The Story of Dusk 281 THE PUNISHMEN

The man brought the lady over his shoulder as he crossed the yard with lightning speed, his movement was too hard to see and he wasn't even bother if there was someone else who saw him.

Though it was dark because the moon wasn't on the sky, but the torches that lit up were suffice to illuminate the path.

He only put down the lady after he entered an extremely huge room under the yard. This was a secret training ground of Shadow Guard from Black Sword Clan.

He put down the lady carefully and looked around him. There were many people who were wearing the same attribute as him and it was hard to tell and differentiate them from the other.

But, in the end of rows after rows of people, the man saw the only person who was wearing a black clothes with golden dragon that was stitched by golden thread, embroidered his back.

Despite his old age, but the way he carried himself and the aura that emitted from him was enough to say that this old man wasn't someone that you could trifle with.

He approached the two of them slowly, taking his time, or he was just trying to add more suspense for the poor lady.

Finally he asked one of the guards to open the black cover that covered her head and the moment her face was revealed, the other people immediately knew, who she was.

It was Carye!

But, what Elder Dam was going to do with Senja's stepmother?

"Father!!" Carye cried when she saw his father in law was towering in front of her while she was kneeling on the ground.

Not only that, this secret training ground apparently was attended by all of the member of the Shadow Guard who was still in the mansion.

There were many of them and they were all wearing a black clothes and black mask.

Immediately Carye knew that things wouldn't go well with her tonight. There was no way she could escape from here unscathed.

Only if she could survive this night, then everything would be alright…

If…

Carye gulped down hard as she feigned innocent. "Father, what all of this about? Why did you order them to bring me here?" She tried to calm, but her shaking voice betrayed her utterly. She looked around with nervousness.

"Tell me where exactly you had brought my granddaughter?" Elder Dam asked in low dangerous tone. He was trying to suppress the fury inside him, but he could burst in anger in any moment.

"I don't know what do you mean father…." Carye bit down her lips. "I don't know… I have nothing to do with Senja disappearance…" She was pleading now to make the old man believed her.

"Tell me now and I will just kick you out from this mansion, or I will torture you until you give me the satisfied answer.

"I really don't know anything father, I have told you everything what had happened to Senja that day." Carye crawled and was about to hug Elder Dam's leg, but the old man kicked her stomach viciously.

"Don't touch me and don't call me 'father'! That was disgusting!" Elder Dam said in derision. He had never liked Carye, since the first time she came when Rin, Senja's mother, brought her home and introduced her as her sister.

There was something in this woman that made him unsettled, but weirdly enough, his stupid son simply couldn't see it clearly.

What a stupid son that he has…

"But, I really have nothing to do with that…" Carye started sobbing as she clutched her aching stomach.

Fortunately Elder Dam didn't use all of his strength or else, she wouldn't be able to talk now.

The old man stared down on his daughter- in- law. "I don't believe you Carye. I don't believe you…" He shook his head sarcastically. "You are the first person that I will take into count if something happen to Senja. Regardless you involve in this or not." Elder Dam had running out of his patient and the only thing that he wanted now was his granddaughter. Nothing else.

"That is unfair, father…" Carye wailed. "Why do you punish me for something that I didn't do...?" Her expression turned unsightly as she felt she was being threatened.

"What do you mean the thing that you didn't do?" Elder Dam raised his eyebrows.

"I don't know anything about the disappearance of Senja, I will never do something so vicious like that, no matter what, Senja is still a daughter of my late sister… I will never do that to my own family…" Carye started to weep sadly.

"So, I can punish you for something that you do it then?" Elder Dam caught her word. "Put aside, Senja's disappearance issue. Your word before implied that I can punish you for something wrong that you had done, right?"

Carye gulped hard as she felt her stomach do a somersault. She was at lost about how she would answer his question. She felt like this question was hiding different meaning from the way it sounded.

"Answer me!!!" Elder Dam growled. He really wanted to kill her, only if she was from ordinary family, he would have asked someone to tear her limps.

He would get more trouble if she was found death. The family behind Carye wouldn't be pleased to hear this news, moreover, Elder Dam wasn't in the mood to add more trouble into his plate.

The situation was really chaotic in the northern fortress recently and now he got another problem with the missing of Senja. He had had enough about all trouble like this.

"I have never done anything wrong toward Senja! Despite she doesn't like me, and regardless she couldn't get along with Hikari and Rindi, I will never do something bad toward her!" Carye blurted out all of that righteously as if she was the most sensitive person in this world.

