Chapter 3

Darren angrily ordered the guards, "Have Princess Sylara taken to the Reflection Chamber."

I instantly panicked. "I'm begging you—please don't do that, Darren! I need treatment right now; otherwise, I'll die!"

I had never before lowered myself to entreating them so desperately.

Mom instinctively spoke up, saying, "It's just a small dispute between sisters, Darren, so there's no need to—"

Darren cut her off coldly, saying, "Sylara intentionally made a scene today to humiliate Elara, so she deserves some discipline, Mother. You can rest assured that I'm just making her cool off for a night—no harm will come to her."

Father furrowed his brow but ultimately did nothing to intervene.

Caelum cast a look in my direction and tried to reason with me softly, saying, "You should take a moment to cool off, Sylara."

I wanted to defend myself, but my throat was already swelling from the allergy. I couldn't even get a single sentence out.

In that instant, the guards stepped forward and dragged me from the banquet hall by force, all while the blood from my leg trailed across the long corridor. I managed to gasp out a plea for help as I fought to hold onto a stone pillar. "P-Please let me see a healer… I don't want to die…"

In the end, the heavy stone door shut anyway, sealing me inside. I collapsed onto the floor, struggling to breathe as my consciousness began to slip away.

Father and Mother had both watched me drink that wine. They knew about my allergy, but they completely cast me from their minds the very next moment because of Elara.

I stood up again after being driven by a desperate urge to survive and pounded frantically against the stone door, but the outside remained completely silent, with no one offering any reply.

In the meantime, blood continued to seep from my injury, rapidly soaking the hem of my white dress red and pooling on the cold stone slabs.

I could hear the revelry in the banquet hall carrying on without interruption, its lively sounds bleeding faintly into the stone chamber. Father was announcing to the gathered nobles that Elara had become the new Sacred Huntress, while Caelum stood at her side, accompanying her through the final dance of the night.

Those in attendance didn't even realize that I, the firstborn princess, was actually locked away in the dark by her own family, on the verge of dying.

In my semi-conscious state, I thought I heard Wren crying out for me.

…

Third Person POV

In the meantime, the celebration remained in full swing as the nobles gathered around Elara to offer their congratulations.

There were numerous maids carrying in gifts delivered by the nobles—gold crowns, jewels, an ivory longbow, silver-etched daggers, and other gifts were piled high, occupying half the room.

Elara clung to Vaelis' arm, a sweet smile plastered on her face. "Please don't accept any more gifts, Vaelis—there is barely any space left in my room."

Darren swirled the wine in his wine glass and said indifferently, "You can just send the leftovers to Sylara; after all, she doesn't own anything worthwhile."

In that instant, a brief hush washed over the crowd as it dawned on them that they had never once prepared a proper gift for Sylara; she always ended up with Elara's leftovers. She was the firstborn princess and the reasonable one, so everyone merely assumed she would never take issue with it.

Elara, oblivious to the sudden silence around her, kept speaking insincerely. "Sylara is the firstborn princess, so she shouldn't use what I've already rejected, Darren. She'll just misunderstand me again if she learns of it."

Vaelis fell silent for a brief second before abruptly ordering, "Have the Azure Crystal of the Sea God set aside for Sylara."

That was one of the most valuable gifts of the night, a necklace crafted from polished deep-sea blue crystals that cast a faint blue glow under the lights.

Elara could no longer maintain her smile and protested petulantly, "I like that necklace, though…"

Vaelis comforted her patiently, saying, "Oh, be good now, Elara. You have more than enough jewelry as it is, and Sylara rarely gets anything like this. You should leave this one for her."

Elara turned slightly pale. She hadn't expected Vaelis, who had always favored her, to suddenly receive the most precious gift for Sylara.

She wanted to argue, but Aldric's expression darkened as he said, "You shouldn't be so covetous, Elara. You have received more than enough tonight."

Elara suddenly realized she had nearly lost her temper. She quickly lowered her head as tears welled up in her eyes, saying, "I didn't mean it that way. If Sylara wants them, I am perfectly willing to hand over the remaining gifts to her."

Aldric's expression eased. "It's alright. Sylara has been delicate since childhood. She might be allergic to some of the perfume and jewelry."

Vaelis stood up abruptly after hearing that. "Did Sylara drink that wine earlier? Darren has her locked up in the Reflection Chamber. Is Sylara going to be okay?"

Aldric caught on as well, his expression shifting in sudden alarm.

"What are you talking about? What do you mean by allergy?" Darren, however, was still utterly confused. He just happened not to see Sylara drink the wine earlier.

Caelum bolted outside without saying anything, intending to reach the Reflection Chamber as fast as possible, while the other three followed right at his heels.

Elara grew displeased. "Where are you all off to when my celebration banquet isn't even over yet?"

They ignored her completely, though.

Yet, before they could even step out of the banquet hall, a guard came stumbling inside. "It's an emergency, King Aldric! The Reflection Chamber has suddenly caught fire!"