Chapter 68 Castle's Darkness

Ethan's POVWe soon reached the central throne room. Similar to before, it was cloaked in darkness and its atmosphere looked oppressive and eerie.

The dim, bloody glow from the crimson chandelier cast sinister shadows that flickered and danced across the walls.

I scanned the room but found no sign of Master Nyx or Duchess Altheria. Obvious confusion churned within me though after some time it made sense that they wouldn't remain in one spot waiting for us indefinitely.

Seeing this Victor, Virelle, and I exchanged glances. I noticed the shadow of disappointment that flashed across Virelle's face.

"Master must have gone hunting in the Stygian Woods," Virelle said after a brief silence. Her voice carried a tinge of weariness.

"With night approaching, it's the perfect time for her hunt. Elder Brother, would you prefer to wait here until she returns or head back home through the Nexus portal?"

Victor sighed and his troubled expression betrayed his thoughts. I could tell that he hadn't anticipated such inconvenience.

In a resigned voice, he replied, "It's not a big deal. I don't have to travel by foot after all. The Nexus portal to our territory is close and I can stay here for the night. My only concern is whether the lord will find it presumptuous of me to take up residence here without her permission."

"You don't need to worry about that, Brother," Virelle replied in a voice as cold as the darkness surrounding us.

"I'll explain everything to Master, including the fight in the underground. She'll deal with the Countess's family soon enough and root out the tumors in their midst."

I stayed silent, knowing that my presence in the castle for the next two years was already decided. There was no question of leaving it now like Victor and I had to remain here till Master Nyx came to pick me up.

It was just that I was confused as they hadn't made anything clear to me.

"Let's go," Virelle said, her tone more composed. "I'll show you both to your quarters for the night."

She led the way into the shadowy corridors once more, and Victor and I followed close behind. As we walked, the encroaching darkness seemed to gain a life of its own.

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The castle which was already foreboding in the daylight now felt wholly otherworldly as the sun sank below the horizon.

The dark corridors we had traversed earlier now dissolved into shifting shadows that seemed alive. The air grew colder and heavier, and the dim walls around us appeared to ripple like water under an unseen current.

A strange sense of familiarity pricked at my thoughts. This seems similar to… yes, the Shadowed Paths. The realization hit me as we turned into yet another shadowy corridor.

However, the phenomenon here seemed controlled and less chaotic and volatile than the underground city's Shadowed Paths. The difference between them intrigued me, and I pondered over its reason.

'The castle's oppressive atmosphere which is clearly steeped in blood and darkness must have triggered the appearance of these pseudo-paths.'

My curiosity flared, pulling me back to the swirling dark fog I had encountered in the Shadowed Paths. The shadowy snake-like creature that slithered through those depths was etched in my memory.

Its existence and appearance had felt like a glimpse into a parallel world—a place that existed alongside our own and was accessible only under specific conditions.

I recalled the esoteric texts I had read in the Black Tower Library that spoke of overlapping worlds and higher dimensions. At the time, I had dismissed their contents as too complex and abstract without any actual base in their claim.

But now, as I walked through these alive and pulsating corridors those fragments of theory began to take shape in my mind.

After thinking deeply for a moment in this silent walk, I concluded that the boundaries between the Agate Star World and this shadowy realm seemed to dissolve here which created such a precarious overlap in the Scarlet Hollow City and this castle.

This realization sent a thrill through me. For the first time, I felt like I was scratching the surface of something vast and profound.

A fleeting glimpse of the vast scope of this magical universe flashed in my mind and I felt happy from the bottom of my heart. It felt as if I had achieved something great and opened doors to a whole new world of possibilities.

A small smile crept onto my lips as the thought of uncovering such secrets filled me with an almost childlike excitement. The seemingly alive and unreal corridors seemed to welcome me into their mystery as we vanished into the darkness.

Virelle's POV

Leading Ethan and Big Brother through the castle's dark corridors, I couldn't help but glance back.

Ethan was smiling faintly with his eyes fixated on the shadowy walls around us. He seemed lost in thought, completely unaware of my gaze.

I followed his line of sight but the sight that met me sent a shudder through my body. The shadows clinging to the walls no longer felt inert. They moved subtly, like tendrils of liquid darkness slithering just out of sight.

The night was arriving fast. A wave of dread gripped me as I thought of what that meant. We needed to reach our rooms soon.

The castle changed at night. It always did.

Even after all these years, I had never dared roam its halls alone once the sun setted on the horizon and night arrived.

The night brought with it a primal terror and a suffocating sense always seemed to scream at me that the walls themselves were always alive and watching. The darkness whispered, groaned, and howled, filling the air with sounds that seemed to pierce the soul.

I still clearly remember my first night in the castle vividly. The walls and floor had looked like black, pulsating flesh that moved as though they were alive. A distinct vibration had echoed in my mind that seemed synchronized with the grotesque rhythm of that living structure.