Chapter 10

Breakfast ended quietly. One by one, everyone left the dining hall until only Selena remained, helping the servants gather the dishes out of habit. Luna Alara gently stopped her. “Leave those. You’re not a servant.” Selena looked at her in surprise, then gave a small nod before walking out. Across the room, Seraphine watched everything in silence, her expression impossible to read.

The palace gardens were peaceful after the storm of the previous night. Selena stood beside the fountain, turning the moonstone pendant over in her fingers. She couldn’t stop thinking about the stranger in the cave or his final words. “Everything you believe about your life will change.” The thought refused to leave her.

“I’ve been looking for you.”

She turned to find Lucienne walking toward her. He stopped only a few steps away, studying her face. “You disappeared after breakfast.” Selena smiled faintly. “I just needed somewhere quiet.” For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Lucienne finally broke the silence. “I was wrong.” Selena looked at him in confusion. He lowered his eyes. “When Seraphine accused you, I let doubt cloud my judgment. I should have trusted you instead of waiting for proof.” His voice was steady, but the regret behind it was unmistakable.

Selena’s eyes filled with tears. “I’ve spent my whole life trying to prove I wasn’t the monster everyone believed I was.” She laughed bitterly. “When you doubted me too… I thought maybe they were right.” Lucienne stepped closer, gently taking her hands into his. “They were never right.”

The mate bond stirred between them, quiet but impossible to ignore. Lucienne brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “My wolf never stopped choosing you.” His thumb wiped away the tear sliding down her cheek. “This time… neither will I.”

Selena searched his eyes for even a hint of hesitation. She found none. Her voice was barely a whisper. “Then don’t let me go.” Lucienne closed the distance between them, he brushed his lips over hers and kissed her deeply, and this time their kiss wasn’t driven by fate or confusion. It was a choice. Gentle at first, then deeper as every fear they’d buried melted away.

Neither of them noticed Seraphine standing behind the marble archway. She had come searching for Lucienne after breakfast, but instead she watched him kiss the sister she had spent her life believing would never have what belonged to her. The sight shattered something inside her.

A sob escaped before she could stop it. Selena pulled away from the kiss and looked around, but all she caught was the edge of a crimson dress disappearing through the garden gate. “Did you hear that?” she asked quietly. Lucienne frowned, because he didn’t want the kiss to end but by the time he looked the garden was empty.

Seraphine didn’t stop running until she reached the west corridor. Tears streamed down her face, but with every step they slowly disappeared. By the time she reached her bedroom, there were no tears left… only hatred. She stared at her reflection and whispered, “You stole my future once. I won’t let you steal the rest.”

As she pushed open her bedroom door, she froze. A black envelope rested neatly on her bed. There was no name, no seal, only a single sentence written across the front in crimson ink.

Seraphine stood frozen beside the bed, staring at the black envelope as though it might disappear if she blinked. Her fingers hovered over it before she finally picked it up. The paper felt cold against her skin. She broke the seal and unfolded the single sheet inside.

“If you want Selena gone forever… come to the abandoned chapel before sunset. Come alone. Burn this letter after reading.”

Her breathing slowed.

“Who are you?” she whispered into the empty room.

There was no answer.

For a long moment, she simply stared at the words. She should have been frightened. Instead, something dangerous stirred inside her. If someone else hated Selena enough to reach out to her… perhaps fate was finally giving her a chance to take back everything she had lost.

She walked to the fireplace and held the letter over the flames. The paper curled, blackened, and turned to ash. But before the final corner disappeared, her eyes caught one last sentence hidden at the bottom that was already burning.

Seraphine’s heart skipped.

She quickly pulled the letter away, but it was too late. The last line had already burned into nothing.

A sharp knock sounded on her door.

She spun around.

“Lady Seraphine?” a maid called softly. “Master Darius wishes to speak with you.”

Her expression changed instantly. She smoothed her dress, wiped away every trace of emotion, and opened the door.

Darius was waiting in the corridor. His face was calm, but his eyes were unusually cold.

“I’ll keep this short,” he said.

Seraphine smiled politely. “Of course.”

He took one step closer.

“I don’t know what happened between you and Selena all these years.”

Her smile faded slightly.

“But I know what I saw.” Silence settled between them.

“I saw the dagger under the bed,” Darius continued. “I saw the fear in Selena’s eyes. And I saw the way you lied.”

For the first time, Seraphine’s confidence cracked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You do.”

His voice remained calm, which somehow made it even more intimidating.

“I’m saying this once because you’re Selena’s sister. Stop hurting her.”

Seraphine laughed quietly.

“And if I don’t?”

Darius didn’t hesitate.

“Then next time, I won’t stay silent.”

Their eyes locked. For a brief second, Seraphine almost believed he could see every secret she was hiding.

Darius turned and walked away without another word.

She watched him disappear down the corridor, then slowly closed her bedroom door.

The smile returned to her lips.

“So…” she whispered.

“Even you have chosen her also, let see how it goes.”

She crossed to the window overlooking the palace gardens where Lucienne and Selena had shared their kiss only moments earlier.

Her fingers slowly tightened around the windowsill until her knuckles turned white.

“If I can’t have the life that was promised to me…” she said quietly, “…then neither of them will.”

Outside, dark clouds rolled across the sky, swallowing the morning sun.

Far beyond the palace walls, the abandoned chapel stood hidden beneath the ancient forest.

Inside, someone lit a single black candle.

A hooded figure looked toward the palace and smiled.

“She’s coming,” the stranger whispered.

“And once Seraphine walks through those doors… everything we wished for must surely work.” They both laughed.