HAVE YOU MEMORIZED ALL OF IT?
OKAY, I'LL BURN IT NOW.
THESE FLOWERS ARE POISONOUS.
IT DIDN’T SEEM LIKE ROXANA KNEW THAT...
I DON’T KNOW HOW HARMFUL IT IS TO THE HUMAN BODY,
BUT I CAN STILL TELL IT’S POISONOUS FROM THE FAINT SCENT.
IF IT WAS A PRESENT FROM ONE OF HER FATHER’S MEN,
COULD LANTE AGRECE BE BEHIND THIS?
IF THAT’S THE CASE, WHY DID HE SEND HIS OWN DAUGHTER A BOUQUET OF POISONOUS FLOWERS?
DOES IT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE FAINT TOXIC AROMA SHE CARRIES AROUND WITH HER?
IS THAT WHY SHE VOMITED BLOOD?
MY POWERS AREN'T WORKING PROPERLY BECAUSE OF THE SHACKLES.
DAMN IT.
HAS YOUR TOY LEARNED TO BEHAVE YET, ROXANA?
HE'S GETTING BETTER EACH DAY.
HE MEANS A LOT TO ME, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE HE WAS A PRESENT FROM NONE OTHER THAN YOU, FATHER.
I KNOW I'LL HAVE A LOT OF FUN WITH HIM ONCE I GET HIS BROKEN PARTS FIXED UP.
THE MORE I LOOK AT YOU, THE MORE YOU REMIND ME OF MYSELF.
HA, DON'T BE RIDICULOUS.
YOU HAVE CERTAINLY CHANGED A LOT SINCE YOU WERE A CHILD.
WHAT WAS THAT KID'S NAME, AGAIN? ASHER?
YOU KNOW, THAT GOOD-FOR-NOTHING DEAD BROTHER OF YOURS.
I HAD HIGH EXPECTATIONS, SINCE HE RESEMBLED SIERRA.
BUT IT TURNED OUT HE WAS COMPLETELY USELESS.
HE MUST HAVE BEEN A BAD INFLUENCE ON YOU WHILE HE WAS ALIVE.
IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE BROTHER WHO DIED DURING THE TEST A FEW YEARS AGO,
HIS NAME WAS ACHILLE, NOT ASHER.
NOT THAT IT MATTERS, FATHER.
HE DIED A DISHONORABLE DEATH, AFTER ALL.
ACHILLE MEANS NOTHING TO ME.
EVEN IF HE WERE STILL ALIVE, I'D STILL BE THE PERSON I AM NOW.
I'M A PROUD AGRECE.
AND I LOOK UP TO YOU, MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE.
YOU MAY GO NOW, EMILY.
YES, MY LADY.
HAA... I'M EXHAUSTED.
I'M NOT SURPRISED. I HAD TO DEAL WITH BOTH MARIA...
...AND LANTE ON THE SAME DAY.
I WISH I COULD TAKE A NAP NOW, BUT I DON'T THINK THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN.
YOU'RE BACK.
WHAT DID YOU SEE?
A BLOOD MOON HOVERING OVER A DARK, SILENT FOREST,
THE CRIES OF THE CROWS AWAKENED FROM THEIR SLUMBER,
SLAUGHTERED BODIES,
AND A DARK-HAIRED MAN STANDING IN THEIR MIDST.
DEON...!
LANTE AGRECE'S FAVORITE SON,
UNMOVABLE FROM HIS FIRST PLACE POSITION AT THE BANQUET.
AND THE MOST VICIOUS OF THE SIBLINGS.
DEON AGRECE.
HE'S BACK.
CONSIDERING THE TIME DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HERE AND THE WESTERN BORDERS,
IF THE BUTTERFLY IS JUST RETURNING WITH THE NEWS NOW,
THAT MEANS DEON SHOULD BE ARRIVING ANY MOMENT NOW.
DAMN IT.
HE'S ALWAYS BEEN ONE STEP AHEAD OF ME.
DID LANTE ORDER DEON TO EXTERMINATE THE MEN AT THE BORDER?
THE DEAD BODIES SPRAWLED AT DEON'S FEET...
...MUST HAVE BEEN THE PEOPLE SENT BY THE PEDELIANS TO FIND CASSIS.
THIS DAY CANNOT GET ANY WORSE.
I SHOULD TELL CASSIS ABOUT THIS.
?
WHAT IS IT?
OR...
...MAYBE I SHOULDN'T.
THE PEDELIANS WON'T GIVE UP LOOKING FOR CASSIS THAT EASILY.
I'LL INCREASE MY SURVEILLANCE NEAR THE BORDERS AND LOOK FOR THE NEXT OPPORTUNITY.
CASSIS.
GET WELL SOON.
YOU'RE MY ONLY HOPE.
Roxana Chapter Draft 12 revolves around Roxana's tense confrontation with her father Lante and the secret of the poisonous flowers. As Cassis notices the scent of poison and suspects Lante, Roxana tells her father she values her toy and acts cold about her dead brother Achille. The chapter ends with Roxana shaken by the news that Deon Agrece has returned with a bloody massacre.
