How to Make a Sinner Sleep - Chapter 94: Chapter 94

In a distant room separated from the dormitories, a man sat behind a locked door, head hanging low and pink hair limpidly hung over his gaze. An air of despair and gloom prickled along the man's skin, casting a darkness to the dim room.
The investigation for the recent murders underwent, and the prime suspect remained silent, neither confessing nor refusing.
The Professors were waiting for a talented graduate that specialized in lies—their ability allowed them to determine somebody's truth and lies, with the punishment of being unable to confess the truth themselves.
The Academy was under an uproar, old rumours resurfacing and every piece of existence connected to the man named Kaden Chauvet rewritten into something cruel and sinister.
It took one wrong to overwrite all rights.
They judged the sinner that they didn't know. Scorn, disdain, accusations. In their heads, the murderer had already been confirmed.
It had been a week since the dance, and most students were preparing to return home for the break before the next year begun. However, the atmosphere in the Academy wasn't cheerful, as it would be when one was allowed to leave for vacation.
The door creaked open, heeled boots clattering into the room. Kaden didn't life his head, recognizing the familiar firm and unforgiving steps.
"I've come to inform you of your punishmen for the murder of several nobles. Now, as my loyal subject, I'll give you two options."
Kaden ground his feet into the floorboards, sneering. "A choice?"
"A choice." affirmed Reed quietly, neither aggressive or gentle. He took two strides, standing before the other. "As you know, the professors have determined to wait to properly judge you. I can hasten that judgment."
"And what would that do?"
"The outcome will be the same regardless."
"Of course, my life is to your bidding."
Reed ignored the biting anger embedded into the man's hoarse voice. "I'm giving you a choice to get it over with now, or later."
Kaden remained quiet, staring at the fine grains along the floor. Insignificant strokes drawn within the wood, yet bearing the weight of the living. "How soon is now?"
"Today."
Kaden swallowed again, hesitating. Reed turned sideways, drawing the curtains as the other narrowed his gaze at the sudden brightness. He begun talking, and Kaden's quiet eyes grew round with surprise.
The green settled into steady determination, and he gritted his teeth.
"It's time for you to return to your proper role, Kaden." said Reed finally after informing his younger brother what his future would look like. "It's your choice what you carry with you. But I'm giving you an option to protect them."
"And why do you care?" snarled the sinner, hands curling into the mattress.
"I don't." replied Reed coldly. "I'm bored, and I wonder what choice you'll make. The future is predetermined—but do you trust in yourself to protect them? Do you trust them to remain alive?"
"I...!"
"Make your decision, Kaden. Now."
Kaden shrunk back, feeling every bit of that scared child he once was. It was like he was in that room again, closed walls, and all he could do was squeeze his eyes shut and pray for the next day to come sooner.
Because the more time passed, the closer he approached death.
"The first choice." Kaden lifted his eyes, revealing no emotion. "I'll accept my punishment today."
"Then so be it."
Having received an answer, Reed turned to leave. At the door, he shook his head with a touch of frustration. He muttered, "You always make the foolish choices that leave you alone."
Kaden heard him, in that quiet room of two. "What are you saying? You're hardly giving me a choice!"
"Have you considered fighting me with those companions of yours?"
"What?"
Reed turned completely, raising his chin to the air with the arrogance he once had. The sort of burning ambition and mischief that teased and laughed alongside Kaden. An arrogance that melted into a type of charm unsuited for a prince.
Kaden once thought that Reed, had he roamed the streets among the dregs of society, would've risen to the top of the food chain.
"You studied until your vision ran red, trained until your body collapsed. For all your intelligence and strength, how is it that you still remain the same naive fool all these years?" wondered Reed with a sarcastic drawl. "My dear little brother hand-picked by myself."
"I never asked for you to pick me up." growled Kaden, narrowing his violent green gaze.
"And yet I did. If you've concluded that I am your enemy, then treat me as one. Spare no resources to achieve success with your lofty ambitions; use everything and everybody to gain what you want. You have that power."
The floorboards creaked as Reed stormed back inside. "As you are now, you'll never reach the ending you desire. You foolish, silly, miserable dog. Your self-hatred ruins you."
Kaden curled his hands deeper into the bed, gritting his teeth. "What the hell are you saying, Reed? Come on dear master, speak properly!"
"Speak properly? When nothing I tell you will hammer into your stubborn skull that denies all truths presented to him?"
"Stop speaking in riddles!"
"Nobody has been hiding their thoughts, and yet you remain blind." Reed stumbled, clutching the side of his head as he yanked his sleeves down, covering black lines swirling over his hands.
In the next second, he straightened, an eerie calm smoothening his previous burst of irritation. His dull blue eyes gazed at the pink-haired fool, and he shook his head as he turned back around, striding away.
