Chapter 187: ¹⁸⁷: on my knees.

Chapter 187: 1??: on my knees.

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[Invitation to the Starlight Eclipse Ball]

I stared at the words printed on the envelope in my hands and let out a quiet sigh.

Tonight....Tonight, I would finally get the answer to the question Grandmother had sent me here to uncover for her.

I would finally be able to repay the debt I owed her for the life she had given me, for everything she had done for me when I had nothing left. And now that I was so close to discovering the truth, I found myself experiencing two completely opposite emotions.

Fear and relief.

A part of me was terrified of what I might discover tonight, and even more terrified of what I would have to do to obtain the answer I had come looking for. But beneath that fear was a strange sense of relief. After tonight, I would finally know whether the answer to Grandmother’s questions and perhaps even the cure I had been searching for was connected to Kael or not.

Kael Dreven.

The very same man I had once thought I could use as a weapon to achieve my own goals. A short, humourless chuckle escaped my lips as the thought resurfaced.

God, how naive I had been.

Back then, I had looked at Kael as nothing more than a means to an end, someone whose power and position I could turn to my advantage. I had believed I could approach him, get what I needed, and walk away without allowing anything to complicate my plans.

How foolish of me. Now, on the very day I might finally discover whether Kael was the person we had been searching for, I had come to realise something far more inconvenient.

Regardless of what I discovered tonight, I would have to stay away from him. For my own sake and for my plans. And perhaps, more importantly, for my sanity.

I lowered my gaze to the invitation, tracing the elegant lettering on its surface with my thumb as my thoughts drifted towards everything I had lost.

I was wolfless, stripped of my birthright before I had even been given the chance to claim it. I had been betrayed by my own people, the very people who should have protected me. And worst of all, my father’s death remained an open wound inside me, one that refused to heal no matter how much time passed.

I still had a debt to repay. A truth to uncover. And revenge to claim. Those were the things that mattered.

Not Kael’s frustrating attitude. Not the strange way my heart sometimes reacted to his presence. And certainly not whatever foolish feelings I might have started developing for him without my permission.

I couldn’t afford to be distracted. I had spent too much time and endured too much pain to let my emotions interfere with the very reason I had come to the Starlight Empire in the first place.

Whatever happened tonight, I needed to remember who I was and what I had come here to do.

Once the ball was over, I would put some distance between Kael and myself. No matter what I discovered. No matter what I felt.

"Thank you, Miss Kayden, for making this ball a masked party." I lifted my eyes towards the mirror and examined my reflection, momentarily pulling myself out of my thoughts.

The sapphire satin dress I wore clung to my figure like a second skin, its smooth fabric catching the light whenever I moved. The rich blue shade complemented the elegant design, making the dress look far more extravagant than anything I would ordinarily choose for myself.

It was beautiful...Undeniably so. And, according to Rose, I looked absolutely drool-worthy. Her words, not mine. I rolled my eyes at the memory, unable to stop a faint smile from tugging at my lips.

When Rose had picked this dress for me yesterday, I had rejected it almost immediately. The last thing I wanted was to walk into a room full of influential people wearing something that would draw everyone’s attention towards me. Attention was the one thing I absolutely did not need tonight.

But Rose, being Rose, had refused to listen to reason. Miss Know-It-All had simply informed me that the ball would be a masked event, which meant nobody would be able to recognise my face anyway. According to her, there was absolutely no reason for me to sacrifice a gorgeous dress just because I was worried about being noticed.

At the time, I had assumed she was merely trying to convince me to buy the dress. After all, Rose was perfectly capable of inventing an entire argument if it meant getting her way.

However, when I had finally taken the time to check the instructions printed on the invitation, I discovered that she had actually been telling the truth.

The Starlight Eclipse Ball would indeed be a masked event.

And according to Rose, the decision had been made by Mayla Kayden, the daughter of Elder Kayden, who was organising the ball this year.

Apparently, Mayla had decided that everyone attending would wear masks, adding an extra layer of mystery and elegance to the occasion.

I couldn’t deny that it was a clever idea. A masked ball meant I could attend without immediately revealing my identity to everyone in the room. It also meant I could move around more discreetly, observe the people I needed to observe, and hopefully accomplish what I had come for without attracting unnecessary attention.

At least, that was the plan. Whether the night would actually cooperate with me was an entirely different matter.

My thoughts wandered to the last time I had encountered Mayla Kayden. It had been during Louis’s birthday ball.

I still remembered the way she had carried herself that evening, her confidence almost effortless as she moved through the gathering. She had seemed perfectly comfortable in the company of influential people, and the way she behaved around Kael had been particularly noticeable.

In fact, at the time, I had even wondered whether she was his girlfriend. Of course, when I had eventually asked Kael about it, he had dismissed the idea, making it clear that there was nothing of the sort between them.

That answer had settled my curiosity back then. But tonight, I had absolutely no desire to cross paths with Mayla again.

I was already dealing with enough uncertainties as it was. The last thing I needed was another complication, especially one involving Kael and a woman who seemed so comfortable around him.