Shattered Innocence: Transmigrated Into a Novel as an Extra

Chapter 482 - 482: Don't anger a Father

Duke Thaddeus exhaled. Slowly. Controlled. The weight of the moment pressing deep into his chest.

For too long, he had been silent.

Stunned.

Madeleina's words had been a dagger—one aimed at everything he had once believed, at everything he had dedicated himself to.

But it was Luca's words—that damned boy's words—that had finally shattered the haze clouding his mind.

He could see it now. Clearly.

He turned his gaze to Aeliana.

Her hands were still clenched at her sides, her fingers still stained with blood—Madeleina's blood. But it wasn't just rage that burned in her amber eyes.

It was something far deeper.

Something close to grief.

She had always known she was seen as a burden. Always. But to hear it spoken so plainly, to hear it from someone who had been so close to her father—

That was something else entirely.

Thaddeus let his golden gaze linger on her for a moment before speaking.

"This whole situation is because of me," he said, his voice quiet but absolute.

Madeleina's breath hitched.

Luca tilted his head, intrigued.

Aeliana's fists tightened.

"Because of my negligence," Thaddeus continued, his jaw tensing. "And because of my lack of understanding of my subordinates."

Madeleina flinched.

Luca, however—

"Heh."

A snicker.

A sharp, unapologetic sound that cut through the heavy silence like a blade.

Thaddeus' golden eyes snapped to him, sharp as a predator's.

Luca grinned.

But for once, there was no amusement in his expression.

"Nothing," he mused, waving a hand lazily. "It's just… nice to hear you say it out loud, Mister Duke."

Thaddeus' glare sharpened, but he did not acknowledge the boy further.

Because he was right.

Admitting his own failings was not the important matter at hand.

The one most affected was not him.

His gaze shifted once more.

"Aeliana."

She lifted her head, her breathing steady but uneven, her fury still simmering just beneath the surface.

"You will be the one deciding her fate."

The words settled into the chamber, pressing against the walls like an unspoken decree.

Madeleina froze.

Her silver-blue eyes widened just slightly before narrowing once more.

Aeliana's lips parted slightly.

"You mean…" she began, but Thaddeus did not let her finish.

"You decide," he stated firmly. "What happens to her now is in your hands."

Aeliana inhaled sharply, her mind racing.

Madeleina. The woman who had betrayed her. The woman who had tried to erase her. The woman who had pushed her into the abyss.

She had every reason to want her gone.

And yet—

Something gnawed at her.

Something she did not yet understand.

She glanced at her father once more,

The older man's golden eyes burned, still locked onto him with the intensity of a predator scenting blood. Explore more at My Virtual Library Empire

Lucavion met that gaze head-on.