Chapter 274: His Regret
The ancient temple beneath the mansion had become a cathedral of darkness.
Dozens of cultists stood in solemn formation around the stone altar, each dressed in black hooded robes that concealed their faces beneath deep shadows. In their hands, they held dark stone bowls brimming with the blood of the innocent prisoners they had slaughtered as an offering to their grotesque goddess.
On the cold floor below, a vast star enclosed within a circle had been freshly painted in blood. Surrounding it, dozens of black candles fashioned from human fat glowed ominously, casting long, twisting shadows up the stone walls.
At the centre of it all stood Vance Prescott.
Before him, Cedric lay motionless upon the cold stone altar, his upper body bare save for the blood-drawn symbol painted across his chest.
His amber eyes remained open... yet they were utterly lifeless.
Deep within, every fibre of his being screamed for him to move, to fight, to run.
But his body refused to obey.
An invisible force held him prisoner within his own flesh, leaving him trapped as nothing more than a silent spectator to his own sacrifice.
Vance shifted his weight, his patience wearing thin. He had delayed as long as he could, waiting for Cora and Gwen to arrive.
But time was a luxury they could no longer afford.
"High Star, we can delay no longer," one of the cultists urged.
"He’s right," another added. "We have no idea who may already be coming for us."
Vance’s expression darkened. He had sent Cora to fetch Gwen, but the two women were taking far too long.
A flicker of cold irritation crossed his face as he dismissed them without a second thought. "Fine. We have more than enough followers here to complete the ritual. Gwen has already played her part. We do not need her for what comes next."
His cold gaze swept across the gathering. "The hour has come."
He slowly raised both hands. "Our goddess shall not be kept waiting for her offering."
At his command, every cultist lifted their stone bowls in perfect unison before slowly pouring the blood onto the ritual circle.
The thick crimson liquid flowed through the ancient grooves carved into the stone floor, converging beneath the altar as the chanting began to rise.
Vance closed his eyes and spread his arms.
"Oh, Crimson Weaver..." he intoned, his voice echoing throughout the chamber. "You have blessed our forefathers with your grace for generations."
The chanting grew louder, reverberating through every corner of the temple.
"So once more, we call upon you." His voice rose with fanatical devotion. "Grace us with your presence. Fulfil the wishes of your faithful children... and accept your new groom."
Vance reached towards the altar and picked up the black ceremonial dagger resting before the towering statue.
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[Music recommendation: Greg Maroney - The Greatest Is Love]
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Turning back to Cedric, who lay perfectly still upon the stone altar, he commanded in a cold voice, "Arise."
The moment the word left his lips, Cedric’s body obeyed. He rose to sit at the stone platform with stiff, mechanical movements before turning to face Vance. His blank amber eyes were devoid of even the faintest trace of emotion.
Stepping closer, Vance raised the dagger with both hands and ordered, "Offer yourself willingly to the Goddess Vorra."
Cedric’s empty gaze remained fixed on Vance for a long moment before it slowly drifted to the dagger resting in his hands.
The instant his eyes settled on it... something stirred.
A faint crack appeared in the suffocating darkness consuming his mind.
A beautiful young woman with long blonde hair and gentle grey eyes flashed before him, smiling as warmly as the summer sun.
A thin tendril of the past slipped into his mind.
"What did you want to tell me, Ced?" a sixteen-year-old Aliana asked, tilting her head.
At that time, Cedric had just stood there, admiring her beautiful face. "I... I... lo..."
"What was that?" She looked at him curiously until he broke the tension with a quiet laugh.
"I will tell you next time," young Cedric replied. "Something to look forward to when we meet next, right?"
Aliana blinked at him and pursed her lips.
"You’re so weird. Fine. Next time. But you have to tell me then, okay? You know I hate it when people leave me hanging." A faint sadness crossed her face. "But since you’re leaving the city... I’ll forgive you."
Cedric smiled gently. "I promise... I’ll tell you next time, Ali."
But that next time never came.
He moved away, swept up in becoming the perfect heir for his father and sent to study abroad. How much he had missed Aliana, only he truly knew.
When he finally returned, Aliana was already eighteen... and dating someone else.
So he swallowed the words once again.
’Next time,’ he told himself.
But when he returned the following year, he still couldn’t bring himself to confess. Aliana had become consumed by her father’s company, working tirelessly to prove herself to those who dismissed her as nothing more than a privileged heiress who had been handed everything on a silver platter.
That was when he met Gwen.
She was kind. She listened, and she became the shoulder he leaned on whenever thoughts of the girl from his childhood had quietly occupied his heart became too painful to bear.
Somehow... without ever realising when it had happened... he started dating Gwen.
One evening, she took him to meet her parents for dinner. He went simply out of politeness, unaware that it was the night that would alter the trajectory of his life forever.
After that... everything became hazy.
He found himself doing things for Gwen without questioning them. Some actions came naturally as a loving gesture toward a supportive girlfriend, but others felt hollow, as if an unseen force was pushing him to obey against his will.
Yet he always obeyed.
Three years slipped away like a dream he could never wake from. Trapping him in a loop where he gave away pieces of himself over and over again.
He had tried to fight it. He tried to break free and wake himself up whenever thoughts of his first love returned.
But every time he resisted, Gwen took him to meet her father. Vance would force him to drink a bitter, dark liquid that numbed his soul completely. After enduring a wave of excruciating pain, Cedric would feel himself plunged back into the dark fog, helpless and trapped once more.
With that, time slipped through his fingers. It wasn’t until one day that he saw the news. The woman he had promised to confess to... was standing beside an intimidating man, the chairman of the Archon Group.
Aliana was getting married.
Cedric’s heart shattered all over again when the wedding invitation arrived.
He wanted to fly to her, to tell her everything before it was too late, even if she rejected him. At least then, he could have kept the promise he had made all those years ago. But Vance arrived at his house unannounced once more.
The next thing Cedric knew, he was being pushed into a marriage with Gwen.
Cedric could not stand the thought of watching the woman he had always loved marry someone else, but Gwen convinced him to go to Aliana’s wedding anyway. She told him that it would give him closure, that it would finally set him free, and she told him to invite Aliana to their own wedding in return.
So he did.
Every smile Aliana shared with Gavriel felt like another knife twisting in his heart. Even so, he forced himself to smile back, silently wishing her the happiness he had always wanted to give her himself.
His only regret was that he had never found the courage to fulfil the promise he had made beneath the summer sky all those years ago.
’I’ll tell you next time, Ali.’
Now... back at the altar, he stared down at the dagger that would mark the end of him and his miserable life.