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[Diana’s POV]The loud cathedral bells rang right before I sneaked back into the room. Its solacing melody reached far and wide within and outside the Pretis palace.Those bells rang only when a royal died. My heart picked up an anxious beat.I knew, deep down, in the churns of my stomach for whom those bells were ringing.Celadine was gone.We weren’t friends. She wasn’t even someone close to me. Yet, I don’t know why I felt like my heart mourned in my chest. I connected to her much faster than I had connected to anyone else. Death connected us and now it was tearing me apart.Carol jumped on the railing of the balcony of my room that I had jumped on. I and Carol looked towards the hospital.“She is in a better place, right?” Carol tilted its head and chirped in affirmation, flapping its wings. “You went to meet Zephyr, right? How’s he doing?”Carol dropped its head with a disappointed chirp from its throat. I tensed my brows.Archer kept his words. I thought when his anger reduce
[Zephyr’s POV] The moment I had planned and worked for years was finally here, but… “Please put down the vial!” “OUT!” Arran snapped at her. Shoving her away from himself, he filled the same poison he used to kill Archer in an injection. I watched the moment satisfactorily with Aera, creating an invisibility barrier around us. We were in Arran’s alchemy chamber with a powerful scent of chemicals, herbs and steam occupying the chamber. Half of the chamber was filled with books of herbs, alchemy and medicines, while an enormous desk occupied the rest half. Glass flasks containing various liquids in bright vivid colors were connected with glass pipes, with fumes rising from a few of them. While Arran had scattered the test tubes and the set up slightly when he was searching the drawers under the desk for the vial of poison. I had imagined this moment exactly as it was playing out. But I never imagined Diana in it. Diana wasn’t supposed to be here. Just when Arran was about to pier
[Zephyr’s POV]Carol was asleep in Diana’s room. But I couldn’t find Diana anywhere. The drapes covering the balcony door fluttered as a soft wind entered the room. I got a glimpse of Diana, who tightened her high ponytail and looked around. She dressed in complete black; her face covered with a black scarf. What is she doing?She ducked behind the railing, seeing a few guards stroll by.The security had been tight lately. Vidar was cautious of every little thing like he should be.Once the guards were out of sight, she looked around once again. Finding the path clear, she climbed to the open side of the railing and just when she was about to jump, my heart leapt out of my chest.I leapt towards her.Seeing me, she widened her eyes, losing her footing. She was about to fall when I caught her hand, grabbing the railing firmly with the other.“Zeph!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here?” she said, lowering her voice.Frowning, I pulled her onto the balcony. Without losing a second
[Zephyr’s POV]Momentary temptations don’t last long. I wasn’t strong enough to look into her eyes and hurt her with a shameless face. She had already suffered a lot because of me.I got up before she did and placed the invitation letter for the celebration on the nightstand, along with my marriage contract.It had been raining since last night, so maybe a storm was on its way.I sat beside Carol on the table and picked up the quill to write a letter to Diana. I thought my letter would take pages and pages given how much I had to tell her, but all I could manage was a page filled with words that looked emptier than my heart.Carol snuggled into its blanket. I walked to the balcony, shut the door properly, and pulled the drapes.“Thank you, Carol. Thank you for helping until today,” I whispered, making sure it didn’t wake up. “Please take care of Diana for me and please forgive me, my baby birdy. I can no longer bring you flowers, but I hope you eat well and grow into the strongest ph
[Kazeal’s POV] The rain reminded me of the day the world was set on fire and instead of setting off the flames; the rain was fueling them. I had this flashback the moment I saw her break into excruciating sobs as if she was being torn apart from within. Once again, I was seeing things which were probably the events from my previous life, but I couldn’t remember when exactly. I had heard the same sobs with the same intensity as hers, maybe worse, but I couldn’t remember the person crying. There was something extremely important that I had to remember, but I just couldn’t and the oblivion was painful. But what vexes me is that she has already occupied most of my headspace ever since I started breathing and what makes me abhor her with all my heart is how much more of me she has hijacked ever since I have seen her, talked to her and touched her. What infuriates me more are my own thoughts that linger around her spellbinding spiritual blue orb, hiding maybe the secrets of salvation, a
[Zephyr’s POV]“STOP IT!”I heard Diana yell as Kyros punched me across my face. The chains that tied my hands and legs to the dungeon walls clanked, and I stumbled to my knees. Damn! That drug was stronger than I thought. I only took one sip and I can’t control my body.I knew this would happen to me, and I was prepared for it. In this very dungeon, I had spent several months in my previous life. And every night I had to go through all kinds of torture. These punches are nothing before what I went through in my previous life.But Diana shouldn’t have been here. Why does she always get in the middle of my plans? She should never be here. I didn’t want her to see me like this. I am sure by now she has figured out that I am Mask, so why… why did she—Kyros’ kick in my gut knocked out the air right off my lungs. I hung limp from the chains. He grabbed my hair and made me face him.“So you are my older brother, huh? Tsk! You thought you could hide from us? No, brother, you can’t have the
[Diana’s POV] Lies over lies. I wasn’t there with Zephyr during the celebration, so I don’t know what actually happened. But whatever they were telling about Zephyr was utterly ridiculous. I just knew in my heart that no matter how many masks he wears, Zephyr can never do what they were accusing him of. What made the entire atmosphere more tense was the presence of my father and the alpha of the Saturna pack. We were in the courtroom filled with the royal Jupitus family, the guest packs who had come to the Jupitus pack for the championship, and all the important high-ranking officials of the Jupitus pack. We were sitting on the side balcony while Alpha Saturna was seated on the balcony in front of us with Darren and Verena who had been glaring at me, half of her face bandaged and bruises all over her body. In the rage, I didn’t see where I was hitting her. It seemed as if I had damaged her face severely. I am not sorry about that. Not at all. Zephyr was standing in the cent
[Kazeal’s POV]Diana looked at me, perplexed. As if she wasn’t able to believe that I had told the truth.I hadn’t taken her side. I sided with the truth. This was something that was gnawing at my conscience. I did this for myself, not for her. I don’t care about her. I shouldn’t.“Lies!” Verena yelled, grabbing the railing of the balcony. “They are both lying! I don’t know what black magic Diana did on the Saint to say such lies. They confessed they were alone in the lounge, too. Who knows what the two of them were—”“Shut up, Verena!” Alpha Saturna growls. “Pardon her imbecility.” He looked at me. I lowered my gaze in a nod.“Do not disrespect our Saint! You are in no position to question him. Saint didn’t have to, but he already took the oath of truth in front of the entire court! This is the truth that even the heavens can’t deny. I am highly disappointed in you. Your actions and your words have let me down and this is the most shameful moment for our pack. Do not make it worse!”