Chapter 242 - 0242

Lorelei POV

One by one, the maids lowered their heads and hurried out of the grand dining hall. Their footsteps echoed across the polished stone floor until the heavy wooden doors finally clicked shut behind them.

The room immediately fell into an eerie silence, leaving only the three of us beneath the soft flicker of the candlelight.

Kaelen took a deep breath before turning to me, his dark eyes locking onto mine.

"Jaxen is being used by the Council elders."

I blinked, completely caught off guard by the sudden revelation. "What?" The word slipped out before I could stop it, disbelief flooding my voice as I tried to make sense of what he had just said.

"The High Council summoned me today," Kaelen continued, his voice grim and steady, though I could sense the anger simmering beneath it. "They officially told me I can’t marry you. They claim they know specific details about your curse, and they believe your presence will bring absolute ruin to the entire empire."

My blood ran cold.

All the warmth drained from my body in an instant.

"They... what?" I whispered, barely managing to get the words out.

"It’s a political move," Darius added, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table. His expression was just as serious as Kaelen’s as he continued explaining. "They’re using Jaxen as their pawn. He went straight to them with his whole pathetic sob story. The elders know about your history with him, and they also know about the curse that destroyed his pack."

As Darius spoke, my hands began trembling uncontrollably in my lap.

This was it.

The nightmare I had secretly feared from the very beginning had finally caught up with me. The truth about my curse had reached the highest authority in the empire.

And somehow, I had allowed myself to believe I was safe.

I had convinced myself that because Kaelen loved me, because he was the Alpha King and held the highest position in the realm, his acceptance would be enough to protect me.

But I had forgotten something.

Politics didn’t care about love.

And it definitely didn’t care about me.

If the High Council truly believed I was a cursed blight on the realm, they would stop at nothing to tear us apart. What if they tried to strip Kaelen of his title? What if they threatened his throne?

Oh, Moon Goddess, my mind cried out. Why can’t we just be happy? Why does everything have to keep falling apart?

"Jaxen told the Council that he still loves you dearly," Kaelen added, his jaw tightening so hard I could almost hear his teeth grinding.

My heart clenched.

That wasn’t completely false. Jaxen had shown me tenderness in the past, enough to make me believe he truly loved me. Or maybe I had just been too naive to see through his mask. Maybe all of it had been an act from the beginning.

"He claims that despite your curse destroying his pack and everything that happened between you, he’s more than willing to take you back to protect the empire from you," Kaelen finished, his voice dripping with disgust.

"He’s lying," I whispered, my voice weak as the memory of Jaxen’s cold, detached eyes flashed through my mind.

I remembered the way he had watched me without a shred of pity while my blood was being drained from my body to save my sister.

"He doesn’t love me," I said, shaking my head. "He doesn’t give a damn about the empire. He just wants to tear me down, and he wants to turn you against me."

Kaelen let out a slow breath, his expression softening as he looked at me. "I know," he said gently.

For a moment, there was something warm in his eyes, something that made my chest ache. But it disappeared just as quickly, replaced by the hard expression I had become so familiar with.

"But unfortunately, the Council doesn’t care about the truth," he continued. "They hate me. They’ll grab onto any lie, any weapon, and anyone they can use to drag me off this throne."

I nervously fidgeted with my fingers, my mind racing. There was something else I needed to tell him, something I had planned to bring up over dinner but hadn’t known how to say until now.

"Raven called me today," I finally said, lowering my gaze to my hands. "She called to warn me about Jaxen."

Hearing that, Kaelen’s expression hardened again, his dark brows pulling tightly together. "What did she say?"

I took a slow, steadying breath before telling him everything. I explained how Raven had reached out after Jaxen called her, rambling frantically for over an hour about how he had finally found me. He had told her I was being held against my will by the Alpha King, swearing he would go to any length to get me back. Even someone as level-headed as Raven had been completely panicked by the whole thing.

By the time I finished, Kaelen’s jaw was clenched so tightly that I could see the muscles twitching beneath his skin.

Darius, who had been listening quietly across the table, let out a sharp scoff. "Seems like that bastard was telling the truth," he muttered, mostly to himself. "He really hasn’t moved on."

The moment those words left Darius’s mouth, Kaelen’s fist slammed down against the dining table.

BANG!

The sound cracked through the massive hall like a thunderclap, making the silverware, plates, and wine glasses rattle violently.

His amber eyes suddenly flared with a wild, dangerous light that sent an icy shiver down my spine.

For a fleeting second, I was reminded of that night, the night he had lost control and choked me in bed.

Darius seemed to notice it too because he immediately sucked in a sharp breath. "I was just joking," he said quickly, his voice unnaturally calm and careful.

It was probably the calmest I had ever heard him speak to Kaelen.

For a long, agonizing moment, Kaelen didn’t move. His chest rose and fell with heavy, ragged breaths while his hands remained locked into tight fists against the dark wood.

Then, slowly, he seemed to snap out of whatever dark fury had taken hold of him. The wildness in his eyes gradually faded back into their normal amber, and his broad shoulders loosened, though only slightly.

"There’s nothing funny about this," Kaelen said coldly.

"I know," Darius nodded quickly, all traces of his usual snark gone. "And I’m sorry."