Chapter 83 Heartbroken
~ Lyra's POV ~
I must have looked at myself in the mirror more than ten times that night, lingering each time a little longer than before, admiring the way the dress fell against my body and how perfectly the shoes complemented it.
If there had ever been a moment in my life when I doubted my beauty, that doubt no longer existed. Standing there, bathed in soft light, I was completely convinced. I could not help but compare myself to all the rich, elegant, and polished ladies I had known in Dorhaven, the women I once watched from afar and wished I would grow up to resemble someday. Now, for the first time, I felt as though I truly belonged among them.
Yet I was doing more than admiring myself. I was preparing. Kael had said he would return after the feast, and I did not understand why the thought of that filled me with both nervousness and excitement all at once.
There were no makeup items in the room, but even if there had been, I would not have known what to do with them. Instead, I focused all my attention on my hair, brushing it carefully and arranging it again and again until I was finally satisfied with how it framed my face.
“What do you think about this now?” I asked Lunaris, who had been my constant companion throughout the night, sharing both my excitement and my unease.
“This is the one. It's just perfect,” she replied, and only then did I allow myself to relax.
I returned to the bedroom and sat down to finish the remaining food Taren had brought earlier. I had eaten only a little before going to the bathroom, too distracted then to enjoy it properly.
Once I was done, I settled into the sofa and quickly realized that waiting was far more difficult than I had imagined. When you are truly expecting something, time stretches into something unbearable. I had no idea how much time had passed or how much longer I would have to wait, so I decided to distract myself by standing near the window and gazing outside.
A short while later, I heard voices and instinctively assumed it was Kael finally returning. That assumption shattered the moment I realized the voice did not belong to him. It was a woman’s voice, and confusion washed over me immediately. What was a woman doing in Kael’s quarters? I stepped away from the window and moved quietly toward the door so I could listen more carefully.
“By the time I am done with you tonight, Kael, you will realize that little witch has nothing to offer you,” the woman’s voice rang out, sharp and unmistakably clear.
I frowned as the words sank in, the realization striking painfully that I was the one she was referring to as that little witch.
My heart dropped heavily in my chest as understanding dawned on me. It sounded as though Kael had brought another woman into his quarters, and I could not fathom why he would do such a thing after asking me to wait for him.
Had he forgotten about me? What was going on? I knew already that only a select few people had access to this part of the house, and no woman was supposed to be among them. If a woman was here now, then she had to be with Kael.
While I was still struggling to make sense of it all, I heard her voice again.
“Of course she is stupid and naive to think that you and her have any future together.”
My chest tightened painfully at those words. Was that truly what Kael thought of me? Did he really see me as nothing more than a stupid and naive witch? Had he actually said those words to her?
“I can't believe this. It cant be true. If he actually held such thoughts in his heart, I would have sensed it,” Lunaris whispered to me, her voice small and fragile, her pain doubling my own. I could feel the tremor in her words as she spoke, a clear reflection of the devastation tearing through us both, and yet I did not know how to comfort her when my own heart lay in ruins.
“This must be why he has refused to mark me,” I said, my voice cracking under the weight of the realization. “But why would someone who is supposed to be my mate do this to me? What have I done to deserve this?” I asked, though I did not truly expect an answer. The pain was already closing in around me, heavy and suffocating, threatening to swallow me whole.
Yet even as despair clawed at my chest, a quiet voice rose in my mind, one that belonged neither to Lunaris nor to anyone I recognized. It urged me to be certain, to make absolutely sure that Kael was truly involved in this before surrendering myself completely to the agony of my assumptions.
“But how am I supposed to do that?” I asked silently, and just as the question formed, an idea surfaced. With a trembling resolve, I opened the door and stepped outside, forcing my heart to harden as I moved closer to the door I knew belonged to Kael.
I had not yet reached it when my feet suddenly refused to carry me any further. They halted on their own, rooted in place by the sounds that drifted unmistakably into my ears. Sounds I already knew all too well. Sounds that left no room for doubt about what was happening on the other side.
“Oh… ah… yes, Kael.”
“Fuck me, oh yes. I love it when you hit like that. Yes, harder.”
“Ahh… of course I know you love me. You can't do without me. I can't do without you either.”
“Ahh… yes. Drill me like an undertaker.”
I could not bear it. The words pierced straight through me, tearing open wounds I did not know could hurt this deeply. I turned away and stumbled back into my room, the strength draining from my body as I broke down in tears.
But retreating did nothing to silence the sounds. They followed me mercilessly, seeping through the walls, invading my ears and my mind. She was so loud that I found myself wishing desperately for a way to seal her lips, anything to stop her voice from reaching me.
Since that was impossible, I endured it. I endured every second for what felt like an eternity, until her voice finally fell silent. Yet my heart did not quiet, and neither did Lunaris. She released a sorrowful howl, one so full of grief that it perfectly echoed how shattered I felt in that moment.
I slid down onto the floor and sat there, empty and broken, reminding myself over and over that I was nothing more than a prisoner in Ironfang who had dared to dream of something impossible. I remained there for what felt like forever, unmoving and numb, until sleep finally claimed me and pulled me into a dark, dreamless void.