Dante rose from his bed.
The System was actively diverting the crushing weight of his father's aura away from Vexion, using every skill at its disposal to keep her mind from shattering completely.
He was about to take full control of the process when—
[Master.]
Dante frowned. "What is it, System?"
[I assumed Master would want to pay attention to this.]
He sighed and nodded, allowing his consciousness to synchronize fully with the connection. He used Monitor to observe her condition directly— And his heart stopped.
He felt it.
Vexion's declaration.
Her defiance against the force pressing down on her, even as her body crumbled.
Her unshakable desire—not to yield, not to break, not to surrender to anyone—except him.
Dante felt her will burning, a desperate yet fanatical devotion, her refusal to kneel before any being other than her master. She refused to die, not out of self-preservation but because she wanted to live for him.
Most of all, he felt her pain.
The agonizing physical torment, the unbearable mental burden—all endured for the sake of her pride as his subordinate.
And through it, he saw her thoughts.
Raw. Unfiltered.
The things she envisioned in her suffering left him stunned.
She loved his cruelty.
She wanted to emulate it, to crush his enemies like he did , to display their severed heads before him in triumph.
She loathed Lexa—not for anything rational, but because she had caught Dante's attention. Because he had flirted with her. Because, in Vexion's eyes, he had wanted Lexa more than her.
That single moment, that single statement—that he desired Lexa's body—had planted a seed of strong dislike of her , her clear obsession of being what he desired , mixed with uncertainty of it coming into fruition.
The pain of that realization burned her.
The jealousy, the possessiveness, the rage.
She wanted to torture Lexa to death. To boil her alive.
Not because of anything Lexa had done. But because Dante had never said the same things to her, or rather never showed desire for her as a women.
And then—
His father's skill cut off.
The unbearable weight vanished in an instant, the pressure that had threatened to crush his very soul disappearing as if it had never existed.
Yet Dante barely noticed.
His thoughts were elsewhere.
Because he felt like he knew exactly what he was feeling right now.
He chuckled. Then he laughed.
"…Is this what people call care? Love? Hmm… meh whatever "
The word felt foreign in his mouth.
Dante didn't mind love, its not like he never had.
So long as it was useful.
The very thought was absurd. He had always believed in looking out for himself and only himself. Or at least, that was what he had told himself. Yet here he was—developing affection for a girl he had just met.
'Heh… Last time I fell for a girl, I thought we had something real. Turned out it was a prank.'
A dry, humorless laugh escaped his lips.
'She tied me up in a damn hotel room, accused me of trying to rape her the moment her boyfriend walked in.' Tch!
He scoffed, shaking his head.
'Did I just have the worst fucking luck in my past life?'
He definitely wanted to fuck her. And from what he saw, she wouldn't mind in the slightest.
Maybe it was just adolescence messing with his head.
'She's crazy. That much is obvious.'
'Her life before me was hell. Her parents were the only ones who ever showed her favor. Even as a slave, she wasn't used for pleasure—she was just the most beaten and broken.'
'It makes far more sense for her to fall in love with me than for me to fall for her.'
Yet…
Perhaps he liked women who fell for him with this kind of devotion.
Perhaps it was that simple.
'Eh. Overthinking shit isn't in my best interest.'
'I'll just go with how I feel, like I always do.'
With that, he pushed all unnecessary thoughts aside.
And walked toward his mother's room.
...................................................
As he pushed open the door, the scene that greeted him was almost laughable.
His mother and father were in a panic, their hands trembling as they carefully wiped the blood from Vexion's face. Aurora was frantically using her healing skills. Justin stood frozen, clearly regretting his actions.
The moment they heard the door creak open, both of them stiffened.
They knew who it was and there was no point in trying to hide anything.
Dante was smart. Far too smart. Justin's heart sank as he met his son's gaze but it wasn't the fact that Dante had caught them that terrified him.
It was where Dante was looking.
His eyes were locked only on Vexion. The tension in the room was suffocating. Justin felt his stomach twist. He knew he had taken things too far but he had been careful and he made sure Dante was asleep. His aura had not been unleashed recklessly. No one outside of Aurora should have felt it so why was he wide awake and why was he here?
Dante looked at Vexion barely conscious form, he sighed 'Ill make sure they pay for this'
He knew what he was thinking was hypnotical but so what? He wasn't seeking revenge to make things fair. As he neared her , his hand brushed past her cheek. His expression was calm. But he was pissed. He of course understood why his father did this. He was testing her to make sure she wasn't a threat to him.
That wasn't really what bothered Dante though. What bothered him was the result. After all he felt her determination, he understood what she pledged herself too. It hadn't even been a day since she did. She promised to be his subordinate, his shield and his sword. Yet in just a day she had been reduced to this miserable state.
