Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 403: Chapter 403: Morenna’s Knowledge of Her Grandchildren

Chapter 403 – Morenna’s Knowledge of Her Grandchildren

"How does that sound?" Cassius asked his siblings, watching their expressions cycle through a dozen shifts in the span of seconds.

Morgan clearly didn’t know how to respond, black eyes blinking rapidly at him, as if trying to determine whether this was some kind of illusion.

Dorian wore a look of pure exasperation. Judging by his face, this wasn’t the first time he’d had to deal with something like this.

"I thought only Morgan was reckless like this," Dorian muttered, trying to keep his voice down.

Cassius glanced past his siblings and saw the others still nearby, though the guards had already begun ordering them out of the room to wait for Widow’s return.

He realized he needed to act fast. Widow wouldn’t be gone indefinitely, and could return at any moment. Everything he’d done up to this point would be then worthless.

"Reckless or not, this isn’t something I chose willingly, unlike sister Morgan," Cassius said. "It’s a mission from my goddess. You know how that works, right? My goddess hates some god, and wants me to deal with that god’s blessed."

"Can’t you just tell that goddess of yours to handle it herself?" Morgan replied, frowning, then sighed. "Look, Cass. This is dangerous. I don’t mind helping, but are you ready for the fallout? Entering the Deathless Prison to kill a prisoner without authorization is a serious crime."

"Though I doubt there’s any point trying to talk you out of it," Dorian added, with a knowing, wry smile.

"There isn’t," Cassius said. "I have to do this. No matter what."

"Then all of it," Morgan whispered, eyes gradually widening, "are you behind all of this, Cass? This Call of Justice, the Church of Death exploding right when you suspiciously needed a distraction to kill someone inside this very prison. Is this all your doing?"

Mort Hood, tucked away inside Morgan’s shadow, listened with rapt attention. This conversation ranked among the strangest, most chilling he’d ever witnessed.

Three siblings, casually discussing how to murder a prisoner inside the most feared prison in existence.

And one of them — the youngest, no less — might be responsible for blowing up an entire church.

As a Hood himself, Mort probably should’ve been horrified. And he was, genuinely. But at the same time, not really.

These were Desdemonas.

If their father had once killed a High Priest of Death just to marry their mother, why be surprised the son blew up an entire church?

What next? Breaking into the Gate of Death and punching Vorn straight in the face?

Mort found himself speechless.

Cassius, however, was not.

Time was slipping away, and they didn’t have unlimited amounts of it.

"Maybe it’s me. Maybe it isn’t," Cassius said, smiling, unconcerned that anyone might connect him to the sect.

He’d already told Sarah to make sure this time that witnesses would see something other than her Moon mask.

A different face entirely.

Maybe a hulking, draconic man with yellow eyes, black nails, and a bangle?

Seemed like the perfect face to hand Vorn.

’And who’d ever suspect Cassius Desdemona teaming up with a Dragon Hunter? Heh.’ He chuckled, thoroughly delighted Sarah’s Second Skill was memory manipulation.

Ridiculously powerful, that was.

Cassius shook his head, realizing he’d drifted off into his own thoughts for too long. He sighed, refocusing on his siblings. "The real question right now is: will you help me? Answer fast, please. We’re burning time."

"Do you really think we’d let you do this without us now, knowing what we know?" Morgan said, turning just in time to spot Morenna approaching.

Dorian tilted his head, his all-crimson eyes glinting. "Ah. Here we go again."

Then Morenna reached them.

"I need to go now, my dears," Morenna said to all three, her presence wrapping around them like a warm embrace. Before continuing, her eyes flicked briefly towards Morgan’s shadow. "As Queen, I have to be present for this."

"You don’t exactly look thrilled about it," Morgan said, smirking faintly.

"Because I’m not, dear Morgan," Morenna grinned, leaning in to whisper, loud enough that Cassius and the others still caught it. "Because I couldn’t care less about the church blowing up, dear. Might even give whoever did it a kiss."

"Then why not kiss me?" Cassius blurted, unexpected, startling both Morgan and Dorian, even Mort himself.

Morenna tilted her head, all-black eyes fixing on Cassius, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Cassius hesitated, then decided to share at least this much with his family, careful to keep the sect entirely out of it.

"I might be taking a huge risk here, but I really need the Queen’s help, right now," Cassius said, tension in his smile. "I need to kill a prisoner in this prison. A mission from my goddess. Could you stir up enough chaos among the guards to let my siblings and me slip past unnoticed?"

Morgan and Dorian both looked visibly shocked, unable to fully mask it.

Cassius understood why. This was an enormous gamble.

Morenna might get furious at him for something like this. Or start seeing him differently, enough to cool her affection for him entirely.

But Cassius couldn’t see another path through this mission. He wasn’t strong enough to tear through everything in his way and reach his target on his own.

He needed help. Right now, specifically, he needed the Queen’s. Without her, there was no clean way past these guards short of something drastic.

Something he’d rather avoid.

So he waited, nervous, for Morenna’s response, and watched the Queen visibly struggling to hold back laughter.

"This is so sweet," Morenna said. Then she stepped forward and pulled all three of them into a single hug.

To onlookers, it read simply as the Queen embracing her grandchildren before heading off.

"The three of you truly are of my blood," the Queen whispered, hugging them tighter.

"Your blood?" Morgan said, startled by the remark.

"Don’t think I don’t know what you did that day, Morgan. You might not realize this, but I chose your name myself; derived from my own, Morenna," she said. "You and I are bound through names and soul both. During the Royal Event, I sensed you there. I wasn’t certain it was indeed you, however. But right now, I can feel his gaze on me, through your shadow."

