《HE REJECTED ME, SO I TOOK HIS CROWN》全部章節：第 11 章 - 第 20 章

VALERIA.“I survived one jaw-breaking night with him. I can survive three hundred and sixty-four more,” I whispered to myself, staring hard at my reflection in the gilded vanity mirror.My royal chambers had been transformed into a suffocating, chaotic circus.It was the morning of the preliminary bonding ceremony—the legally binding signature of our marriage pact before the public coronation tonight.As a result, I was trapped under the frantic, hovering attention of a dozen imperial tailors and handmaidens.Silas Miller stood in the far corner, cloaked in the deep shadows of a marble pillar. He let out a dry, cynical snort, pushing his wire-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose.“Well, I hope you do. But let's be entirely honest, Valeria. You barely survived the balcony with him last night.”I broke eye contact with the mirror, my gaze dropping to my lap where my hands were clasped tight enough to turn my knuckles white. He was right.My mind scrambled back to the suffocating te

VALERIA."Let go of me."The words tore from my throat, breathless and tight, as the hard edge of the mahogany vanity bit viciously into the small of my back.Kaelen didn't listen. Instead, he shifted his massive weight forward, crushing me between the heavy wood and the solid, unyielding iron of his chest. His towering frame caged me in completely, cutting off the light, the air, and any possible route of escape.He was breathing heavily, his chest heaving against mine, his amber eyes blazing with a terrifying, unhinged mix of fury, suspicion, and raw obsession."You know you can choose to do this the easy way," he growled. His face was mere inches from mine, his deep voice vibrating right through my skin. "Just tell me what I need to know, Valeria. Don't lie to me."It was a threat, wrapped in the dark velvet of an Alpha's command, but my hyper-independence absolutely refused to yield. Even as my icy persona began to violently crack under his sheer physical gravity, I fought back.

VALERIA.The sharp clatter of silver against the heavy oak bedside table echoed like a gunshot in the dead silence of my quarters.“My lady, you... you haven't touched your food,” the young servant whispered. Her wide, terrified eyes darted nervously around the cavernous, stone-walled room as if expecting the shadows to swallow her whole.I stopped my relentless pacing for a fraction of a second, casting a cold, sidelong glance at the roasted venison resting untouched on the platter. The young girl stood with her shoulders violently hunched, practically vibrating under the suffocating, atmospheric tension that had completely consumed my suite since my arrival at the fortress.I turned my back to her, staring out the reinforced glass window at the bleak, jagged mountain peaks.“I am not hungry, Sarah. Take it away.”“Y-yes, my lady,” the servant squeaked. She scrambled forward, snatching the silver tray up as if it were laced with active explosives, and practically sprinted out of the

KAELEN.The parchment was fraying at the edges, worn dangerously thin from the countless times my calloused, soot-stained thumbs had traced the rough charcoal lines.I sat alone in the dim, suffocating gloom of my private study, entirely ignoring the absolute geopolitical nightmare stacked on the edges of my massive mahogany desk.The sprawling tactical maps of the continent.The heavily encrypted intelligence briefs detailing the Alpha King's assassination in the capital.The frantic mobilization schedules for an impending, multi-front civil war.I didn't give a single fuck about any of it.My entire universe had violently narrowed down to the crude sketch of the wolf in my hand.I leaned back heavily in my leather chair, closing my burning eyes. I forced myself to replay that night in the woods over and over again, chasing the memory until a vicious migraine throbbed at my temples.I dug into the deepest, darkest corners of my mind, desperately trying to unlock a clearer picture—a f

VESPERA.The heavy, velvet curtains of my quarters did absolutely nothing to muffle the deafening, echoing roars of celebration rippling through the fortress.Every drunken cheer, every clinking crystal glass, and every rhythmic, booming thud of the Vanguard war drums felt like a physical strike against my ribs, fueling the toxic, unyielding fire burning deep within my chest.I stood completely paralyzed at the tall glass window, my fingers curling into fists so tight that my manicured claws pierced the soft flesh of my palms, drawing tiny, dark beads of blood.I was already fully dressed for the grand banquet.The tailored, black leather corset and sweeping obsidian gown I wore had been meticulously designed to showcase my high standing as the decorated Commander of the Vanguard.I was the woman who had bled for this territory.I was the woman who had fought beside him in the trenches.I had earned the absolute right to stand at the Supreme Alpha’s side.Instead, I was hiding in the