CHAPTER 123: SELENA BETRAYAL

Back on the other side, Arabella watched as Sylva offered no further protest. That smug little silence was enough to make her smile.

"I want you to bless her with seventh-tier blessing spells," she said, turning toward Selena. Her tone was light, almost sweet, but her words carried the weight of a command. "Prepare yourself. I’ve already spoken to your father."

She smiled soft, superior, and shining with the confidence of someone who believed she’d already won. Her eyes slid sideways toward Razeal. He’s going to regret this so much.

Selena went quiet.

She looked at the Duchess.. Arabella Selphira, one of the strongest pillars of the Empire. A Sovereign-class powerhouse. Then she turned to Razeal. He stood there, completely still, no fear or hope in his expression. Just... calm. As if her answer was already known to him, as if he expected nothing from anyone.

A soft, almost tender smile appeared on Selena’s lips. Let me prove you wrong. She thought as she turned to Arabella, who was already lost in thought, mentally crafting blessings for Razeal as if everything had been decided for his worst.

"No," Selena said softly, the smile never leaving her face.

Just like that.

The word dropped like a stone in water.

Arabella blinked. Sylva’s eyes shot wide. Even Selphira froze, stunned. They had all been expecting an obedient ’yes.’ Anything less had never crossed their minds.

"She... rejected her outright?" Sylva muttered, eyebrows raised in disbelief. Impressed.

Refusing a Duke’s direct request. In public. With witnesses. This wasn’t defiance it was suicide. Sylva had showed her dissatisfaction too, but outright rejection? That was a level of boldness she hadn’t dared attempt.

Arabella narrowed her eyes slightly.

"What was that, girl?" she asked, voice calm, almost playful. "Didn’t quite hear you."

Selena’s smile didn’t fade. Her eyes didn’t waver.

"I said, no. I won’t."

Arabella’s stare turned colder. Her smile didn’t move, but something behind it twisted. This girl already lied about her son tretment and now this.

"Look, girl," she said calmly. "This isn’t a game. And No i wasn’t asking. I was ordering you."

She took a step forward, voice low and amused. "As I said your father gave me his word. That you would. So you will."

But Selena didn’t move. Didn’t blink.

And for the first time in the entire arena... Arabella Selphira felt something crack in the perfect little performance she’d built.

"Make me." Selena crossed her arms behind her back, gaze locked unflinching with Arabella’s. Her voice was calm, but it struck like steel daring, defiant.

Nancy gasped, unable to mask her shock. Even she wasn’t foolish enough to challenge her mother to her face.

Even Razeal glanced to the side, eyes narrowing.

What the hell is she doing? Has she finally lost it? he thought. Is she really playing this kind of game here? With her?

It made no sense. Arabella wasn’t just anyone she was the Matriarch of the Dragonwevr family, an SSS-ranked powerhouse known across continents for her craziness. Fighting her wasn’t just reckless it was suicidal. Sure, Selena mother and father were both SSS-ranked themselves, and she’d even studied personally under the Pope. But even with all that...

This was madness.

Sylva, standing to the side, leaned forward slightly, her beautiful green eyes flickering between Selena and Razeal. Is there still something going on between those two that I don’t know? she wondered. Standing up like that just to cast a blessing spell? Either she’s gone insane or there’s something deeper at play.

Still, Sylva couldn’t help but admire the spectacle. A girl from the Luminus family standing up to the 9th-ranked matriarch? That was bold. Stupid, but bold.

Yet... considering the weight Selena’s name carried, maybe she could get away with it. Maybe. The Luminus family was just as powerful if not more so than the Dragonwevrs. She might escape with a few political bruises, but still, going head-to-head like this was reckless. No matter who you were.

And then... silence.

Selena and Arabella stared at one another. Wordless. The tension in the air was suffocating an invisible pressure crackling between them like the prelude to a thunderclap.

And then

A voice echoed inside Selena’s mind.

[Daughter, don’t be childish. Do as she asks.]

Father? Her brows furrowed slightly, a mix of confusion and anger flashing in her eyes.

But she didn’t budge. Her jaw tightened as she replied aloud, voice low and firm:

"No. I won’t And return whatever she paid you for."

[You don’t understand.] Her father’s voice returned, gentler now but unmistakably firm.

[Yes, I apologize for making decisions without asking you, but it was sudden. And there’s no room for debate. You have ten seconds. Do as she says or I’ll cast the blessing myself and mine will be an 8th-tier spell.]

He knew her too well. Even if others couldn’t read her, he could see it clearly. She was worried. And it was about him. That boy.

And this was the only way.

Selena’s eyes narrowed.

Will you really? she thought, her eyes narrowing, silent tears threatening to rise. He was using her emotions against her. Manipulating her sense of duty, of fear, of care.

He wasn’t wrong. He did understand her feelings... too well. But using that understanding to push her manipulate her was a betrayal.

[Do it. Or I will.]

The voice was harsher now. Final.

Selena bit her lip. Her hands trembled behind her back as she turned toward Razeal. For a moment, sadness flickered across her face real and raw.

