Stolen by the Rebel King-Chapter 470: Human Again

The process of turning Silas back into a human was fairly dangerous. After all, his head had to first be reattached to his body before he could be injected with the stronger serum.

If he were to be injected with the serum before his body was attached to his head, those two separate parts would regain their human form, thus making it impossible to fuse those two parts back together without the regenerative strength of a vampiric form.

Unfortunately, there was a risk that came with the process. For one thing, Silas would lose his current human-like thinking and revert back to the demonic, vampiric persona. He would attack anyone on sight, and if not properly controlled, could result in injuries, deaths, or worse― more vampires.

Hence, there was only one person who could safely carry out this process.

"Do you need any help?" Leonora asked, anxiously glancing at her brother’s body. This was a risky procedure that could go wrong at any point. If the serum was injected too early or too late, or if King Atticus somehow lost control of Silas, or if―

"No," Atticus firmly replied, instantly dispelling all worries from her mind. "This will be over and done with in no time."

He wasn’t completely without help, after all. Sirona stood to one side, the needle prepared in her hand. Once Atticus had rejoined Silas’s body together, she would then swoop in and administer the antidote into Silas’s body. Under Atticus’s control, Silas shouldn’t be able to move at all, vampiric form or not.

Theoretically, this plan was flawless. Leonora, however, was just worried about the possibilities. No procedure was a hundred percent failsafe. Thus, she couldn’t help but fret about that one percent chance.

"This won’t fail, will it?" Silas asked.

Only his eyes and his lips could move now that he was wrapped tightly in a layer of Atticus’s magic, his limbs flailing around the air however way the latter chose to manipulate it.

He could read the worry off Leonora’s expressions; truth to be told, he was a little worried about it himself. He wouldn’t put it past King Atticus to immediately slice off his head the second the serum was injected into him.

Again.

Only this time, if the antidote worked like it was supposed to, that would be the end for him.

Atticus watched Silas’s darting eyes in amusement. The corner of his lips turned up into a small smile, and unable to help himself, he scoffed a little in the hilarity of it all.

"I won’t kill you right after if that’s what you’re worried about," he said, as though he could read the thoughts of those two siblings.

Leonora and Silas immediately shot him an alarmed glance, surprised that their thoughts were so readily available to him. This man was truly not one to be messed with. They already had it all thought out. Once Silas was healed, Leonora would have nothing left in this palace to yearn for. They could travel — use this time to heal any post-traumatic stress Silas might have — before coming back to the palace for occasional visits. Although, frankly, none of the siblings really felt like family to them both.

Leonora and Silas only had each other.

"You’d better not," Leonora grumbled under her breath.

She watched with bated breath as Atticus moved his hands together. At the same time, the two parts of Silas’s body edged closer together before they were eventually joined.

A scream immediately tore through Silas’s throat. Even when held down by Atticus’s magic, he could still wriggle and worm around like a worm on a hook. He gasped, his breaths short as pain flared through his body. Flesh bonded with flesh, blood built bridges to connect, and bones slowly attached themselves back together― even though no blood was spilled, it was still an invasively gory sight to behold.

The second SIlas’s head reattached completely, his eyes shot open, revealing a pair of demonic red irises. However, he barely even had the time to stretch out a smile before he cried out in a breathless scream of pain. Sirona had heartlessly — and very efficiently — stabbed the needle right through his arm.

Once the antidote was administered, the changes were effective immediately. The red of Silas’s eyes returned to his natural blue while his skin gained a little more color than the previous ghastly pale. He let out a strangled gurgle of pain before Atticus — quite roughly — dropped him to the ground with a thud.

The prince collapsed in a mess, coughing and hacking his lungs out as Leonora immediately rushed to his side to offer comfort and support. On the other hand, Sirona quickly backed away, placing the needle back onto the tray as she stood watch a distance away.

If anything was to happen, she needed to act fast with the second dose prepared. Hopefully, that wouldn’t be needed. This second dose was originally meant for Alistair. Atticus would surely be devastated if he didn’t get to kill that bastard today.

"Silas!" Leonora called out, her hands hovering over her twin brother.

She checked him everywhere, only to find that everything was perfectly ordinary. No weird teeth, no weird eyes, no pale skin with visible veins, and no claws that could slice her neck open with one swipe.

He was perfectly human again. However, even though he was physically fine, she couldn’t help but worry about his state mentally.

"That... hurt..." Silas choked out, coughing before vomiting a huge pile of bile right onto the rug of Leonora’s room.

She instantly pulled back in disgust, her face scrunching up as she eyed the brown liquid that had just left Silas’s stomach. He hadn’t eaten anything in months, not since he had been beheaded. Whatever food was originally inside his stomach had already gone so foul that it seemed like even Atticus couldn’t keep a straight face.

"I demand some sort of anesthetic next time," Silas continued, completely ignoring the abject looks of horror everyone else in the room wore on their faces. "That needle is horrifying."

Immediately, Leonora burst into laughter. She wrapped her arms around her brother, sobbing into his shoulder while he ran his hand down her back. He was the one that went through that entire ordeal, and yet, she was the one that needed comforting.

How ridiculous.

However, that didn’t stop the small smile that quickly rose to Silas’s face. He wouldn’t have managed to make it through all those arduous weeks if it weren’t for Leonora’s help.

When she pulled away, she was a mess of snot and tears. Even for a dignified princess who knew always to maintain and show her most pristine side, she couldn’t help but fall into a crumpled mess when it came to the person she held most dear.

At that moment, she shoved away all her pride and annoyance for this man. He may be a tyrant in the words of others but even Leonora could see that he had some good in him. He had no obligation to help Silas — that was entirely trouble caused by Alistair — and yet, he spent the effort to travel far and wide just to get the missing ingredients for the cure.

"Thank you." This expression of gratitude couldn’t be any more sincere. She dipped her head down in a bow. "Thank you for helping Silas."

"It’s nothing," Atticus said in reply. "You should know better. Prince Silas was simply lucky that I needed this serum in order to kill his older brother properly."

On any other day, perhaps Leonora and Silas’s lips would curdle at that crude statement. However, now that they had been through all of this, they knew that Alistair fully deserved King Atticus’s disdain. They were in no position to plead forgiveness for Alistair― in fact, Leonora held no good feelings for that older brother of hers either.

Whether Prince Alistair lived or died was not something she cared about.

"My father might be against a death sentence for Alistair," Leonora warned. "Criminal or not, that is still his firstborn. Regardless of everything else, he was once the crown prince of Reaweth."

"All the more he should be executed for his crimes, don’t you think?" Atticus retorted. "As the crown prince, his duty should’ve been to serve his kingdom and protect his people. Yet, he caused the deaths — both directly and indirectly — of nearly half the population while traumatizing the surviving half. If your father is a proper and good king, he would understand that simple logic."

"But Alistair is also his son," Leonora argued. She shook her head. "While I agree that Alistair deserves nothing but death, I am just pointing out that my father might play... underhanded tactics despite promising you one thing. I wouldn’t be surprised if he set Alistair free despite promising you his death."

Atticus’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. It seemed like the Molinero family was crumbling quite wonderfully even without his doing.

"He’s a slimy snake, human or vampire," Silas said, agreeing. "Our brother has gone mad. You would just be executing the shell of a man he once was."

"He was not much of a man even before all of this," Atticus said with a snort. "But rest assured. I will make sure your older brother’s head is set on a pike if it’s the last thing I do."