Dante looked at the traces of blood on her lips and the broken healing bones, her expression of discomfort even as she laid barely conscious. Dante felt a possessiveness he hadn't expected burn in him. A dangerous kind of possessiveness. It was irrational , hypocritical without reason but he didn't care. Dante never bothered to justify why he felt what he did and did what he did.
Never had Dante pretended to be a good person, actually in some ways he believed he was a good person. He had a heart, after all something was bumping blood so hmm indeed he had a heart.
Its just that he never cared about a lot of stuff or people or others emotions okay he never cared about anything accept himself. Except now. Again was it hypocritical? Maybe. But Dante didn't care. If someone else's subordinate suffered he wouldn't really lose sleep over it. However, Vexion belonged to him. That was the difference.
'Only I get to decide when and how much my subordinates suffer. I'm annoyed that you've been with me for less than a day and it seems you've already become a problem"
He shook his head, there was no need to overthink his feelings right now. If it was affection, possessiveness, desire or something else more.
'Fuck do I care'. Dante knew all that mattered was he felt something in his heart, and that feeling made him want to get revenge for her.
He looked at his parents, had it been anyone else , he would have beat the living shit out of them . But unfortunately these were monsters, not flies he could swat away. Moreover
'I kind of life these parents of mine'
Hence killing them wasn't an option, nor did he feel like hurting them. Well at least not unless circumstances forced him too. Still he could do something.
'One must never underestimate the power of guilt'. With that a smile appeared from his lips. Revenge was salvageable. With that Dante's demeanour , changed , his anger disappeared his cold calculative look also vanished.
Dante approached Dante and gently took her hand , his expression was soft, his smile sad, he looked fragile , like a child who found a wounded friend. Aurora saw this , and her heart clenched. Her son didn't look angry, not disappointed but sad, sadness she only recognized when he couldn't call her mother as a child in public. It was a deep sadness of a child. His voice came out almost as if it were about to crack , soft as he looked at Vexion.
"I don't know if Mother told you, but Vexion used to be a slave" His fingers caressed her check gently. "You know they called her many mean things, they even called her a mistake a "thing" that shouldn't have been born" Aurora clutched her robe, her heart was close to its breaking point. "They beat her everyday" Justin's expression stiffened as Dante made eye contact with them, first at Aurora and then at Justin. Then a faint saddened smile appeared , as if he wanted to hide his sadness.
"You could say Vexion is a little like me right Mother? Circumstances made me get rejected too " No one answered. He looked down at her again. "Shes really strong , and she promised to be my sword and shield and I promised to take care of her." His hand squeezed hers. A soft chuckle in between his words . After a pause he continued "I told her Id be there for her , never hurt her" Dante stared at her .
"After all that's what people do right ? " His voice grew even softer "When someone gives you their loyalty you …protect them". A small smile appeared on his lips. Auoroa looked down , ashamed , her breathing uneven. After seconds of silence he continued , his eyes on her face "When I brought her here, I thought she'd be safe" His voice cracked slightly a single tear fell down his cheek "And , and then this happened"
Aurora broke as she tried, to say something anything "B-baby-". Dante shook his head gently "No , Im not angry" Justin looked at the floor. His tens of thousands of years of battle of taking care of an empire , defending it had prepared him for everything. Expect this. He didn't know what to say, what to do, how to deal with the pain he caused , to someone he adored with his whole heart. Dante however continued "Im just confused" He looked at His father, his expression wasn't angry but confused.
"father was there no other way to …check? Find out if she was a threat, was this method , this way the only way?" Silence. Justin tried to answer , but the more he looked at Dante the more his stomach churned his heart sank and the more guilt grew. He said nothing . Dante nodded slowly. "I see"
His gaze drifted toward Vexion. "Im not even a prince" Justin eyes widened, his heart shattered 'What had I done?' Aurora knew she couldn't say anything. She should have put a stop but she reacted late, Her? What purpose was strength? To bring her children pain? Dante was her treasure, she had hurt her precious child. Dante uttered words that shattered her "Most people don't even know I'm your son, so I don't understand, who exactly would come after me" Justin eyes blurred.
Silence
Dante looked at the floor "Even if someone did try , surely there was another way to find out if she were dangerous?"
Silence returned. Long, heavy, uncomfortable silence.
"My first friend got hurt today and…and I couldn't do anything, even though I bragged about how powerful my parents were, that no one would hurt her if she was with me" Dante held her hand again,
"But I couldn't do anything what a friend I am" Aurora started crying Justin simply looked down at the floor.
"So there was another way?" He nodded softly "That's what I thought"