Chapter 152: Relying On Chaos.

“The parents?” Samson asks, but despite the question, Ezra felt like Samson already knew what Kaelis meant.

Still, he asked it anyway.

And Ezra had to wonder why?

“Majority of Dark Ones are adults, I haven’t noticed it until recently,” Kaelis starts off his explanation, his tone steady, but there was a slight tension beneath it. “And I’m not sure yet, because I’ll look into it now, but I’ve always thought the parents of the kids who were kidnapped don’t ask us questions, or follow ups. We don’t… hear from them at all.”

Ezra’s brows furrowed slightly.

’Wait, they don’t ask questions?’ Ezra thought. ’And they never thought to check in with the parents from the get go?’

That didn’t make sense.

Not even a little.

But then again, Kaelis was a prince.

There were things he might’ve overlooked simply because of status, because of assumptions.

Kaelis could’ve thought that the parents didn’t want to impose.

But no—

Parents were parents.

They wouldn’t care about royal status if it was their children.

Ezra certainly wouldn’t.

“But upon seeing Lanie and Richard’s reactions to their children getting taken, I have come to the conclusion, as I’ve said, they use the missing children’s parents to turn into Dark Ones.”

The statement settled heavily.

“And the children?” Samson asks. “Do you think they’re alive?”

Kaelis paused.

Just for a second.

“I… don’t know. The cultists seem smart, father. They’re fast… they’re skilled, and all of them were Alphas,” Kaelis says with a frown, his fingers tightening slightly against the table. “It could be they’re still sacrificing the children, using them for whatever dark magic. Their voices were distorted, and the fact that they have the ability to turn humans into Dark Ones.”

Ezra felt his chest tighten slightly at that.

The idea alone—

It wasn’t something he wanted to dwell on.

“Why do you think that in the past, they never had to kidnap to turn our dead into Dark Ones? But now they need to kidnap, and maybe even sacrifice the children?” Samson asks.

Ezra felt it was strange.

The way Samson was asking questions.

It wasn’t wrong.

Not really.

But it felt like he was testing something.

Like he already had thoughts of his own and wanted to see if Kaelis would reach the same conclusion.

’He’s not just asking,’ Ezra thought. ’It feels like he’s also testing Kaelis.’

Kaelis was silent.

For once, he didn’t have an immediate answer.

It looked like he hadn’t thought about it that way until Samson asked.

But Ezra—

Ezra raised his hand slightly.

“I have a theory, Your Majesty.”

Both Samson and Kaelis looked at Ezra.

The attention shifted to him instantly.

“Go ahead, Ezra Belloren. I am curious to see your perspective.”

Ezra bowed his head slightly in gratitude before speaking.

“If the cultists are using any form of curse, demons, or dark magic, I think there was a chance they settled with using the dead because it’s easier.”

“Easier?” Kaelis asks, furrowing his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

Ezra hesitated for a brief moment, trying to find the right words.

“Oh uh… when I was on vacation, the kingdom I was in had magic… well, not everyone, but they mostly relied on ancestral curses and potions and what not, and mostly spiritual?”

It was hard to explain.

Even thinking about it now made him uneasy.

’That old shaman who lived near us was strange,’ Ezra thought. ’He kept saying something was wrong with me.’

He pushed that thought aside.

“Basically, they believe that the living, because of our souls, are harder to control than the dead. That is why they have a saying bless the dead but not the living. Something along those lines.”

The more he explained, the more uncertain he felt about how it sounded.

It felt messy.

And severely incomplete.

’This sounds stupid,’ he thought, but he didn’t stop.

He kept going anyway.

“I think it could be the same. Since as far as we know, or at least I know, only the royal family are blessed magic, yes?”

It’s not even magic.

They just had in-born abilities.

“Yes,” Samson answers, nodding slowly.

“It could be the cultists are using other kingdom’s ways, similar to what I just said, and it was easier to use the dead,” Ezra continues, his voice more steady now that he committed to the idea. “But their main goal could have been to use the living as well, but it might’ve needed time.”

He stopped there.

Waiting for their reaction.

’Or maybe I’m completely wrong,’ Ezra thought quietly, though he didn’t show it.

