CHAPTER 99: ELOISE & THE DOWAGER [PART 2]

I was a curse, more of a disease...spreading through everything like a virus.

Drevon went against the Lycan ways and married me. He could have easily devoured me after marriage. He got what he wanted from the humans, but he kept me as his wife anyway.

Because of me.

He confined his mother, the mother of the empire, and the citizens were not pleased by that move, especially when the human was the cause of such outrage.

Because of me.

He attacked his brother in front of the entire noble house of Valkanor.

Because of me.

I was so preoccupied with my feelings that I overlooked the damage I had done to the royal family. Months ago, I wouldn’t have cared, but now, especially when Drevon was the one catching all this heat while I sat still at a corner, I felt worse.

"You should’ve stayed as an ornament, stayed in your quarters, and allowed the world to move on. You never had a place here, and that’d have been the best thing you ever did. But rather, you brought eyes on you and thought maybe you could stay by my son’s side. How did you think that’d end? That you’d become Queen Consort with these shenanigans you pulled?"

"An ornament?" I scoffed. "Like you’ve treated your daughter all these years?"

A feeling twisted my insides. I placed my hand on my mouth as nausea wrenched through me. At first, I thought I was suddenly feeling sick, but it wasn’t until I felt a strangling sensation coming from the Dowager. Her eyes were now pure silver, with a deadly glow.

The alpha command.

"I suggest you watch what you say to me, the only reason I’m not ripping through your disgusting skin is because I do not want to cause more upheaval in this family. My son has already done far worse because of you. His reign will become meaningless because of you."

I clenched my teeth, placing my hand on the table, trying my best to ward off what she was doing to my body.

The Dowager narrowed her eyes in bewilderment as I straightened my back, quivering, but I managed to stay put.

"What..." she trailed, trying to understand why I wasn’t cowering under her Alpha command.

"Did you summon me here to tell me to leave out my days as an ornament? To be subject to the same fate you’ve put upon your daughter? I may not know your reasons, but she never deserved an absent mother in her life, nor a life of confinement! You blame me for being a curse in your family when the real curse is... you."

"Stop it!" she rasped. "Whatever you’re doing, stop it!"

I pushed to my feet, rising above her like I was a paragon she couldn’t reach.

The Dowager’s eyes trembled, her mouth agape. "How is this possible?" she whispered.

The doors burst open as Ravyn rushed in. "Princess, are you alright?!"

I kept my stern gaze on the Dowager. "Your people are doubting your son’s reign, they are wailing over a human, and the best thing you can do is rub it all over my face. You’re the mother of this empire, and yet you cannot stop the opposition and watch it unfold toward your son, who gave his entire life fighting your war, not his. It has never been his. I do not know what hatred was made to break this world over supernatural squabbles, but I do know a ten-year-old boy wanted only to understand how to rule and not thrust into blood and chaos as a birthright."

"GET OUT!" she screamed at me.

I peeled my eyes away from her and walked out of the room.

Ravyn and I walked the corridors with Osha following behind.

"What happened there? The moment I felt her alpha command, I had to rush in," Ravyn asked after a few moments of silence. "The Dowager, I have never seen her that way before."

I halted my steps and missed my footing, but Ravyn held me in place.

"Your Grace!" Osha rushed in front of me with worried eyes.

"I’m fine, just got dizzy a little bit," I mumbled, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Dizzy? You haven’t for a while now. Oh no! Are you getting sick again?"

"Princess?" Ravyn said in a far too serious tone. "What happened?"

I stood properly. "I don’t know, I just got so angry...and hurt." I looked at Ravyn, who monitored me with an unreadable expression, but then she smiled.

"I’m sure you were. The Dowager has a knack for getting under someone’s skin. She must have been shocked and faltered because you stood your ground."

Maybe. But it was strange, I knew the alpha command was taking over my body, but for a split second, I felt myself defying it.

I sighed.

"What’s wrong?"

"The Dowager said something about Drevon’s reign. Tell me, Ravyn, what is happening? Is there something I should know?"

"We should head back. The Dowager used her command, Your body must be strained now. You need to rest. Osha?"

"Yes!"

"Fix a brew the moment we get back."

"Certainly!"

I grabbed Ravyn’s arm, pinning her with a stern look. "I command you to tell me what is going on? Tell me the truth."

Ravyn smirked. "Giving me orders now?"

"Yes, since appealing to you is not working. Perhaps I should resort to this."

"Is she always this stubborn?" Ravyn asked Osha.

"Your Grace is very persistent."

"Same thing."

"Ravyn!"

"Alright, alright, calm yourself. Let’s start with the Debutant Ball."

I swallowed a lump in my throat.

"It was just a ruse to conceal the true motive. Prince Damon is now the Crown Prince."

"C-Crown prince?"

"Alpha has no heir to succeed him. Now the noble houses who were dismissed are with him as well as his previous court that have supported him since birth, giving him just enough power to claim the position as Crown Prince of Valkanor."