The crowd’s voice still echoed in my ears even after we left the hall.
“We want Aurora as our queen!”
It followed us like a curse.
Aurora stood there for a moment, unmoving.
Then she smiled.
Small.
Controlled.
Like everything had already fallen exactly where she wanted it to.
And then she turned to the guards.
“Release them.”
My breath caught.
“What…?”
Before I could react, the seals around my five servants shattered.
One by one, the cages opened.
Lucien.
Kael.
Sylas.
Adrian.
Cassian.
They were free.
For a moment, none of them moved.
Then their eyes turned toward me.
I didn’t wait.
“Come on!” I shouted.
“We’re leaving!”
And I ran.
All five followed me out of the arena without hesitation.
The palace doors slammed behind us as we entered the carriage waiting outside.
The wheels started turning immediately.
We were leaving.
But I couldn’t breathe properly.
The Queen Mother.
She was still inside.
Bleeding.
Dying.
And Lucien’s healing power…
It could save her.
“Stop the carriage!” I suddenly shouted.
The driver hesitated.
“Turn back.
Now!” I ordered.
After a tense pause, the carriage shifted direction.
We were going back.
The moment we turned, the atmosphere inside the carriage changed completely.
Lucien was the first to speak.
“Why are we going back?”
His voice was calm, but sharp underneath.
Kael followed immediately.
“We’ve already been released.
There’s no reason to return.”
Cassian leaned back slightly, arms crossed.
“This kingdom already chose its side.”
Sylas narrowed his eyes.
“Staying here longer is unnecessary.”
Adrian’s voice was lower, colder.
“We should leave.”
All of them looked at me.
Then Lucien spoke again, more firmly this time.
“We should leave the kingdom.
Never return.”
Silence filled the carriage.
The wheels rolled forward, but everything inside felt still.
Five pairs of eyes were on me.
Waiting.
I exhaled slowly.
“No.”
Kael’s gaze sharpened slightly.
“No?”
I nodded once.
“We are going back.”
Adrian frowned.
“For what reason?”
I tightened my hands in my lap.
“Because I made a mistake.”
That made them all pause.
Silence deepened.
Cassian tilted his head slightly.
“A mistake…?”
I lifted my gaze.
“And I need to fix it.”
Lucien’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Fix what?”
My voice lowered.
“Someone is dying in that hall.”
Silence.
“And I can save her.”
Sylas scoffed quietly.
“The Queen Mother?”
“Yes,” I said firmly.
Adrian’s tone darkened.
“They just tried to imprison us.”
Kael added coldly, “They pointed at you like you were an enemy.”
Cassian’s expression tightened.
“They chose Aurora over you.”
Lucien said nothing.
But his eyes didn’t leave mine.
“I don’t care,” I said softly.
That made them all still.
“I don’t care what they did to me.”
A pause.
“I care that someone is about to die… and I can stop it.”
The carriage fell into silence again.
No one spoke immediately.
But I could feel it.
They didn’t understand.
Not fully.
Still, I lifted my head.
“We are going back,” I said again, more firmly this time.
“This isn’t about the kingdom.”
My voice softened slightly.
“It’s about fixing what went wrong.”
A mistake.
One I refused to leave behind.
The carriage kept moving.
Back toward the palace.
Back toward the chaos.
Back toward whatever was waiting for me there.
And I had no idea yet…
that this decision would change everything that came next.
We finally arrived back at the arena.
The moment the carriage stopped, I didn’t wait for anything.
I pushed the door open and stepped out first, my five servants following closely behind me.
The air outside felt heavier than before.
Like the kingdom itself was holding its breath.
We moved quickly toward the inner hall where the Queen Mother was being kept.
But before we could enter—
Guards stepped forward and blocked our path.
“Move,” I said immediately.
“No entry,” one of them replied firmly.
“I need to see the Queen Mother,” I said louder.
“Let me pass.”
The guards didn’t move.
My heart tightened.
“She’s dying in there,” I said, my voice shaking slightly now.
“I can help her.
I’m the only one who can save her.”
But they still didn’t believe me.
“She is under royal restriction,” another guard said.
“No one is allowed inside.”
“No—listen to me!” I snapped.
“If you don’t let me in, she will die!”
Still nothing.
They tightened their formation.
Blocking me completely.
My breath grew uneven.
“Please,” I said, softer this time.
“Just let me in…”
And then—
A voice came from behind them.
Calm.
Familiar.
“Aurora.”
My body went still.
She stepped forward slowly, parting the guards without even touching them.
Her expression was unreadable at first.
But her eyes…
Her eyes were different.
I moved forward immediately.
“Aurora, tell them to let me in,” I said quickly.
“You know I can save her.”
I reached out and grabbed her hands.
Held them tightly.
My voice broke slightly.
