Twilight: Darling of Volturi (YURI/GL)

Sophie felt a hand press gently against the top of her head, forcing her gaze upward until it was filled entirely by the man before her. Looking closer, she found his features exquisitely sculpted, framed by long golden hair that fell neatly along the contours of his face. He possessed the timeless beauty of a classical nobleman, the kind of elegance rarely seen in the modern world.

The handsome man spoke in a voice as warm as spring sunlight. "May I have the honor of shaking your hand?"

Sophie's attention was effortlessly drawn to his flawless appearance and graceful manner. Her vigilance gradually melted away beneath his refined courtesy. The man waited patiently, his outstretched hand never wavering. 

After a moment's hesitation, she placed her own hand into his. Instantly, his broad hands closed around hers, and a profound sense of discomfort surged through her. It felt as though their touch had opened a crack somewhere deep inside her, allowing him to trespass freely into a place no one should ever enter.

She instinctively followed that invading force as it wandered through her consciousness. The sensation was indescribably unpleasant, though fortunately, there was little within her memories to discover.

The man released her hand with effortless elegance, stepped back, and straightened once more.

"Jane. Alec. Fabio. And Heidi."

Everyone whose name had been called instinctively stood a little straighter, expecting Aro to assign another mission. The anticipation lasted only until the final name, for Heidi was nowhere in the chamber.

With a delighted smile, Aro explained the source of those names. "Oh, how extraordinary! Even while she was still human, she had already met so many members of our family, and by all appearances, she got along splendidly with every one of them. Fate... ah, fate. It seems some bonds are destined long before we recognize them."

Jane and Alec exchanged a brief glance.

It sounded as though Aro intended to keep her alive.

Somehow, under Aro's absurdly shameless interpretation, broken limbs, attempted executions, and brutal bloodshed had all transformed into evidence that everyone had 'gotten along splendidly.'

The twins' eyes shifted simultaneously toward Fabio.

He's the unlucky one.

The mere thought that someone else was about to suffer instantly lifted Jane's spirits. Whenever Aro wished to punish someone, he almost always relied on her burning illusion. She had spent the entire journey suppressing the urge to torment some unfortunate vampire, but there had been no suitable victim. Beside her had only been Alec and anyone caught inside Alec's sensory mist couldn't feel pain in the first place.

Today, Jane silently vowed, someone in this room is going to beg for mercy.

Unable to hide the smile spreading across her face, she looked expectantly toward Aro, waiting for her master's verdict.

Then Aro spoke.

His voice remained soft.

Gentle.

Absolute.

"Fabio is innocent."

Impossible.

Jane's red eyes widened in disbelief. Her disappointment was impossible to conceal.

No one understood Aro's ruthlessness better than she did.

The Volturi never granted criminals a second chance.

Even if Fabio had acted under the influence of a supernatural gift, he had still illegally created a newborn vampire. Countless guards were capable of handling cleanup duties. If Fabio disappeared, this newborn could easily replace him. From the moment of her birth, she had already proven herself against both Jane and Alec. With proper training, she could undoubtedly rival Fabio's usefulness.

So why keep two people with nearly identical abilities?

As a spare?

Jane rarely attempted to decipher Aro's thoughts. They were as unfathomable as ever, shifting without warning. Most of the time, all she needed to do was obey.

Yet another possibility surfaced...

A worse one.

Perhaps Aro had weighed the two of them and decided that timid but loyal Fabio was more valuable.

Did that mean...he intended to execute the newborn they had brought back?

Jane would much rather see Fabio die.

The Volturi did not forgive criminals.

Ever.

Aro noticed the subtle but unmistakable shift in Jane's emotions. With the slightest lift of one hand, he silently soothed the sadistic impulses threatening to spill over before calmly continuing his judgment.

"However, Fabio did commit several minor mistakes that caused members of our family considerable inconvenience. Therefore..." He held his thumb and forefinger a tiny distance apart, smiling as though the punishment would amount to nothing more than a trivial formality. "...he shall receive only a very... very... small punishment."

The moment Fabio heard he had been spared, his legs gave way beneath him. He collapsed onto the floor, his chest heaving violently as lungs and a heart that no longer served any purpose instinctively mimicked human breathing. Aro had spared his life. Whatever punishment awaited him now, Fabio swore he would accept it with gratitude.

Satisfied, Aro slowly surveyed the room before withdrawing the reassuring gesture he had given Jane.

"Jane."

Permission.

That single word was all she needed.

Joy instantly bloomed across her face once more as her scarlet eyes locked onto Fabio.

"Enjoy the pain."

Fabio's body convulsed violently across the floor.

"AAAAAHHHH!! AAAAAAAAH—!!"

His agonized screams echoed throughout the tribunal.

Everyone present had witnessed this scene countless times before.

Almost no one reacted.

Only the youngest visitor stood frozen in terror.

Sophie suddenly realized that the person standing closest to her was, in fact, one of the most dangerous beings in the room. Instinctively, she tried to shrink away from Jane, inching toward what she hoped was a safer direction. Yet every instinct warning her of danger simultaneously screamed that moving at all would be an even greater mistake.

So she remained where she was...

Pressed against one of the most terrifying figures in the entire chamber.

The man writhing on the floor was so close that his suffering almost felt contagious.

Sophie herself had shattered much of her own memory.

When Alec's gift stripped away all five senses, the only thing left to accompany her had been her own thoughts. Terror had flooded her mind until it became impossible to distinguish one fear from another. In desperation, she had compressed enormous portions of her memories without discrimination.

Now that she could see again...

The people connected to those sealed memories stood before her.

The breathtaking blonde girl.

The ruthless boy who had pursued her to the riverbed and broken both of her arms.

And...

The man who had ended her human life.

The memories burst open all at once.

She remembered him.

The driver.

The man who had calmly and efficiently murdered her without a trace of hesitation.

Yet now...

Reduced to this.

Weak.

Pathetic.

Like an earthworm writhing helplessly in the middle of a road.

Everyone passing by could see his agony.

Everyone understood it.

No one lifted a finger to help.

The suffocating indifference was somehow even more horrifying than the pain itself.

Forget it.

Forget everything that happened today...

if I somehow survive a third time.

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