002

Selena continued following the maid down the long hallway. As she walked, she could feel the eyes of the servants around her following her every movement. They stood at the side, staring at her in surprise because it was unusual to see the bride walking around without being dressed for her wedding.

However, Selena ignored all the confused looks and whispers around her. She had already made up her mind, and nothing was going to change it. She was not going to marry Prince Adrian. She refused to follow the same path Selena had followed in the book, because if she allowed this marriage to happen, she knew she would eventually die by his hands.

After walking for a while, the maid finally stopped in front of two large doors. Two guards stood on both sides of the entrance, and even they exchanged a surprised look when they saw Selena not wearing her wedding dress. However, they did not dare say anything. They simply opened the doors and allowed Selena to enter.

The maid stepped aside, allowing Selena to walk inside the hall where her marriage ceremony with Prince Adrian was supposed to take place.

The moment Selena stepped into the hall, the first person her eyes landed on was Prince Adrian. He was standing at the altar, waiting for the moment they would finally be joined together as husband and wife.

But the moment his eyes landed on Selena and he saw that she was not wearing her wedding dress, the smile on his face slowly disappeared.

The entire hall also became filled with whispers.

Selena ignored the shocked expression on Prince Adrian’s face and slowly turned her eyes toward Duke Cedric, who was sitting beside her stepmother. The Duke also had a surprised look on his face.

According to the book, Duke Cedric never truly loved Selena. Her birth had caused the death of his first wife, Selena’s mother, and because of that, he blamed Selena for losing the woman he loved. He treated her with hatred and wished she had never existed. Even after he married his second wife and she gave birth to Lillian, his treatment of Selena never changed.

It was not until Selena fell in love with Prince Adrian that Duke Cedric began to treat her better. He only became kinder because he believed that by marrying the Crown Prince, Selena would bring more power and influence to the Ravenshade family.

Remembering everything they had done to Selena, Aria felt angry toward everyone in this book. They had all betrayed Selena. But now that she was inside Selena’s body, she refused to let them destroy her life again.

“Sis, what are you doing here? You are not dressed yet,” Selena heard a voice beside her.

She turned her head and saw Lillian.

The moment she looked at her stepsister, disgust filled her heart. Seeing Lillian immediately reminded her of the scene from the book where she watched Prince Adrian kill Selena and did nothing. Instead, she stood there smiling.

In the original story, Selena never knew how cruel Lillian and her mother truly were. She always believed they cared about her because they treated her kindly and even defended her whenever Duke Cedric scolded her.

“Sis, I’m speaking to you,” Lillian said again when she noticed Selena was ignoring her.

Before Selena could answer, another voice suddenly interrupted them.

“Why is Selena not dressed?”

Everyone turned as Duke Cedric looked angrily toward the maid standing nearby. The poor maid immediately became nervous.

“Speak!” Duke Cedric ordered.

“I told her not to dress me because I don’t need to,” Selena answered.

The moment those words left her mouth, Duke Cedric’s eyes filled with anger. It was not only because of what Selena said, but because of the tone she used. Selena had never spoken to him this way before.

“Why?” Duke Cedric asked, trying to control his anger because of all the guests present.

Before Selena could answer, she saw Prince Adrian walking toward her. He stopped in front of her and looked into her eyes.

“Baby, what are you doing here? You are not dressed today. Have you forgotten that today is our wedding? Quickly go and dress up. Everyone is already waiting,” Prince Adrian said sweetly as he reached for her hand.

But Selena immediately stepped back, avoiding his touch.

Her action shocked Prince Adrian because Selena had never rejected his touch before.

“Baby, what is wrong with you?” he asked as he moved closer.

But Selena moved back again.

Seeing what was happening, Duke Cedric was already losing his patience. He stood up angrily from his seat.

“What is wrong with you, Selena? Go back to your room and get dressed!” he shouted, no longer caring about the guests watching.

Selena shook her head. Her eyes remained fixed on Prince Adrian.

Then she spoke loudly enough for everyone in the hall to hear.

“I’m sorry, Prince Adrian, but I cannot marry you. I’m breaking up with you now.”

For a moment, the entire hall became silent.

Everyone froze, trying to process the words that had just come out of Selena’s mouth.

Then, slowly, whispers filled the entire room.