"Enough. As you are, you can only live as my loyal dog. Somebody will retrieve you later. I'll allow your friends to visit you temporarily. Use your time well."
"Reed!"
The door slammed shut.
And Kaden felt more confused than he'd been before.
The time ticked, and the sinner in the room refused all requests to meet. With the exception of one: that is, the visitation of Noah Bellamy, the dragon's kin. With the rapid spread of rumours, disapproval of their meeting soon reached Noah's ears.
Fear that the horrible sinner would pollute the dragon's nobility.
"Pollute?" Noah had responded quietly, his dark gaze simmering, pools of black that expressed no emotion. "If he was willing, I would colour my blood with his memory."
"What nonsense are you saying, Noah?" A classmate had protested. "He's killed several—"
"Should I fear him? Or should I beg he kill me next?" replied the dragon blandly, offering no kindness to those he didn't care for. "While it would take him ten seconds to kill you, it would take me only three."
The classmate shrunk away, scampering off at the threat.
Although Noah knew, the only reason it would take Kaden ten seconds, was that the man would hesitate before killing a classmate. Really, for all the crimes labelled to his name, Kaden Chauvet was not the cruel one.
The dragon threw the door open, standing at the entrance as he stared numbly at his sinner.
Kaden smiled—a bright, cheerful smile that was unsuited to such an unlucky person.
"Hey, Bellamy."
"Chauvet. That night—"
"I'm really craving something right now." interrupted Kaden, his stomach growling obediently in succession. "The school food is luxurious, but I want something simpler. From town."
Noah furrowed his eyebrows, remaining still at the door. Kaden made no move to welcome him further inside. "From the town?"
"Can you get something for me, since you love me so?" He added a tilt of teasing in his voice. "And then when you're back, let's talk properly. I'll give you my answer."
Noah's nails dug into his palm, easily piercing his ink-stained hands. The man's eyelashes fluttered, a deep and dark gaze that was swept with bitterness. He wanted to say no, to demand attention and take three strides forward and kiss that man into confession.
Instead, he nodded quietly. Patience, to make up for his mistakes the other night. His hasty decisions. If even Kaden were to reject him, to fear him, the ground would crumble under his feet.
They still had time. There was still time.
"See you later, dearest Bellamy."
That teasing nickname, that delight at watching Noah squirm.
"I'll see you soon, Chauvet."
He turned on his heels, and as soon as the door closed, the proud and arrogant dragon burst out into fast strides, hurrying to the carriages. The sooner he went to town, the sooner he came back.
Kaden stared quietly at the closed door, walking up to it. It wasn't locked. His hand lingered on the handle, twisting them open.
Naturally, the hall was empty.
For the rest of the day, the sinner under judgment continued to refuse visitors. Reed came to his room, scowling with irritation.
"You've refused all visitors except for that dragon of yours?"
"Does it matter?"
Reed waited a beat. "It doesn't. Are you ready?"
Kaden laughed sharply in the darkness of his room, entire body melting with the shadows. He wriggled his fingers and they briefly distorted, twisting. "Are you? If you're next to me—"
"I'm not afraid. Follow along, Kaden. You're out of time."
"Out of time, right?" Kaden dragged himself out of the bed, turning his head out the window. He walked over, pushing aside the curtains and watching students scamper around the grounds. "I wanted to have more."
Reed rarely heard requests from Kaden and froze. "You were the one that rejected your friends—"
"I don't mean right now." Kaden lifted his head and smiled. "But you don't care, do you?"
A docile dog was not one the same one that Reed had raised.
No, that child that had once been full of mischief hadn't lost his spark even after being beaten to the ground. Kaden was smiling; but where did the vibrancy in his emerald gaze go?
Gone, with the time that once-child wistfully wanted more of.
———xxx———
There was a crowd bustling around the wooden stage, built for the single purpose of public execution. It would be a slaughter of the grandest, most terrible villain that all could ever assume.
A murderer confirmed, proclaimed to them all.
They sought justice for the dead they did not know; sought to condemn the villain they also hardly knew.
One would believe that the crowd would rejoice, that they would cheer and jest and curse the terrible sinner to the ground. They would stomp their feet and pray he never roused again, not in the next life, or the one after.
And that was precisely what happened. With the majority to cheer the death of the terrible villain that they knew only by rumours and legend.
They laughed at the bent man, forced to his knees on the stand. They chortled at his miserable state, the rugged and crazed look over his chilling eyes, his hair that fell in disorganized tangles over his handsome face.
Set in the courtyard by the trimmed bushes, an unscheduled execution that once heard of, gathered a crown like moths to a flame.
To watch a human's death.
A beautiful and devastating man, reduced to nothing but a criminal to be killed.
Facts had it that the man was the perpetrator of the recent string of murders, the death of nobles worth a hundred commoner's lives.
