Chapter 27

RENZO'S POV

I chuckled, then moved the snips away from his thigh when I felt his heavy breath against my face.

I shouldn't have been going this far when I wasn't even sure the bastard knew anything. But this matter was far too complicated for me to leave anyone out simply because they seemed insignificant.

"I don't know who the rogues are. Please believe me, Your Majesty!" he cried, struggling against his shackles as I moved the snips towards his right thigh.

"Next time, think carefully before giving me an answer."

I stabbed the snips into his thigh. Blood oozed from the wound, and he let out an ear-splitting scream.

"Aargh! I swear I don't know who they are! I didn't even go anywhere near the dungeon. Please show mercy, Your Majesty!"

His thigh trembled terribly as I withdrew the thin snips before stabbing them right back into the wound.

"Please, stop!" he screamed in pain.

Beads of sweat rolled down his face as he begged me to stop. But I didn't.

I never took orders from anyone.

"You asked for this," I smirked, watching his eyes roll back as he struggled to endure the pain. "You should have given me the right answer when I was still being gentle."

I pulled the snips out and prepared to stab him again, but the guard screamed.

"Please, wait!"

His voice came out hoarse. I withdrew my hand, giving him a chance to speak.

"I swear to the Goddess, I don't know anything about this!" he cried, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Oh, dear." I sighed, dropping the bloody snips onto his trembling thigh before grabbing a pair of gloves from the table.

"You're wasting both our time, but it's okay. You're making this fun for me."

I slid my hands into the gloves and picked up a bowl from the table.

"Stay still," I sneered, watching him tremble in fear as I dipped my hand into the bowl. I scooped up a handful of wolfsbane elixir mixed with sodium cyanide and poured it over his wound.

As the chemical mixture touched his skin, he let out a bone-chilling howl of pain. His body quivered as the substance took effect, his limbs flailing and his eyes rolling back into his head.

"Aargh!"

His howls grew louder and more desperate, his voice cracking and turning hoarse from the agony.

He tried to curl in on himself to escape the pain, but he couldn't move. His body was held rigid by the shackles, and he eventually slumped back against the iron chair.

"Your Majesty! Please let me go, Your Majesty!" he cried, writhing in pain.

He tried to move his right leg but couldn't. I watched him with a sly grin as he put on such a pitiful display.

"That's for lying to me," I uttered, picking up the thin snips and placing them on the table.

"I..." He groaned, hissing loudly as the pain became unbearable. "I swear on the Moon, I didn't lie to you, Your Majesty!"

"I know, I know. You were telling the truth. That's why I'm going easy on you."

I groaned and picked up my dagger.

No matter how much pain I inflicted on people, I would never feel satisfied until I made them bleed with the dagger my father had gifted me.

"Your Majesty!" he gasped, his eyes following the dagger as it caught the light.

"Moving on to the last question."

I adjusted myself in my seat, grabbing his left thigh as he let out muffled cries.

"Does the Guardian family have anything to do with this?" I glared at him.

He shook his head, whimpering as he struggled to bring himself to answer.

I scoffed. If he thought I would spare him simply because he had decided to go mute, he was mistaken.

"You have three seconds to answer my fucking question!" I barked, my chest burning as anger surged through me.

"I don't know... I don't know, Your Majesty!" he cried.

Sweat had already formed across his entire body as he wept bitterly.

"Thanks for making this difficult for yourself!"

I wrapped my fingers around the dagger, raised it, and drove it into his chest. I dragged the blade downwards, tearing through his flesh.

It took him a second to realise what had happened. He sprang up from the chair before collapsing onto the floor as blood poured from the wound in his chest.

"Aaaaargh!" he screamed, his voice coming out hoarse.

I stood up from my seat.

"Lock him up and don't let anyone attend to his wound!" I yelled towards the door.

Kyran came rushing into the room almost immediately.

I walked over to the guard, who was still groaning in pain on the floor. His blood had already begun pooling beneath him.

"I have just one question left for you before I leave."

I gripped his hair and dragged him up from the floor, chair and all.

He panted heavily, his chest rising and falling uncontrollably as he shook his head from side to side, groaning in pain.

"Just kill me, Your Majesty!" he sobbed, tears streaming down his face as he struggled to look at me.

Kyran moved closer, holding my coat.

"Just kill me already, Your Majesty, and put an end to this endless pain," he begged, his lips trembling as he spoke.

"Kill you?" I knitted my brows, wondering where that was coming from. "Why should I kill you when I'm not done with you yet?"

I scoffed, dropping back into my seat and watching him cry in agony.

"I don't... I don't know the answer to your question, Your Majesty. Please, just kill me and let me go."

He choked on his words when I grabbed him by the neck. I tightened my grip around his throat and watched his eyes widen in shock.

"Then let's grant you your wish."

I smirked, digging my claws into his flesh. I watched as blood trickled from the corners of his eyes.

"If, by any chance, you're doing this to protect the Guardian family, just know that you died foolishly trying to hide their secrets."

I gritted my teeth and drove my claws deeper into the flesh around his throat.

His eyes remained wide open as I forcibly pulled my hand out of his neck, tearing out his throat.

He coughed, blood spraying from his mouth before he dropped to the floor.

"Clean this mess," I spat at the body before turning to Kyran and taking my coat from him.

"This interrogation was such a waste of my time."

I didn't forget to pick up my dagger as I walked out of the interrogation room, wondering how many more people I would have to kill before discovering who the real villain was.

I just hoped it wasn't someone close to me. Otherwise, they would wish they had never been born.