|Ch.40

__________

Hoseok Pendragon's pov|

"Thank you for coming all the way here,brother",I say as we walk through a tunnel with the help of mage floating crystals illuminating the path. The well made rocky walls and the floor of the tunnel echoed our footsteps as walked along the path.

"Don't mention it. It's my duty",brother Seokjin says while still focusing on walking the path. Though his words were meant to reassure me,I could still feel the crusty and clipped tone of his voice. He is nervous. I can't blame him when I am the same as him. This tunnel,the place where it leads us to is something we all avoid at all cost after all.

His back is already tensed,I could see it.

Maybe talking about something might relax him?

"So,about the kid you brought? Heeseung right? Anything I should know about him?"

"....he came with Storm"

I already said that,seems like he doesn't want to say much about Heeseung.

"Is that so? He seems like a nice kid. My kids seem to like him the moment they met him today"

My 15 years old son Xavier was not that impressed by him but my 4 years old son Winter seemed to think otherwise. He got instantly attached to Heeseung  like glue.

We halted when reached a spacious room at the end of the tunnel. It wasn't just a room. It was a graveyard. We are currently under the ground,inside a tomb,made for a very specific person.

The room was filled with four magic crystal balls for illuminating process. And there were four black pillars with carvings of thorny flowers and dragons. The floor was made from marble bricks which reflected our own mirrage. The room was big enough for almost fifty people.

And in the middle,there it was. Her tomb. More accurately,one of her tombs.

I move my legs seeing my brother frozen on his place. It's always been like this whenever he visits this place.

"Someone tried to rob this grave"

This should give him a wake up call. And it does. He tears his eyes away from the tomb made by black obsidian and looks me straight in the eyes as if to confirm what he heard was right. So,I nodded giving him the confirmation he needed.

His eyes took a dark shade as he narrowed his eyes at me,"Who?"

"Not who,...why"

He raises an eyebrow.

I move towards the tomb even more and stood right next to it,reading the letters of our anguish. In loving memory of a sister.

"No sane man would enter this grave if he knows what's best for him. And it's not like we announced to the world that we are keeping a tomb for her"

I could hear his footsteps coming closer to towards me. When he stood next to me with those stiff shoulders,I could feel the boiling rage in him.

"No one should have known about this place",he voices,tone clipped. "So how? And why? This is....an empty tomb. There is nothing worth here to rob"

"Exactly. And it seems like the robber understood this fact as well after opening this tomb",I say before pushing the coffin lid away with my strength. Inside the coffin was a set of knight uniforms and a sword which belonged to Nabi. "It seems like he couldn't find the thing he came looking for"

Nothing has been stolen.

"Are you sure it was not a random grave robber?",He asks.

I shake my head,"If he was a random grave robber,then why did he leave her sword which costs an entire land? Or maybe even more than a kingdom if he knew whose sword this was. But no. And when I felt the alarming goes off,the man disappeared too. He must atleast should be a mage to disappear right before the tunnel closes itself"

His jaw tenses. Eyes wavers realising something just as I did few days ago. He looks me in the eyes and says,"Open it. I must see it right now"

I give him a quick nod before taking out the knight uniforms and the sword,revealing the bottom of the empty coffin. I snaps my eyes red,looking straight at the bottom. And the bottom of the coffin opens like an automatic door revealing another tunnel. This is a secret passage only opens up with a Pendragon's snapped eyes. Though any Pendragon could open this if they could go into a snapped state,no one is allowed to. The sole authority belongs to me.

I walks down the staircase which leads us to the other tunnel,followed by my brother. And we faces a massive iron door which had been casted with so many magic spells.

I pulls out a dagger from my waist before cutting my left palm,taking out some blood. And then I placed my hand on the door before pushing the giant door with all my strength. A normal man would burn to death if they even touch the door.

Only my blood would be recognised by the spells on this door.

"It's still inside",I whisper as I walks in first,taking the sight of a red pearl like glowing thing. A tomb made of crystals,and inside it was a glass rose. And inside it was the red pearl,her spiritual core.

No,more specifically,one of her spiritual cores.

I hear a sigh of relief escaping from Seokjin's mouth. I was like him when I finally made sure the core is safe.

"I thought we lost her again",he mumbles stroking his face,exhaustion visibly draining him.

"We cannot be relaxed brother. Someone is deliberately trying to steal her core. After this incident,don't you see an incoming pattern? Do you understand what I mean?"

His eyes slowly widens,"Bishops"

"We hid one of her cores in their forest"

Brother looks at me with eyes terrified,"The plague,if it is related to the grave we built there.....then.....",The realisation nailed him to the ground like a frozen statue. "I sent them there. My wife,...and the kids....they are all there"

"Don't panic,brother",I say as I hold his shoulders,"I already asked brother Yoongi to head there to look for the grave. Also,there is Gabriel. We don't need to worry about their safety"

He seemed to be able to breath a little more at the mention of brother Yoongi's name. But the tension hasn't left his body.

"But still,I have to go there and bring them back"

"Brother",I presses on my words,nailing him with a stare,"They are strong. We don't always have to be on their tails just to make sure they are fine. The problem lays inside the forest. Apart from the bizarre 'plague',no one has made a direct move to destroy the city. Their objective is NOT the city. It's the forest"

I hope this reassures him,"Beside,how are you supposed to go there? We cannot open a portal to Bishop city. With horses,it would atleast take two weeks to reach the city gates. The only closest person to the city is Yoongi. He will take care of everything"

"....right. I'm sorry I was a little —"

"I understand"

I really do.

