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Chapter Ten – The Blade Behind the Smile

작가: Gracie.E
last update 최신 업데이트: 2025-09-13 04:01:38

The palace gardens had always been Elara’s refuge. Roses bloomed here in perfect rows, their petals crimson and ivory, the air thick with sweetness. But today, even the flowers seemed to hold their breath, as though they too could sense the trap closing around her.

“Elara!”

The call was light, bright, threaded with the kind of girlish charm that made courtiers soften. Serenya, Lord Garron’s daughter, swept across the path like she belonged in a painting. Sunlight kissed her auburn hair, her gown the palest green, stitched in silver vines. She looked every inch the perfect friend—warm, generous, eager.

Elara forced her lips into a smile. “Serenya.”

The other girl reached her, clasping Elara’s hands with delicate fingers. “You disappeared after the banquet last night. I thought Kieran might have chased you off with his endless boasting.

Her laugh was soft, teasing. Elara matched it with one of her own, though it scraped her throat raw. Her wolf stirred uneasily, claws scratching at her
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  • The Princess's Second Life    Chapter Nineteen – Blades Beneath Smiles

    The morning sun burned away the fog, but Elara’s mind was heavy with shadows. She sat in the garden with a book open in her lap, though she hadn’t read a single word. Across the marble path, Sereyna approached, wrapped in soft silk the color of lavender, her golden hair catching the light like spun fire.“Good morning,” Sereyna said sweetly, though her eyes flickered with something unreadable. “You missed supper last night. Your mother worried.”Elara smiled faintly, hiding the sharpness beneath. “I was tired.”“Tired, or avoiding Kieran?” Sereyna’s lips curved, teasing. “The whole court notices the way he looks at you.”Elara’s wolf growled low in her chest. She tilted her head, studying Sereyna. “And what about you? You’ve been spending time with him as well, haven’t you?”The faintest flush rose on Sereyna’s cheeks. “Only conversation. He is… charming.”“Dangerously so.” Elara’s tone hardened. She leaned closer, dropping her voice. “Be careful, Sereyna. Men like Kieran use people u

  • The Princess's Second Life    Chapter Twenty – Shadows in the Hall

    The knock at her door had jolted Elara from the edge of something dangerous, something burning between her and Darius. Kael’s voice on the other side had been urgent, almost shaking.Now, she hurried beside her brother down the dim palace corridor, torchlight flickering over their faces.“What’s happened?” she whispered.Kael’s hand clenched around his sleeve, knuckles white. “I couldn’t sleep. I—” He hesitated, guilt flickering across his eyes. “I was trying to train. On my own.”Elara sighed. “Kael…”“I know. But listen.” His voice dropped lower. “I heard voices. Near the old council hall.”Elara’s heart skipped. That chamber hadn’t been used in years, not since their father had declared it unfit for official business. Dusty, empty—supposedly.But Kael’s expression was grim. “I recognized one of them. Lord Garron.”Elara froze mid-step. “You’re sure?”He nodded sharply. “And another man. I couldn’t see him, but his voice carried. Deep. Hard. I think it was Alpha Garrison.”Her blood

  • The Princess's Second Life    Chapter Nineteen – Lessons Denied

    The courtyard smelled of steel and sweat, faint echoes of Kael’s near-death still lingering in the stones. The training yard had been scrubbed clean, but Elara swore she could still see the shadow of blood where her brother had fallen.She lingered at the edge now, cloak pulled tight, watching Kael pace before Darius like an eager pup before an old wolf.“You have to train me,” Kael blurted, his voice carrying in the cool morning air.Darius didn’t pause in his work. He ran a whetstone down the length of his sword, golden eyes fixed on the blade as if Kael’s words hadn’t even reached him. The rasp of stone on steel was the only answer“I mean it,” Kael pressed. “You saw what happened. If you hadn’t been there, I’d be a corpse. That can’t happen again. Not to me. Not to Elara.At her name, Darius’s jaw twitched—but he said nothing.Kael threw his arms wide, frustration rolling off him in waves. “You’re the strongest fighter I’ve ever seen. You could make me more than… this.” His voice

  • The Princess's Second Life    Chapter Eighteen n – Blood in the Shadows

    The palace had grown too quiet.Elara could feel it in the way the servants moved through the halls, in the clipped tones of the guards, in the endless whispers that cut off whenever she walked into a room. Every smile was forced. Every bow too stiff. The Ironfang envoy had brought more than gifts and courtesies into their home—it had brought poison, seeping into every corner of the court.And her brother Kael was restless.She saw it in the way he drummed his fingers at meals, the way he lingered too long by the training yard, the way his laughter was just a little too loud. He was trying to drown out the word everyone whispered behind his back: weak.That night, she couldn’t sleep. The moon hung high, pale and watchful, as Elara paced her chambers. Her wolf stirred uneasily inside her, hackles raised, as though warning her that something was wrong. She was about to go to Kael’s room when she caught it—the faint sound of a door shutting, followed by retreating footsteps.Kael.Elara’

  • The Princess's Second Life    Chapter Seventeen: Silk and Daggers

    The moonlight bathed the balcony in silver when Serenya slipped into the shadows. Kieran was already there, leaning against the rail, a glass of wine in hand.“You’re late,” he murmured, not looking at her.She pouted, stepping close. “Your guards watch me like hawks. If I’m caught, my father will have my head.”Kieran smirked, brushing a strand of her golden hair aside. “Then be quicker next time.”Her heart fluttered—stupid, traitorous thing. She’d adored him since they were children, always chasing the golden heir’s smile. She thought he saw her now, thought she mattered. But when his lips brushed hers, his eyes were cold, calculating, as though she were nothing but another pawn.“Remember your part,” he whispered against her mouth. “Stay close to Elara. Keep her talking. Find out where her loyalties lie.”Serenya’s throat tightened, but she nodded. Anything, if it meant Kieran’s favor.The next morning, Elara was summoned to her parents’ solar again. Her father’s stern gaze and he

  • The Princess's Second Life    Chapter Sixteen: Bound by Fire and Chains

    The yard was empty, but Darius still felt her presence like a ghost clinging to his skin. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the way Elara had looked at him—desperate, fierce, pleading. Her voice lingered in his chest, breaking him open.“I want you to stand with me. Because I can’t fight them alone.”He had wanted to reach for her, to bury his hands in her hair, to let his wolf claim her and damn the consequences. His body had screamed for it, his wolf clawing against the iron cage of his willBut he hadn’t. He couldn’t.Because to claim her was to mark her as his, to set fire to every fragile alliance between their families. It would be war. And though he’d long ago accepted his role as the unwanted son, the weapon, he could not drag her into that life.Still…His wolf snarled inside him. She is ours. Ours. And if you keep denying it, you will lose her.Darius braced his fists against the post he’d been training on, forehead dropping against the splintered wood. His breath came r

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