"You… spawn of a gutter snake and a back-alley harlot!
Vaelion cursed as his body finally collapsed onto the floor, his knees grinding into the shards of glass that littered the ground. Blood seeped through his robes, staining the once-pristine fabric.
"You think you'll get away with this, making an enemy out of House Marenth," he spat, his eyes glowering at Zeryn as if he wanted to burn him to bits.
A few feet away, Zeryn stood amidst the wreckage, surrounded by broken glass and shattered floors. His chest rose and fell with labored breaths, while his mind actively shunned Vaelion's curses.
"It's your fault for daring to lay your hands on her," Zeryn spoke while walking to his side.
There was no longer any need to pay attention to the mage, after all. Vaelion's wounds were too severe. Instead, Zeryn peeked outside through one of the shattered windows to check if their army had finally breached the castle's gates.
It didn't seem like it was going well for them. Damn it, this entire thing had been a complete disaster. Zeryn internally cursed as he saw Marenth forces collapse another one of their siege towers.
He needed to find Zariah and get out of this place as soon as possible. Shaking his head, Zeryn shifted his attention back to the wreckage around him.
Right now, Zeryn and Vaelion were both in the middle of the ruins of what had once been a grand laboratory and office. Shelves of ancient tomes and delicate alchemical tools lay splintered across the floor, their contents scattered like debris after a storm. A row of cracked glass capsules glowed faintly at the opposite end of the room, their murky fluids swirling around shadowy figures suspended within.
Even the chandeliers hanging on the roof hadn't been spared, all destroyed into tiny pieces veiling the room in an eerie darkness, only illuminated by the occasional fire-based spell being used near the castle gates.
"Damn it," Zeryn cursed again, this time outwardly, as he walked past the blabbering mage toward the glass capsules at the back.
His original plan had been so straightforward. Use the chaos of their army breaching the castle to sneak inside Vaelion's laboratory, eliminate him, rescue the love of his life, Zariah, and then use Vaelion's death to force the enemy forces to surrender.
The reality, however, had been much harsher. Zeryn sighed as he stepped past the corpses dressed in opulent mage robes and knights donning the traditional Marenth House's armor.
He should have seen this coming. Vaelion had always had a reputation for being too careful. It was totally in character for him to keep his entourage of bodyguards along, especially with the current siege, even bringing them inside his precious laboratory—a place he was known to not even allow his shadow to enter.
In the end, Zeryn had to jump out and ambush four armed knights and the three mages, barely killing them all in time to activate the protective runes surrounding the laboratory and stop the outside reinforcements from swarming the room.
"You don't deserve her. She is supposed to be mine." Vaelion rasped, his voice becoming weaker with every word. "I swear to you, you and that wretched father of yours, we will make sure—"
"Oh, shut up," Zeryn interrupted, as he rushed toward the glass capsules and began carefully inspecting them one by one.
"There." Zeryn's shoulders eased in relief as he found the figure he was looking for. Not wasting any time, he took out a dagger and slashed the glass capsules, shattering them open.
At once, the stream of green, murky liquid inside began pouring out of the capsule, but Zeryn was prepared. He immediately threw his hand inside the capsule before gently pulling out the human figure from inside the tank.
"Zariah, my love, can you hear me?" Zeryn spoke while gently nudging the body of the young woman with fiery red hair, in his arms.
Zariah didn't respond. Afraid, Zeryn immediately checked her pulse. She was breathing—that was good, he didn't know what he would have done if something had happened to her.
"Come on, Zariah, wake up, wake up." Zeryn shook her once again and again until, thankfully, his prayers were answered, as he saw a slight movement under Zariah's closed eyelids.
Zariah slowly opened her eyes, her gaze meeting Zeryn's. "Zeryn." She stuttered, her voice sounding half-drunk.
"Thank god you're awake." Seeing her move, an involuntary smile escaped Zeryn's lips. "Don't worry, I'll explain everything in a moment. For now, just know that you're safe."
Zeryn carefully placed Zariah's body on the floor, all the while making sure that no broken shard of glass touched or scratched her delicate body.
"Just give me a second, brother. We'll leave once I'm finished with my work here."
Saying so, Zeryn gave a short glance at the dying mage as he moved toward the back wall, where a row of weapons lay scattered across the floor.
He bent down and picked up the longest spear, testing its weight in his hands. "This will have to do," he muttered, his voice becoming a tad bit cold.
Vaelion's eyes widened in terror as he realized what was coming. "What are you—?"
"I need to inform my father that I've dealt with you," Zeryn said, his tone losing all of its emotion. "You shouldn't have laid your hands on her Vaelion, this is nothing but punishment for your wrongdoings ."
"Do your worst." Vaelion gritted his teeth as Zeryn drove the spear through his back, the tip piercing his heart and emerging from his chest. That was it. The Grand Magus's body convulsed for the last time before going still.
"Just wait here for a second."
Zeryn wiped the blood from his hands and strode toward the balcony, dragging the spear behind him. The moon hung high in the sky, its pale light casting an eerie glow over the battlefield below.
