Chapter 32: Chapter : 32 : Blood Sky!

“Wow… The sky is all red!” Luna cried out, her blue eyes wide in wonder.

The group had barely taken five steps from their landing point before the full scope of Floor 2 unfolded before them.

Aiden glanced upward—and his breath caught.

The sky above wasn’t simply red. It bled. Thick swirls of carmine clouds drifted like bruises across a gaping wound in the heavens. Sunlight—if it could still be called that—filtered down in beams of dying crimson, casting long, haunting shadows across a shattered world.

Below that sky, the ruins stretched out endlessly in every direction. Once-majestic buildings now stood like skeletons of steel and stone—walls blackened with soot, towers torn in half, shattered windows like jagged teeth. Scorch marks trailed across the ground in long arcs, like something had scraped and dragged through the city in a violent frenzy.

War. This was the aftermath of war.

Aiden stepped forward, boots crunching over charred stone and broken glass. Rubble piled high along cracked roads. Chunks of rebar jutted from craters like spears left behind on a forgotten battlefield. A dry wind carried the scent of rust and ash.

“I…” Aiden murmured, eyes scanning the ghost city. “I didn’t even notice this before…”

“Of course not,” Lysandra scoffed beside him, arms crossed tightly under her chest. Her cheeks were still flushed from earlier. “You were too busy being a pervert.”

“I wasn’t—!”

She turned her head away before he could finish, muttering under her breath, “Typical.”

Luna giggled, sidling up beside Aiden and looping her arm through his. “Come on, Master~ You can’t blame her. You were being very snuggly back there.”

“I was unconscious!” Aiden protested.

“And adorable,” Luna added with a teasing grin, ears perking up. Her tail swished lazily behind her, dusting off some crumbling stone.

Lysandra turned on them, glaring. “We’re in a dungeon, remember?! How is there even an open sky here? A place this big and exposed shouldn’t even exist inside a sealed space!”

“I mean…” Aiden scratched the back of his head sheepishly, “It is kind of weird.”

“Not weird,” Luna corrected. “It’s just that my Master is amazing and mysterious~”

Aiden gave her a flat look, but she just stuck out her tongue playfully.

Ivy, who had been quietly walking beside him, tugged at his sleeve.

He turned toward her. “Yes?”

Her round red eyes looked up at him, innocent and curious. “Onii-chan… what’s a car?”

Aiden blinked.

Luna’s ears twitched. She remembered the letter they found in Clara’s room. The word ’car’ had been in it—’The train takes Edward… his car passes the ridge road…’

“Oh,” Aiden muttered, realizing the source of Ivy’s curiosity. “That.”

Two pairs of eyes—Luna’s and Ivy’s—were locked onto him now, sparkling with anticipation.

Aiden felt sweat bead down the side of his face. He could lie. He could dodge. He could say it’s complicated… or—

“It’s… a kind of transport,” he explained carefully. “Like a cart—but made of metal. Smaller than that ghost train, but faster. Runs on something like magic, but not exactly magic.”

Both Luna and Ivy gasped in unison.

“Really?!” Ivy beamed. “I wanna see one!”

“Same!” Luna chimed. “Do they fly? Or run on rails like the ghost train?”

“Uh… some fly, some roll,” Aiden replied vaguely, internally kicking himself.

He smiled nervously. “Maybe we’ll find one someday.”

Lysandra narrowed her eyes at him.

She didn’t say anything.

But she didn’t have to.

“What is it, Ly?” Aiden asked, trying to act innocent. “Don’t tell me you wanna know about cars too?”

“I said nothing,” Lysandra muttered, looking away sharply. “Unlike those two, I don’t get distracted by made-up words and mystery machines.”

Aiden smirked. “You’re dying to know.”

She huffed.

Luna leaned in, whispering, “Princess Jealous-pants strikes again~”

“Stop calling me that!”

—

Lysandra fumed, stomping a few steps ahead of them. Her cheeks were puffed and bright pink, her fingers curling into small, frustrated fists.

Aiden, amused, tilted his head. “You sure you’re not curious? I could describe it more… in detail.”

“Keep your weird magic-wagon fantasies to yourself,” she shot back over her shoulder—but her voice wavered slightly, like her composure was fraying.

Luna snickered behind her hand. “She’s definitely thinking about it.”

“She totally is,” Aiden whispered back with a smirk.

But Lysandra said nothing more.

The group continued walking through the cracked, open road—if it could still be called that. Rusted, half-destroyed signs stood on crooked poles. Shattered pieces of once-smooth pavement were scattered everywhere. Vines with blood-red leaves had crept up through the stone and concrete, wrapping themselves around lampposts and decaying steel beams. Even the wind carried a distant hum, like the ghosts of the ruined city were murmuring to each other.

Then, after a long pause of silence, Lysandra suddenly stopped.

