Born in Blood

Chapter 370 Disgust

Liam chuckled at Nord's statement.

The air between them was tense.

They had already tuned out the loud music from their heads, creating a fragile silence.

Rin and Nessa were still away.

Nord looked grim, and Liam could tell the inner conflict he was having from a glance at his mental waves.

His thoughts were somewhat of a mess, too.

But somehow, to Liam's eyes, they were too complicated to read.

Nord's mental waves had a certain… special quality, but Liam couldn't figure out what it was.

Clearly, it had something to do with?the 'aura' sensing thing the giants had probably bestowed on him.

A total of six seconds of silence followed.

"Never expected you of all people to become a lapdog," Liam mocked. "Was it by choice? Or did they promise you a treat?

Nord grimaced, gritting his teeth.

"Do I look like a slave to you?" Nord snarled through a clenched jaw. "At least I'm no hiding rat."

"At least I don't have to live in fear of living another day," he added mockingly. "Or hide behind a mask."

Silence.

"You were always dumb," Liam sighed pitifully.

"Never thought it'd be to this extent, though. Can't you see the leash around your neck?"

"It clinks whenever you move," Liam laughed to himself.

Just as Nord was about to loudly respond, the red-haired woman he entered with joined them.

"Nord?" she asked with confusion in her voice. "Who's this?"

Silence.

Liam glanced at the woman carefully.

'Noble birth, looks like. Probably a large-sized family.'

Assessing her mental waves, he could tell that she had no clue who Liam was.

She was genuinely just curious about who her significant other was talking to.

In fact, she was sincerely worried for Nord, seeing the sudden shift of his mood.

Initially, Liam thought that she might have secretly been working for the Royals to keep Nord in line.

Surprisingly, he was wrong.

But Liam grinned.

"Was it her, Nord?" Liam asked with a quiet voice. "Who made the first move? You, or her?"

Nord's grimace grew deeper, while his hand twitched.

He was restraining himself.

But Liam pushed on.

"It was her, wasn't it?"

Nord's face turned dark.

The red-haired woman lightly furrowed her brows. "What are you talking about?"

Liam continued.

"Maybe you had plans to leave the academy and venture to other lands."

"But then you became heir to the giants."

"And you felt like you owed the royals for giving you that opportunity, right?"

"Then she suddenly appeared in your life. Loves you with all her heart, doesn't she?"

"You threw away all plans for love and duty! How romantic," Liam clapped slowly, sarcastically.

"Do you see where I'm going with this?" Liam asked.

"Enough!" the red-haired woman shouted. "Who do you think you are? You know nothing about him!"

Liam ignored her entirely, his condescending gaze still fixed to Nord.

"Tell me I'm wrong, Nord," Liam asked. "Tell me you're not here on a mission."

Silence.

The red-haired girl looked appalled and enraged, her cheeks flushed red.

Nord gritted his teeth.

His hands were clenched so hard, blood seeped through his grip.

It wasn't like Nord to have so much restraint, which Liam found strange.

"Bastard," he growled. "I swear. One day I'll—"

"One day?" Liam asked with chillingly cold eyes. "Why not now? Oh, right. The leash."

"You malicious mothe—"

Just then, Rin arrived with wide eyes at the situation, cutting the conversation short.

Liam's piercing gaze slowly moved towards her, leaving Nord and the red-haired girl to their rage.

Silence.

Rin looked at Nord, then at the red-haired girl, then at Liam.

Instantly, she knew what happened.

"This isn't how I thought a reunion would go between us," Rin said with a slight sigh. "At least, not with you resembling… that."

Liam couldn't read her mental waves at all.

They were unstable and jittery.

But at the root of it all, Liam could recognize bestial thoughts that belonged to a magical beast, basically confirming his theory of her becoming one.

"Tell her to stop hiding," Liam told Rin with a serious voice.

Rin's lips curved to a subtle smirk.

Rin looked towards somewhere in the dancing crowd, and a figure wearing black and white clothing came forward.

Nessa looked at Liam with daggers in her eyes.

It was as though she was looking at the criminal who murdered her parents.

It also looked like she was suppressing her tears.

Liam quietly studied her thoughts.

When mind reading, if one emotion was stronger than the rest, it made the ensuing thoughts much easier to read.

Emotion obviously had a strong effect on one's thoughts.

Anger made one's thinking violent and brash.

While sadness made one's thinking filled with despair and lack of hope.

And when Liam figured out why Nessa was so angry, it disgusted him to his core.

In every sense of the world, this was a reunion devoid of any happiness.

Truthfully, Nord didn't think this was how the meeting between them would go.

They had missions together.

They shared meals.

They even shared the same house at one point!

But it led to this.

Any feelings of friendship Nord may have harbored had died instantly, replaced with bitter anger.

Nessa was no different in regard to harboring suppressed hate.

But she had no deluded ideas about Liam's personality.

But seeing Liam again brought up some dark memories.

Though, of all those present, Rin took it the best.

She didn't look angry at Liam in the least.

She just happened to be on the other side.

The red-haired woman was angrily silent, since she wasn't as strong as the group at hand.

Now that a total of five people had gathered on the scene, some Echorians took notice of the strange commotion.

They tried to approach and investigate, but a few Temple Elders pulled away their focus.

'Time is running out,' Liam thought, inwardly grimacing. 'I need to get this over with.'

Soon, this would spiral out of control, and the Royals would take notice.

It wasn't as though Liam had suddenly gained an urge to insult and break down his former classmates.

…Albeit, it did feel good.

Liam was doing it for a very, very important reason.

Nessa took a deep breath to stop her trembling.

Liam's cold demeanor, menacing appearance and powerful presence made her feel insignificant and little.

When she tried to speak, Liam instantly cut her off.

"Spare me the holier than thou monologue, child," Liam said with pure distaste in his tone. "You disgust me."