Chapter 583: What Grows in the Dark

The dungeon was quiet. Orion and Kairen stared at each other, gazes locked.

"There’s something else," Kairen said after a moment, breaking the silence.

Orion didn’t move.

Kairen shifted slightly, leaning forward, elbows resting against his knees.

"The plant," he continued. "It has another name. The ’corpse plant’ is like a general name because of what it represents and also how it grows."

Orion’s gaze sharpened, just slightly. Madam Tyler had said something similar. And Noctis did say that perhaps if Orion could get the real name, he could have information about the plant.

"What is it?" Orion asked him.

Kairen shook his head.

"I do not know," he said. "The only reason I mentioned it is so you could have all the information you requested since you want to know about the plant."

Orion studied him for a moment longer. Honestly, he was close to hitting Kairen. He should not have mentioned the plant having another name if he did not know what it was.

He was quiet, then tilted his head faintly.

"Perhaps... do you know how to cultivate it?"

That made Kairen pause.

He looked up at Orion fully this time, something like hesitation and also suspicion flickering across his face.

"Why would you want to know that?" he asked cautiously.

Orion didn’t look away.

"Because," he said evenly, "like I told you when I first asked about the plant, we found traces of it in something."

Kairen’s gaze narrowed slightly.

"And it’s something important," Orion continued. "If we’re going to understand why it was used, we need to understand everything about it. Not just what it does—but how it’s made, where it comes from, and how it’s cultivated too."

Kairen stared at him in silence.

Then he leaned back slightly, exhaling through his nose.

"As far as I know," he said slowly, "the plant is grown in the west."

Orion didn’t interrupt.

"There’s only one official garden," Kairen added.

Orion’s lips twitched faintly.

"I know the one you’re talking about," he said. "Victoria’s garden."

Kairen didn’t respond.

But he didn’t deny it either.

Orion watched him for a moment longer, then took a slow step forward, closing some of the distance between them.

He noticed something in Kairen’s words. He didn’t explicitly say the plant was grown only in the west, which meant he had information about another place where the plant was grown.

"Honestly," Orion said calmly, "I suspect you know more than you think."

Kairen’s jaw tightened.

But he said nothing.

Orion tilted his head slightly, studying him like one would a puzzle already halfway solved.

"Could it be that you didn’t learn about the plant from the barracks?" he asked.

Kairen just continued staring.

Orion’s voice remained calm. Almost conversational.

He shook his head. "No, asking if you didn’t learn it from the barracks would be inaccurate, right? Because perhaps you did. Maybe you learned it from the man who bought you?"

That did it.

It was subtle.

Barely noticeable.

But Orion saw it—the twitch in Kairen’s eye, the way his fingers curled slightly against his knee.

And that was enough.

Orion nodded once, as if confirming something only he could see.

"...He used it, didn’t he?" Orion continued. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Kairen’s silence stretched.

Orion didn’t push.

He didn’t need to.

"Maybe he used it as an aphrodisiac? You did say the plant has many properties, after all."

Kairen’s gaze flickered—just for a second.

Then steadied again.

Orion took another step forward.

"And you," Orion continued, his voice dropping just enough to hold weight, "perhaps you watched him? Your buyer used it to set the mood so you could be more agreeable when he wanted to have his way with you in bed, and you hated it, so you watched him?"

Kairen’s jaw clenched.

Orion was asking him... at least that’s how it sounded, but to Kairen, those were not questions.

"And maybe you paid attention. Maybe you learned from him. And did you start using it too at some point?" Orion asked.

That made Kairen look up sharply.

Orion held his gaze.

Unblinking.

"And I don’t think you’d use it the same way he did," Orion continued. "No... you’re smarter than that."

"But the plant has... flexible uses," Orion said. "Doesn’t it?"

Kairen didn’t speak.

But he didn’t look away either.

"It helps one sleep well and has hallucinogenic properties too. You studied the plant, didn’t you? Specifically what plants to mix to produce the hallucinogenic effects. Perhaps you realized you didn’t have to let him touch you to make him believe he did," Orion said.

Kairen stared at him. He knew at that moment that Orion was the predator and he was the prey, and everything that sounded like a probability from Orion’s mouth was actually accurate.

There was a long pause, and then Kairen let out a slow breath.

"...You’re terrifying," he said quietly.

Orion didn’t smile. "I’d prefer you call me an oaf or an ogre," he said.

Kairen frowned at that, but Orion didn’t explain.

He leaned back slightly, running a hand through his hair.

For a moment, he looked tired on a deeper level.

"...You’re right," Kairen admitted finally.

Orion didn’t react.

He had already suspected.

"I learned about the plant from him," Kairen continued. "At first, I didn’t understand what it was. Just that he used it... and that it made things worse."

His jaw tightened briefly.

"But I paid attention," he said. "Like you said."

His gaze dropped for a moment.

"I didn’t have a choice."

Orion said nothing.

"I started asking questions," Kairen went on. "Carefully. Not enough to draw attention... just enough to learn. And I started reading books too."

He exhaled slowly.

"And when I understood what it could do... I adapted."

Another pause.

"I wasn’t strong enough to fight him," Kairen said. "So I found another way."

Orion’s gaze didn’t waver.

"I changed the mixture," Kairen continued. "Adjusted it. Made it... work differently. I used—"

His lips pressed into a thin line.

"He thought he was using me," he said quietly. "But eventually..."

Kairen looked up.

"...I was the one controlling what he experienced."

"That’s actually quite good," Orion told him.

"Good?" Kairen asked in shock.

Orion nodded.

"You survived," he said simply. "However you had to."

Kairen stared at him.

Like he hadn’t expected that answer.

Like he didn’t know what to do with it.

Orion didn’t linger on it.

Instead, he shifted slightly.

"So," he said, his tone returning to business, "you know the plant."

Kairen let out a breath.

"Yes."

"Can you cultivate it?" Orion asked.

Kairen hesitated for a while, then nodded.

"...Yes."

Orion’s gaze sharpened.

"But only under certain conditions," Kairen added quickly, "and only if we can get the seeds."