Semua Bab BULLIED BY THE ALPHA PRINCE: Bab 181 - Bab 190

SERAPHINA’S POVI'm crippled for a moment, exhausted from the outburst, still recovering from the shock of almost killing them. My guilt only grows worse with each passing second. I wish there were a way I could go back to the room, or at least track down Artemis.I'm tired and hungry, wishing we had waited for food before embarking on this quest.Movement in the corner of my eye catches my attention while I wallow, and I look up to just barely see someone peeking from around the corner."Hello?" I call out eagerly, hoping they're here to help.There’s no response, but I can see a shadow from the side, a small shadow, suggesting it's a child.My hope rises again."Please, please, I'm lost and need help finding someone," I plead, rushing to my feet and dusting off my pants.A small head peeps out—a little girl with dirt-brown hair mostly concealed under an oversized beanie, wearing rough clothes. She looks about ten, appearing scared, yet her eyes remain sharp and cautious."It’s gonn

SERAPHINA’S POVWe settle down after a 20-minute-long crying session, which involves me reverting back to my 4-year-old self, suddenly left without parents.Feeling pathetic and embarrassed once I’m done, I sit with swollen eyes and a small cup of water in my hands, while she—Cassandra, my birth mother—sits right in front of me with a soft smile on her lips.“The truth is, your father and I loved you dearly, but we had debt and people on our backs, wolves threatening our lives, so we had to run. You were only a little child then. You weren’t safe. We had to drop you off somewhere and make it clear that we didn’t want you, so they wouldn’t come after you,” she explains how it all came to be, the reason behind leaving me behind in an orphanage all those years ago.“Your father… he died along the way, leaving only me, and since then, I’ve been moving from place to place trying to get by. I eventually paid off our debts, but I couldn’t come back for you. I guessed you were already older a

SERAPHINA’S POVThe warmth of his arms engulfs me, and I feel safe again. I realize I never want to let go or stray too far from his presence. Being away was unbearably painful. Dealing with so much alone, the creeping loneliness momentarily shattered my mind. I never want to face that again, to give up on myself as I had just moments before he appeared.“I’m sorry, I couldn’t wait for you anymore, I had to show up,” he apologizes, inhaling deeply, taking in my scent to calm himself. He knew he could have let me handle it alone, but impatience won over him.Guilt floods me, knowing I was about to let myself be sold off, struck by the heartbreaking realization that my mother never wanted me. I want to reverse everything, realizing there’s something worth returning to, a purpose to all this struggle – the most important one now standing before me. I smile, tears leaking from my eyes.“I know, I’m sorry I was away for so long.”He looks through my smile, observing me a second longer

ARTEMIS’ POVHer face begins to twitch as she tries her hardest to maintain her composure, but it all eventually crumbles. She's forced to relive every scene that shattered her mind before she finally snapped, resigning herself to the only life she knew how to live—one that involved placing all the blame and hatred on the one thing she never wanted in her seemingly happy existence.She grips and pulls at her hair, shaking her head and denying everything over and over again until she becomes a complete, wailing mess. This confirms everything I need to know. Sera did kill the man, but he deserved it. He likely would have come for her next, after dealing with his obsessive wife, hoping to start fresh with his new infatuation. Instead, Sera saved her—a reality Cassandra has spent her entire life denying, rewriting the narrative in her head just to keep on living.The rest, of course, is conjecture, pieced together from known facts and behavioral patterns, but I'm almost certain

SERAPHINA’S POV"Oh my god..." The words escape my lips before I realize it, and I fall backward while my head spins over and over again. Artemis reaches for my hand, squeezing it tightly, his eyes mirroring the same realization dawning on me. If what we've just learned is true, it could explain everything—why there hasn't been another, why it's only ever been me. Why neither my mom nor dad knew anything about my magic. My mind is completely blown.The old man chuckles, pulling my attention away from Artemis and his away from me. His cackle is momentarily terrifying before he pauses to look directly at me, and only me, with an eerie light of interest glinting in his eyes that wasn’t there before. “You’re one, aren’t you—an Astria witch.”His question catches me completely off guard, knocking me off balance before I can process it, and my expression turns more shocked and terrified than I intend, inadvertently confirming his suspicions. “I don’t know what you’re talking