Fresh blood washed the dried one, adding a dead solid smell. Even the guards decide to leave the room as they vomit, seeing what horror they lord doing
Pain and misery echoed through the 'interrogation room' turned 'Tortured room' as Theo enjoyed his time flaying prisoners alive.
His first victim was hanging on a wall, dead with his entire body red, losing his skin. If not because of his untouched face, no one would know who he was.
The third man, the last one, pooped and peed on his pants while begging, "I beg you, M'lord, we give everything you want, but just … just spare us."
"You tell me anything, and I spare you." Theo stabs the man's heart, like it was a sack of grain, then brings a wooden chair to the front of his last prisoner.
Poor soul, he trembled hard. Even his voice quaked. "Please spare me, M'lord. I'll tell you everything."
Theo wiped the prisoner's sticky cheek as he showed a sympathetic face. "I never broke my words, not once. I promise I will spare you from flying."
"I never break my promise. I will spare you from flaying. Now, my friend, tell me everything you know."
He knows how to make people speak. After he showed his wealth, now he showed kindness.
The prisoner said, "We came from Yuktobanian, our…our mission was to spread hatred toward Traveler Association at Konstantin Kingdom, so, when the time comes, Yuktobanian army would come to—"
"Shh, stop, please stop." Theo put his hands on the prisoner's shoulder and furrowed his face as he moved closer. "I don't care about geopolitics. For me, Purelist and Traveler both had red blood. What I want to hear is how Abedon had that power, how he summoned an ancient dark creature."
"A–about Abedon? He—he found a strange book then met a strange man that gave him that staff."
"Yes, yes, go on." They whispered and gave him his ear. "I hear you go on."
His lips trembled while his voice did almost nothing. A warm breeze came to Theo's ear, a voice that made him smile. He got what he wanted. He got everything he demanded.
"Pro–promise, you promise me, to, to release me, yes?" said Prisoner as Theo pulled himself away.
Theo let out a hard breath while patting both thighs. "I promise I will never back off from my word. But, before that, did your other friends know about this?"
"O–other?" The prisoner twisted his neck, facing his two friends, covered by flies like rotten meat on the wall. "T–they know."
"They know no more. What I mean is your other friends in Moonlake prison. Do they know about all of this?"
"N–no, M'lord, they're not. They came from Konstantin. They know nothing about our plan. I swear by god, M'lord." He kept an eye on Theo, who repositioned himself beside the flayed man. "Only we, Yuktobanian, know about this. Please, spare me, M'lord. Please."
"How about the Abedon thing? Do they know about that?"
"N–no, M'lord, no. They didn't. Please, M'lord. I already told you everything I know."
"I never back down from my world." Theo pulled out his knife stuck on the dead body, then moved to the back of the prison. "Now, time to keep my promise to you."
"Thank you, M'lord, bless you."
"Sure, my friend. Sure." Theo closed the prisoner's eyes, then slit his throat from behind. "I promise you not to be flayed."
The prisoner struggled as his blood sprouted from his throat. Slowly his movements were gone, and everything was dead silent.
It was better to silence everyone who knew how Abedon had his power or where he got that. Only he, alone, knows, and without his knowledge, he would gain an advantage in everything.
He smiled, watching those blood rivers on the stone floor shine in the golden light of the falling sun.
"Such beautiful blood, yet, tainted by sins." he strolled out from the interrogation room.
The guards waiting outside saluted, their right hand fisted on the left chest. "My Lord," one of them said. "Sir Lucius waited in the Summer Palace for almost two hours. What should we do?"
"I will meet him after bathing. By the way, where is Ashak?" Theo asks while ribbing his wet blood tainted shirt.
"Sir Ashak… he disappeared, sir. Sorry, he didn't say anything before leaving. Should we send a man to find him, Sir?"
"No, let him be." Shirtless, Theo stepped up the stairway toward a hidden passage that ended in his room inside Summer Palace. He trusts Ashak. Whatever he does must be for the greater good.
After taking a shower, he met with Lucius, who was waiting in the guest room with two other knights and two representatives from King's Man. While all knights wore their service armor, those two King's men wore dark trench long coats with peaked hats with Konstantin crescents on it
Theo came with a clean white thin tunic, welcoming them with complete courtesy. "Sir Lucius, sorry for keeping you waiting. I was in the middle of hunting."
Lucius slammed a table with his cup, stood up, and with a wild, rowdy demeanor, asked directly to Theo. "Cut this crab out. We want our prisoner back."
"They are all Yuktobanian, so we send them back to their country."
"What? How dare you. We—"
"Don't worry. My man already got everything from them before they began… extradition. They said they came from Yuktobanian with a mission of spreading hatred toward the Traveler Association at Konstantin Kingdom, so when the time came, the Yuktobanian army would come to sweep clean. They planned to invade us while there was unrest."
They drowned in silence, exchanging a gaze. Theo knew they hardly trusted him.
"I already tell the truth. Now, it's up to you all to believe it or not."
"You don't lie, do you?"
Lucius kept an eye on Theo while he answered, "Listen, the one who these would hurt was us, my family. For us, trading was everything. How could I have lied? What benefits for us, lied about this? We better make money than going to war. If I wanted to lie, I would never tell you this and keep all of you in the dark. So the trade would always go on."