Chapter 4: The Mad Duke's Claim

​The silence in the grand ballroom was so absolute it felt like a physical weight pressing down on everyone's shoulders. Not a single soul dared to breathe. The Royal Guards, elite soldiers trained to protect the Emperor at all costs, stood completely frozen, their hands trembling violently on the hilts of their drawn swords.

​Duke Kaelen Blackwood did not just walk into the room; he commanded it. His heavy, leather-clad boots echoed against the polished marble floor, each step a slow, deliberate strike that resonated in the chests of the terrified nobility. He completely ignored the Emperor, who was sitting stiffly on his golden throne. He ignored Crown Prince Arthur, whose face had gone from confident arrogance to a sickening shade of pale.

​Kaelen’s violet eyes, burning with a dark, territorial possessiveness, were locked solely on me.

​I stood my ground, my heart hammering violently against my ribs. In my deep crimson gown, I felt like a blazing beacon in a sea of cowards. When he finally stopped a mere breath away from me, the sheer heat of his magical aura washed over my skin, sending a jolt of electricity straight to my core.

​"You look stunning, little bird," Kaelen murmured. His voice was low, yet in the dead silence of the hall, it carried like rolling thunder. "But red has always been a Blackwood color."

​Before I could reply to his wicked smirk, a voice broke the silence, shrill and trembling with outrage.

​"Duke Blackwood!" Crown Prince Arthur shouted, descending the grand staircase with a forced look of bravado. His hands were clenched into tight fists at his sides. "What is the meaning of this violent intrusion? You are supposed to be marching to the Northern border tonight! To barge into an Imperial Gala and approach my fiancée—"

​"Your fiancée?" Kaelen interrupted. He didn't raise his voice, but his terrifyingly cold tone made Arthur stop dead in his tracks.

​Kaelen slowly turned his head to look at the Crown Prince. The absolute disdain in his glowing violet eyes made Arthur physically recoil. "You seem to be suffering from a severe delusion, Your Highness. Or perhaps your royal eyesight is failing you."

​Without breaking eye contact with the Prince, Kaelen reached out and gently took my right hand. His large, scarred fingers wrapped around mine, lifting my hand high for the entire imperial court to witness. The crystal chandeliers caught the sharp, blinding glint of the massive black diamond resting perfectly on my index finger.

​The Blackwood signet ring.

​A collective gasp ripped through the crowd. Some nobles actually stumbled backward in pure shock, covering their mouths. The Emperor half-rose from his throne, his face draining of all color.

​"That... that is impossible!" Arthur stammered, his flawless facade crumbling completely into dust. He pointed a shaking finger at me. "Aurelia, what is the meaning of this? You are bound to the Royal Family! You cannot—"

​"Lady Aurelia Vanguard," Kaelen’s voice boomed, completely drowning out the Prince's pathetic protests, "is bound to no one but me. She is the future Duchess of the North. She wears my crest, she carries my absolute protection, and she belongs to my territory."

​From behind Arthur, I saw Elise peeking out. The smug, triumphant look she had worn earlier was entirely gone, replaced by pure, unadulterated terror. She looked at me, realizing that the 'weak, jealous villainess' she had planned to destroy had just aligned herself with the most dangerous monster on the continent.

​I gave Elise a slow, chilling smile. Checkmate.

​Arthur’s face contorted with humiliated rage. He had planned to trap me tonight, to publicly bind me to a life of misery. Instead, he was being humiliated in front of the entire empire.

​"Treason!" Arthur roared, completely losing his mind. "Guards! Arrest the Duke for treason and seize the Lady!"

​The royal guards hesitated, terrified for their lives. But a few desperate loyalists drew their blades, taking a single, shaky step forward.

​Kaelen didn't even bother drawing his sword. He simply smiled—a wicked, blood-chilling grin. The air pressure in the room suddenly intensified a hundredfold. The floor beneath Kaelen’s boots cracked, deep fissures spreading through the solid marble like spiderwebs. Black, suffocating mist began to bleed heavily from his shadows, wrapping around us like a shield.

​"Take one more step," Kaelen whispered, the dark magic vibrating through the very walls of the palace, "and I will turn this ballroom into a graveyard."