She didn’t look back, but her voice reached Aiden’s ears, quieter this time.

“Back in the throne room…”

Aiden blinked, turning to her. “Huh?”

Lysandra turned to face him now, her crimson eyes intense, searching. “When you stood before my father—when you said you’d marry me. That you’d take me with you…”

Her throat bobbed.

“Were you serious?”

Aiden raised an eyebrow.

Luna stopped walking. Ivy peeked up from behind Aiden’s coat.

The mood had changed.

He took a moment. Then he smirked—playfully, wickedly.

“Oh? Did our dear goblin princess finally fall for my dashing hero persona?”

Lysandra’s eyes widened. “I—I didn’t—!” She scowled and looked away, clearly flustered. “Just answer the question.”

Aiden walked a few steps toward her, casually brushing debris aside with his foot. “Your father was the one who proposed the marriage first, remember?”

“That was a formality,” she snapped. “A political alliance. A strategic—”

“Uh-huh.” He crossed his arms, leaning slightly closer. “And yet, here you are, blushing like a schoolgirl asking if I meant it.”

“I am not blushing!”

“You are,” Luna chimed in with a smirk, enjoying the show thoroughly. “So red, even the sky’s jealous.”

“I am not!”

“You kinda are,” Ivy mumbled.

Lysandra looked like steam was about to erupt from her ears. She turned fully toward Aiden now, fists at her sides, lips quivering from frustration and nerves. “Stop dodging the question! Were you serious or not?!”

The playful smirk faded from Aiden’s face.

He stepped forward.

Lysandra blinked, her breath hitching as she instinctively stepped back.

One step.

Two.

Three.

Until her back pressed gently against a wall of cracked stone, vines curling beside her face.

She was cornered.

Aiden didn’t stop until he was inches from her. He placed his right hand against the wall beside her head, boxing her in. His shadow loomed over her. His eyes were dark and unreadable—but not cold. Far from it.

Lysandra’s breath caught in her throat. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. She could hear her own heartbeat thudding in her ears, so loud she was sure Ivy and Luna could hear it too. Her legs felt like jelly, and yet… she didn’t step away.

Aiden leaned in slightly, his voice soft and low.

“I was dead serious.”

Lysandra’s lips parted, but no sound came out.

His eyes locked with hers. “When I said I’d take you away from your father… I meant it.”

His face inched closer, his words brushing her lips like a whisper.

“I meant it when I said I’d make you mine.”

Lysandra’s knees buckled slightly. Her face turned an impossible shade of crimson. She was trembling—but not out of fear.

Aiden’s gaze held her in place like a spell.

“You’re not just a pawn to be passed around in royal games. You’re more than a title or a prize.”

He raised his left hand gently, brushing a stray strand of her golden hair from her cheek.

“And if you’ll let me…” he whispered, “I’ll show you what that means.”

Lysandra’s lips trembled, her mouth trying to form words, but her throat betrayed her.

Then, finally, she spoke—barely louder than a breath.

“Y-you idiot…”

Aiden smiled. “That’s a yes, then?”

She clenched her eyes shut and turned her head. “I didn’t say anything!”

“Your blush said enough,” Luna called from behind them, her voice smug and amused.

“I hate you all!” Lysandra hissed, though her hands were fisted in the front of Aiden’s coat, clinging to him.

Aiden chuckled softly. “You’ll get over it.”

Ivy shuffled over with wide eyes and clapped her hands shyly. “Onii-chan… did you just confess?”

Luna gasped dramatically. “Ohoho~! Did our uptight princess just melt in the face of a proper romantic charge?”

“Luna!” Lysandra shrieked, burying her face in Aiden’s chest.

“Yep,” Luna nodded with a smirk. “Definitely melted.”

“C-could we please move on before I die of embarrassment?” Lysandra groaned, still refusing to meet anyone’s eyes.

Aiden gently placed a hand on the back of her head, brushing through her golden hair. “Only if you promise not to run away next time I corner you.”

“I… I wasn’t running…” she mumbled.

“Right,” Luna teased. “You were just strategically retreating into his arms.”

“I said shut up!!”

They laughed.

Aiden eventually released her, and Lysandra slowly, shakily stepped away from the wall—her face still flushed but her shoulders just a little straighter.

They resumed walking, though Ivy was still giggling and Luna kept sneaking glances at Lysandra’s burning face with far too much delight.

But something had shifted.

Lysandra didn’t walk ahead anymore.

She stayed by Aiden’s side, close, not touching—but close enough that every now and then, her hand would brush his sleeve… and she wouldn’t pull it away.

Aiden noticed.

And he smiled.

The ruins around them were bleak.

But something warm had sparked in the shadows—something blooming even under a blood-red sky.

And it wasn’t going away.

Not this time.

—

END OF Chapter : 32 : BLOOD SKY!

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