The Duke's Passion

769  I think...

"Those children… left on the mainland."

There was a long silence that followed Florence's confession, staring at Fabian, who didn't react the slightest to all those revelations. Her brows rose when another minute had passed, and still nothing. "I must admit your reaction was anti-climatic, but well, what can I expect from you?" she hissed, cackling wickedly. "The man was Fabian Barrett. Who knows what is going through the wicked head of yours, knowing your little masters were in danger?"

"Bold of you to think you can touch them." Fabian smiled. His tone was still polite. "Why? Because the lady in the forbidden forest is with them?" she laughed hysterically until she was coughing. "Ah, goodness! I would've mistaken that you people didn't live on the mainland for years."

Fabian's eyes narrowed as malice shone in them. "Amazing how you seemed to know about the mainland as if you've lived there."

"Because I did! For a short while." Florence simpered, looking at him mischievously. "But that short time was fruitful. I heard a lot about the Grimsbanne… the Divine Order, the witches, the Zodiacs… it was fascinating."

"Zodiac…"

"There is a more interesting set of people around this world, Fabian." Florence tucked her hair behind her ear coquettishly. "You'd be surprised to hear about them, but perhaps you won't. After all, you're the most interesting one."

Her eyes fell on the dark spear within Fabian's grip, biting a finger mildly. "Maleficent… a weapon so powerful that many people want to wield, but couldn't." She snapped her eyes up at him and smirked. "Isn't that interesting? Your dark spear, if handled carelessly, can kill its holder. And yet, you swing it effortlessly. Amazing!" Florence caressed her severed arm, squeezing the clean cut he made. "Even though I couldn't feel her pain, I can tell this cut is devastating! It tickles my curiosity."

"Then…" Fabian bent his knees and then charged towards her, vanishing into thin air midway only to reappear behind her. "... allow me to serve you how it feels like to be kissed by Maleficent."

Florence's eyes dilated when his voice sounded so close from behind her, ducking and spinning on the ground to kick his feet. However, her action guaranteed a stab on her shin, inducing a shriek from her. "Ahhh!!!!" she screamed, her lungs out, hands trembling as she stared at the dark spear plunged into her shin. Her teeth clenched when he stepped on her other foot, stilling her on the ground. "I thought long and hard about it while you were rumbling on and on." Fabian twisted his spear slowly, ignoring the shriek she was making. "How can I hurt this person? It'll be a shame if I chop this body up, and he or she wouldn't even feel the slightest pain."

He paused to look at her twisting face, smiling in satisfaction. "But then, I remembered the time I opened up my young master's body. There was a severed link I saw within him; it was a connection he had with Stefan. So I thought, perhaps if I can locate your link to this body, I can hurt you."

"I didn't think it would actually work," he added, pressing the blades deeper into her flesh to make her scream louder. "You had said a lot of interesting things, but I'm curious about one thing." Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Fabian slowly squatted down, resting an arm over his thigh. "Are you pretty?"

"Ugh…" Florence sucked air through her gritted teeth, glaring daggers at him. "The way you tucked your hair told me you have pretty long hair." Fabian smiled as if he figured her out. "This is the reason people usually die before succeeding. They talk a lot when they think they were untouchable."

He raised his chin, pulling the spear out of her shin. He spun it around his fingers, repositioning it to her stomach. "Your Highness, I apologize we came into this." He held the back of her head while leaning his face closer, staring straight into her eyes so the person controlling Florence's body would see him up close. "If I were you, run as far away and as fast as you can because I will hunt you down."

"Rufus, Silvia, Prince Heliot and the Karo Kingdom, and this princess…" he continued, shaking his head mildly. "I don't think my masters will even stop me from obsessing over you. Look forward to it."

Florence's eyes went round, sensing another stab would impale her flesh. Hence, before the tip of his dark spear plunged into her gut, the person controlling her severed the link. "What —" Fabian froze, unable to stop himself from stabbing her even after seeing that the life and clarity in her eyes returned. Florence instinctively clutched his shoulder, gasping from the cold metal nibbling her skin and flesh like a thousand ants. She hadn't grasped the pain yet as her body went into shock, but her lungs constricted. "Ah…" Florence's mouth fell open while Fabian planted his hand on her back to stop her from falling. She gritted her teeth, gazing down nervously. Her complexion instantly turned paler, seeing a large black material thrust into her stomach. Blood oozed from it at her ragged and heavy breathing, still clutching Fabian as if he was her lifeline. "It's alright," was the first word she managed to force out of her mouth, patting his shoulder mildly. "You… did what you must."

Florence weakly pushed herself from him and smiled. His expression was unlike what she expected because he looked back at her almost blankly with a tinge of surprise. "I… saw… everything," she breathed out. "Thank you… for hurting her."

Her vision shook as coldness began to seep into her bones, coming from the tip of her head through the end of her toes. She wanted to say more, but couldn't, with her life slipping out of her hand like running water. "Did I… tell you?" the side of her lips curled up as she slowly fell forward. "You… were quite cool…"

Fabian caught her body steadily. She wasn't moving anymore, and for the next five minutes, Fabian stayed in that same spot, motionless. He didn't know why he couldn't move immediately at that time, but he clearly remembered carrying her and burying her body in the garden with loads of his favorite flowers. There was just silence after that, cleaning up the enemies within the imperial palace without saying another word to them. He then carried Silvia's body, which he buried in the same garden. Fabian did it with Rufus' body as well, giving them a place to rest despite how dirty and bloody his uniform had become throughout the massacre.

Standing in front of the newly dug grave with the crown on top of it, Fabian's expression remained plain. "Master will not be pleased to meet you like this," he whispered his first words after hours of fighting, only to stay silent again for the next ten minutes. Fabian didn't shed a single tear at the death of his brother, nor did Rufus' death even sink in just yet. A lot had happened tonight, which wasn't what he expected when he came into this place. He snapped his eyes ever so slowly as multiple figures appeared behind him.

"I guess I'll have to reschedule my grief." Fabian slowly turned around to face the figures standing in the shadows. "There were a few who were left behind."

His eyes sharpened, holding Maleficent to his side, ready to attack. This time, he knew these people who came to him were a lot more capable and skilled than those he squashed like bugs previously. But he didn't show the slightest hesitation as he charged at them.

That night, Fabian remembered fighting until he could no longer feel anything. All he could remember was fighting intensely, cutting everything in his vicinity, and getting stabbed a few times because he was fighting multiple people at the same time. There were no word exchanges during the fight, but he didn't feel the need to talk as he lusted for blood for the loss of his brother, a friend, and that strange woman whom he hadn't figured her role in his life. [ Present Time ]

Fabian was lying on top of the hays on the cart he hitched a ride on. Staring at the dark blue-ish sky as the sunrise came close, he let out a shallow breath. "I think…" he whispered, trying to remember the rest of the memories before he woke up in the duchy without them. "... I died then."