“Why would they need time, Ezra?” Samson asks. He didn’t seem bothered by Ezra’s messy explanation, if anything, he seemed intrigued.

That alone made Ezra pause.

The king wasn’t dismissing him.

He was listening.

Ezra’s eyes widened a bit. “It might be they needed a few things, or… no…” The words slipped out as his thoughts shifted, something clicking into place faster than he could sort it out properly.

On the spot, he got another idea.

“They needed enough people living in fear, in despair, in agony to be able to turn a lot of people. Maybe they needed more people to join them, to strengthen whatever curse or whatever it is they’re doing and…”

Ezra trailed off slightly.

His brows pulled together.

Then—

He blinked.

A quiet realization settling in.

“…everything about the Dark Ones rely on emotions. It could be they played the long game. It’s not just the kidnapping they’re using.”

The thought lingered.

He could feel it making sense the more he sat with it.

’It’s too coordinated,’ Ezra thought. ’This isn’t random.’

“What else?” Kaelis asks.

Ezra didn’t answer right away.

He was still thinking.

Still connecting things.

“Alphas… have been able to use their pheromones to subdue omegas, right?” Ezra says, his tone almost absent, like he was speaking out loud just to keep up with his own thoughts.

“Yes, you think that’s related?”

“I heard there were brothels now. If there are brothels, there could be assault that never get reported, omegas… the cultists are mostly Alphas,” Ezra says, his voice quieter now, but more certain. “They’ve been causing chaos, sadness. They knew it would happen.”

He looked down slightly, his jaw tightening.

It felt worse the more he said it.

More intentional.

More cruel.

“Even just the vendors. They’ve been counting on the kingdom going into chaos.”

’They’re not just creating Dark Ones,’ Ezra thought, his chest tightening. ’They’re creating the perfect conditions for it.’

The question Ezra couldn’t think about was what is the end goal?

What is the point of the living turning into Dark Ones if they were docile?

Or it could be that…they didn’t count on them being docile.

That was possible.

“Impressive,” Samson says with an approving smile. “Very impressive, Ezra Belloren.”

The praise caught Ezra slightly off guard.

Not because the king had never spoken well of him before, but because of how openly he said it, and in front of Kaelis too.

“What did I say, father? I told you, besides his skills, he is very smart. Maybe smarter than me if I am being more honest.” Kaelis said, and it was a genuine compliment.

There was no teasing at all.

No smirk.

No hidden jab.

Just sincerity.

That somehow made it worse for Ezra.

’I don’t think I did much,’ Ezra thought, his fingers curling slightly against his lap. He only gave a theoretical answer. It’s not like they had solved it because of him.

Still, neither of them looked like they were just being polite.

“Now that we have that, Kaelis, tell me everything that happened from the beginning. Leave no detail behind. I will not ask anymore questions.” The king says as he leaned back into his seat.

Kaelis nods his head.

And then Kaelis begins explaining.

From meeting Ricardo and his family, being followed and attacked by the cultists.

Ezra getting “poisoned.”

The random Dark Ones attack that weren’t from Fleur De Lys, nor any nearby villages.

As Kaelis explained that, Ezra reinforced his theory inside his mind that they also had parents.

That they had to.

There was no other explanation that felt right anymore.

But how did they bring those people there?

Were they just hiding Dark Ones undetected?

Keeping them somewhere until they were needed?

The thought made Ezra’s chest feel heavier the longer he sat with it.

Kaelis also explains Ricardo kidnapping Lior, and then Kaelis and Ezra saving him.

Through all of it, Samson just kept nodding.

Not interrupting.

Not questioning.

Just listening with that same unreadable focus on his face.

“That’s all that happened happend,” Kaelis says.

“Hm.” Samson says. “That’s a lot for one day.”

’You said it,’ Ezra thought in immediate agreement.

If anything, that was an understatement.

“I do have one question now though,” Samson asks.

Kaelis straightens just slightly. “What is it, father?”

Then Samson looks at Lior.

Ezra noticed the shift immediately.

So did Lior.

The child seemed to shrink a little in his seat under the attention.

“You missed explaining the part as to how this child was able to not get taken. It seemed they have a lot of time to escape. Why didn’t they take him?”

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