Chapter 123: Selene's Trial — and the Beginning of the Slaughter
Faced with Selene's question, Viktor slowly stepped toward her.
He studied her face—so strikingly similar to that of the daughter he had once condemned to death with his own hands.
"I love you," he said softly.
"I have always regarded you as my daughter. I had my reasons. Haven't I already given you enough?"
His voice was calm, almost tender.
"Immortality. Eternal life. So tell me—does the truth truly matter that much, Selene?"
To be fair, Viktor, stubborn relic that he was, was an exceptional actor.
He cared deeply about appearances.
And he was especially skilled at shifting the premise.
Just like now.
He admitted his crime—yet framed it as generosity, as if Selene owed him gratitude rather than resentment.
It was arrogance.
The arrogance of a being who believed himself above all others.
After that carefully staged display of "fatherly sincerity," Viktor's expression abruptly hardened.
"Proceed with her judgment."
In an instant, he became someone else entirely.
Cold. Detached. Absolute.
Rules above all—no exceptions.
---
At Viktor's command, the presiding judge lifted another parchment, this one bearing Selene's charges.
"Selene. Death Dealer.
You are charged with unilaterally breaking the council's six-hundred-year rotational governance system.
With interrupting the Elder Awakening Ritual.
With disrupting the established order of succession.
These acts constitute contempt for the authority of the council.
The verdict is as follows—
Selene is sentenced to death."
The word death echoed through the chamber.
All eyes turned toward Viktor.
Everyone knew the truth: Selene was his creation, his favored weapon, his cherished pet.
Without his approval, this sentence would never be carried out.
Yet Viktor's face remained utterly expressionless.
After a long pause, he spoke a single word:
"Agreed."
---
Selene's body trembled.
She stared at him in disbelief.
She didn't scream.
She didn't plead.
Only disappointment filled her eyes.
Viktor met her gaze, unmoved.
"Rules are rules," he said coldly.
"Even if I regard you as my own daughter, you broke them.
And breaking the rules demands punishment.
Our kind has endured because of these laws.
Selene—you are the one who put me in this position."
With Viktor's stance made clear, the councilors loyal to him followed suit, one after another, voicing their agreement.
But when it came time for Amelia's faction to cast their votes—
The atmosphere in the chamber shifted.
Amelia rose from her seat, her gaze falling upon Selene below.
"I object," she said calmly.
"Selene broke the rules in order to expose Kraven's conspiracy. For that reason, I believe her crime does not warrant death."
As Amelia's voice echoed through the chamber, the twelve councilors under her command cast their votes in opposition one after another.
The atmosphere instantly turned delicate.
No one had expected Amelia to openly shield Selene.
For a moment, the twelve councilors aligned with Marcus hesitated, exchanging uneasy glances, unsure of how to proceed.
It was then that Selene finally noticed the man standing beside Amelia.
William.
Seeing Selene's eyes fall on him, William casually lifted his hand and gave her a small wave.
Selene's pupils contracted.
Why is he here?
---
The final tally came quickly.
From Marcus's faction: six votes in favor, six against.
From Viktor's side: only eleven votes in favor—Kraven's seat stood empty.
That made seventeen votes supporting execution.
But there were eighteen votes against.
"Eighteen votes against, seventeen in favor," the presiding judge announced.
"By the rule of majority, the motion fails.
We will now re-deliberate Selene's punishment and proceed to a second vote."
All eyes turned to Amelia.
Since she had opposed the death sentence, it now fell to her to propose an alternative.
"I propose that Selene be exiled to the American continent for a period of three hundred years," Amelia said evenly.
"During this time, she is forbidden from setting foot on European soil. Violation of this exile will result in immediate execution."
These terms, of course, had already been agreed upon with William beforehand.
The presiding judge surveyed the chamber, including Viktor.
Seeing no objections, he nodded.
"Very well. Proceed to vote."
"I agree," Amelia said without hesitation.
"I agree."
"I agree."
All twelve of her councilors followed suit.
Then it was Viktor's turn.
He stared hard at Amelia, suspicion flickering in his eyes.
Exile to America—her territory.
Yet the bitter irony was unavoidable. Every step of this process followed the very rules Viktor himself worshiped.
Even if he voted against it, Marcus's council would once again split evenly.
The outcome was already decided.
It felt—as if unseen hands were guiding the board.
The realization made Viktor's blood boil.
Suddenly, his gaze snapped to the man beside Amelia.
"You!" Viktor blurted out.
His fury had finally crested. To him, this felt no different from Sonja and Lucian all those years ago—his absolute authority as Elder being trampled beneath someone's feet.
Only this time, William had done it through rules, not rebellion.
The humiliation cut deeper than any blade.
Yet under the influence of the vampire bloodline, Viktor did not lose himself to rage like a beast.
Instead, he grew terrifyingly calm.
"Elder," William said with a polite smile, meeting Viktor's killing glare without flinching.
"Is there a problem?"
The chamber went silent.
All eyes shifted between Viktor and William.
After a long pause, Viktor forced the words through clenched teeth:
"No problem."
Everything had been conducted according to tradition. Viktor had no grounds to object.
He had lost—utterly.
Selene now knew he had murdered her family.
And worse—she was still alive.
In an instant, Viktor's political authority had crumbled by at least a third.
An outcome he found completely intolerable.
When he looked at Amelia now, his gaze had turned cold.
She did not possess this level of political acumen.
Which meant the real hand behind this was William.
And that meant Amelia had chosen to stand against him.
That realization darkened Viktor's expression completely.
His hands trembled slightly as he turned away and spat out the final word:
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
Eleven voices followed.
"The resolution passes," the presiding judge declared.
"Death Dealers—escort Selene below. Prepare her for exile."
Two Death Dealers entered, one of them Selene's longtime friend, Kahn.
When the verdict became clear, relief spread quietly among the Death Dealers—after centuries of fighting side by side, none of them wanted to see Selene die.
As she was led away, Selene never once took her eyes off William.
She wasn't foolish.
Viktor's reaction told her everything.
Her survival tonight was entirely because of this man.
She didn't know how William had convinced Amelia to intervene.
But one thing was undeniable—
He had saved her again.
---
Moments later, the chamber doors closed once more.
"Now," the presiding judge began,
"we proceed to the next matter—how to address the disruption of the rotational cycle—"
He didn't finish the sentence.
A long, chilling wolf's howl tore through the hall.
And just like that—
The slaughter was about to begin.