The words echoed in the small house like a death sentence.
She has been taken. A Celestial Dragon claimed her as property.
Silence followed, but it was not the stillness of peace. It was the suffocating pause before an explosion.
Magnus's mother staggered back, her hand pressed to her lips.
Her chest heaved as though she couldn't draw breath.
Tears welled in her eyes, spilling freely as she shook her head again and again.
"No… not my daughter… not her… You're mistaken. You must be mistaken!"
The officer's jaw tightened, but he did not flinch.
His words came hard, mechanical, the voice of a man delivering doom.
"There is no mistake. I saw the seal myself. Saint Garvis of the Holy Land laid claim to her personally. By law, she is now his property."
Darius's chair scraped back with a violent screech.
His body trembled, his fists balled so tightly that blood seeped from between his knuckles.
His eyes blazed with fury, hot enough to burn the world down.
"PROPERTY?!" His roar shook the walls.
"My sister is no man's property!"
He surged forward, and for a moment, it seemed he would strike the officer where he stood.
But their father's arm shot out, catching Darius by the chest.
The old man's grip was iron, but his face was drawn tight, his lips pressed into a thin line of rage barely contained.
"Enough," their father said hoarsely. His gaze locked on the Marine officer, his voice cold and sharp. "Why come here? To rub salt in our wounds? To gloat at our humiliation?"
The officer flinched but stood his ground. His eyes darted to the window, as though fearful of who might overhear.
He lowered his voice, speaking quickly.
"I came because you deserved to hear the truth, not whispers. And… because you must prepare.
Already, some in the barracks are questioning your loyalty. Your son's bounty, and now this… Your family will be under watch."
The mother sobbed harder, clutching her daughter's empty chair as if it could anchor her in the storm. "First Magnus… now her… How much more must we lose?"
Darius slammed his fist against the wall, the wood splintering under the force.
His breath came in ragged bursts, fury crackling off him like a storm barely contained.
"If Magnus were here," he snarled, "he'd never let this stand. He'd burn Mary Geoise itself to the ground!"
The name hung in the air, heavy and dangerous.
Even the officer paled, glancing around as if the walls themselves might betray them for speaking such blasphemy.
Their father released his grip on Darius slowly, his hand shaking.
He looked at the wanted poster still lying on the table, Magnus's ink-stained eyes staring back at him like a phantom.
His voice, when it came, was low and bitter.
"Magnus chose his path. He made himself an enemy of the world. And now… the world has chosen to punish us for it."
The mother collapsed to her knees, clutching her rosary, her voice breaking into desperate prayers.
Darius stood rigid, his rage only barely held back, his gaze burning holes into the paper on the table.
The sister trembled beside her, caught between grief and fear, unable to speak.
The officer bowed stiffly. "I've said what I came to say. Guard yourselves. Be careful what words you let slip. For your sakes… and for hers."
And with that, he left, boots echoing harshly against the stone outside until the door closed and silence returned.
Only the sound of the mother's sobs filled the room.
The wanted poster lay in the center of the table, Magnus's face frozen in its storm.
To his family, it no longer just carried the weight of a bounty.
It carried the price of blood.