"How do you feel now?" Asked a teary-eyed maid who helped her Lord wear his shirt.
It has been a week since that happened.
The hell Hades felt allowed him to learn about a new level of pain. It hurt him more than it did when he was burned.
He…felt helpless that much for the first time in his life. It felt he might as well kill himself to get rid of the pain. But then, his mother's face passed by his eyes, her gentle smile appeared before him and he held to his sanity and tried to fight the pain.
In the end, he fainted and later opened his eyes in the infirmary.
He was healed by a healer secretly. It seems someone has told them not to heal him, but one of them was someone whom Hades had helped in the past.
Thanks to her help, Hades was now able to move around a bit, but it would take some time for him to get back in his best shape.
"Has Kayla come to see me in these few days?" He asked as he got up and inched closer to the mirror.
Tia lowered her gaze before informing, "No, my lord."
"And have you seen her around the campus recently?" he asked, trying to evaluate what was the case with her.
Was she threatened? Bribed? Or…
"I saw her a few times with the prince, going to the library or common hall together….they seemed pretty close."
…he didn't expect that. Regardless of her reason to betray him, why would she switch her partners as if those beautiful moments they spent together were all fake?
Was she pretending to be in love with him all this time?
Hades looked at the pendant he wore around his neck.
It was a gift from her. Something he always treasured and kissed before stepping onto the battlefield.
He took it off and looked at the blue gem in it.
He extended the gift to his maid before asking, "Can you throw it for me? I would have done it myself but…" He can't swing his arm yet.
Tia bowed her head and silently took the pendant.
Her heart was heavy with emotions. She didn't witness the trials, but from what she heard, everyone turned against him, and he was severely punished.
Her heart shattered when she found him in the infirmary. Weak and unconscious.
It was then,
*KNOCK*
A sharp knock echoed through the room, firm and final like a verdict.
"Who is it?" Hades asked, already moving toward the door.
"…It's me."
A voice. Cold. Familiar.
Hades froze. His eyes widened.
He parted the door in a heartbeat.
"Father—"
There stood a grey-haired man, face carved from stone, eyes heavy with years—but no warmth.
Without a word, Count Trevon stepped inside. He didn't spare his son a glance. Instead, he scanned the room as if checking for filth.
Tia hurried to bring him a chair—but the Count remained standing, like the very idea of sitting in Hades' presence disgusted him.
Hades caught her eye. A small gesture.
She bowed her head and silently left.
The door closed. Silence fell.
Then, Count Trevon finally spoke.
His voice wasn't angry. It was worse—empty.
"Do you remember… when you were five? You wanted a wooden shield."
Hades blinked.
That memory… it hadn't crossed his mind in years.
"I remember," he said quietly. "I was starting my training then. I had a wooden sword, but no way to defend myself. I kept coming home bruised… Mother would cry every time."
He swallowed. "I wanted the shield so she'd stop crying."
"But I didn't give it to you," Trevon said. "Told you to earn it."
"…Yes."
"But your younger brother… he got it the next day."
He didn't need to say more.
Hades remembered it too well.
How his brother laughed, tossing the shield around like a toy.
How the thing he needed to survive was just another game to someone else.
"You were earning your meals by the time you were four," Trevon continued. "Thrown out into the wild with nothing but your fists. You bled. You starved. You almost died—more than once.
Meanwhile, your siblings… They had warm beds. Servants. Toys. They never even scratched their fingers."
He turned to Hades at last.
"Did you never wonder why? Why were you treated like filth? Why the servants spat at you and I never once stopped them?"
Hades looked down, voice rough.
"I don't want to know."
Because he did wonder. Every day.
But some truths… once heard, they can never be unheard.
The Count's next words were knives.
"Because you're not my son."
Hades stopped breathing.
"You were left on our doorstep by someone—or something. I don't know who. I didn't care. If it weren't for my wife, I would've fed you to the wolves that same night."
There it was. The truth. Laid bare like a wound split open.
Hades' hands trembled. He clenched his fists.
So all those years of cruelty…
All those moments he begged for affection…
All those nights he wept silently into his pillow…
It was never going to matter.
He had always been a stranger in his own home.
And now even the illusion was gone.
The Count stepped back toward the door.
"You are no longer a part of this family. After what you did, be thankful I didn't drag you in chains to the courtyard. You're on your own now. Don't ever come back."
He walked out. Just like that.
No pause. No backward glance.
Not even a farewell.
In the hallway stood Tia. The maid who stayed by his side longer than anyone.
Count Trevon stopped.
"You're coming back with me," he said coldly. "If you even think of disobeying… your parents will pay."
Tia flinched. Her hands curled into fists.
She had prepared for this moment—but it still shattered her.
She turned back.
Her Lord… her friend…
He stood alone in that room, his eyes empty. His breath was shallow.
She wanted to run to him. To cry for him. To say, I'll stay.
But the words never left her lips.
She stopped herself.
With tears streaming down her cheeks, she whispered,
"I'm sorry… My Lord."
And she walked away—leaving him in silence so loud, it felt like the world had died.