Chapter 9 No truth

Lily shook her head violently, her eyes darting with guilt and fear.

Tears pooled, glittering like helpless jewels.

“Sister, I never meant to hurt you… The Moon Chalice, yes, I broke it. I was wrong. But it was my maid, Anna, who accused you. Not me!”

A sharp laugh slipped from my lips, soft but cutting as frostbite.

“Then why didn’t you tell the truth three years ago?”

She had stood there, silent, watching me be condemned for her crime.

Every lash of pain, every night of hunger, every drop of blood in the Blood Wash Grounds—could her weak apology erase that?

My lips curved into a smile—razor-edged mockery.

“Lily, why didn’t you tell the Elders the truth?”

Her panic deepened. She stumbled back, fumbling for an excuse:

“It was my first time at the High Priest’s banquet… my first time meeting the Elders… I was so nervous, I—”

“So what?” I cut her off, voice sharp as an ice blade. “Why are you here now? To ask me to forget everything?”

Hellfire itself would be kinder than what I endured in the Blood Wash Grounds.

Lily wept, bowing her head, too afraid to meet my gaze.

“Sister, if you forgive me, I’ll give you anything—our parents, our brother, Silver Moon Palace… even Cole. I’ll give him back to you.”

At last, I understood.

She wasn’t here to repent.

She was afraid—afraid I’d rise against her, afraid I’d take Cole.

“You came because of Cole.” My words struck like steel.

Her face flushed.

“Three years ago, before I was even sent to the Blood Wash Grounds, Luna Evelyn already forced my betrothal into your hands. I am no longer part of the Pack, I have no right to Cole. And more than that, I don’t want him. I don’t love him anymore. You don’t need to test me.”

Lily rushed to defend herself, but I turned away. I had no interest in hearing her lies.

Her face, streaked with tears, her lashes jeweled with droplets—it was the same fragile act as always.

And if Liam saw her like this?

He’d kick me down from the Moon Tower again without a thought.

“Go. I’m tired.” My voice was flat, drained. I stepped toward my chambers.

The dry winter wind cut through the courtyard, but I could feel Lily’s eyes locked on me like a curse.

The moment I crossed the threshold, a splash shattered the silence.

Someone had fallen into the water.

My heart clenched tight; breath caught in my throat.

Omega servants screamed in panic:

“Help! Princess Lily fell into the lake!”

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The winter wind was a blade; snow spun wild in the air.

I didn’t bother with a cloak—I ran.

Lily.

If she drowned, it wouldn’t matter what I’d done or hadn’t done. The Pack wouldn’t care.

Liam would shred me to pieces with his claws.

At the lakeside, I saw her.

Thrashing in the water, her hair plastered across her pale face, terror wide in her eyes.

The ice had cracked open into a jagged black maw. Servants hesitated on the bank, too afraid to jump.

“What are you all doing?!”

I didn’t think—I dove in.

The water was knives, stabbing my ankle, ripping open the old wound until it burned like fire.

Lily clawed wildly, dragging me down. My lungs burned; the world spun black.

With the last of my strength, I dragged her toward the surface.

Hands grabbed her. Laura’s voice pierced the chaos:

“Get the Pack Healer! Now!”

My vision blurred. My body trembled uncontrollably.

Through the haze, voices rushed closer.

Anna. Liam.

Anna shrieked, clutching Lily’s drenched body:

“Princess! How could you fall in?”

Then, her eyes cut toward me—sharp with venom, blazing with accusation.

“It was you! You pushed her into the water!”

Her voice rang with righteous certainty.

Exactly like the day she accused me of breaking the Moon Chalice.

The past and the present bled together—two betrayals overlapping, searing my chest with rage.

Before I could even speak, Laura stormed forward.

Her palm cracked across Anna’s face.

Smack!

The sound echoed across the Frost Fall Courtyard.

“Shut your filthy mouth! Princess Nina jumped into the freezing lake to save her—you all saw it! How dare you slander her? Do you want me to tear you apart?”

My breath stalled. My heart ached—not with pain, but with a warmth I had forgotten could exist.

I had never imagined that small, timid Laura would stand for me.

Lily coughed weakly, biting her lip, eyes red.

“How can you strike Anna?”

Her voice, soft and pitiful, dripped weakness.

Liam’s brows snapped together. His roar split the air:

“Who told you to raise your hand against her? Where did you get the nerve?!”

They ignored the truth—even Laura’s defense, even the witnesses.

I stepped forward, cold and steady, and placed myself between Laura and their wrath.

“It was me.”

The wind froze my soaked hair into icy strands; my skin was paper-white.

“Laura was right to defend me. This is my palace, and she only punished a liar who slandered me.”

“Slander.”

The word cut through the air like a blade.

And in that instant, both Liam and Lily froze.

Their minds were dragged back to three years ago—to the Moon Chalice, to the false charges that damned me.

Lily’s lips trembled. She whispered weakly:

“But… hitting is still wrong.”

Her tears spilled again, and Liam’s heart clenched at once.

He turned his fury on me, his voice slicing like a knife:

“Lily’s right. No matter what, you can’t hit someone. And you—” His eyes pinned me, burning with icy disdain.

“You can’t even swim. Nina, you’re lying.”

He said it with such certainty.

As though he knew every detail of my life.

After all, years ago, I nearly drowned diving into the lake for the ring Cole had given me.

My body shook with cold. But inside, fire roared.

“So you think I pushed Lily into the lake on purpose, Prince Liam?”

I stared at him, my voice trembling with fury.

He didn’t answer. He looked away.

The tide of grief and anger surged higher, threatening to consume me whole.

I turned toward Lily.

She knew the truth. She knew I had saved her.

All she had to do was speak—just one word to clear me.

She owed me that much.

Her lips parted slightly.

The courtyard fell silent. My heart stopped in my chest.

I waited.

Would she save me this time?