All five of them moved at the same time.
The moment the trial officially began, Lucien, Kael, Sylas, Adrian, and Cassian disappeared from beside me like shadows breaking apart in the dark.
Gasps instantly echoed across the hall.
At first, everyone thought they were attacking the opponent standing in the arena.
I thought so too.
But then,
I realized something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Because none of them were heading toward the arena.
They were heading toward the Queen Mother.
My breath caught instantly.
“Wait!”
The entire hall erupted into panic.
Lucien appeared first, his hand already glowing with silver energy as he lunged toward the royal platform.
Kael moved faster than I had ever seen before, his tiger-like eyes glowing sharply in the darkness.
Sylas raised his hand, black magic spreading violently around him like smoke.
Adrian’s serpent-like shadow slithered across the floor of the hall.
And Cassian,
Cassian drew his blade directly toward the Queen Mother’s throne.
Screams filled the room.
“The Queen Mother!” “Protect Her Majesty!” “What are they doing?!”
Guards rushed forward immediately, but the pressure coming from the five of them was overwhelming.
Terrifying.
For the first time since arriving in this world…
I truly understood why people feared creatures of shadow.
Because the moment they moved with killing intent,
The entire hall felt like it was about to collapse.
The Queen Mother stood up so suddenly that her chair nearly fell backward.
Her calm expression was gone now.
Replaced with something else.
Fear.
No…
Not just fear.
Recognition.
As if she already knew why they were attacking her.
And that terrified me more than anything else.
“STOP THEM!” she screamed.
The hall exploded into chaos.
Nobles began running.
Some guards froze completely.
Others drew their weapons shakily.
But none of them could get close enough.
Dark energy burst violently through the hall as Sylas blocked the guards with magic.
Kael leaped onto the royal platform like a beast unleashed from chains.
Lucien’s eyes remained fixed on the Queen Mother with terrifying intensity.
And Adrian,
Adrian transformed partially, black serpent scales spreading slowly across his skin.
My body froze.
Because this wasn’t in my novel.
None of this was.
I never wrote this.
I never wrote any scene where all five male leads tried to assassinate the Queen Mother.
Then why was this happening?
And why did it feel like they weren’t attacking her by choice,
But reacting to something?
Adrian moved first.
But it wasn’t instant.
There was a strange hesitation in his body like something inside him was fighting for control.
His movements staggered as he stepped forward, claws twitching violently at his sides.
“Adrian, stop!” I shouted.
My voice echoed across the hall.
For a brief second, he paused.
Just one second.
It was enough for hope to flicker in my chest.
But then his eyes darkened again.
No, something overrode him.
And he lunged.
He didn’t fully transform like before.
Instead, his bite came in slowly… dangerously.
As if he was resisting it himself.
The Queen Mother barely had time to react.
“Protect Her Majesty!” a guard shouted.
But it was too late.
Adrian’s teeth sank into her left arm.
Not cleanly.
Not instantly.
It was messy.
Forced.
Like he wasn’t fully in control of his own body.
The Queen Mother cried out in pain and staggered backward, collapsing onto the marble floor.
Gasps erupted throughout the hall.
I froze for half a second then stepped forward immediately.
“Stop this!” I shouted again, louder this time.
All eyes snapped toward me.
My chest was pounding.
“This isn’t normal,” I said quickly.
“Something is wrong with the contract!
Someone tampered with my contracted beasts!”
Silence hit the hall for a moment.
Even the guards hesitated.
Kael’s head snapped slightly toward me.
Sylas narrowed his eyes.
Lucien didn’t move but I could feel his attention sharpen.
I stepped forward again.
“I didn’t command this!” I continued.
“They are not acting under my will!”
A murmur spread through the crowd.
But before it could grow,
A sharp voice cut through everything.
“Lies!”
Aurora Bellrose stepped forward.
Her expression was no longer calm.
It was sharp.
Furious.
“Always excuses,” she said coldly.
“Always blaming something else when things don’t go your way.”
My breath caught.
“That’s not what I’m doing,” I said quickly.
“I’m telling the truth someone activated the seal early,”
“Enough!”
Aurora’s voice rose.
The entire hall went silent again.
She turned toward the crowd, then back to me.
Her eyes were burning now.
“You expect us to believe that?” she asked sharply.
“That all five of your contracted beasts suddenly went out of control… and it has nothing to do with you?”
I clenched my fists.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying!”
A beat of silence.
Then Aurora let out a short, bitter laugh.
“Pathetic,” she said.
Her gaze hardened.
“You always were good at twisting words to save yourself, Seraphina Ravencroft.”
My stomach tightened.
Because this wasn’t just accusation anymore.
It was judgment.
And the crowd… was listening.
I shouted it out immediately.
“No!
It’s a lie!
She’s lying!”
My voice cracked through the hall, louder than I expected.
“It was planned!
Someone is trying to frame me!”
For a brief moment, a few heads shifted.
A few eyes flickered with doubt.
Hope flared in my chest again.
But then,
Aurora’s voice cut through everything.
“Can you stop talking?” she said sharply.
“Enough.
That’s enough of all your lies.”
The words hit harder than they should have.
The hall didn’t stay quiet.
It began to whisper.
At first, it was low.
Uncertain.
Then it grew.
“She’s panicking…” “So it really was her…” “The beasts don’t move like that unless commanded…”
My breath started to shake.
Slowly, I stepped backward.
One step.
Then another.
Until my heel hit something behind me.
And I fell.
Hard.
The cold floor of the hall pressed against my back, and for a second, I just lay there, staring up at the ceiling I couldn’t recognize anymore.
And that was when I saw it.
The entire kingdom… watching me.
Pointing.
Judging.
Accusing.
“Kill the Queen Mother…” “She must have planned it…” “She lost control…” “She’s dangerous…”
My chest tightened painfully.
Aurora stepped forward again.
Not rushing.
Not panicked.
Controlled.
But filled with something colder now.
Disgust.
And certainty.
She stopped right in front of me.
Looking down at me like I was something already decided.
“We can’t choose someone who can’t even control her beasts… her servants,” she said clearly.
Her voice carried across the hall.
“What happens when they run loose?
When they destroy the entire kingdom?”
She tilted her head slightly.
“Then what will other kingdoms think of us?”
A pause.
“They’ll laugh at us.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“They’ll say: how can they defend themselves from external attacks… when they can’t even protect their own kingdom?”
Silence followed her words.
Heavy silence.
And then,
The crowd agreed.
Slowly at first.
Then all at once.
“She’s right”, “We can’t risk it…” “This is too dangerous…”
My vision blurred slightly.
My hands lifted to my face without thinking.
Warm.
Wet.
Tears.
I froze.
I… I was crying.
For the first time since I entered this world
Since I became Seraphina Ravencroft
I was crying.
And I couldn’t even stop it.
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