Ralt stood firm, his piercing gaze locked onto Slay.
Slay blocked the path, a living wall of lethality.
His stance was relaxed, yet every inch of his body radiated a quiet threat, like a blade hidden beneath silk.
His hand hovered just above the dagger strapped to his waist, fingers loose, but ready.
The way he carried himself was enough to tell Ralt that any attempt to slip past him would be a mistake.
"Don't bother," Slay said, his voice calm, almost bored. "You won't make it past me."
Ralt didn't respond, his expression as emotionless as ever.
But inside, his mind was still running through possibilities, searching for an opening, a weakness, anything.
Slay smirked, tilting his head slightly.
"Unless," he continued, his tone dipping into something darker, something amused, "you plan to kill me."
He took a deliberate step forward, closing the space between them just slightly.
"And we both know that won't happen."
Ralt remained silent, his eyes flickering down to the dagger at Slay's side.
'Should i?'
'No, not yet.'
'It isn't time yet.'
Slay let out a small chuckle, the sound low and mocking.
"Pathetic." His smirk widened.
"You hesitate even now. That's why you're still in a cage." His voice dropped, laced with contempt. "That's all you are, Ralt. A caged beast. Too dangerous to be let loose, too weak to break free by himself."
Ralt's fingers twitched.
The words weren't new.
He'd heard them whispered behind closed doors, seen them in the terrified eyes of the maids, felt them in the way his father looked at him.
A monster.
A curse.
An anomaly that should never have been born.
Slay leaned in slightly, his voice lowering to a near whisper.
"If you can't kill me, then turn around and crawl back to your little room. That's where you belong."
Ralt exhaled slowly, his expression betraying nothing.
He knew what Slay was doing, prodding, testing, waiting for him to lash out.
But Ralt wasn't a child anymore.
He wouldn't fall into that trap.
If he wants to lash out, he would do it on his own will.
Still, the weight of the moment pressed down on him.
This was it.
A choice.
Stand his ground and fight the impossible, or walk away and remain the caged monster everyone believed him to be.
His hand tightened into a fist.
He would decide.
Not Slay.
Not his father.
The corridor remained deathly still.
Dim lighting cast long shadows against the walls, stretching out like grasping fingers.
The mansion's silence was a heavy thing, oppressive, pressing down on the space between Ralt and Slay.
Neither moved.
Neither blinked.
Slay, ever composed, stood in Ralt's path with the confidence of a man who had never known fear.
His presence alone was suffocating, an unspoken promise of violence should Ralt attempt to move forward.
But Ralt didn't flinch.
He didn't step back.
His face was an unreadable mask, his gaze as cold as the grave.
"Step aside," Ralt said, his voice smooth, almost quiet.
Not a plea.
Not a request.
A simple statement, delivered a total calmness that did nothing to ease the weight in the air.
Slay's smirk deepened, his fingers tightening ever so slightly around the handle of his dagger.
"Or what?" he mused, tilting his head. "You'll glare at me until I drop dead?"
Ralt remained still, his body language unreadable.
"Nah, you would have to touch me to do that, which would be impossible" Slay continued.
Ralt knew Slay was waiting for something, for him to break, to lash out, to prove that he was exactly what everyone thought he was.
A beast that couldn't be controlled.
But Ralt wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
He took a slow step forward, the air between them thick with unspoken tension.
The movement was small, deliberate, but it was enough to make Slay shift his weight, preparing for whatever came next.
"I'm warning you," Ralt said, his tone unwavering. "Move, or you'll regret standing in my way."
There was no anger in his voice, no desperation.
Just a simple, inevitable truth.
Slay's smirk wavered for a fraction of a second, so quick that most wouldn't have noticed.
But Ralt did.
For the first time in years, Slay hesitated.
It was brief.
Barely there.
But it was enough.