters worse, Angel, who didn’t know what corruption or being rogue meant, was here, coming toward him, while Rav was not in his right mind.
"Go back inside," Rav said firmly, clutching his chest and fighting the savage part rising inside him. Please, don’t act up again! Get a grip on yourself, Christian! You have to fight this to live longer. You have to live long enough to secure a life for this new family. You can’t fail them, you can’t fail Evenly... you haven’t even told her you love her yet... fight it!
God in heaven, take away this excruciating pain! Rav prayed in his head, bending over and still holding his chest, coughing out black blood that seemed to pour directly from his heart.
"Enny’s looking for you inside... What’s happened to you, Uncle Rav?" Angel asked curiously, not understanding what was wrong with his uncle or why his heart sounded strange and smelled rotten, like something spoiled.
Angel couldn’t see the torn body of the maid on the ground because a thick fog hovered around it, but he could smell the blood.
After Angel was put to bed by Rav, he had begun to sleep really deeply until he woke up to pee. But when he came back to his bed, he hadn’t been able to sleep again. Normally when this happened, he would make his way to sleep with his parents, but he didn’t want to be around this new mama who wasn’t his real mama. He had lain down, missing his mother so much, when he thought he heard a scream.
Angel had left his room and gone down the stairs to go to Uncle Rav’s room and tell him about the scream, but then he had heard Enny’s voice calling for Rav. Angel had taken it upon himself to go and find Uncle Rav for her. He had come into the kitchen, seen the door open, and also perceived the smell of blood coming from the back garden.
Now, Angel could sense a strong air of danger around Rav and stopped advancing toward him, whispering softly, "Uncle Rav..."
Rav let out a loud groan and then snapped toward the boy, shouting, "Go inside!!" But before he even gave the child time to obey his orders, his body acted up again, and he lunged at the boy.
Angel’s eyes widened as he saw what Uncle Rav had turned into. Terror gripped his young heart, but before he could act, Rav had already jumped on him, knocking him to the ground.
"PAPA!!" Angel screamed as pain shot through his small body, his cry echoing through the halls, reaching all the way to his father, who at that very moment was in the process of killing an imposter who had taken his wife’s place, deceiving him and everyone.
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A few minutes ago, after Rohan left his son’s room, he went back to the room he had shared with his wife, the one that carried so many sweet memories, even though they had lived under the shadow of constant danger. His expression revealed nothing as he made his way there, but when he entered, he didn’t find who he was looking for. Instead, he heard her bathing behind the wooden divider and stopped in the middle of the room.
Had it been under normal circumstances, Rohan would have gone behind the divider to meet his wife, but an instinct that had begun to nag at him about the woman he was living with made him stop. Ever since he married Belle, Rohan had been faithful enough that he wouldn’t willingly look at another woman’s naked form, and though this woman had everything of his wife, even had her aura and heartbeat but there was just something that made him stop from doing what he normally did with her.
Instead of going to meet her while she took her bath, he went to the fireplace and lit his cigar in the flame, placing it between his lips and taking a drag. He let her take her time bathing, because this might as well be her last bath. He blew out the smoke, watching it form into rings that floated and disappeared into the air.
"Rohan, you’re back," came her delighted voice from behind the divider.
Cordelia stepped out of the tub and reached for her sheer robe. Though it would be impossible to appear seductive with this illusional pregnancy and the human body she wore to deceive Rohan and everyone, Cordelia had chosen the sheer robe for tonight, planning to make him bed her.
Cordelia stepped out without bothering to tie the belt of the robe, but she stopped just outside the wooden divider to take in the alluring sight of the man she had always desired. He was standing before the fireplace, his broad back to her, dressed in a white formal shirtsleeve that was half-tucked into his black trousers. One of his hands was tucked into his pocket while the other moved idly as he controlled the cigar he was smoking.
His unusual blue hair, which set him apart from everyone else, was let down his back. It had grown so long that it reached his shoulder blades. If Cordelia had a beating heart, she knew it would be drumming inside her chest. The sight of him alone excited her and made her body ache with an arousal she had never felt before.
She walked toward him and went ahead to put her hands around his narrow waist, resting her face against his back. She had always wanted to do this many times, to hug him from behind. And being in this form gave her the freedom to do things she couldn’t do in her own form.
"Rohan..." She said his name with a sultry tone in her voice, wanting him to know that she desired him to bed her tonight. But if he heard her or even felt her hold, he didn’t move nor react. He simply continued smoking with that same calm detachment.
Even when he parted his lips to speak, it was with that same nonchalance, the composed voice of a man completely in control of himself. "Aren’t you forgetting something, my wife?" he asked, his tone steady but heavy with something unreadable even to Cordelia.
Cordelia frowned slightly at the sudden question, not understanding what he meant. "What?" she asked.
"Tomorrow is the day we’re supposed to go to Rivercross," he mused, blowing out his cigar, his eyes fixed on the fireplace without blinking. The hand that was tucked inside his pocket clenched into a fist.
Cordelia swallowed nervously. Rivercross? What for? She had no memory of talking to him about the village known as Rivercross in Nightbrook, and she hadn’t seen anything about it in the vision ball Belle had used. Quickly, she racked her brain for what to say and settled for the easiest excuse.
"Remind me again why we should go there tomorrow? Just like I told you a few days ago, this second baby is messing with my mental health so much that I tend not to remember certain conversations."
Whenever she made a slip, she always blamed it on the baby, and he would understand her. Cordelia thought he would accept this one too. With the demon’s strong powers, not even a witch would be able to tell she wasn’t Belle. There was no way Rohan would suspect her enough to use tricky questions to make her expose herself. That confidence gave Cordelia the courage to continue doing as she pleased.
Unknown to her, Rohan had not used any trick question; what he had asked was something his wife would never forget because it was important. There were five souls to take tomorrow from Rivercross, and this slip confirmed his suspicions and the words of his son and Rav.