Hearing the words, Lid snatched the box from the trembling butler and ripped it open.
What he saw inside made his body seize, frozen mid-motion.
It was Sebastien’s head.
Pale. Eyes wide in eternal terror, as if the final sight he had witnessed before death had been something beyond human comprehension.
For a long, terrible moment, Lid couldn’t draw a breath.
Then his hands betrayed him. They shook violently. The box slipped, hitting the floor with a heavy, hollow thud.
He crumpled to his knees, a scream tearing from his throat.
“Ahhh—! My son!”
It wasn’t just a cry. It was raw, broken, and full of every ounce of anguish a parent could carry.
Reginald sank into a chair across the room, fingers pressing into his temples, mind spinning in a chaotic whirl of disbelief.
“How… how coul
