The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] novel Chapter 511

Chapter 511: Betrayal

This wasn’t for the faint of heart.

Luca wasn’t new to brutality. He’d seen his share of bloodshed, cruelty, and punishment. But it was his first time seeing violence that carried so much grief.

Every hit. Every sickening thunk of flesh against stone was heavy, weighted by a father’s rage and a brother’s sorrow.

Only now was Luca beginning to understand.

How would he feel if he were in King Garick’s or Princess Kira’s place? 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Devastated.

And that was saying something, considering how he himself had been hurt, abused, and abandoned before. But those wounds came from strangers or people in whom he’d never placed his trust.

This was different.

This betrayal had been committed by someone the King and his daughter had treated like family.

Worse, that misplaced trust had cost them the life of another loved one and had nearly resulted in a war that could have cost the lives of millions.

All because of someone’s morbid beliefs.

The thought alone left Luca suffocated. And he didn’t even notice how hard he’d clenched his own hands into fists until a cool hand enveloped them.

Xavier.

Wordlessly, the prince moved closer, resting an arm around him as if to comfort his troubled soul.

Luca let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

For a fleeting moment, he almost thought it would have been better if the orc traitor, Grakkar, had succeeded in destroying himself earlier.

It wouldn’t have been pretty, but it could have spared the King and Princess this agony. So maybe he shouldn’t have interfered.

But the thought didn’t stick.

Because Luca, of all people, knew what it was like to carry false guilt, to live confused and somewhat lost because you didn’t know the full truth.

Just as others once told him he’d been unloved and abandoned, only for him to later learn just how fiercely his family and house had loved him all along.

Here too, King Garick was just now learning that it hadn’t been the humans who’d caused his sister’s death. It was his own kin, this traitor. And by the looks of it, so many other Orcs.

The King’s growl snapped Luca back to the present.

Grakkar, bound and bloodied before him, was still sneering despite his broken body. Every question King Garick hurled was met with silence or mocking laughter.

"I’ll ask you one last time," the King snarled, voice low and dangerous. "Who else is involved? How far does this go?"

But Grakkar only spat blood to the side, grinning through cracked teeth.

"Even if I told you... What good would it do? You’re too late, uncle."

Uncle. That must have stung. And the word alone was laced with so much poison that it felt deadly as it was.

The King struck him again, hard enough that a human would likely have lost their head upon getting hit.

The chamber was silent save for the heavy thud of boots and the wet sound of fists. No one moved to stop him. Because frankly, many of them would have volunteered to join, not for the fun of it, but to at least avenge the people and the Orcs who couldn’t do the same.

Finally, Garick straightened, chest heaving. His sharp gaze swept the room before settling on Duke Leander and Duchess Amelia.

"I’ll need time," he said, his voice thick with restrained fury and clear grief.

"This is something I must finish myself. Could I trouble you to watch over the children, as well as Kira and Ada, while I handle this? I will repay the favor later. Just in case he’s not working alone."

But Duke Leander merely gave a faint smile, as though the idea of repayment was absurd.

"There is no debt," the Duke replied evenly. "We would have done so regardless."

Amelia’s eyes were just as calm, though her grip on her blade had only just loosened.

"We’ll see to them," she assured him. "Do what you must."

Garick gave a terse nod of gratitude and turned back to his prey, knuckles tightening once more.

And so, one by one, they all left the chamber, leaving the King alone with the traitor.

As they filed out, Luca cast one last glance over his shoulder.

He didn’t look away immediately.

He wanted to remember this scene — to engrave the weight of it in his mind.

Because this was what it meant to face betrayal, and this was what it meant to stand firm, no matter how much it broke you inside.

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