She was sobbing mess now, feeling bad because Elder Dam accused her for something, which she adamant, had never done.

Meanwhile, Elder Dam really wanted to clap his hands for Carye's word and her excellent act, people who didn't know about this better would have thought that Carye was a softhearted person and a perfect role of a step mother, but Elder Dam knew better than that.

"You let your two daughters bullied Senja, used her as a target of Rindi's archery training, soaked her in cold water and let her wore the wet dress until she got sick, you let her ate the remaining food from you and your daughter, you slapped her because you don't like to see her face…" Elder Dam was rumbling all the horrible things that Carye had done toward Senja. "Should I continue?"

Carye fell into silent as fear was written on her face. How the old man knew all about that? She had bribed and gave those lowly servants some money to shut their mouth! Who was so dare to talk behind her back?

"You have been treating my precious granddaughter not less than a servant." Elder Dam's voice turned cold as he grabbed Carye by her collar and pulled her closer so he could see this devil woman straight to his dark heart. "You and your daughter deserve to be punished!"

With that being said, another guard dragged two more woman inside the secret training ground.

"I don't have evidence about your involvement in Senja's disappearance, but I have more than enough witnesses that could testify for my words before." Elder Dam tightened his grip around Carye's collar until she felt suffocated by that. "I could punish you for what you have done to my granddaughter!"

Upon seeing this, Carye's blood ran cold. She knew who the two people, who was being dragged inside the room, though their faces was being covered.

"No! My daughter and I had never done that! Who the person that had told you those lies? That person absolutely wanted to slender my name!" Carye was being frantic when the other two women were being shoved to the ground.

"It is not that person, but those people." Elder Dam corrected her. "All the servants said the same thing. But, you don't need to worry to find them. I have sent them away to their own hometown so you will not be able to threaten them again."

Carye widened her eyes. She didn't believe this. Those Servants were confessing? And now she couldn't vent out her anger because Elder Dam had sent them away! How frustrating this situation!?

"Take off their mask." Elder Dam shoved away Carye and released her from his grip as he watched with amusement her changed of expression the moment she watched the face behind the mask.

Just like what Carye had thought, they were indeed Hikari and Rindi, her daughters.

"Mother!!" Both of them were about to crawl to approach their mother, they were very afraid, but the shadow guard behind them, held them back and made them stayed in place.

"Father, please don't do this to them, they don't know anything. Those servants… I was being schemed by those servants… My daughter would never do that to Senja… regardless she isn't their sister, but she is still their cousin…" Carye cupped her hand, pleading.

"Whip them forty times!" Elder Dam stated their punishment.

"No! No! Grandfather, we don't know anything! We will never hurt our sister!" Hikari wailed and tried to get free from the shadow guard, who was holding her down.

"Grandfather, father will be very angry if you hurt us! I will tell father about this!" Rindi was so dare to threaten the old man, she wasn't sensible enough to understand the situation.

"Make it sixty for her!" Elder Dam growled. How dare someone insignificant like her threatening him?! "And give extra five whip if they call me father or grandfather!" He had made it clear before that he didn't like them to address him like that.

"No! No! You can't do this to us! Wang Yu will never forgive you!" Carye frantically kicked the shadow guard who was approaching her.

"Let see, whether I can do it or not." Elder Dam gestured to the guard to carry out with the punishment. "I will consider your punishment if you tell me where is Senja."

"I don't know!" Carye shouted frustratedly, the bald man had lost Senja when he was going to bring her to be sold in the Black Market and now the bandits that was hired by Wang Yu failed to kill her, if she was about to confess now, she wouldn't be able to tell him where was Senja.

Not only that, that girl had said that she didn't have intention to return to the mention, for now, Carye hoped she kept her words.

"I don't know, I don't know about it!" Carye determined to keep it secret, no matter what would happen, Elder Dam wouldn't kill her, unless she said otherwise and the old man still couldn't find her.

"Carry out with the punishment and put them in the dungeon until I receive news about my granddaughter." Elder Dam's expression was devoid from any emotion as he walked away from the secret training ground.

Leaving the three of them wailing and screaming, asking to be released.

However, how Elder Dam could set them free unscathed when he knew what they had done toward his poor granddaughter?

He felt his heart was about to stop when the old mama and some servants came to confide how Carye and her daughters had been treating Senja all this time.

He knew he was at fault because he had let his granddaughter down and suffered alone, he wanted to fix everything, but where was Senja?

Chapter end