The Crown Prince stood, haughtily and proud, as his sword gleamed under the sun's gloating warmth. The cheers grew louder, the contrast between their glorious prince, and the fallen villain even louder.
Reed Chauvet cleared his throat, and his voice boomed across the air. A voice that carried with precision and confidence, the command of a ruler.
"It is fortunate that the sinner of the recent murders in the area has been caught, but curse my eyes when I saw the revelation of my own brother, covered in the blood of the innocent!"
The crowd booms with excitement—this was not an execution; it was their entertainment. Kaden was nothing more than a spectacle to watch, worth less than a human.
He bared his teeth, grimacing from the pain of dozens of bruises and cuts all over his body and sneered.
He didn't lift his gaze.
Reed continued, spreading his arms wide, like the son of a holy lord. "To pay for my blindness, I shall redeem this villain with my own hands!"
He tugged Kaden forward with the rope tied around the criminal's neck, hearing the spluttered coughs of disgrace and hatred. Kaden's slender neck, bare and exposed for a clean swipe of a deadly blade.
In the distance, Nicola cried out and shoved through the crowd, abandoning all elegance and respect. Her neatly tied hair unraveled around her shoulders and her foot tangled in her skirt, tripping her.
How did this happen?
One second they were at the dance, the next Kaden was under lock down and refusing all visitors. The next, she saw students running towards the courtyard claiming it was the time of execution!
Death was a rare penalty, but not one unheard of.
But this wasn't supposed to happen. It wasn't supposed to end like this.
She crashed to the ground with a wince, before pressing herself up without hesitation and stretching a trembling hand out. Her appearance, always neat, fell into disorder.
Somebody yanked her through a narrow gap, to the sidelines.
Nicola stumbled, lifting her beautiful stare to the side profile of a man who couldn't dare look at her, his horrified gaze fixated on the stand.
She felt chilled to the bone, but couldn't help but ask, to plead.
"Niklas! What's going on—why haven't I heard about that? This is—What, what should we do?" She begged for an answer, to the one man who seemed to know everything.
Niklas, whose every word and ridiculous actions were carefully made, with secrets woven in his every step.
But the man's charming blue eyes were leeched of emotion, despair writing over his face.
His voice choked and for the first time, he said,
"I don't know."
Nicola's face warped into an ugly, tearful mess and she collapsed to her knees, unable to continue watching. This time, Niklas didn't offer her a hand. Because any hand he could offer would not reach the person he wanted to save the most.
Within the mess of the crowd, a young boy shoved and pushed through, only to be swamped by large bodies, stomped over a hundred times. His skin was covered in bruises, and he fell to the ground once again as he scrambled to get closer to the stage.
"No!" He screamed, his delicate voice too weak to reach anyone. "No, no, please! You can't kill him! He didn't do any of it, please, please! No, he saved me, h-he didn't, couldn't have done any of that!"
He sobbed violently, wails smothered by the jeers of the crowd.
There were whispers; but whispers did nothing but gossip senselessly. Students who wondered and speculated, whether this was the truth or not.
They recalled their frightening classmate who often remained lounging in his seat, teasing a particular dragon or bickering with his sunny and charming friend. The classmate who rarely acted out a scene, unless somebody targeted him first.
In fact, many had been curious and hoped to speak to the man within the following year. They wanted to befriend this rumoured sinner.
Right now, under the crowd's peak of animosity, none dared to speak.
Silence could quickly become an irredeemable regret.
A woman stood in the crowd silently, trembling hands clutched around a handful of crowded papers, filled to the edges with scribbles and words. Always the watcher, the ears to the school that heard all rumours and gossip.
She swallowed, and her voice that she loved to use, stuck in her throat. She briefly looked back at her fallen friend, crumpled on the ground with shaking shoulders.
Then at the sinner who she'd known for a year.
A stranger she barely knew; a friend she laughed and joked with.
"Is this," she whispered finally, her voice lost in the roaring crowd. "Justice? The real sinner... is it him, or us who jeers at death?"
She despised herself for it, but doubt crept into her chest. She could neither comfort Nicola or scream in protest.
How could she plea for circumstance she hardly knew?
Nobles—humans had died, and if Kaden truly killed them, confirmed by all those here, then could she defend him? And if she didn't, would she be terrible? But if she did, would she be even worse?
The woman said nothing, her wide eyes fixated on the scene.
Reed lifted his blade high in the sky. It was a sword said to have been carved by hands of metal and gold, the craftsmanship of the most talented to roam the earth. A blade melted with blood and molded by bleeding hands.
A sword that could cut through anything.
Kaden suddenly lifted his head, but his eyes weren't searching for anything in the crowd. It lost all hostility, staring into the skies far away, at something beyond his reach. To another sky, to a different town, far away.
Disheveled and beaten, most undoubtedly in his most pathetic state, Kaden smiled.
