The Grand Duke's Son Is A Heretic-Chapter 449

A sombre silence enveloped the chamber as both sides sat facing each other, watching carefully. The air felt heavy, and neither of them blinked or moved much.

Both were observing every small detail, waiting for the other to speak first. Kael clenched his hands tightly on his knees while trying hard to control his urge to use his monocle and check the exact level of the man sitting opposite him.

During the fight earlier, Kael had understood one thing clearly. This man held back. He did not fight seriously. Even without the monocle, Kael could feel there was something far deeper and more dangerous hidden in him. Yet no matter how much experience he had, it was impossible to break through several levels and see through his opponent without any skill or insight supporting him.

Kael swallowed and finally spoke with a calm tone. "You held back, didn't you?"

"No." Ruth denied with a cold voice, barely moving his lips.

Kael leaned forward slightly. His eyes narrowed. "Is there any meaning hiding it? I mean, the Emperor and that snorty old man could have easily seen through it."

"I don't care," Ruth muttered, tapping his fingers slowly on the armrest of his chair. His expression did not change at all.

He continued. "Though it may look like it, they did not possess much danger. The SSS rankers of Abyss Rank used shortcuts so most of them were quite weak. So it was just a long, drawn out battle until the SSS rankers from Night Star appeared."

Kael nodded slowly, understanding the hidden meaning behind those words. Both sides knew taking out an SSS ranker was not easy. Their main goal was to destroy and kill people to create unrest in the empire. And what could be a better way than assassinating the Emperor and the Prince?

Kael sighed. "Now that I think about it, with Prince Rein and Adele running away, we might have a huge headache." He turned his head and looked directly into Ruth's eyes.

"What's your decision?" Kael asked.

"Kill."

Kael's face stiffened for a second, taken aback by the straight and merciless answer. His brows shot up.

"Kill?"

"Yes. I do what I said. I gave her a chance but she defected. The moment she ran, it was over for her." Ruth's voice was calm yet ice cold.

"She needs to be killed regardless of her identity. From now on there will not be any Adele Veydrin here, just Adele."

Hearing that, Kael's lips curled into a wide grin as an eerie laughter burst out from his throat like a broken sound.

"Kkakkee..." His shoulders trembled slightly as he laughed, his voice sharp and strange, echoing inside the silent room. His eyes shimmered with wild excitement. He stopped and breathed deeply, his chest rising as he calmed down.

"So finally I can kill her without any remorse... Damn... That would be exciting."

"Very exciting." His smile stretched unnaturally for a moment before fading.

His expression then turned serious. "Did you imprison Mariana?"

Ruth raised his brows with a questioning gaze, as if asking why he needed to know.

"Just release her. I have something to use her for."

"What are you going to do?" Ruth asked.

"That's a secret," Kael replied with a small mysterious tilt of his head.

"Just do as you please." Ruth spoke while pulling out a cigar from his pocket and placing it between his lips.

"Give me one too," Kael asked casually.

"You are too young. Grow up a bit."

"What the fuck?"

"Language," Ruth warned without emotion.

"Tsk..." Kael clicked his tongue and leaned back, folding his arms. The two fell into silence again, feeling awkward. It was clear both of them were not used to talking normally with anyone.

It went on until Kael finally burst. "Okay enough!"

"Just tell me why did you call me?"

"It's time for serious talk."

Ruth paused for a moment and looked down. When he lifted his head again, his deep, starry, cold eyes bored into Kael's face like sharp blades, as if drilling straight into his soul. Under such tremendous pressure, Kael did not step back. He stared back with an equally horrifying gaze, refusing to be intimidated.

Thankfully, neither of them unleashed their mental strength. If they had, the entire hall might have collapsed.

They stared at each other for a few moments until both their eyes twitched slightly. Then they withdrew their gazes at the same time.

Ruth took a slow puff from his cigar, closing his eyes. Kael noticed a strange and different sensation on Ruth's otherwise expressionless face, like a shadow of pain buried deep.

"The previous Grand Duke," Ruth finally said in a low voice.

Kael's ears perked up instantly as he listened.

"He handed me over to a Mage from the Mage Tower to experiment."

"This body of mine was forged through countless experiments and tests."

"At the end of all this, I turned into an inhuman monster."

"Then why don't you have any scars?" Kael asked with confusion. He had seen Ruth's exposed chest and hands. There were no scars anywhere.

"I have super senses and super regeneration. All of this was the result of that experiment. And thankfully, because of that, I lost my emotions."

Kael thought for a moment as he looked at Ruth carefully. He leaned forward and asked quietly, "You seem to hate Uncle quite a bit."

He frowned slightly. "Also if you are a monster then what is he?"

Ruth slowly pulled the cigar out from between his lips. He opened his mouth to say something but then stopped. His eyes lowered slightly and a subtle flicker appeared in them, showing a flash of pain and memories he had buried deep in his heart.

A scene resurfaced in his mind. It was from his younger days. One morning he woke up to find the entire estate in complete chaos. People were shouting and panic spread everywhere. And the reason for the chaos was simple yet shocking.

The Heir of Veydrin. The eldest legitimate son. Ramos Veydrin had run away from home unable to bear the pressure.

What he left behind was just a small note saying he didn't want to be heir and even willing to shed the Veydrin name.

That day changed Ruth's life forever. Everything flipped upside down and nothing was stable again.