Chapter 380: You betrayed me.

"After a blunder this large, you still dare to blame it on me and a man who’s barely two decades old?

Have you lost all shame?"

"..."

Cassian turned silent, his fists trembled. He was... getting desperate. And so were the other Arcelis Ancients. Every single one of them was more than two thousand years old, they had gotten used to commanding those around them.

They did not like being ordered around or berated. So when Aurelia glared at them, announcing their flaws right to their faces, they couldn’t hold it in any longer.

"It still doesn’t change the fact that you were the one who freed him."

One of them spoke up, still trying to push the blame.

Aurelia looked at her and the Arcelis Vampire did not step back.

"We hid the Heart and we hid it so well that not even we knew where it was. For nine centuries, no one could find it.

You found it.

And you unsealed it.

That is how it all began."

She spoke as she kept looking into Aurelia’s eyes.

Aurelia’s face became even colder, she looked at Cassian, wanting to see if the words the woman just said were Arcelis’s words, or just her personal opinion and seeing that Cassian did not say anything, she knew the answer.

"...so the Arcelis spent centuries researching and experimenting, allocating who knows how many resources to their project, all for the sake of preparing a body an Archdemon could resurrect into and I get the blame?

You prepared the body.

Your failures were what showed Neroth what exactly did not work.

You made adjustments accordingly, getting closer to his body.

Then you found Varek, prepared his body for decades for that Archdemon to resurrect into and apparently...

Everything that happened boils down to what I did?"

Aurelia asked a question, only this time, the Ancient she was talking to did not remain silent, she raised her voice and repeated her point.

"If you hadn’t found the Heart and broken its seal, nothing would have happened because no one knew where Neroth’s Heart wa—"

"Neroth knew."

Aurelia raised her voice even further and cut her off.

Then, as Aurelia kept glaring at the Arcelis Vampire, she continued speaking.

"Neroth knew where the Heart was and he had the power to communicate with people despite his Heart being sealed.

That is how he approached Lucian.

Do you know what would have happened if Lucian wasn’t here?

He would have found someone else."

Her tone made it very clear how exhausting it was that she needed to spell everything out loud.

"Neroth is an Archdemon who managed to manipulate old monsters like you. You think he couldn’t have manipulated someone else?

Anyone could have broken the seal for him, it wouldn’t have mattered.

In fact, you should be glad that Lucian was the one who broke the Seal and managed to subdue the Heart.

What you saw was a Neroth desperate to get his revenge on Lucian because he spoiled his centuries-old plan, a plan where you played the roles of mere pawns.

If Lucian hadn’t done what he did, the Neroth that would have resurrected would have been a complete one, capable of killing every single one of us because he had control over your strongest formation!

If it weren’t for Lucian, you, House Arcelis, would have been wiped out today."

Aurelia spoke in a much louder, colder voice than before and this time...

None of the Arcelis dared to utter any more words. They all looked down, feeling the embarrassment burning their faces. To think a child who was barely two decades old was responsible for... saving them.

It was... not a pleasant feeling.

Honestly, they still did not understand how Lucian even managed to stop everything. If it weren’t for them hearing Neroth’s enraged screams, they would have questioned Aurelia right here and now but...

Right now...

All they could do was...

"What do you want?"

Cassian asked directly, giving in.

And Aurelia, who was already prepared for that, gave an answer immediately.

"End Project Crimson Crucible."

"It already has."

Cassian nodded.

Aurelia, however, shook her head.

"Not like that.

I want you to destroy every sample derived from Neroth, every blood sample, tissue, ascension essence, every experimental derivative needs to be gone, so does the extraction network."

The Arcelis Patriarch looked at Aurelia for a moment, then he nodded.

"Alright."

He agreed.

Aurelia, however, wasn’t done.

"And I need every record connected to Crimson Crucible."

"...what?"

Cassian frowned at those words.

"I need every single record related to Project Crimson Crucible."

Aurelia repeated herself and Cassian—

"No."

He shook his head.

Aurelia stared at him, Cassian, however, did not back down.

"You are asking me to hand centuries of Arcelis blood research to another Ancient House."

"I am asking because I do not want House Arcelis repeating the exact same mistake a decade or a century from now.

If House Veyr has the records of your research, we would know if you are making any unnecessary movements and continuing what you started."

"I cannot trust you wit—"

"This isn’t about your trust, Cassian."

Aurelia interrupted before Cassian could even complete his words.

"I wasn’t the one who betrayed you.

You betrayed me.

I am the one who cannot trust you or your House."

The moment he heard those words, Cassian turned silent. The rest of the Arcelis Vampires stared at Aurelia as well, just like before, they didn’t have anything they could use to counter her.

What they didn’t know, however, was the fact that their worst fears hadn’t even begun.

Aurelia wasn’t done, she had one last demand.

"And I need you to give House Veyr full Authority to inspect the Crimson Hearth."

The moment those words were said, every single Arcelis present in the Hall practically stopped.

Cassian actually stared at Aurelia in disbelief.

To think she would even think of demanding that. He even thought it was a joke, but the Veyr Vampire was still looking at him without any change in her expression.

She was very serious.

And Cassian—

"No."

He shook his head.

He absolutely wouldn’t let that happen.