Blood soaked the floor, mingling with the bile and pus from the wounds.
Serena stood nearby, watching with wide eyes and a horrified expression.
She was no stranger to death, yet this was unlike anything she'd ever seen.
Her mouth fell open in shock, unable to process the brutal scene unfolding before her.
For a moment, her instincts told her to look away, to shield herself from the horror, but Aiden's sharp, commanding voice cut through her hesitation.
"Don't look away," he ordered sternly.
Serena nodded, her gaze reluctantly returning to the scene.
She forced herself to watch every gruesome detail, feeling her heart waver for the first time as she cast a glance at Aiden.
His face remained stoic, coldly observing the torture as if studying something mundane.
The pig fainted from the sheer pain, his body shutting down as he slumped. Yet the agony was relentless.
Each slice, each wound, dragged him back to consciousness, his guttural shrieks growing weaker as he lay there, saliva, snot, and tears mingling with the blood on the floor.
"Please, someone… someone kill me… end this, please!" he whimpered, voice broken and hoarse, pleading desperately for mercy.
But no mercy came.
His pleas were met only with silence.
Aiden leaned down, his voice a low whisper in the man's ear.
"Don't worry," he said, his tone chillingly calm. "This is just the beginning. There's much more to come, piggy."
The man's eyes flickered, trying to focus on Aiden's face, but his mind could barely process the words.
He trembled violently, his spirit utterly broken. His body finally succumbed to the shock, slipping back into unconsciousness.
As the tortured man lay lifeless, Serena stood in stunned silence.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she tried to steady her breathing, yet her mind drifted back to her own family's execution, the memories clawing at her.
Her hands were clenched tightly, her knuckles white from the pressure.
Aiden turned to the guards, his expression cold and unyielding.
"Tie him to a carriage and take him for a slow ride. Make sure his back drags along the ground. And don't go too fast—I don't want him to die yet."
The guards and slaves stood in stunned silence, each of them momentarily frozen by the ruthlessness of the command.
They had thought their lord was merciless, but this level of cruelty surpassed even their expectations.
Taking a breath to steady themselves, they nodded.
They seized the man by his feet, his raw, skinless back scraping against the cold floor as they began to drag him.
The sound of his muffled, pained whimpers echoed through the hallway as they pulled him toward the carriage, his wounds pressed against every rough surface along the way.
Aiden turned, his movements smooth and unhurried, and Serena caught a glimpse of his eyes—an eerie, crimson glow flickering within them.
In that moment, she felt a chill creep over her, as if the man before her was no longer Aiden, but someone, or something, unfamiliar and terrifying.
His gaze seemed hollow, devoid of any warmth or humanity, and a wave of dread coursed through her, making her body tremble for the first time.
"You'll have to get used to it. There are nineteen more to execute tonight," he said, his voice cold and detached.
Without a backward glance, he strode toward the exit.
Serena took a shaky breath, forcing herself to nod as she hurried after him, her thoughts a whirlwind, her heart pounding painfully in her chest.
She couldn't shake the unsettling image of his red eyes, and as she followed in his shadow, she wondered if the man she knew had vanished, leaving only a stranger in his place.
The procession of carriages moved slowly through the dark streets of Rimeville, with Aiden's carriage at the front.
Behind him, another carriage followed, holding what could barely be recognized as a human—a mass of blood and flesh that occasionally emitted low, pitiful groans.
Residents stepped out of their homes, staring in horror and morbid curiosity at the gruesome sight.
Guards accompanying the carriages handed out papers to the onlookers, detailing the crimes of the accused and inviting everyone to a grand execution in the main square at noon.
Painful screams and desperate wails echoed through the night as each stop added another battered soul to the procession.
By the time they reached the square it was already noon, multiple carriages were needed to hold them all, dragging each mutilated body to the final destination.
In the center of the square, an open-topped structure of iron walls awaited.
Aiden sat in a high-backed chair on the platform, his expression unreadable.
Serena stood behind him, her face tense, hands clenched tightly at her sides.
Snow drifted down, dusting the square, but despite the chill, a massive crowd had gathered.
Nobles, commoners, and priests alike waited, their murmurs filling the cold air.
Without turning, Aiden spoke, his tone casual.
"Do you think I was too cruel?" he asked, his voice emotionless.
Serena felt a shiver run down her spine at his voice. She took a moment to gather her thoughts.
"No. But was it necessary to torture them like this? Wouldn't it have been simpler to just kill them?"
Her eyes strayed to the battered bodies being carried into the iron-walled structure, blood seeping from their disfigured forms.
Aiden's gaze was steady as he responded.
"Do you hear that?" he said softly, nodding towards the crowd. "Listen to their voices. These bastards deserve this."
Serena focused on the crowd, catching fragments of conversations.
"What's going on?" asked one man.
"Don't you know? They're executing traitors from the marquisate," someone replied.
"For what? What did they do?"
"I can't read, but the guard explained—they committed countless crimes."
One man burst into tears, pointing towards the iron walls.
"They took my daughter! They murdered her! Mary, finally there's justice," he cried, collapsing in grief.
The crowd buzzed with rage, memories of lost loved ones and stolen property igniting the anger of countless voices.