Arhav lay on the bed, one of his hands swinging down from the edge of the mattress, the black blanket draped carelessly to his waist.
The room was dark and silent, only lit by the golden warm light of the lamp on the bedside.
The silver light of the moon was coming inside from the big glass window; the grey curtain swirled with the wind, and Kiara was sitting beside him on the bed.
His face looked pale.
He lay on the bed silently, no shouting, no yelling in the pain, but his body was still shivering.
The door creaked open softly.
Reiha entered the room; her hand tightened on the door handle.
Kiara turned at her; she was looking at her with fire in her eyes, but at the same time she looked scared.
“It’s your fault, everything,” Kiara hissed.
Before Reiha could say anything, Kiara stood up and grabbed her by the arm harshly.
Reiha stared at her.
“What did I do wrong?”
Kiara’s grip tightened around her arm; she let out a sigh and then let her arm go from her grasp.
“Your hand, how did you get hurt?”
“I accidentally pricked myself in the rose garden while walking in the garden.”
Kiara glared at Arthav from over her shoulder.
“This ass. This is why he burned it. Not knowing the curse beneath the rose bush, he awakened it.”
“What Curse?” Reha asked.
“I don’t know exactly.” Kiara turned towards the window; faint smoke was still rising from the garden.
“For years, his father searched for a way to stop it.” Kiara’s voice softened.
“Adhiraj found a way to seal the curse… a way to keep my boys safe from it.”
Reiha remained silent, listening carefully.
Kiara’s fingers curled tightly against her own palm. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
“But the ritual was never completed.”
She turned back to her.
Kiara’s gaze turned cold with rage.
“Because your father killed him before he could finish it.”
Reiha froze.
Kiara’s words hit her like violent waves hit against the stone.
“Adhiraj used to spend hours in that garden staring at that rose bush,” she whispered.
Her gaze was distant, lost inside an old memory.
“One day I asked him why he lost himself in that garden for hours, so that he forgot to eat and drink. Like his spirit is trapped in that bush.”
Kiara swallowed slowly.
“He told me…” Her voice cracked faintly.
“‘That garden is not just a garden, Kiara. It is a cage.'”
The room fell silent.
“He said the curse had been sleeping beneath those roses for generations. Waiting.” She looked at Reiha.
“And if he failed to destroy it completely… one day it would come for his sons.”
Reiha felt her chest tighten.
Kiara looked back toward the smoke outside the window.
“He was terrified for Arthav.”
For a moment, the anger on Kiara’s face faded, leaving behind only the pain of a woman who had already lost too much.
“He inherited the curse too.”
“And now,” she whispered, “because the seal is broken… it has finally awakened.”
“Who put the curse on Advanis?” Reiha asked.
Kiara exhaled deeply and shook her head.
“I don’t know. Adhiraj never told me. He said he’ll take care of it.”
“You never tried to find out about the curse. I mean—”
“I did,” Kiara cut in.
“Adhiraj once told me that the entire history of the Advanis was written in that journal. While he was alive, no one was allowed to touch it. And after his death… that little journal simply vanished.”
She lowered her gaze.
“For years, I searched for it. But that little thing was nowhere to be found.”
Arthav let out a slow, painful groan.
Reiha took a hesitant step closer to him.
Kiara immediately held arthav’s hand
Arthav slowly opened his eyes; he looked at the ceiling for a second, then sat up straight in the bed.
Kiara cupped Arthav’s face gently.
“Arthav…are you okay?”
Arthav said nothing; he just stared ahead without blinking.
His eyes were dark and terrifyingly empty.
They were nothing like humans; every emotion from his eyes was frained out somehow.
Then his gaze slowly turned to his right at Reiha.
Reiha gulped.
“You… okay, Arthav?”