If I don’t... he’ll just get dragged into this deeper.

She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them cold and unreadable.

"Don’t ever speak to me again if your profits mean more than me," she whispered, emotionless, speaking only through the mind-link.

"This is the end of it."

There was silence, then her father’s voice quiet, almost pleading.

[My lovely daughter... please, try to understand..]

But she shut him out.

She turned back to Arabella, took a deep breath, and said firmly:

"I will."

Her voice was calm, detached. She didn’t look at Razeal. She didn’t have the strength to.

Arabella’s lips curled into a pleased smile. She clapped twice.

"Good. Very good."

From the side, a quiet chuckle escaped Razeal.

The sound was soft barely audible but every woman standing around him turned toward him.

He didn’t return their looks. He just shook his head slowly, the corners of his mouth pulled into a wry, amused smile.

Women and their dramatic performances... Razeal scoffed inwardly, his face unreadable. She must be here for another show. Just like that day trying to heal me in front of everyone. Typical Saintess behavior. Always pretending it’s about duty, Sympathy, compassion. Truth is, it’s all theater.

Selena didn’t dare lift her head. But her body trembled the moment his low, mocking laugh echoed in her ears.

That laugh...

It tore something inside her.

As if to say. "I knew it. You were never going to help me."

Even now... I can’t help him, she thought, her stomach sinking. The urge to disappear, to end it all, screamed in her bones. But she was here. Powerless. Trapped. Useless.

Then came Arabella’s voice, gentle and calm.

"Put the Crux of Suffering blessing on her. And... well, give her one more. Any seventh-rank blessing. I’ll let you choose."

"WHAT?" Selena’s eyes widened, the blood draining from her face. Even Sylva turned, shooting Arabella a sharp side glance, clearly unsettled.

"What a cruel woman," Sylva muttered under her breath. She sighed, shoulders tensing.

Now I have to carry the weight of torturing someone who can’t even fight back. What a bully i am.

"No... that’s.. that’s " Selena stepped back, voice trembling. Her entire body shook.

She knew what Crux of Suffering was.

It was no ordinary blessing. It was a curse wrapped in divine light.

It amplified all pain dealt by the bearer’s attacks. Every cut, every hit... magnified 40,000 times over. It didn’t just hurt. It shattered.

A single strike would hurt forty thousand times more than it should. A torment spell, sealed in divine light.

And now Arabella wanted it cast? On Sylva so she could torture raze?

Selena’s heart sank. horrified. Her breath hitched. Her thoughts immediately went to him Razeal. Was he the one who would take this? Was she about to condemn him to this living hell... with her own hands? Again.

Her legs buckled slightly.

Then, her father’s voice came again steady, cold, and commanding.

[Daughter. Do it. This is the last time I will ask. Next time, I’ll cast the blessings myself and believe me, mine will be an 8th-tier blessing. 100,000 times amplification.]

Selena broke.

"No... no, please..." Her voice almost vanished. Her resolve shattered.

"I’ll do it," she whispered. "I’ll do it..." Her body shook as she stepped forward, caught between guilt and obedience. Every movement felt like betrayal.

She walked to Sylva slowly, each step heavier than the last, like marching toward a guillotine.

She raised her hand. A golden glow flickered into existence bright, holy, and cruel.

She touched Sylva’s arm. The blessing surged forward.

Sylva stood still, silent, letting it take.

And just like that it was done.

Selena lowered her hand, shoulders collapsing slightly. Her face was pale, lips pressed tight.

"I’m sorry, Raze..." she whispered under her breath, eyes closed tightly to hide the storm inside. "I had no other way..."

But she didn’t stop there.

For the second blessing, she made her choice: a seventh-tier Holy Healing spell.

A rare, nearly mythic blessing grants near-immortality, unimaginable regeneration.

But critically, no offensive advantage. It was the only move she could make to offset the cruelty of the first.

Sylva glowed softly as the spell settled onto her.

Selena sighed. That was all she could do. Her small rebellion, buried in mercy.

Arabella watched from the side, pleased.

She clapped softly again, lips curled in smug satisfaction.

Razeal? He didn’t care.

He stood, detached from it all, expression unreadable.

None of this mattered. Not to him.

Not anymore.

---

Meanwhile, high above, in the balcony chamber

Nova’s hands gripped the stone railing so tightly it cracked.

And then, with a soft crunch, it turned to dust in her hands.

Her royal purple eyes blazed like lightning storms behind glass.

"Is this what the Dragonwevr family has stooped to?" she whispered, barely audible. "Dragging the heirs of the other two duke families into this circus?"

Her gaze stayed locked on the platform below.

"They got our warning. And they still didn’t take it seriously..."

Her voice was a knife calm, lethal.

Every cell in her body screamed to jump down, to end this farce, to burn the stage and shatter every smug expression she saw below.

But the only thing holding her back

Was her mother’s voice, echoing in her mind.

If not for that... She would’ve already been down there, turning this "duel" into a war.

---