It was small and slight, and those that recognized it only scolded him for smiling even at his death.
Colour drained from Niklas' frozen face and Arlo, who'd barely managed to peak through the top, fought more violently, even after being beaten.
Nicola continued to cry at the ground, into her spread hands.
In the distance, a youth frantically rushed towards the scene of execution, having only heard of the news. His bright blue eyes were dark with fear, and he ran with no regard to appearance or nobility.
He ran not like a genius of the century, or a student praised and respected by all, but like a man about to lose his soul.
Skye saw the crowd—he saw the hustle of people, disgust seeping into his chest. And then he saw Kaden's distant smile that wasn't meant for him, and the blade in the hands of his brother that was about to drop.
"I'll kill you!" He yelled, too far to be heard clearly. "I'll kill you, I'll rip every limb from your body! Don't you dare do it—don't you dare kill him, Reed! I command somebody to stop this nonsense, now!"
His voice cracked and tears flowed endlessly down his scrunched up face.
"Please—!"
The blade was brought down, like the sky's final judgment. It sliced through bone and a soundless gasp left the sinner's lips as his head rolled onto the ground, skidding and smearing blood over the wood.
The thud was loud in the momentary silence.
Then, the crowd—those that didn't turn pale with horror and wonder if a terrible mistake had been made—cheered and roared, laughing in delight.
A delight so loud, that it paid no heed to the crumpling bodies mixed within, the grief that grated their bones and tore their hearts out. It paid no mind to the hearts that had dropped cold with the thud of the sinner's head.
In the town of Perro, located close to the Academy, a well-dressed man roamed the crowd. His black-white hair had been combed to one side, and he stopped at the face of a stall steaming bread of herbs and cheese.
The stoic face was loosened with the tug of an affectionate smile.
The dragon examined the different spread of snacks with deep thought. His original purpose had been to find the source of the rumours that spoke of Kaden's misdeeds, and to settle the truth of them.
He wanted to find Kaden's snacks quickly, but he also wanted to be productive and put an end to the nonsense occurring within the Academy.
Behind him, the squawk of a bird chortles out and he turned. A little boy had released two birds from a cage, and they soared high into the skies.
Then, to the boy's despair, one tumbled and crashed to the ground. It's wings bent, torn and cold where it laid dead.
It would no longer fly nor run ever again.
The boy's mother rushed to reassure him, and Noah shifted his gaze back to the bread.
The sudden death of the bird had made his chest squeeze in a way that he wasn't used to feeling—he'd seen many dead animals, and had taken it as the nature of life. Death wound itself around life; that was a fact.
Then, he saw an animal shaped bread in the shape of an adorable fox, and the smile on his lips returned. Although Kaden would likely awkwardly accept it, deny any resemblance he had to the bread, his face would likely soften and melt at the flavours.
Noah's eyes softened as he imagined that. The bread-seller looked up at him with a gleam in her eyes, smiling. "Now, now, youngster. I know that look. Are you thinking of your lover?"
The laughter faded from Noah's face, but he couldn't hide the gentleness of his gaze. "Not a lover." Not yet. "He's somebody very important to me."
"Oho, I see. I know all about what important means to you youngsters these days. Take an extra one—it's on me." She winkled, the wrinkles of her skin creasing. "Made with extra love, dear."
"Thank you."
"Ah! I see that look, that's one of happiness. Are you happy, dear?"
Noah was slightly surprised, before his shoulders relaxed and his gaze softened impossibly. "...I've never been more satisfied."
In the dreary life of solitude written out for him, he'd found a different path.
He'd found home in Kaden Chauvet.
A bell rung, it's sound clear as a whistle and cut across the air. It was sharp, and as Noah gathered the bag of bread into his arms, he frowned.
There stood the paper boy, as he always did, in the center of the street and shouting headlines. Noah heard it often when he visited the town, but the news was always spoken bright and early in the morning.
Unless it was something gravely important.
The boy waved the paper in the air wildly, patting the stuffed bag at his side. Noah's onyx eyes flickered up before the boy could open his mouth, and his blood ran cold.
The world spun under his feet.
"Report! Report! The fastest news in this town! The sinner is dead!"
The dragon's body slowly turned, sounds and people blurring in his surroundings. The old lady from the stall called to him with worry.
"Dear?" She called out to the man who wouldn't turn, and stared at the paper as if he'd seen his own death written all over it. "Are you alright?"
Townsfolk continued to move to their daily routine, indifferent to the rowdiness of their surroundings. The sun was still high in the skies, a circle of brightness in the brilliant blue of the day.
A brown bag, tightly crumpled and squeezed, fell to the ground. The contents scattered over the ground, a fox-shaped bread facing the sky.
"The sinner, Kaden Alluin Chauvet, has been executed!"