Chapter 709 Seven Years In Chain

Voss paced around the room, his footsteps tapping against the floor in an uneven rhythm as his mind raced through every possibility. He would take several steps toward the window, stop, turn around, and then walk back again, unable to remain still for more than a few seconds.

The knowledge that Liam had followed Eldric underground and that Eldric had returned without him was gnawing at him. Every time Voss imagined what could have happened, another possibility seemed worse than the last. He had spent ten years studying Eldric, watching him from the shadows, trying to understand what kind of person could commit so many atrocities while maintaining the calm appearance of a respected village elder. Yet even after all those years, he still felt as though there were layers of Eldric he had never been able to uncover.

His footsteps eventually reached the couch where Mira was sleeping, and the repeated noise slowly pulled her from her deep sleep. She stirred beneath the blanket, her brows knitting together as she opened her eyes. For a few seconds, she looked confused by her surroundings, as though she had forgotten where she was. Then her gaze moved toward Irina and Voss, and the tension in the room became obvious to her. She slowly pushed herself upright, her freshly washed hair falling around her shoulders as she looked between them. "What happened?"

Irina turned toward her. She had been standing near the window, staring into the distance while trying to suppress the growing fear inside her. Now that Mira was awake, she realized there was one thing they had not considered. If Eldric had been hiding something for fifteen years, perhaps Mira had overheard something during the seven years she had been trapped with him.

"Mira," Irina said, her voice controlled but serious, "did Eldric ever mention where he activated the dome?"

Mira’s expression immediately became uncertain. She lowered her gaze and shook her head slowly. "No. Eldric usually keeps to himself. He doesn’t tell me anything."

Voss stopped pacing and looked toward her. Irina’s eyes remained fixed on Mira, studying her face for any sign that she might remember something important. But Mira genuinely seemed to know nothing. She clasped her hands together nervously in her lap, her fingers rubbing against one another as she searched her memories.

"He rarely spoke about what he did outside this house," Mira continued quietly. "Even when he was angry, he never explained his plans to me. Sometimes I would hear him talking to himself, but whenever I asked what he was doing, he would tell me it wasn’t my concern."

Irina slowly exhaled through her nose.

Of course.

Even after all this time, Eldric had kept his secrets close.

Her eyes drifted toward Mira’s wrists. The marks were still visible despite everything Irina had done for her. Faint scars wrapped around them, evidence of restraints that had been tightened against her skin again and again. Seeing them brought back the image of Mira crouched in the dark that morning, frightened of her own shadow because she had expected Eldric to walk through the door at any moment.

Irina’s expression darkened.

"How did you even end up with someone like him in the first place?" she asked softly.

Mira went silent.

For several seconds, she simply stared at her hands. Something painful moved across her face, and when she finally spoke, her voice was so quiet that both Irina and Voss had to listen carefully.

"Fifteen years ago, when we met, I had lost almost everything."

Irina said nothing.

Mira swallowed.

"My family died during the fight between those two cultivators. They destroyed part of the village, and so many people died that day. I remember hiding somewhere with my parents. I remember the ground shaking. I remember hearing people screaming outside." Her voice trembled as the memories returned. "When it was finally over, my family was gone."

Voss’s expression softened slightly. He knew the history, but hearing it from someone who had lived through it and knew exactly why happened was different. The destruction of Elaris had never been an abstract event to Mira. It had been the moment her entire life had been torn apart.

"I didn’t know what to do after that," Mira continued. "I had nobody. No family. No one who could take care of me. I was terrified, angry, and completely lost."

She paused, wiping beneath one eye.

"Then Eldric came."

Irina’s jaw tightened.

"He helped me," Mira said. "At least, that’s what I believed at the time. He brought me food. He helped me find somewhere to sleep. He stayed with me when I couldn’t stop crying. He told me that I would eventually be able to live again. He made me feel like I wasn’t alone."

Her lips curved into the faintest, saddest smile.

"I fell in love with him."

The room became quiet.

Irina had expected many things from Mira’s story, but there was something deeply painful about hearing those words. She could understand how someone who had lost everything could cling to the first person who offered kindness. Especially after a disaster that had left the entire village traumatized.

"I thought he was good," Mira whispered. "I thought he was the person who saved me when nobody else cared. I didn’t know what he really was."

Her expression changed.

"And then I found out."

Voss’s eyes narrowed.

Mira’s hands began trembling.

