CHAPTER 106: BURNING

Lilith swallowed hard, her fists curling into tight balls as she pushed the food around her plate. Her appetite had long vanished. Thankfully, the prince didn’t attempt to touch her again.

Soon after, Kathryn finished her meal and politely excused herself. Charlotte and Viktor followed, leaving Lilith alone with Hades in the dining room. She set down her cutlery, wiped her lips with a napkin, and rose from her seat.

She was halfway to the door when his voice stopped her.

"Where are you going?"

Lilith turned back, glaring. "I’m full. I wish to return to my chamber... to sleep."

Hades’ gaze drifted from her face to the barely touched food on her plate. "You barely ate. How can you be full?"

Her frown deepened. "I lost my appetite. And I wonder whose fault that is."

He leaned back in his chair, slowly wiping his mouth with a napkin, then spoke with deliberate calm. "Do tell. Whose fault is it?"

"Yours," she snapped. "You nearly made me choke. I could have died."

"You have mentioned dying twice today," he noted, his tone eerily gentle. "Makes me wonder... have you been thinking about it? Are you planning to die?"

Lilith held his gaze. "And what if I am?"

"Then I must say, that’s a poor decision," he replied smoothly. "If you believe death will free you from me, you are sorely mistaken. Our bond runs deeper than death."

Her brows furrowed. "What does that even mean?"

"It means that neither death nor anything in this world—or the next—can keep you from me," he said, his voice soft yet firm. "So if you wish to die, go ahead... but know this, you cannot escape me."

Lilith pressed her lips into a thin line. After a moment, she said quietly, "Good night, Your Highness," and walked out of the dining room. To her relief, he didn’t call for her.

She stopped by his chamber only to retrieve the books she had left there, then returned to her own chamber. There, she changed into her nightdress and walked to the window. The sky outside was dark, casting shadows over the vast land below. She sighed.

Seating herself in front of the mirror, she began to braid her hair. As she finished, her fingers brushed against the necklace Lucian had given her, a talisman meant to protect her from the Hae witches.

A small voice in the back of her mind whispered for her to remove it. She hesitated, her fingers hovering over the clasp, but then shook her head and let it be.

Lilith rose, climbed into bed, and pulled the blankets over her. It didn’t take long for sleep to claim her. The next few hours passed in peaceful slumber—until, at exactly 2:30 a.m., her eyelids began to twitch.

Her eyes snapped open. She lay still, her breath slow, ears straining. In the distance, she heard screaming.

At first, the voices were distant, muffled, like echoes in a dream. But with each passing second, they grew louder, clearer, and closer. A groan escaped her lips as she pushed herself upright in bed, the pit of her stomach twisting in dread.

Lilith frowned, her ears straining as the sounds of distant screaming pierced the silence. The unmistakable crackling of flames echoed around her. Her gaze darted to the fireplace—expecting to see the source—but it was cold and cloaked in darkness.

Panic crept up her spine. She threw off the covers, swung her legs over the side of the bed, and rushed to the window. Her breath caught in her throat.

The snowfall had stopped

The sky was black. No moon. No stars. No light. And the snow that had blanketed the land just hours before had vanished, leaving behind a dry landscape with an eerie silence beneath the chaos.

Her heart pounding, Lilith turned and hurried to the door. She pulled it open—only to freeze. This wasn’t the hallway connected to the prince’s chambers. She was standing at the top of the grand staircase. And below her... the castle was burning.

Flames surged through the lower halls of the castle, curling up walls and devouring tapestries. Smoke billowed, thick and black, curling through the air. People ran in all directions screaming, wailing, clothes in tatters, faces streaked with ash and blood.

Lilith’s knees threatened to buckle as she took a step back, her breath hitching. But something pulled her forward. Hesitantly, she descended the stairs. Then she saw it. Six steps down was a body.

Lilith gasped sharply, a strangled sound as her hands flew to her mouth.

The corpse was a woman—her face charred, one arm twisted grotesquely beneath her. Her hair had been scorched down to the scalp on one side, and her lifeless eyes stared up at the ceiling, wide and glassy, fixed on nothing.

Lilith stumbled past the woman, holding her breath. Her legs shook as she stepped outside the castle’s threshold—only to be met with a scene from a nightmare.

Bodies littered the snowless ground.

Men, women, children—scattered like fallen leaves. Some burned beyond recognition. Others with wide eyes frozen in terror. She didn’t recognize a single face.

Fire raged everywhere, devouring the castle’s walls. Massive wooden beams collapsed with force, crashing down on fleeing figures, silencing their screams mid-breath.

She could barely breathe. Her throat burned. Her vision blurred with unshed tears. What was this? What was happening?

A groan pulled her attention sharply to the left.

Someone was still alive.

Lilith rushed toward the sound, her heart hammering. Her eyes landed on a figure writhing weakly in the dirt. She dropped to her knees, hands trembling as she gently turned the person over.

"Charlotte?" Her voice broke into a whisper.

Charlotte’s bloodied face twisted in pain, her eyes fluttering open. Blood trickled from her nose and the corners of her lips, staining her chin and pooling beneath her head.

"L...Li..." she croaked, barely forming the name.

Lilith’s gaze dropped and her breath left her in a rush. A thick iron rod had pierced straight through Charlotte’s abdomen. Blood seeped through her black dress in a heavy flow. Her fingers trembled as they clutched at Lilith’s arm.

Lilith’s voice trembled. "What happened? What is going on?"

Charlotte swallowed with effort, each breath gurgling. Her eyes, dimming, locked onto Lilith’s.

"He... he’s going to kill us all," she whispered, her voice raw and choked with blood.