The cursed prince

Serenity,

I had been bullied since I could remember the beginning of my life. I used to cry in my Dad's arms, asking why I had to be so heavy, so slow and so ugly. Why nobody ever acknowledged me as their friend, why I was always the one left out, always the one whispered about.

But Dad used to say those people who pointed at your flaws were trying their best to hide their own. They weren't confident enough to face what was broken inside them, so they threw it onto others, hoping no one would notice.

That was why I never said anything. I never fought back, never reacted when they mocked or pushed or laughed. Because at the end of the day, I believed they still went home and wet their pillows with their own tears.

So when Luna punched me, I knew it came from her own insecurities. After all, it wasn’t uncommon for them to steal mates, to turn on each other like that.

And just like always, I stayed quiet, let it go. Not because I was gullible, because I knew when they were busy making my life harder for my weight, their lives were already dealing with them in different aspects.

I didn't just want to waste my time or energy to retaliate. Maybe my thoughts were stupid, my reasoning might be weak and laughable but this is what I am. I don't keep grudge for everything that they did.

But right now… this was beyond insecure bullies, beyond petty violence or mockery. This felt like something else entirely.

Just like I was being crashed by his Aura. It was deadly, almost consuming my strength. I coughed, barely could breathe.

Each of his steps was heavy, deliberate, the ground almost trembling beneath the force of it. His tall figure didn’t just walk, it advanced, like a predator closing in before the kill. His claws were unsheathed, glinting faintly, his face flushed red with something far more volatile than anger, and his eyes… his eyes burned like they could rip through flesh without touching it.

My body trembled uncontrollably. The tray slipped from my hands and crashed onto the floor, glass shattering loudly, the sound sharp and helpless against the suffocating pressure in the air.

“Woman. You didn’t faint!” His voice wasn’t just loud, it was beastly, vibrating through the walls, through my bones.

Before I could even process it, he jumped through the hallway window. Glass didn’t matter. Distance didn’t matter. His eyes were already locked on me.

“Don’t… don’t kill me,” I whispered, barely able to move, my legs refusing to obey me. “Please… I beg you.”

“Kill you?” He laughed. It wasn’t amusement, it was cold, jagged, empty. “You will die eventually.”

His claws reached my face.

I squeezed my eyes shut, remembering the servants’ whispers, whoever he touched would faint instantly.

I should have fainted already.

I would have… if I hadn’t taken my medication earlier.

But instead, I gasped and forced my eyes open when his claw slowly traced the shape of my face, almost… curiously.

“You aren’t fainting.”

“I… I…” My lips quivered. A familiar pain shot through my brain, sharp and warning, like lightning splitting through my skull. A seizure. It was coming.

Before I could even brace myself, his claws wrapped around my neck.

“Why aren’t you fainting?” he growled, tightening his grip slightly, testing, as if I were something broken that refused to behave properly. “What’s wrong with you?”

My feet left the ground.

“It’s not right,” he muttered, almost to himself, his grip firm, unyielding. “Everyone faints. Everyone drops like pathetic creatures. Why aren’t you?”

“I… I took my medicine earlier!” I choked out, fingers clawing weakly at his wrist. “Let go…”

“Medicine?” He tilted his head, genuinely puzzled, like the concept itself was foreign. “What kind of medicine blocks my aura?”

Aura?

“I… I don’t know!” Tears spilled down, dripping onto his claws, mixing with the faint scent of blood already staining his skin.

He stared at me, scanning, calculating, his eyes narrowing with something darker than confusion.

“I don’t understand,” he murmured, shaking his head slightly, almost childlike, but there was nothing innocent about it. “I’m exuding more.”

Exuding… what?

The pressure in the air was unbearable, like something invisible was crushing down on me, squeezing my lungs, tightening around my skull. His fingers alone were already cutting off my oxygen.

I should have fainted. I was about to.

Just as my vision started to blur, a sharp voice cut through everything.

“What are you doing? Serenity!”

Luna Beatrice’s voice.

