CHAPTER 459: WINNING PAWN-I

Morpheus marched forward, his steps unhurried yet carrying the authority of someone who believed the world itself bent at his will. A faint smile lingered on his lips, too calm, too assured, the smile of a man who thought victory already his.

And seeing that smile, Arabella felt something break inside her, something that wasn’t grief, nor anger, but a hollow ache of realization.

She remembered that once, the sight of his smile had made her chest tighten with warmth. Yet now... nothing. No flicker of joy, no tremor of love. Only emptiness.

It was almost laughable. For someone like her, who had always loved deeply, who found beauty even in pain, how could she feel nothing at all for the man she had once adored?

As expected.

Not only her memories had been tampered with but her heart had been too.

A quiet horror unfolded in her mind. If even my heart is no longer mine... what should I do to reclaim it?

The thought struck like lightning through her chest, but she swallowed it down. Seeing his hand rise toward her, the air seemed to thin, trembling with restrained magic.

And yet Arabella did not flinch.

She simply closed her eyes, serene, resolute, as though accepting whatever might come next.

The scene unfolding before Isaac froze him to his marrow. His whole body tensed, the instinct to protect her roaring in his veins. He wanted to shout, to hurl Morpheus away with magic, to throw himself between them. But he couldn’t move, terror had rooted him to the floor.

Morpheus’s smile widened as his fingertips brushed against Arabella’s forehead.

Isaac turned away, his heart pounding so violently it felt like thunder beneath his ribs. It’s over, he thought, breath shuddering. It’s all over—

But then, something didn’t add to their expectations.

The cloaked woman standing beside him caught it first. Morpheus’s smile froze, his eyes widening as if struck by an invisible force. The air rippled faintly around them, and his entire body stiffened, expression locking into something between confusion and alarm.

Slowly, he drew his hand back and stared at his own fingertips, as though unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Then, in disbelief, he pressed his hand to Arabella’s forehead once more, his movements forceful, his breath quickening in impatient. Anger flickered across his face when nothing changed, when no spell, no whisper of magic could pierce her truth.

"I was walking alone in the garden," Arabella said softly, her voice calm, without a single hesitation or stutter. She opened her eyes slowly, meeting his with unflinching calmness. "By now, your magic should have made me confess, of course that is if I had lied. Yet as you have witnessed, not a single word I spoke was false."

Morpheus’s composure cracked. "That can’t be... what magic- magic have you used?!" he snarled, flicking his robe aside in fury, as though the motion could scatter his frustration.

"You know that cannot be true," Arabella replied, her voice still gentle, though the steel in it was unmistakable. A faint smile curved her lips, soft, almost saintly, but her green eyes burned with fire. "Your spell cannot be fooled. No magic can conceal a lie before it. And so you have to face the truth of your fail accusations."

"I have to try again—"

"Try!" Arabella’s voice rose, fierce and trembling, her hand striking her chest. "Try! Should I tell you once more that I have never distrusted you? That you are the one who keeps planting suspicion where there was none?!"

Her words struck like thunder, each one slicing through the still air.

All the men who had always loyally followed Morpheus even flinched and Isaac could see it. Of course, even though Isaac himself wasn’t familiar with magic, he could feel the kind of strength sourcing from Arabella, one that none of the people in this castle should ever try to test.

The ground beneath him trembled in fear and even the flames on all the candlelight had began to run away, trying to turn into wisps so Arabella wouldn’t extinguish it with her mere anger.

"The more you test me," she continued, her voice shaking now with restrained fury, "the more you make me doubt you. You have sown nothing but discord in my heart. And now, you accuse me of what... of plotting to escape? You even dare to hurt Isaac, someone I have treated like family?"

She took a step forward, her voice breaking under the weight of restrained emotion. "Go on then, disappoint me further, Morpheus. Show me what else you can do to shatter what iss left of my heart!"

Tears gathered at the rim of her eyes, glinting like glass under the torchlight. But she refused to let them fall. Her gaze remained fixed on him, bright and merciless, as though daring him to meet the reflection of his own cruelty.

Morpheus, for the first time, faltered.

He could see it, the raw ache behind her words, the wounded truth she had turned into a weapon. Her defiance struck deeper than any spell could. In that moment, even he could not press further.

The silence that followed was thick and trembling. And for the first time, Morpheus looked less like a master of magic— and more like a man realizing the cost of his own distrust.

Arabella lifted her chin, showing her pride that wouldn’t left unbroken even if she was hurt.

"I know what a coward you are." She then flicked her fingers and the two men who had held Isaac flinched backward before screaming in pain as blood smeared their hands. Without batting an eye she then ordered, "Come with me Isaac. These people have seen and heard enough. If you have more things you wish to demand to me, you can askk me privately Morpheus. But bring Isaac as a sacrifice for your selfish desires again and I will show you what it means to lose this castle for good."

"You won’t do it."

"Don’t test me," Arabella answered and in that split second a powerful force blew across Morpheus’s face. He didn’t move but a wound split his cheek, dripping down from a scarlet tear while the rest of his men thrown away except of the cloaked woman.

Before leaving, Arabella’s green eyes settled on the cloaked woman whose face was covered. She didn’t longer long and eventually turned away...