Hopefully, this was going to be enough to bolster their men's morale.
With a grunt, Zeryn hoisted Vaelion's lifeless body onto the spear and climbed onto the railing, before proceeding to slam the spear into the concrete, embedding it firmly into the ground. Once checking that it was steady, he pulled out an illumination scroll from his spatial ring and activated it.
A blinding bolt of light erupted, illuminating the night like a second sun. For a moment, the battlefield seemed to freeze—spells fizzled mid-air, swords hung suspended in their arcs, and every eye, ally and enemy alike, turned toward the balcony. There, impaled on the spear, was the gruesome spectacle of Vaelion Marenth's corpse.
Silence descended upon the battlefield as every soldier present, whether ally or enemy, looked at the corpse, some in shocked awe, while others with visible terror.
It was only a couple of seconds until—
"YEEEES!!!"
A series of loud cheers reverberated through the battlefield as almost every soldier bearing their family's crest began shouting at the top of their lungs.
"VAELION MARENTH IS DEAD!!!"
"THE CASTLE IS UNDEFENDED!!!"
"LORD ZERYN HAS KILLED THE GRAND MAGUS, THE CASTLE IS OURS!!!"
"FINISH THESE MARENTH BASTARDS!!!"
Cheers of Zerion's name began reverberating through the battlefield as he saw their forces charge into the castle with a renewed vigor that even left him surprised.
"If this doesn't get us the castle, then I don't know what will." Chuckling to himself, Zeryn turned around toward the room. The illumination scroll had already run out, and by now, the Marenth forces should be trying their best to rush in to take down their lord's corpse. It was best if they escaped this place now.
"My love, we need to get—"
Zeryn had barely taken a couple of steps inside the room when suddenly—a sharp, searing pain forced him to stop dead in his tracks.
"What—?" The word slipped out before he could process what was happening. He immediately turned to his side, only to come face to face with a fully conscious Zariah, her hand tightly holding one of the ornate swords that were previously lying at the back of the room.
Instincts took over Zeryn's body as he immediately tried to leap to his side, only to realize that he couldn't.
His body felt like it had been frozen, while his limbs refused to move as if unable to listen to his orders.
"Zariah…?" A whimper escaped his lips as he staggered back, his hand clutching the wound in his side.
"Oh, Zeryn," Zariah spoke, with a cold calculating smirk. "You were always too trusting."
"What… what are you doing?" Zeryn gasped while struggling to stay upright.
"Making sure your father doesn't have an heir anymore."
Zeryn's knees buckled as he collapsed onto the floor. He tried to use one of the healing spells, only to realize he couldn't. This… how was it even possible?
A pool of blood had already begun pooling under his body, not to mention his vision that had already begun to blur. His body was failing him, his strength was slipping away with each passing second.
He tried to speak, to curse, to demand answers, only to realize that at some point, even his throat had stopped working.
Zariah began walking towards him with measured steps, before kneeling down with her face inches away from his. For a moment, he even thought he saw a flicker of regret in her eyes, alas it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. "Goodbye, Zeryn," she whispered, her voice almost tender. "But this is the way it must be"
Before he could even try to respond, she drove the sword straight into his chest, the blade piercing his heart. Zeryn's body convulsed, his breath hitching as the world around him began to fade. The last thing he saw was Zariah's face, cold and unyielding, as she stood over him, the sword still in her hand.
==
"What the hell was this bullshit?" I almost threw the book out of my window as I read the
Zariah betraying Zeryn? The main female lead killing the main male lead? And out of nowhere at that. What was this shit? What was going on here?
'Whispers of Spring' was one of the most widely renowned romance web novels in the current year.
Heck, it was well known to a point, that even I. someone who primarily dabbled in the fantasy genre was convinced to dabble in the shoujo romance. And to give credit where credit was due, it did sort of deserve its popularity.
Amazing fight scenes, complex characters, and the constant political tensions in the background. This novel had everything. Then why the hell had the author decided to mess everything up at the last moment?
From the beginning, the novel followed its two protagonists Zeryn and Zariah. A disgraced noblewoman and the first son of the duke who was supposed to one day inherit his father's duchy.
It followed their journey as they met in the mage academy and slowly fell in love. Sure there were villains and other love interests like that snot face Vaelion, but their love always prevailed, even growing stronger as they faced these obstacles.
Then what the hell was this supposed to mean?
I let out a small sigh as I collapsed back on my chair.
Maybe I needed to calm down, there was no need to think too much about it. It was just a stupid Shoujo novel after all.
"Nope." I immediately got up from my chair and headed towards the door.
I needed to go to the bookstore and check when the new volume was going to arrive. Grabbing my keys, I stepped out of the door, only to realize it was raining.
Yet it didn't matter. I had too much righteous fury on my side. Letting out a grunt, I walked over towards the road. Unfortunately, I hadn't even taken more than ten steps when suddenly-
A blinding, burning flash of light struck my body out of nowhere.
It took less than an instant when my surroundings suddenly became dark.