"I discovered what he had done. I discovered that the man I loved was responsible for so many deaths. Hundreds of people. Maybe more than that. People I had known. People I had grown up with. People who had disappeared over the years." Her voice became increasingly fragile. "At first, I refused to believe it. I told myself there had to be some explanation. I thought maybe someone else was responsible."

She looked toward the floor.

"But there wasn’t."

Irina’s eyes hardened.

"It was him," Mira said. "Everything led back to him."

She took a shaky breath before continuing. "I tried to leave."

Voss stopped moving entirely.

"I waited until I thought he wasn’t watching me. I packed what little I had and tried to run. I thought if I reached the edge of the village, maybe I could escape. Maybe I could find somewhere else to live."

Mira’s voice dropped to a whisper.

"He caught me before I got far."

Irina’s fingers slowly curled into fists.

"What happened?" she asked.

Mira looked down at her wrists.

"He brought me back."

The room felt colder.

"He didn’t forgive me. He didn’t understand why I would try to leave after everything he had done for me. He said I had betrayed him. After that, he stopped treating me like his wife."

Irina’s eyes moved to the scars again.

Mira’s next words came slowly, each one carrying years of pain.

"He treated me like a prisoner."

Irina felt something inside her chest twist.

"Since when?" she asked.

Mira hesitated.

Then she answered.

"For seven years."

Silence.

Voss’s face went blank.

Irina stared at Mira as though she had suddenly spoken another language.

"Seven what?"

"Seven years," Mira repeated solemnly.

For several seconds, neither Irina nor Voss said anything.

Seven years.

The number seemed to hang in the room.

Seven years of chains.

Seven years of darkness.

Seven years of being unable to leave the house that was supposed to be her home. Seven years of waking up every day not knowing whether Eldric would come through the door angry, whether she would be allowed outside, whether she would be given food, whether she would see sunlight again.

Voss slowly looked toward Mira’s wrists.

He had known Eldric was a monster.

He had spent ten years investigating him.

He had watched him manipulate the entire village, kill people, hide his secrets, and maintain his position as elder while everyone around him believed his lies.

But this was different.

He could not understand how someone could tie down another human being for seven years, especially someone he claimed was his wife.

"What kind of person..." Voss whispered.

He could not even finish the sentence.

Irina’s expression had become frighteningly calm.

The more she thought about it, the more the anger inside her grew.

She remembered Mira hiding under the table.

She remembered the chains around her wrists.

She remembered how she had shielded her eyes from the morning sunlight because she had spent so long in darkness that the outside world had become unfamiliar.

She remembered how Mira had hugged her and cried.

And now she knew that it had not been days.

Not weeks.

Not months.

Seven years.

Seven years of this.

Irina’s breathing became slower.

Her killing intent began leaking from her body.

The temperature in the room dropped almost instantly.

A thin layer of frost formed along the edge of the window.

Voss noticed.

His eyes widened.

"Irina..."

She did not answer.

Her gaze was fixed on the door.

She started walking.

One step.

Then another.

Voss immediately understood what she intended to do.

"No."

Irina kept walking.

He rushed toward the entrance and positioned himself directly in front of the door, spreading his arms slightly.

"You can’t go."

Irina finally looked at him.

Voss swallowed.

"Who knows what has happened with Liam?" he said quickly. "You can’t go see Eldric alone. If Liam is in trouble, then walking straight into Eldric’s house without knowing what happened could put you in even more danger."

"I don’t care."

"Of course you care!" Voss snapped. "That’s exactly why you can’t go! You’re angry right now. You’re thinking about what he did to Mira, but Eldric is not someone you can rush blindly. He planned this. He has been planning things for years."

Irina’s eyes narrowed.

Voss tried to hold his ground.

"Please," he said, more seriously now. "We need to think. Liam would think before acting."

That sentence made Irina stop.

For the briefest moment, her expression softened.

Liam.

Still missing.

Still somewhere in Eldric’s hands.

The thought sent another wave of fear through her chest.

Voss saw the hesitation and tried to press the advantage. "If Eldric trapped Liam, then he might be waiting for you to come after him. You could be walking straight into the same trap."

Irina stared at him.

Then she moved.

Voss barely had time to react.

The young man’s strength was simply incomparable to that of an Alpha-bloodline werewolf.

Irina placed one hand against his shoulder and pushed.

Voss was sent stumbling sideways as though he weighed nothing. His feet scraped across the floor, and by the time he regained his balance, the door was already open.

"Irina!"