Chapter 253

Kaelen POV

"He took her from me and had her sold off."

I stood there in the flickering torchlight, completely stunned by his confession. I had expected threats, political leverage, extortion, perhaps even dark magic, but not this.

As shocking as it was, it also made a terrifying kind of sense. I knew my father was capable of unimaginable cruelty, but the thought of him taking someone’s daughter away and selling her just to keep a High Council Elder under his control sent a chill down my spine.

"I have spent years looking for her," Augustus continued, his voice heavy with grief. "I used every resource I had. I spent fortunes paying mercenaries and followed every lead I could find, but I never found her."

He took a strained breath, his battered face showing just how exhausted he was.

"It seems he must have bound me with some sort of dark compulsion spell because, no matter how hard I tried, I could never find her. I don’t know where she was taken or what happened to her after she was sold. I don’t know if she’s being treated well or if she’s suffering somewhere, or..." His voice cracked, and he struggled to finish. "I don’t even know if she’s still alive."

The chamber fell silent.

I watched as Augustus slowly lifted his head, his hollow eyes meeting mine again. There was no smugness or arrogance in his expression anymore, only the pain of a man who had spent years searching for someone he might never find.

"Tell me, Alpha..." His voice was barely above a whisper, and I could hear the pain behind his words. "Isn’t that the worst kind of death?"

I remained silent, unable to find the right words to answer him. Whatever I might have said felt meaningless in that moment because, deep down, I understood his pain all too well.

When Seraphina chose to leave me, it felt as though my entire world had crumbled around me.

I had no purpose left, no reason to keep going. If Darius hadn’t practically dragged me back to reality, reminding me of everything I’d endured to get where I was and that giving up would mean handing the throne straight to the corrupt Council or, worse, my ruthless brother, I probably wouldn’t have survived.

For years, I had been nothing more than a walking corpse, existing only to fulfill my duties to the empire. My methods were ruthless, but as long as they got the job done, I didn’t care.

That was until Lorelei walked into my life and gave me a reason to feel human again.

Even now, the thought of losing her made my chest tighten with a familiar, unbearable pain. If she were ever taken from me, sold off, or hidden somewhere I couldn’t reach her, I knew I wouldn’t survive it a second time. It would destroy whatever was left of me.

"Bullshit!"

Darius’s voice cut through the silence, drawing my attention away from Augustus. He was glaring at the old man, his anger evident as he took a step forward.

"Don’t tell me you expect us to track down your lost daughter for you," Darius spat. "If you couldn’t find her yourself with all your wealth and influence, why didn’t you ask your precious Council buddies? I’m sure you bastards love each other so much. Surely, they would have helped one of their own."

The sarcasm in his voice was impossible to miss, but Augustus merely let out a heavy sigh.

"I tried," he said quietly, his voice hollow. "I tried everything, even turning to the High Council. But they laughed in my face. They told me she was long dead and that I should focus on my duties instead of chasing ghosts. Some of them didn’t even believe I ever had a daughter. They thought I’d invented her... that grief had finally driven me mad."

"So what makes you think I will be able to find her?" I finally spoke up, my tone icy.

If Augustus and the entire Council had failed to track her down for a decade, I couldn’t see how I was supposed to succeed where they had failed.

"Because you are his son," Augustus answered simply. "You carry his exact blood. Years ago, I spoke to a seer, one of the last true seers left in the empire. She told me that the dark binding spell placed on me could only be undone by the person who created it. But since your father is dead, his bloodline is the only way to break it."

He paused before continuing, as though he had to gather himself to explain what came next.

"Believe me, I spent a long time thinking about this. I didn’t want to approach you. I know how the other elders view you, and I knew you already had enough problems without adding mine to them." His hoarse voice cracked slightly.

I remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

"But then I started noticing the same curse manifesting in you. The isolation, the sudden rage, your refusal to let any woman touch you."

My expression remained unchanged, but his words hit closer than I wanted them to.

"I suspected it, but I couldn’t be sure. Then, at the Council meeting, I caught a glimpse of those black veins creeping up your neck and the red in your eyes." He paused, his eyes fixed on mine. "It was only for a second, but that was enough. I knew it was the same curse that had consumed your father."

I remained silent, giving him no indication of what I was thinking. Augustus lowered his bloodied head, his confidence seemingly fading as he waited for my response.

"If you kill me right here, I have nothing left to lose," he whispered, his voice raw with desperation. "But if you help me, I won’t just give you the cure to break your curse. I’ll also willingly become your spy among the elders."

His voice dropped as he looked at me again.

"Just... find my daughter."

Darius shifted beside me at his words. Even without looking at him, I could sense his hesitation. The offer had clearly caught his attention.

Having a mole on the inside, especially in the High Council’s inner circle, could give us a significant advantage in the war ahead.