She paused, her voice taking on a strange, melancholic tone. "You were never the subtle type, were you, Mort?"

Morgan shuddered with dread, instinctively trying to pull away from the hug, but couldn’t manage it. Cassius swallowed nervously.

"I’m glad to see you back from the dead. Vorn will be thrilled to see his lovely descendants returned. Perhaps?"

Mort chuckled, his voice echoing directly into their minds. "Morenna, you never change, do you? I suspected something with her name, but you actually did it. You bound a soul link across two names."

"She was my first grandchild. I was emotional. Forgive me for that."

"Then why say nothing? Do nothing?"

"You deserved another chance, didn’t you? You gave your life for us. I gave it back to you," Morenna whispered. "I hope you’re enjoying it, beside your granddaughter."

"Can’t complain," Mort said. "Just curious how unrealistic you’ve become since then."

"Less than I used to be, I can assure you."

"That’s a relief."

The Desdemona siblings stood utterly caught off guard by this whole exchange. Cassius most of all. He was starting to realize he’d seriously underestimated Morenna, Queen of the Hoods.

Thinking about it now... what did he actually know about her, beyond the fact she controlled souls, like Esmeray?

’Queen’s breath!’

"And you, Dorian," Morenna continued. "Your case was truly a coincidence, I’ll admit. I simply wanted information about that brothel my daughter loves visiting so much. Digging into it, I found you there. Changing your appearance is easy enough, but not your soul’s color or shape. And you know what my power is, don’t you? I never forget my dears’s soul color and shape."

Dorian felt dread climbing inside his chest. He wasn’t afraid of his identity as Bliss being exposed.

What terrified him was...

He clamped his mouth shut as Morenna’s voice slipped directly into his mind, his alone,

"Don’t worry. I won’t tell your siblings you’ve been sleeping with my daughter. But I would like a private word, my love, Dorian. You seem to know more about her curse than I do, despite all my research into it. My daughter means everything to me, and I need to understand what she’s becoming."

Dorian said nothing, his mind already racing through every possible way this could spiral out of control.

Then, finally, Morenna’s attention landed on Cassius. She pulled him tighter still, even more affectionate now.

"And you, my angel, you truly haven’t disappointed me," she said. "Blowing up the Church of Death? How interesting. You’re growing even more angelic in my eyes."

Cassius smiled wryly. "That doesn’t sound like a good thing. And the guards are already eyeing us with suspicion. Even your daughter."

"Oh, it’s very good, and never mind the onlookers," Morenna said. "See, my dears, I cared a lot about power my whole life. And I got it. I became Queen, but in doing so, I abandoned the mother side of myself so completely that no one could reasonably call me a mother, despite having children of my own."

Mort fell into a profound silence. So did all of them.

"I only understood that once I watched my own daughter fighting her brother for power. Watching that, I realized it must’ve looked exactly the same, when my own family once looked at me. And that made me understand something else too: all my children are exactly what they are, because of me."

The silence deepened, and Cassius listened closely, finally catching a real glimpse of who Morenna Hood actually was.

"So at this point in my life, only one thing matters to me: protecting my children, and protecting all of you, my grandchildren. And because of that..."

Morenna broke the hug, smiling at all three with genuine love,

"...I can do this."

CLICK—!

She snapped her fingers, and every guard and bystander nearby — even Esmeray — dropped unconscious, all at once.

Cassius and his siblings watched, nervous.

"Don’t worry. I only sealed their souls temporarily, they’ll simply lose consciousness," the Queen said. "You have a few seconds before I release the seal."

That was all the siblings needed to hear despite the shocking situation. Time was running.

"Well, fuck this," Dorian cursed. "Our two families must be cursed, honestly."

He activated his skill, cutting his own hand, then his siblings’, drawing blood.

Their blood hit the ground, then began writhing, rising, taking shape into perfectly identical clones of them.

Morenna whistled in amazement. Even Cassius was startled by how convincing it looked. They could even talk.

"Why so surprised? I’m even better at cloning than Mother herself," Dorian said. "It’s essential to what I do."

"Sure, right," Cassius said, lips twitching.

"Let’s move," Morgan said, and Mort Hood surged out of her shadow, standing tall before them.

"As the previous King, I know this prison’s layout," Mort Hood said, then turned to Cassius. "Hello there, little devil."

Cassius replied, "Hello! You actually look a lot like Uncle Dantes. And a bit like my mother, too."

Mort grinned, genuinely pleased to hear it. "That’s my lovely children for you. And you resemble my twins quite a bit. Though more handsome."

"Find someone more handsome than me. I dare you, old man."

Mort cackled, and Morgan urged them onward. But before they left, Morenna handed them three rings.

"Anti-divination artifacts. They are quite precious, so I want these back after your little bonding session, understood?" she said, and the siblings nodded.

Soon, Cassius and his siblings vanished from the room, cutting through the shadows towards wherever the prisoners were held, Morgan carrying them all through.

Morenna remained, the three fake Desdemona siblings beside her, the unconscious crowd scattered around.

Then Mort’s voice echoed in her mind.

"Is letting me back through my grandchild’s shadow your way of asking forgiveness for defying my warning, Morenna?"

The Queen chuckled to herself, heartbeat quickening, wry smile playing on her lips.

"Yes," she said, glancing skyward. "Do you forgive me for marrying your son, and birthing his children?"

Mort chuckled in return.

"You truly are something, Morenna."

—End of Chapter 403—