“Selena, what are you talking about? Why are you breaking up with me? If you are angry about something, we can talk about it later. Right now, you need to get dressed. The wedding is about to begin,” Prince Adrian said, trying to calm her down.

But Selena only shook her head.

“No. I cannot marry you.”

The whispers grew louder.

“Sis, what is wrong with you?” Lillian asked, trying to hide the happiness growing inside her.

Deep down, Lillian was happy. She had secretly loved Prince Adrian for a long time, and seeing Selena cancel the marriage meant she finally had a chance.\

“Prince Adrian, I cannot marry you,” Selena repeated. “Maybe you can just marry my sister Lillian instead. Right, sister?”

Lillian looked at her in shock.

“Selena, have you gone mad?” Duke Cedric shouted as he walked toward her.

“Nothing is wrong with me, Father,” Selena replied. “But I am not marrying him.”

“How dare you, Selena?” Prince Adrian said angrily. “Did you hit your head? You agreed to marry me just to disgrace me in front of everyone?”

Selena looked at him calmly.

“I made a mistake when I agreed to marry you. But I am correcting that mistake now.”

Her words shocked everyone because they had never seen Selena behave this way before.

“This is an insult to my entire family,” the King, Prince Adrian’s father, said angrily as he stood from his seat.

“I apologize. Something must be wrong with her. I will handle this,” Duke Cedric said quickly.

But the King stopped him.

“No need. She has already made her decision. But understand that this insult will not be forgotten.”

The King turned to the Queen, and together they walked away.

“You will regret humiliating me, Selena,” Prince Adrian said before leaving as well.

Soon, the guests began leaving the hall one after another.

“What is wrong with you? Are you okay? You just offended the royal family. Father, what are we going to do?” Lillian asked.

Selena ignored her.

She turned around and began walking toward the door.

“Selena!” Duke Cedric called.

But she did not stop.

She continued walking away, leaving everyone behind in shock at the sudden change of Selena.

Selena walked back to her room. The moment she entered, she slowly walked toward the mirror and looked at her reflection again. Even after everything that had happened, she still found it difficult to believe that she was truly inside someone else's body.

She had only ever read about things like this in books. She never imagined something impossible like entering a novel would happen to her. Yet here she was, standing in a completely different world, living as someone else.

Suddenly the door was pushed open.

She quickly turned her head and saw Duke Cedric walking into the room with her stepmother behind him.

“You ungrateful thing! How dare you disgrace me in front of the entire kingdom?” Duke Cedric yelled angrily. The veins on his neck became visible as he struggled to control his rage.

“You have created a huge problem for this family,” he continued. “Do you even understand what you have done?”

Selena remained silent, simply looking at him.

“Selena, you need to apologize to the royal family and agree to marry the Prince,” her stepmother said. Her expression looked sad, but deep down, she was pleased with everything that had happened. She never expected Selena to reject the marriage, but now that it had happened, she could only hide her happiness behind a fake concerned face.

Selena looked at her stepmother and let out a small chuckle.

“No,” she said calmly. “I won’t.”

Her simple answer only made Duke Cedric angrier.

He raised his hand, ready to strike Selena across the face. However, he stopped the moment he saw the coldness in her eyes.

For a moment, he froze.

This was not the Selena he knew.

The Selena he knew would have already fallen to her knees, crying and begging for forgiveness. She would have apologized immediately and done everything to please him.

But the girl standing in front of him now was different.

Duke Cedric lowered his hand slowly as he stared at her, wondering if the girl in front of him was truly his daughter.

He knew that simply hitting Selena would not be enough for the humiliation she had caused him. She had embarrassed him in front of the royal family and the entire kingdom. He needed to punish her in a way she would never forget.

He looked at Selena coldly.

“You do not want to marry Prince Adrian, do you?” he asked.

Selena said nothing.

“Fine. If you refuse to marry the Crown Prince, then I will send you to marry the Lycan King. And nothing will stop me from doing it.”

The moment those words left his mouth, Selena's eyes widened.

Fear and shock filled her expression.

Memories from the book immediately rushed through her mind.

The Lycan King.

The cursed king who had lived for hundreds of years.

The man everyone feared.

The man whose name was barely mentioned in the novel, but whose existence carried a terrifying reputation.

And now her father wanted to send her to him.