Ascension of the Dark Seraph - Chapter 216

Chapter 216: A Letter of Invitation (2) Chapter 216: A Letter of Invitation (2) “No… This is not happening” Inside the Bloodhaven Academy’s student dorm, Elira stared at her phone in disbelief.

Her hands were trembling uncontrollably, making it unnecessarily hard to hold the phone right.

Beside her, riled up from sleep was Thalia.

Due to their altercation several nights ago, the twins became a lot closer, forgetting their past differences, and supported each other through this hard time.

Thalia had been sleeping in Elira’s room-for the last couple of days and she instantly woke up when she heard Elira’s whispering voice.

Considering their situation, even a pin drop might’ve woken Thalia up.

Rubbing her eyes, she glanced to the other side of the bed and saw Elira watching a video.

Albeit the volume was low, the distant scream from the video resounded inside the silent room.

“What is it?

Who’s screaming?” Thalia asked softly.

Coming to realize that she was awake, Elira turned towards her-pausing slightly, deliberating whether it was a good idea to show it to Thalia.

Remembering that they now only have each other, she finally turned her phone and showed the video.

“It’s Lucivar…” Elira mumbled.

“I asked my contacts about Lucivar and he sent me this video” Upon hearing this, Thalia grabbed the phone to watch the video.

It was only a short video, beginning with the person walking through a minimalistic and bleak corridor until he reached-a steel door.

He then placed the camera to the cracks, showing a glimpse of Lucivar and Sabrina being tied and tortured.

Seeing this, the phone instantly slipped from Thalia’s hand and dropped to the bed.

Her face turned pale as she couldn’t believe what she saw.

“Did…” Thalia stuttered, turning to her sister a face of shock and fear.

“Did Mom assign this?” Elira didn’t answer, she only pulled Thalia into her embrace.

Both of them hugged for a moment, their emotions were in turmoil.

At that moment, Elira’s mind went back to the conversation she had with Callista days ago.

… “Listen to me carefully,” Callista uttered, facing Elira-across the café table.

“Our family is at risk of having its reputation tainted badly, and it would affect your Father’s case.

We need to clear our family name, so I’m going to schedule three press conferences for us leading to the verdict from the Council of Light Concord,” Hearing this, Elira tilted her head in confusion.

If that’s what Callista wanted to do then she couldn’t do anything about it.

So she was confused as to why Callista was saying this to her.

“And with that said…” Callista continued, a finger playing on her lips.

“I want you to help me paint that little Devil, Lucivar, as a troublemaker who was aiming for our family’s power and wealth.

Can you do that?” Elira was taken aback.

She knew that Callista wouldn’t tell her this without anything in mind but this?

“I get that clearing the family’s name is important for Father’s sake but bringing Lucivar down for us, is that really the right thing to do?

Is there no other way?” Elira immediately refuted.

Clearly, she didn’t want to go against her savior, “You already framed him and got him imprisoned, and now you wanted to kick him down more?

I can’t do that…” “Don’t forget, he’s the one who crushed your career-and made you and your sister’s lives as stressful as this,” Callista added sharply-clearly displeased at Elira’s answer.

“If you are weak to your enemies, you’ll be setting up for trouble in the future” “But he’s not my enemy,” Elira replied.

Her expression shifted from helpless to stern in an instant.

Seeing the change in her expression, Callista’s eyes narrowed-this was the first time.

Elira has never fought her back like this much less using this kind of hostile expression.

“I never raised you to be stupid,” Callista refuted, her voice now going an octave deeper and laced with threat.

“Anyone who’s against our family is your enemy.

It doesn’t matter what he did, it doesn’t matter his reason-he’s your enemy” “No!” Elira stood up abruptly, knocking the table forward in the process.

People near their tables began to cast a glance at them, “He saved me and Thalia!

Do our lives mean nothing to you?

Had it not been for him, you would’ve lost us already!” “Sit down, my patience has its limits,” Callista said, ignoring Elira’s words entirely.

She glanced around and found people were beginning to recognize them.

Any further than this then it would’ve impacted their reputation negatively again.

“No, I won’t sit down!” Elira became angrier.

“If you really cared about us, you would not frame him for something he didn’t do and find a way to settle this peacefully instead!

Do you not understand how complicated this situation makes me feel?

I’m tired!” Upon hearing this, Callista gritted her teeth while trying to remain composed.

If Elira kept going then things could get very bad.

“Okay, I understand,” Callista finally said, putting on a pliant smile as she begged Elira to sit down with her eyes only.

“Please, sit down and don’t garner any more attention to us.

Mom always wanted the best for you but I admit, my emotions got the better of me” Upon hearing this, Elira reluctantly sat back down again.

Once she calmed down a little-Callista then spoke again.

