Chapter 152: Moonlit Temptation

Elara:

By the time I finished, all three of them were looking at me as if they were seeing an entirely different person sitting across the table.

The shock and anxiety that had filled their expressions earlier had completely disappeared, replaced by something that looked suspiciously like admiration. Jasper was the first to speak, and the faint smile that appeared on his face made something warm settle in my chest.

"Master Brown would be proud to hear you say that," he admitted.

Violet immediately nodded in agreement, while Myra looked like she was still trying to process everything I had just said.

"Then I’ll do it," Myra promised, her voice steadier now. "Whatever it takes, I’ll work for it. I’ll study harder, build connections, earn people’s trust, and become someone worthy of the position. And I promise you, Elara, I won’t let you down."

I smiled at her, but before I could answer, Violet reached across the table and gently squeezed my hand. Her expression had softened into something I rarely saw from her. "Thank you," she said quietly. "Not just for supporting Myra. Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me something like this. That’s not the kind of thing a Crown Princess should be sharing with just anyone. If you are telling this today in my presence because you consider me one of your closest allies, then I promise you, I’ll never give you a reason to regret that trust."

Her words struck somewhere deeper than I expected, leaving my heart unexpectedly warm. For once, the Crown didn’t feel like a burden or a cage. Sitting there with the three people who had somehow become my little circle of safety, it felt like the beginning of something I could actually build.

With that sweet note hanging between us, we finally returned our attention to the food that had been sitting almost forgotten while we had discussed the future.

By the time our plates were cleared and the last bites disappeared, the heaviness of the conversation had faded, replaced by something lighter and far more dangerous. Violet pushed her chair back, grabbed my hand, and announced that it was time for the part of the evening she had been waiting for.

"Come on, Princess. We are going to the bar."

I barely had time to protest before she dragged me toward the cocktail counter, already declaring that I was going to try at least three different drinks before the night was over. I laughed as I let her pull me along, leaving Jasper and Myra behind us while the soft piano music continued playing and the snow kept falling beyond the tall windows.

-

Half an hour later, the three of us were officially drunk enough to make every decision seem like an excellent one.

Violet was leaning against the bar, laughing at something a handsome server had said while Myra was attempting to flirt with another man across the counter and failing so adorably that even I couldn’t stop giggling. Meanwhile, I had discovered that the cocktail menu contained drinks with names that sounded like they had been invented specifically to make questionable decisions sound sophisticated.

Jasper looked increasingly exhausted by the entire situation. He had spent the last ten minutes trying to stop me from ordering a particularly ridiculous-sounding blue cocktail called a "Moonlit Temptation," insisting that anything with that name was probably a terrible idea, while I argued that judging a drink by its name was discrimination.

I had just pointed at the menu and ordered it anyway when Jasper’s phone suddenly buzzed. The change in his expression was immediate. He pulled the phone from his pocket, read the message, and all traces of amusement disappeared from his face.

A second later, another phone buzzed from somewhere behind us. I glanced over and noticed a woman entering the private floor with a calm expression. I didn’t recognize her at first, but then Jasper looked toward her and said, "Hazel."

Hazel gave him a short nod before telling him quietly, "We have an alert from the western perimeter. Moon Warriors are being summoned to respond. We are closest, so we both need to leave immediately."

Jasper’s jaw tightened. "I’m not leaving her." His eyes went straight toward me, and even through my drunken haze I understood exactly what he meant. For him, there’s nothing more important than me.

Hazel seemed to expect his answer because she calmly gestured toward the tall man standing farther back. "Magnus is here."

I blinked at the name, watching as the man stepped forward. He looked remarkably similar to the Moon Warriors surrounding the academy, though something about him was different. Hazel introduced him briefly as her brother, and assured both Jasper and me that Magnus had been specifically assigned as secondary protection for us tonight.

"He isn’t exactly a Moon Warrior," she explained, "but if anyone can get these three back to the academy safely all by himself, it’s him."

Jasper still looked reluctant, so I reached out and grabbed his sleeve. "Go," I told him, forcing my words to sound steadier than they probably were. "I’m not a child, Jasper. Magnus is here, and I’m with Violet and Myra. Answer the summon."

He stared at me for several seconds before sighing heavily. Hazel stepped closer and added, "You can trust my brother completely."

Eventually Jasper nodded, though he made me promise twice that I would return directly to the academy. "I promise," I said, smiling at him. Only then did he finally leave with Hazel.

The moment Jasper disappeared, I looked at the bartender with a victorious smile. "Now," I announced, "I would like my Moonlit Temptation."

Nobody was around to stop me this time. When the drink arrived, I took a cautious sip and immediately discovered that it was actually much better than its ridiculous name suggested. "See?" I told nobody in particular, happily taking another sip.

I noticed Magnus sitting nearby, typing something rapidly on his phone before slipping it back into his pocket. I wondered briefly who he was messaging, but the thought vanished almost immediately when I took another sip.

By the time I reached my third glass, my cheeks were warm, my head felt pleasantly light, and everything around me seemed just a little softer than before. I was about to order another glass when the door of the private room was pushed open.

The entire room seemed to hold its breath. Violet and Myra straightened instantly, their drunken smiles disappearing as though someone had flipped a switch. Magnus rose from his chair and bowed his head respectfully. "Headmaster Moonveil."

I slowly turned toward the entrance and found Lorien standing there, his silver hair catching the warm light and his blue eyes sweeping across the room with an expression that gave absolutely nothing away. His gaze passed over Violet, Myra, Magnus, the empty chair where Jasper had been sitting, and finally landed on me. And then it didn’t move again.

I swallowed and, perhaps because I suddenly felt rebellious under that unwavering stare, lifted one finger toward the bartender. "I’ll have a fourth glass."

Lorien’s expression remained unreadable as he said quietly, "Magnus. Take Miss Vale and Miss Carter back to the academy. I’ll personally escort Miss Argentis back."

I stiffened, but before I could say anything, Magnus simply nodded. Violet and Myra gave me drunken little waves as Magnus guided them toward the door, leaving me sitting alone at the bar with the man whose gaze had never once left mine.

And suddenly, the private floor felt far too quiet.