“You know I’m the only one who can save Mother.”
Her fingers stiffened.
“You know about Lucien’s healing power,” I continued urgently.
“He saved me when you poisoned me.
And when that arrow hit me, he saved me again.”
I swallowed hard.
“So please… just tell them to let me pass.”
For a moment, she didn’t move.
Didn’t speak.
Then slowly—
She pulled her hands away from mine.
Not violently.
But firmly.
And that hurt more.
I looked at her properly then.
Really looked at her.
And what I saw made my chest tighten.
Hatred.
Jealousy.
Fear.
But deeper than that…
Something fragile.
The fear of being replaced.
The fear of being abandoned.
The fear of not being enough.
And for the first time since I entered this world…
I didn’t just see Aurora Bellrose as the heroine I wrote.
I saw her as a girl.
A person.
Someone real.
Someone breaking.
My voice softened.
“Aurora,” I said quietly.
But she didn’t answer.
“Aurora…” My voice trembled.
“Please let me save her.
She’s our mother.
She’s dying.”
Tears slipped down my face as I spoke.
But instead of softening her expression…
It only made her angrier.
Her entire face twisted with fury.
Then suddenly,
“THAT’S ENOUGH, SERAPHINA!”
Her voice echoed through the hallway so loudly that even the guards flinched.
“You’ve done enough!”
I froze.
Aurora stepped closer to me, her chest rising and falling unevenly.
“Who do you think you are?” she shouted.
“You think you’re our savior?”
She laughed bitterly.
“No.
You’re not.”
Her eyes burned into mine.
“You think you deserve to be queen?
You think you deserve everything?”
Her voice cracked.
“No, you don’t.”
The hallway had gone completely silent.
Even the guards were staring now.
“You think this kingdom needs you?” Aurora continued.
“They don’t need you.”
A pause.
“Do you know why?”
Her lips curled coldly.
“Because you are nothing.”
My breath caught painfully in my chest.
Aurora stepped closer again until we were barely inches apart.
“I would rather let Mother die,” she whispered harshly, “than let you become queen.”
My eyes widened.
Then she leaned even closer and whispered the words that made my entire body go cold.
“And do you know what?”
A small smile appeared on her lips.
“That’s exactly what I want.”
I stared at her in shock.
“I want to become queen,” she admitted softly.
“I want the throne.
I want the power.”
“Aurora…” My voice came out broken.
“Why?”
She laughed quietly.
“Why?” she repeated bitterly.
“Because unlike you… I have to be perfect.”
Tears filled her eyes, but her expression remained hard.
“I have to smile all the time.
I have to be kind all the time.
I have to be the role model everyone expects me to be.”
Her hands tightened into fists.
“And in order to stay perfect…”
She looked directly into my eyes.
“I have to become queen.”
The air around us suddenly felt suffocating.
“Any means necessary,” she continued coldly.
“Even if it means killing the Queen Mother.”
I could barely breathe.
“You are the rightful heir,” she spat out.
“While I’m just some girl they found on the streets and decided to adopt.”
Her voice trembled with years of buried resentment.
“But I don’t want to stay that girl anymore.”
She pointed at me.
“You’re beautiful.
Feared.
Powerful.”
Her gaze shifted behind me toward my five servants.
“You have mystical powers.”
Then her expression darkened further.
“You have five beasts.”
A bitter laugh escaped her lips.
“While I only get one.”
Silence.
“And I have no mystical ability at all.”
Her eyes glistened.
“So yes,” she whispered.
“I have to be perfection.”
Her voice dropped lower.
“And perfection means getting rid of the Queen Mother.”
I froze completely.
The pieces finally connected inside my head.
The poison.
The arrow.
The contracts.
Everything.
Slowly, I looked at her in horror.
“So that means…” My voice shook violently.
“You were the one who tampered with my beasts.”
Aurora said nothing.
“You activated them,” I continued weakly.
“You made them attack the Queen Mother so it would look like I did it.”
Then finally,
Aurora smiled.
“Yes.”
That single word shattered something inside me.
“And I would gladly do worse than that,” she said calmly, “if it means getting rid of you and taking what belongs to me.”
She stepped closer again.
“The throne.”
Behind me, I could feel my servants standing completely still.
Shocked.
Listening to every word.
Aurora’s voice became colder.
“I was the one who activated your beasts.”
Another step.
“I was the one who shot that arrow at you.”
Another.
“I was the one who poisoned you.”
My entire body went numb.
“Everything that happened…”
She slid one hand slowly into her pocket.
“…was done by me.”
Then she looked directly into my eyes.
“And now…”
Slowly,
She pulled out a dagger.
Its blade gleamed beneath the palace lights.
Aurora smiled softly.
“I’m going to kill you, Seraphina.”
Her grip tightened around the weapon.
“My beloved sister.”
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