“Why…” I asked in a clear voice despite the flood of tears rolling down my face. I looked at the man in front of me, shielding my enemy. He was supposed to be mine. He was my fiancé. But he’s there, on my enemy’s side. Shielding her from me.

“Misera… You don’t have to do this… Please… Just let it go. This thirst for revenge will never end. I can see that now…” he pleaded.

“Why are you pleading for her?” I asked in a soft voice, pointing a sword at the girl, lying on the ground, struggling for her life as blood continues to seep out of her.

“Just… Misera… She… needed this. Please.”

“Then tell me. Why did she need this?” My voice was eerily calm.

The man hesitated. “Rylan isn’t her real brother. He’s the reason why her family is dead. She just needed revenge. Look I know the way it turned out wasn’t… ideal… but you can fix this. Just give her Rylan. She’ll take care of it.”

“Fein… you… are truly disappointing.” I saw him flinch. What he hated the most was being called a disappointment. As I looked into his eyes, I saw a fire began to emerge from the guilt.

“Misera,” he said firmly. “When Ingline came to me at first, I didn’t want to choose between you and her. I love you but I can’t abandon a friend. I want to stay neutral. I still haven’t really chosen a side. I just want what’s best for everyone and I think just letting them go at each other is the best. You don’t need to be involved. Misera. Let it go. We can be neutral in all of this! This doesn’t involve us.”

I looked at the man before me, the one who I had decided to marry. Even if everyone including us knew I was settling. The more I heard him the more disappointed I became.

“You think you’re righteous? You think you have such a strong moral compass? TAKE A LOOK AROUND YOU! BLOOD. BODIES. CORPSES. THIS IS WHAT YOU’RE MARRYING. Or at least… was. I thought you were good enough but clearly you are not. You claim to be neutral. Neutral my ass. You say you’re neutral but you’re on her side.”

“I’M NOT!”

“If you were truly neutral you would at least given me a hint. You knew everything yet did nothing to even the playing field. You are not neutral. You knew. And you choose to not tell me. You choose to side with her. Just blame it on your luck that you were simply at the wrong place and wrong time. Blame it on luck that you were unlucky enough to get dragged into this. The world is that cruel. I guess ignorance is sometimes bliss. But you were no longer ignorant. Everything you did from then on was taken into consideration of the knowledge you gained, whether consciously or unconsciously. And unfortunately, the moment you took her side, was the moment there was no longer “us”. I waited. I tested. And it seems like the results are out.”

“Wha.. Misera what are you talking about?” He looked panicked.

“I know you didn’t know the full story. But you never stopped and even thought to consider getting my opinion. You say let them handle their problems themselves? You were the one who got us involved Fein. You did nothing but believe Ingline. True, believing a friend, nothing wrong with that. But believing a friend over your fiancée… I guess it’s ex-fiancée now.”

“Wait I don’t understand! What are you talking ab–”

“The choice was made clear. You chose her over me,” I interrupted. “I had told you once. I expect complete honesty. And you lied. You lied by omission. You claim you were accepting of me and how I run things. Then what is this? Why are you standing in front of me, shielding her from me? You claim self-righteousness when you know fully well we are part of the underground world. That kind of moral compass doesn’t work down here.”

I was no longer in a mood to talk. I said to Rylan, “Take care of the rest.”

I immediately moved past Fein and slashed at Ingline, intending to decapitate her but Fein had tried to hold me back, hindering me. I was giving him one last chance, purposefully moving slow enough so that he could try any last minute attempts… I was truly disappointed.

Before I could free myself from Fein, I saw Ingline roll herself off the cliff into the raging waters beneath. I glared at Fein.

“I… I…” he stuttered.

I slashed an x his left hand and threw my engagement ring at his feet. I watched coldly as he sank to his knees cradling his bloodied hand. I blankly stared as his blood dripped on the ring. Wanting nothing more to do with him, I turned to my men. “Don’t bother about the body. Just look out for news about her. We will do some restructuring tomorrow. Rest up… And knock ‘him’ out.” A code word for memory removal.