True Alpha's Chosen Mate-Chapter 312: You can’t lie

In this impregnable fortress that the duchy was known for, there was another reason this place was more dreadful than what it appeared. Under this castle, there were dungeons that were divided into five levels. It was more like a real hell, each level was far more dreadful than one could imagine.

Being imprisoned in level one was for the mild cases, only punished by being drowned but not enough to suffocate and die. All the torture methods in level one were already dreadful but still considered mild. The deeper the level a felon was lock-in, the more dreadful the tortures were and the more dangerous the people in there were.

Paris was the holder of the dungeon level two. Level one was being managed by the duke’s left-hand man since it was easier to manage. Lucien was the person in charge of level three, the level below that was being overseen by the duke’s right-hand man.

The fifth and the last level was handled by the duke. Even after many years, I had never been passed level three, but from what I heard, the levels below there were dangerous. So, the duke, handled it personally since he was strong enough to put the felons in the fifth level despite them being dangerous who fought the duke on equal ground.

Although I was interested in the dungeon Paris was handling for personal reasons, I never accepted the offer of me handling any of them. It made me sick and thankfully, the duke bought my lie when I refused, using the excuse of wanting to keep myself pretty and clean.

THUD!

"Are you alright, Paris?" I smiled, gazing down at Paris after tripping him from behind and causing him to fall on his back. I pointed the tip of the thin sword at his throat.

"Ughh..." I laughed as I retrieved the sword while he ran his hand through his tousled hair in distress. "That’s low, Callie."

"Well, you can’t say that when you are on a battlefield." I shrugged, stepping on his chest when he tried to get up. "Stay there so I can enjoy the pathetic sight of yours."

"Stop it...!" he frowned, making me giggle before swinging the sword over my shoulder. "Alright. I had enough."

I took my foot away from his chest while he propped himself with his elbow. I watched him get up after our long and continuous sparring that lasted for half an hour.

"Stop frowning like that," I humored the second he faced me with an ugly frown. "You promised."

"I know!" he ruffled his hair in irritation. "I’ll hand over the key later. I don’t have it with me right now."

I shrugged happily. "Well, since my business here is done here, I’ll better freshen up." I didn’t wait for his reply as I turned and walked away.

"Wait —" Paris jogged and followed me until he was walking beside me. "Hey, you’re not planning to cause trouble in my playground, are you?"

I cast him a side-eye. "What if I am?"

"Callie!"

"I’m jesting." I laughed, shaking my head as we walked through the field going back inside. "Don’t worry. I’m not planning on letting all the prisoners go. Whether or not I like it, I still had to help you once that happened."

"Then why do you want access to that place?" he asked, clearly intrigued at my reasons. It was not like Paris didn’t ask me before. Actually, he had been curious, but he never got an answer. It was funny that he still ask me these when I didn’t even answer before.

"Just because." I shrugged. "I just want to take a walk. The dungeon seemed to be a good place for a change."

"Damn... you’re twisted."

I chuckled and looked back at him in dismay. Of all people who would say that to me, I couldn’t believe I was hearing that from Paris. Between the two of us... never mind. We’re equally broken since we were raised by the same person.

"I’ll visit later," I said and with that being said, Paris and I headed towards the dining hall to eat breakfast together.

******

Meanwhile, in the duke’s chancery...

"Octavian, that’s a low move to use me as an excuse why you didn’t punish your son!" Sven was reclining lazily on the divan while the duke was standing in front of the window.

The latter was holding his hand behind him. He slowly turned around and his eyes instantly fell on the lazy werewolf on the couch.

"Well, it was partially your fault." He replied, sauntering towards the stand. He picked up the decanter of red liquid, pouring himself a glass.

"Damn... you’re giving me a headache." Sven lazily dragged himself to sit upright, glancing at Octavian, who was walking in his direction with the glass in his hand. "It’s not my fault! It’s your fault that you like me very much even though I’m not trying."

"Because you are a rare kind." Octavian settled on the armchair, his leg over the other. "How about you marry my daughter? In that case, you’ll be my son-in-law."

"My goodness..." Sven scrunched his nose up in dismay. "How can you talk as if you’re simply giving me a doll? You make me sick!"

"Haha! Well, I wouldn’t be in here talking to you if what I do is something that isn’t enough to make people sick."

"This place is so complicated."

"Life itself is complicated." Octavian shrugged as he raised the glass to his lips. "So? I heard you snuck out with Callie last night."

"I didn’t." Sven whistled and averted his eyes.

"It’s amusing how a person such as yourself cannot lie."

"I’m strong." Sven blinked almost innocently. "There’s no need to lie when there’s no reason for me to lie. You should know that better since you’re also quite honest than most people I met so far."

Octavian laughed. That was correct — everything Sven said was true. People like them... strong and arrogant individuals like them didn’t see the beauty in deception because they believed everything they do were right and justified.

"Still, lying with a straight face is a skill set, especially for the people in power..." he paused, smirking at Sven. "You cannot disagree with that, will you, Your Majesty?"