She snapped immediately, “Did you offend the Crown Prince?”

My eyes widened. The accusation hit harder than his grip. She didn't even know what happened but already concluded that I was the one to blame.

But Crown Prince? Was he the cursed prince everyone was talking about?

Then she turned to him, her tone shifting instantly.

“Crown Prince, please forgive her. She is just an idiot. She doesn’t know her place.”

His expression hardened.

“Who are you?”

Luna Beatrice froze. Her face turned pale, then flushed an odd shade of red as she stuttered, “I… I am Luna Beatrice. She is my personal maid.”

“Personal maid?” His gaze flicked back to me. My vision was dimming, my face burning, turning blotchy red, then slowly purple.

“I will fire her if she offended you,” she rushed. “But please don’t kill her.”

Silence.

Then suddenly, he let go.

I dropped to the ground, my body hitting the floor, gasping violently, air tearing back into my lungs like knives.

“No,” he said calmly, looking at her. “She will take care of me.”

The words didn’t make sense. He had just tried to kill me, and now he wanted me to serve him?

I choked, coughing so hard I nearly threw up. My body shook uncontrollably as I struggled to stay upright.

Luna Beatrice stared at me in horror, then back at him, confused.

“Crown Prince, we have already assigned two she-wolves…”

“I want her.”

That was it.

No room for argument. No explanation. Just a command.

He walked past me, and just like that, the suffocating pressure vanished, as if it had never existed.

Luna Beatrice gasped sharply, like she had been holding her breath the entire time.

“Serenity!” she called coldly.

I couldn’t even lift my head before she grabbed my hair and slapped me again.

The sting rang through my skull, but I was too stunned to react.

“Are you trying to destroy us?” she demanded. “What did you do? Nobody dares to mess with a Lycan, and he wants you?”

“I…”

“You are fired,” she snapped. “I will give you your retirement money. Go and hide. Don’t come back.”

“N No. I… I didn’t do anything. I swear!” I coughed, my throat raw, the bruise around my neck throbbing with every breath.

“Enough. Also…” She glanced toward the window, her throat bobbing as her voice dropped. “You witnessed something. If you open your mouth, I will ruin your life.”

“Luna!” My voice cracked, sharp for the first time. Something inside me snapped. “Why are you being so cruel to me? I am the victim here!”

Her gaze turned colder.

“There is no such thing as a victim,” she said flatly. “You saw something you shouldn’t have. Now he wants to keep you around. He has never kept a woman beside him since he was a child. How could he allow someone like you near him?”

My jaw tightened.

But my body was already slipping again, control fading, the warning signs returning.

“I’m telling you, leave before something worse happens,” she continued. “If anything happens to you, they will blame us. I will not bring shame to my Pack.”

“How?”

“Do I have to explain everything to you?” she snapped. “Get out of my house!”

Something burned inside me then.

Anger.

I forced myself to stand, knees shaking, legs barely holding me up, but I stood anyway. All the pent up frustration and unspoken rage began to surface.

And for the first time in my life, I looked straight into her eyes, without any more hesitation.

“Thank you,” I said, my voice trembling but steady enough. “Finally, I can be free from your pathetic insecurities and unreasonable demands.”

A sharp breath escaped her throat. Her eyes widened. “Wh-What did you say?”

“And you’re right,” I continued, drawing in a sharp breath despite the pain. “You gave me this job, and I am grateful. But that doesn’t mean your little insecure heart was ever satisfied. I pity you, Luna. Despite having everything, name, fame, beauty, a loving family, you are still as insecure as you’ve always been.”

I swallowed hard, my chest tightening.

“But I am extremely grateful,” I finished quietly, “for giving me the opportunity to know you better.”

I didn’t wait.

I turned and walked straight out of the back door, not looking back, not caring what expression she wore or what consequences followed.

I would reject Nolan, take whatever money I had left, and go back to the old village where I used to live with Dad.

At least, that was the plan.

I had no idea life had its own way of throwing another curveball straight at me.