__________

After the small trip to the back of the hills to see her tomb,we came back to my Manor.

The dinner was already prepared when we arrived. I let my brother take the main seat of the dining table as the head of the family while me and Shay seated by his right side. On the left side,Heeseung sat there with my two sons.

"Xavier,put that thing away and eat",I gives my 15 years old son a little harsh stare to remind him where he is.

In his hands was a little machine he has been working on day and night. He is a genius alchemist. Rather than trying to be a mage to defend the kingdom with his mana powers,he loves to create various machines with mana powers.

"Just this once dad,I'm almost done",he ignores me and continues to do his business making me angry. He is stubborn.

"Xavier!",I raises my voice in a warning tone.

Xavier grumbles under his breath and puts away his little machine.

Heeseung was in a really awkward bubble and I could only sigh. Parenting is hard.

I cleared my throat and we continued to have our dinner.

"Is there any other troubles in this area?",brother Seokjin asks.

This is where a normal political talk takes place. We cannot talk about the grave robbery in this place where my kids and wife are present. And Heeseung too.

"There is this noble family trying to voice their opinions about balancing the power in the kingdom. It's just a trivial matter,nothing worthy to pay attention",I say before taking a bite off the steak.

From the corner of my eyes,I could see my youngest son Winter making a mess of himself,food all over the plate. Shay was about to stand up and help him but Heeseung pulled Winter's plate before cutting his vegetables into bite size pieces. Few days ago,I ordered the maids to let him practice table manners,I guess he needs a little bit of help.

"So,are you ignoring them now?"

I look at my brother,leaving all my concerns about Winter. "Kind of? They can't really do anything"

A vicious glare settles on me just as soon as the words left my mouth. My nerves tremble at the sight of his rare glare. Did I do something wrong?

"Destory them"

A direct order from the  grand Duke of Pendragons. I should obey his orders but it doesn't settle well with me. My stomach churns uncomfortably. "They are just a bunch of a naive fools. I already gave them a warning —"

"Naive fools? Definitely. But even a naive fool is capable of starting a fire which might lead into a forest fire"

The look in his eyes left me no room for discussion. The cruelty in his eyes mirrored my father's glare.

"I can't execute an official without a crime. They were just voicing their opinions"

"Voicing their opinions?",his voice drops. "Do I have to remind you what happened the last time those peasants had an opinion about us?"

Alright,this is not going good. I look at Shay who was narrowing her eyes on my brother,definitely having no good intentions. She wouldn't tolerate brother Seokjin's attitude towards me.

"Shay,take the children inside,please. And Heeseung,you too,please go with the kids"

Shay was reluctant. "I want to stay"

"Shay",I say in a pressing tone leaving no room for her to argue. "Honey,please",I adds at the end to make sure she is not hurt by my tone.

She sighs and leaves with the kids and Heeseung. She is a devil after all,her instincts to protect me takes over her emotions sometimes.

I look at my brother with a confused look,"What's wrong? This is not a pressing matter"

"And I'm telling you to take care of it before it becomes a pressing matter"

"They can't do anything. Times are different from back then. People worship us brother"

"And we aught to keep it that way. We shouldn't let a single man raise their heads to even look our way"

He is not himself.

"Brother, that's not necessary—"

He slams the table with his hands,nailing me with a glare,"Do as I say. This is an order. Destroy them. If they don't have crimes,create ones. You know what to do"

I opened my mouth and closed again. This is his order. "Yes,your grace",I bow slightly. "I will execute the family head"

"No,destroy them all. Don't leave a single family member. Not even a kid"

My heart jumps.

"What"

He is going too far.

"Kids? What do they have to do with adult problems?"

Brother Seokjin's jaw ticks,"They are the seeds of revenge. The roots of their desires. As long as the roots stay strong,the trees will grow. It might even create a forest one day. We must not allow that"

My throat dries out. Going for the kids? This is beyond cruelty. I am speechless. Killing innocent people had never been my pleasure,so how the hell am I going to kill infants and kids. He is insane.

"Brother,you are a father,you must know how impossible to even imagine this"

He stands up from the table and walks towards the giant floor to ceiling size window. The mountains spread across my territory,hiding the existence of my Manor.

"Hoseok,....when Nabi died,I thought I would just keep living with no hope. And then we suddenly got to know about her son's existence. From then on,my only wish was to find him and bring him back home. And miraculously,he had been with us all this time,plotting our misery every single day......I thought it was fine",the voice at the end sounded a little airy and broken. "If he were to kill me,I would have been totally fine. But yesterday,he came to me asking me for a favor,more like an order",he chuckled slightly.

A thunder echoed through the skies as lightenings started cracking up in the sky.

"Storm wants me to protect a special someone"

My breath hitches in my throat. He wants what now? Storm?

My eyes widens as a name leaves my mouth,"Heeseung"

Seokjin continues to stare at the outrageous sky with his cold eyes,"Storm has someone to protect. And he wants me to protect him. That's why.....",he looks over his shoulder to look at me,"I want no risks this time. I don't care about kids who have no ties to my family. My sister did not give up on her life just so this kingdom could trample on us again. Power balance? Fuck that,the only name that rules the heavens and earth is 'Pendragon'. From throne to heaven,we are the only gods and we will remain as gods to them. So they will know who they will face if they mess with Storm or Heeseung"

The trauma from years ago blinded him to the point of no turning back. He is ready to do anything and everything to make sure he does not repeat the same mistake.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Hey guys

Seokjin Pendragon has entered his real villain era😌

Hope you enjoyed

See ya soon

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