Living as the Villain’s Stepmother - Chapter 182

Chapter 182 – Wedding Day Torture (1)

Lugar sat smiling beside a cold, seemingly emotionless Lacias. With them, sat a man who was trembling so hard he shook the ground. Even a blind man could see the tension between the three.

To avoid attention, they headed to a hidden place in the mansion. After leaving the main hall where the party was being held, they went down two floors and entered a room on the left corner. Inside there was a small groove dug in the floor covered in dark-colored carpet.

When Lacias poured an amount of his ring into the groove, it made a slight sound, and the hidden space below was slowly revealed. A dark stone staircase appeared when they lifted the floor and it spiraled down. This area of the mansion did not even exist on the blueprints.

“It’s a little wet and humid because there’s no ventilation,” warned Lacias.

Lugar held his arms together. “Wow, it’s a little chilly here. It’s been a while since I last came here.”

“Are you excited?”

“How can I not be? on such a happy day?” Lugar laughed like a mischievous boy as he answered Lacias.

Remembering their reason for coming, Lugar tugged at the troublemaker. “Hey, watch your step. You better not slip on the stairs for your own sake.”

He couldn’t bear to watch the man shaking his legs with every step he took. Startled by the sudden loud voice, the man almost collapsed.

“Where’s the confident man I saw a while ago?” Humored Lacias. “Why are you trembling like that?”

The man cowered even more. He was no longer the bold man he used to be.

A little while later the three spotted the end to the stone stairs marked by a series of torches. The room below was not so spacious, but just the right size for dealing with things in secrecy.

Unfortunately, due to the long years of disuse, there was no place to sit as all the furniture had been moved to other rooms.

Lacias pushed the man’s shoulder lightly, but the man fell to the floor with a loud sound.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t prepare a chair. It’s not that I don’t want to treat you nicely, so I hope you understand.”

From his tone, the man could tell that it was not a request but coercion. It sounded like Lacias was commanding him to understand that whatever was going to happen to him was happening unconditionally. Of course, Lacias wasn’t sorry at all.

“Now.” Lacias began. “Let me ask you a question. Do you think I don’t know about the suspicious cases that happened today? I didn’t dig into detail only because I didn’t want to make my wife worried. How involved are you with those cases?”

He did not threaten him with anything physical. However, his cold eyes looking down were enough to make the man freeze in fear.

“I-I don’t… know….”

“If you don’t know anything, then I’ll have to make you know.” Lacias’s current smile was completely different from the one he showed to Lila mere moments ago. “And that’s what I’m good at.”

“He’s right. I would know.” Lugar couldn’t help but add his hint of experience.

“It’s been a while since I’ve done something like this, so I’m pretty excited. I’ve labored in vain these days, but I feel like that won’t be the case today!” As Lugar continued, the man’s face turned pale as if he had been soaked in bleach. Lugar’s rising excitement was parallel to the man’s fear.

*

“Finally, after all these boring days of searching for remnants of a hole, I finally got an exciting task to do.” Lugar wasn’t trying to act thrilled to intimidate the prisoner, he was the type of person to feel exhilarated in such a scenario.

“I’m glad I joined you instead of Roxanna, if I were to tell her about this she would probably be very jealous, haha.”

Lacias didn’t respond, but Lugar went on and on about how excited he was.  It was only when Lacias tapped Lugar on the shoulder that he shut his mouth. “Put aside unnecessary words and finish it.”

“Um… You mean right away?”

“Yes?” Lacias tilted his head as if he didn’t understand why he was asking an obvious question.

Lugar sighed as he muttered a slight ‘yes’  before lowering his head in disappointment. “It’s not fun if he confesses everything from the beginning.”

Hearing his complaint, Lacias answered in a low voice. “You think we’re doing this for fun?”

“No… but-”

“Quick,” interrupted Lacias. “My wife is waiting for me.”

“Right.” He knew not to keep the bride waiting on her wedding day.

Lugar stood up straight while Lacias leaned against the wall menacingly as if they were a street gang, it didn’t match his current appearance.

“Uh, uh….” The man lost his realm of thought, something that only happened when a person was faced with extreme fear. Only weird sounds escaped his throat as if he had become a wild animal.

Suddenly he got a grip of himself by pinching his own throat. “No, no. Stop doing that.”

Lugar immediately kicked the man’s hand with his boots on. That light kick made the back of his hand become swollen in an instant.

“If you answer my questions, I will get you out of here. Since today’s a good day, I’ll be merciful.” Lacias stared at the two from the shadows of the room, his voice was a complete contrast from Lugar’s own.

He wanted to end the interrogation as soon as possible and return to his patient bride. It was reassuring that Lila was with Camerline, but he wanted to confirm her presence with his own eyes.

Lacias was flicking his fingers without realizing it was a side effect of being impatient. Am I nervous right now?

There were times when he felt a little annoyed due to Lila’s absence, but he had never been this snappy before. His every nerve was on edge.