Pain exploded through my shoulder the moment the arrow pierced through me.
A sharp gasp escaped my lips as my body stumbled backward.
The ballroom erupted into screams instantly.
For one terrifying second, everything blurred.
But strangely,
My mind remained calm.
Because this was supposed to happen.
I wrote this scene.
The assassination attempt during the royal selection banquet.
Lucien Draven attacking Seraphina Ravencroft.
My fingers tightened weakly against my dress.
So nothing changed after all,
I knew it.
The story is still following the original plot,
Then suddenly,
A figure rushed onto the stage.
Fast.
Too fast.
Before I could even react, strong arms caught me before I hit the floor.
I froze instantly.
Lucien Draven.
My eyes widened in shock as he held me against his chest.
Wait,
What?
This wasn’t right.
Lucien was supposed to be the one trying to kill me.
So why,
“Stay still,” he said coldly.
My breath caught.
The next thing I knew, his hand moved toward the arrow lodged in my shoulder.
I winced sharply.
Then in one swift motion,
He pulled it out.
Pain shot through my body instantly.
I gasped.
But before I could even recover,
Lucien grabbed my face suddenly.
And kissed me.
My eyes widened completely.
What?!
Warmth spread through my body immediately.
A strange glowing light surrounded us as his healing powers activated.
The bleeding stopped instantly.
The pain disappeared.
And slowly,
The wound healed completely.
My thoughts shattered into complete confusion.
He pulled away slightly, his expression unreadable.
Meanwhile I just stared at him in shock.
Did,
Did Lucien Draven just kiss me?
Before I could even process it properly, he lifted me into his arms effortlessly.
The entire ballroom watched in stunned silence as he carried me away from the stage.
I could feel hundreds of eyes on us.
Shock.
Fear.
Confusion.
But one expression caught my attention immediately.
Aurora Bellrose.
And she did not look happy.
Not even slightly.
Her fingers tightened against her dress as she stared directly at Lucien holding me.
Almost like she hated seeing it.
That alone sent chills through me.
Meanwhile behind us,
Chaos exploded inside the ballroom.
Cassian Vale’s voice thundered through the hall.
“Who shot that arrow at our master?!”
Kael Thornridge stepped forward immediately, his expression darker than I had ever seen it.
“Show yourself this instant!”
The atmosphere became suffocating.
Terrifying.
And then,
The doors of the ballroom slammed shut.
No one was allowed to leave.
No one was allowed to enter.
Gasps spread through the nobles instantly.
Sylas Nightmere slowly transformed beside the stage.
Dark feathers exploded around him as his body shifted into a massive black raven with glowing silver eyes.
Adrian Evernight transformed next.
His body twisted into a gigantic serpent, scales glimmering beneath the ballroom lights.
Fear spread everywhere instantly.
Even though Lucien had already carried me away from the hall, I could still hear screaming echoing through the palace.
Then,
The Queen Mother’s furious voice.
“Seraphina!”
Her voice rang loudly through the halls.
“Control your servants immediately!”
My eyes widened slightly.
That woman didn’t even sound worried that I had just been attacked.
If anything…
She sounded annoyed.
Lucien remained silent as he carried me through the corridors until we finally reached my room.
The moment we entered, he placed me carefully onto the bed.
For a brief second, our eyes met.
And suddenly I remembered the kiss again.
My face burned instantly.
No.
No, stop thinking about it.
I quickly looked away.
Then I summoned the others.
Only moments later, the door opened.
Kael entered first.
And immediately,
I knew he was furious.
“Master,” he said sharply, “why did you stop us?”
I blinked.
“What?”
His eyes darkened.
“Someone shot an arrow at you.”
The temperature in the room suddenly felt colder.
“And yet,” Kael continued, “you did nothing.”
I swallowed hard.
Behind him, Sylas leaned silently against the wall.
Watching me again.
That same suspicious look in his eyes.
Then quietly,
Almost too quietly,
I heard him mutter:
“Who is she?”
My breath caught instantly.
“She can’t be Seraphina,” Sylas murmured.
My heart started beating faster.
“Because the real Seraphina Ravencroft would never react this calmly.”
Silence filled the room.
“After something like this, ” Sylas continued softly, “she would torture everyone in that ballroom until she found the attacker.”
Cold sweat formed against my skin.
No.
Stop looking at me like that.
Stop saying things like that.
I forced myself to speak.
“I-iiii”,
My voice betrayed me instantly.
“I-I didn’t react because”,
I swallowed nervously.
“My ultimate goal right now is becoming the next queen.”
The room became quiet.
Too quiet.
Then I stood up quickly.
“All of you leave.”
No one moved immediately.
But eventually,
They obeyed.
One by one, they left the room.
Lucien was the last to leave.
And even as he walked away, I couldn’t stop staring at him.
At both him and Sylas.
The moment the door finally closed,
I grabbed my pillow and screamed directly into it.
“Oh my God!”
I pressed both hands against my face.
Then slowly,
I touched my lips.
My heart exploded instantly.
Lucien Draven kissed me.
LUCİEN DRAVEN kissed me.
I almost screamed again from excitement.
But then,
I suddenly froze.
Wait.
My expression slowly fell.
“Why did Lucien save me?”
The room became quiet again.
I sat there silently, replaying everything inside my head.
Lucien was supposed to be the one who attacked Seraphina during the banquet.
That was how I wrote it.
But tonight,
He saved me.
Not only that,
I remembered where he was standing before the attack happened.
Close to the stage.
Watching me.
There was no way he could have shot that arrow.
Which meant,
Someone else tried to kill me.
I slowly fell backward onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.
“What on earth is going on”.
Nothing was following my story anymore.
First,
Seraphina gets poisoned instead of Aurora.
Then,
Someone other than Lucien tries to assassinate me.
And now,
Sylas suspects I’m not the real Seraphina.
I covered my face with both hands.
“And Cassian”
I frowned slightly.
He was acting strange too.
Always trying to stay close to me.
Adrian kept getting jealous whenever another man approached me.
Kael wasn’t behaving like himself either.
And Lucien,
Lucien was changing the most.
Slowly, my breathing became uneven again.
It felt like the world around me was rewriting itself piece by piece.
Or worse,
Maybe this was never truly my story to begin with.
And if that was true,
Then what exactly had I entered?
Please let me know how much you like my story, and your honest opinion about it.
Your feedback, will help me in improve in my writing.