“Okay, here’s what we are going to do.

You-and your sister would help me paint Lucivar-as a troublemaker as I requested,” Elira wanted to refute but Callista raised a hand, gesturing for her to listen first.

“It’s the only way for us to really clear our family name and help your Father.

In exchange, Mom will set Lucivar free and even help him rebuild his life for as long as it takes,” “His reputation will be tainted but he’s only going to be labeled as a greedy young man who wanted to boost his status as a Hybrid,” She continued, conveying her plan as clearly as possible.

“In contrast, that will be less damaging than our family being labeled as a bully to youngsters” Elira was conflicted.

She doesn’t want Lucivar to suffer because of her family but on the other hand, she also doesn’t want her family to crumble as reputation is everything.

One bad, validated scandal would be a weapon used by all of their rivals.

So what Callista was offering was the middle ground.

Although she didn’t know if it was the right choice or not, she decided to agree.

… Now, however, as Elira tightly embraced Thalia’s body-she realized that it was a mistake.

Callista promised to set Lucivar free but until today, that hasn’t happened.

She didn’t even answer Elira’s calls and texts.

It was clear that Callista lied, she had no intention of setting Lucivar free from the start.

Once Elira-and Thalia showed up on the second press conference, agreeing with what Callista had to say, Callista turned on them.

Now, Lucivar was suffering, and they couldn’t do anything about it.

Not even telling this their Father would help.

He was too busy dealing with his situation.

Even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t have the time.

Maybe Lucivar had done some bad things to them but compared to their lives?

Isn’t life the most precious thing?

If Callista loved them, shouldn’t she value their lives more than revenge?

All of these questions swirled inside the twin’s minds.

Unconsciously, tears streamed down both of their faces as the video played on repeat in their minds.

Because of saving them, Lucivar was now in Hell.

Just then, however, Elira pulled away when she heard a knock coming from the door.

She quickly wiped the tears and cast a glance to the window, realizing that it was dawn before she made her way to the door.

Once the door was opened, a woman in uniform was standing outside-she was one of her close classmates.

“Elira, someone is waiting for you in the lobby,” She said.

Upon hearing this, Elira frowned but she quickly grabbed an oversized hoody and checked who it was.

Once she reached the lobby, she scanned the area and found that it was still mostly empty.

Students are still in bed, barely getting ready for class.

Soon, Elira’s gaze landed on a familiar woman sitting on a single sofa to the side.

Seeing this woman was akin to seeing a ghost.

Elira instinctively rubbed her eyes, doubting her own vision.

But when the image remained unchanged, the woman was clearly right in front of her-her eyes flared in shock.

For a fleeting moment, she stood frozen-then, snapping back to reality, she rushed toward the woman.

“Sabrina.?

Is that you?!” Elira exclaimed.

“How did you get out?” She saw Sabrina with Lucivar that night and she also saw Sabrina volunteering to share Lucivar’s guilt.

Compared to other slaves turned personal maids, Sabrina’s loyalty was a rare commodity.

Instead of answering her question, Sabrina only stood up and handed a piece of paper.

Despite Elira’s excitement at seeing her, Sabrina’s gaze held no warmth-only an icy coldness that was sharp enough to pierce the skin.

“If you’re truly grateful for what he did for you, this is how you can repay him,” She said, pressing a folded piece of paper firmly into Elira’s hand.

“Don’t be late.” Not even waiting for a response, Sabrina turned and headed for the exit.

Elira wanted to call out to her, to ask how she had escaped and how Lucivar was doing-but she held herself back.

One look into Sabrina’s eyes told her all she needed to know-it wasn’t over, Lucivar was still in trouble.

Looking down to the piece of paper, she unfolded it and read the content.

‘9:30 P.M.

– Basement parking, Evergreen Plaza’ ‘Bring Thalia with you and don’t be late’ ‘Trust me, I will not hurt you’ Upon reading the last line, the words from Lucivar from that night rang inside her mind.

“I want you to trust me with all your heart” Almost instantly, a flicker of determination crossed Elira’s face.

Since Lucivar has asked her to come directly then there’s no need for further questions.

All he wanted was for her to trust him with all her heart and that’s exactly what she was going to do.

Lucivar alone she could trust since even her own Mother couldn’t be trusted.

“Unlike other people who hide behind a mask, Lucivar never did,” Elira mumbled, clutching the piece of paper tightly in her hand.

“He has always been true to himself-no matter the circumstances.

He alone in this world I can trust” Moments later, night finally came.

Just as requested, Elira and Thalia came to the designated place.

In front of them was a small mall that was secluded and also devoid of many people.

“Are you sure this is the place?” Thalia asked.

“Yes,” Elira nodded before checking the time on her phone-they were ten minutes early.

“Let’s go”