While Vanitas was trapped in the loop….
"Are you satisfied, my son?"
"...."
Franz stood at the edge of the bed as silver light of the moon spilled through the window, reflecting across his face. His father, Decadien Aetherion, lay weak but conscious, eyes fixed on his own flesh-and-blood.
"Nothing brings me more satisfaction," Franz said quietly, "than punishing those who committed an unforgivable sin against me."
"It's been so long," Decadien murmured. "I thought you'd moved on from Alianna. I was relieved when you finally married the Heinrich daughter."
Alianna Borgia. His late fiancée. A name that still tugged at Franz's heart like a dagger that refused to commit.
"No one can replace Alianna," Franz said. "I live each day to purge this world of the stench that took her from me. You should understand the pain I carry, Father. Mother was taken from us by the same filthy hands that still crawl through the slums of the Empire."
