تسجيل الدخولElara VeyneThe realization entered my mind slowly, heavy and painful.For years, I had built my revenge around one name.The Caldris.Gideon.It had been that simple.They were the monsters, and I knew where to find them.I knew who to hate.Maybe I had needed it to be that simple.Monsters were easier when they had an address.But what if they didn’t?First Light came back to me again.Children being watched.Questions about blessings.Nobles choosing them.Some children leaving.Others staying.My mouth grew even drier.What if they had not been choosing children?What if they had been choosing gifts?The thought made nausea rise suddenly.No.I couldn’t rush to conclusions.I couldn’t turn suspicion into fact just because everything fit too well.Naima made a small gesture with her hand, and the two servants released me.So suddenly that I took a step sideways before catching my balance.The first thing I did was pull my arms away.My wrists throbbed.Red marks were already appear
Elara VeyneTime inside that room seemed to freeze.The people around me disappeared from my attention, and my mind found something that should not have been there.An old voice.Gideon asking questions.Taking notes.Again.Let’s see how long it takes.My fingers went cold at the memory.No.I clenched them.That monster was not in the room with me, so why did it feel as though I was there again?“I… don’t know what that has to do with me.”My voice came out calm.I had managed to fake that much.Naima did not look impressed.“No?”“No.”She approached again, close enough that I could smell the faint perfume on her clothes.“There are families that would spend more money searching for someone capable of restoring a body than they would spend buying an entire Nythrium mine.”My stomach twisted painfully.For one second, I thought everything fit together.Saref.Caldris.Maybe… they were partners.Maybe this woman knew everything.Maybe—No.The thought stopped.If Gideon knew I was al
Elara VeyneThe second slap hurt more because this time I saw the hand coming.For a few seconds, everything narrowed down to the sting spreading across my cheek and the pressure of the hands holding my arms.The two servants kept me restrained as if I weighed almost nothing.That was what infuriated me most.I wasn’t pretending to fight. My muscles hurt, my shoulders burned, and I could feel my wrists twisting inside their grips every time I tried to pull away. Even so, the two lupines barely had to adjust their stance.It was like trying to escape from a wall.Except walls usually had the courtesy not to crush your wrists.Naima lowered her hand.I expected something on her face. Anger, satisfaction, maybe that ridiculous agitation of someone who loses control and only realizes it afterward, but there was nothing.Her breathing remained steady, her hair perfectly arranged. Not even the sleeve of her dress looked out of place.That unsettled me more than the slap.If she had been yel
Elara VeyneEveryone in the room went still.Ah.That would probably go on the list of things I wished I could take back immediately after saying them.Naima did not react, did not shout or do anything for several seconds, processing what I had said.I watched the anger form slowly in her eyes, so controlled that it seemed more dangerous than any explosion.“Know your place, you insolent human.”The word human came out with so much contempt that I finally understood there was no longer any attempt at politeness between us.Her eyes grew colder.“You are nothing more than a toy.”My stomach tightened.“Something new. Foreign. Fragile. Maybe that is exactly what he needs after years of being treated like an invalid. Someone who makes him feel strong.”She continued, taking a step forward.“But he is a wolf,” she continued. “A prince. He needs someone capable of truly standing beside him when this curiosity ends. Someone of his species. Of his level.”I breathed through my nose.I should
Elara VeyneI stared at her for a few seconds.Perhaps I should have admired the level of confidence required to plan someone’s expulsion from a house you did not yet live in, after a wedding the groom had already refused.Maybe I should have that kind of self-esteem.“I think you are discussing this with the wrong person.”Her expression barely changed.“Am I?”“I’m not the one who decides who lives in Kian’s house.”“You decide whether you stay there.”Ah…I breathed slowly.That conversation was not really about marriage.It was about making me disappear before it.“Lady Saref, I am a servant. I work for people far above my station and follow the orders I am given. If the prince wants my situation to change, he knows perfectly well where to find me.”It was not the whole truth.But it was true enough.More importantly, it preserved exactly the position Kian had created for me.I belonged to his household.Touching me meant interfering with a decision he had made.Naima knew that.M
Chapter 71 — The Locked DoorElara VeyneNaima’s invitation arrived before I had finished breakfast.Not at the hands of anyone I knew, which was the first thing that bothered me.The woman found me near one of the passages by the kitchens, dressed in those discreet clothes worn by employees attached to foreign entourages. I probably would not even have paid attention if it weren’t for the small symbol embroidered on her sleeve.House Saref.She stopped in front of me with an almost impeccable posture.“Lady Naima requests your presence.”I stared at her for a few seconds.After the previous day’s presentation, perhaps the strangest thing was that Naima had not tried to speak to me yet. She had spent an entire morning sitting only a few inches away while strangers discussed, with impressive enthusiasm, whether she would be Kian’s future wife and whether I officially occupied the position of his mistress.It did not seem like the kind of experience a good night’s sleep would make disap







