Chapter 162 The Nightmare Revelation

Chapter 162 The Nightmare Revelation


Lila did not return to Adrian's chambers that night. She could not bear to face him. Could not stomach the thought of sleeping in his bed while anger still burned hot in her chest.

Instead, she claimed a small room in the servants' wing. Maya helped her settle in, brought her tea and bread, hovered with worried eyes until Lila finally sent her away.

"I need to be alone. Please."

Maya left reluctantly. The door closed. Silence pressed in from all sides.

Lila lay on the narrow bed, staring at the ceiling. Her mind churned. Lady Lila Hartwell. Nobility. Trained warrior. Sister to a queen. All of it felt like stories about someone else. Someone she had never met.

But her body knew the truth. Her hands. Her feet. Her muscles that moved with grace and precision she had not earned in this life. The training was real. The past was real. She just could not remember it.

Exhaustion finally dragged her under. Sleep came heavy and dark.

The nightmare began immediately.

Not the garden this time. Something different in a room. Elegant but stifling. Windows barred from the outside with a fancy prison.

Lila saw herself. Twenty-three years old. Pacing the confined space. Her lady's clothes were fine but her face was gaunt. Haunted. The face of someone trapped.

Maya was there, a younger version, her hair darker. She sat mending a dress, her eyes following Lila's restless movements.

"You need to eat something, my lady. You have barely touched your meals all week."

"How can I eat when tomorrow they ride out and I cannot stop it?" Lila's voice was desperate. "Maya, I feel it. Something terrible is going to happen. I tried to warn Celeste but she would not listen. She said I was being jealous, jealous!"

"Perhaps you should try again. Write her a letter begging her to reconsider."

"She will not read it. She burns everything I send her now. Ever since the council ordered me confined. Ever since she convinced them I was a threat to her marriage." Lila's voice cracked. "My own sister locked me away like a criminal. Forbade me from seeing Theo. From coming near her or Adrian. Turned me into a prisoner in my own home."

"Because she knows." Maya's voice was soft. "She knows about the bond, about what you and the King mean to each other."

"I never acted on it! I stayed away! I did everything she asked!" Lila's hands clenched. "But it was not enough. She sees the way Adrian looks at me when he thinks no one is watching. She knows he cannot love her the way she wants. And she blames me for it."

The scene shifted. Dawn. The day of the hunt. Sounds of horses and excited voices drifting through the barred windows.

Lila stood pressed against the glass, watching the hunting party assemble. Celeste mounted on her white horse, radiant in green riding clothes. Adrian beside her, his face carefully neutral. Nobles and warriors filling the courtyard.

And Lila locked away, forbidden from attending, forbidden from warning her sister that something felt wrong.

The hunting party rode out. Their laughter faded into the distance.

Lila turned to Maya. "I cannot stay here. I have to follow them, i have to be there. Something terrible is going to happen, I know it."

"My lady, if they catch you disobeying the confinement order, the council will punish you severely. Might even exile you."

"I do not care. Celeste is my sister. Whatever anger exists between us, I cannot let her ride into danger without trying to help." Lila moved to her wardrobe, pulling out dark riding clothes. "Help me. Please. Get me out of here."

Maya hesitated only a moment. Then nodded. "There is a servant passage. Guards do not watch it closely during hunts. Everyone is distracted."

They snuck through the palace,.down hidden corridors through passages meant for staff, out into the stables where Maya had prepared horses.

They rode hard. Following the hunting party's trail into the forest, staying far enough back to avoid detection but close enough to track.

The forest was dense, dark despite morning sun. The hunting party's voices echoed through trees, calling to each other, laughing.

Lila and Maya dismounted. Tied their horses far from the main group. Moved through underbrush on foot, using skills Lila's noble training had taught her.

They found a position in thick brush. Close enough to observe but hidden. Lila's heart pounded. She scanned the hunting party for Celeste.

There, on her white horse separated from the others slightly. Following a deer trail deeper into the woods.

Then Lila saw him, a man , moving through the trees with purpose. Approaching Celeste's horse from behind. His movements seems deliberate and calculated.

He pulled something from his coat. A small vial, a syringe.

The man moved with terrifying speed. Grabbed Celeste's horse's flank. Injected something into the muscle. The horse did not even have time to react before he disappeared back into the undergrowth.

For a moment, nothing happened. Celeste rode on, oblivious.

Then the horse's eyes rolled white. It began to panic, bucking, screaming. Foam appeared at its mouth. Its legs buckled and thrashed simultaneously.

Celeste tried to control it. Pulled the reins, used her knees, but the horse was beyond reason and beyond control.

It reared, twisted and threw Celeste with violent force.

She hit the ground headfirst. The sound was sickening. Her neck bent at an impossible angle, her body went limp immediately.

Celeste was dead before her horse even stopped thrashing.

Lila screamed. Started to run forward. Maya grabbed her, clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Do not! He will see you! He will know you witnessed!"

They watched in horror as the man emerged from the trees. Walked to Celeste's body. Checked for life. Found none. His face was still unclear. Blurred like someone had smudged it deliberately.

But his hands. His hands were visible. Covered in the chemical from the syringe, dark, staining his skin.

He looked around. Making certain no one had seen. His gaze swept the forest. Passed over where Lila and Maya hid.

For a terrible moment, Lila thought he had seen them. His head turned slightly. His profile visible but still not clear enough to identify.

Behind him, his horse stood waiting. And tied to it, Lila could see supplies, tools, equipment from a workshop, like blades glinting in filtered sunlight. Bottles and vials secured in leather bags.

The man mounted his horse. Rode away calmly. As if he had not just committed murder.

Lila and Maya remained frozen. Finally, Lila broke free of Maya's grip.

"We have to help her, we have to…"

"She is dead, my lady. There is nothing we can do. But if we reveal ourselves now, if anyone knows you disobeyed confinement to follow the hunt, you will be blamed." Maya's voice shook. "We must go, now, before someone comes and finds us here."

"But she is my sister! I cannot just leave her!"

"You must. You must survive this. Because that man, whoever he was, he murdered the Queen. And if he knows you saw, he will kill you too." Maya pulled her forcefully. "Please. We must go."

But Lila refused she pulled free from Maya and ran towards Celest she couldn't leave her there. The moment she reached there, she screamed.

Within hours, word spread. The Queen had fallen from her horse during the hunt. It was a tragic accident. Her neck was broken and she was found dead instantly.

And Lila, locked in her room, could say nothing. Could do nothing. Could not even attend her sister's funeral because she was confined. Forbidden from coming near the royal family.

The nightmare shifted. Days passing in fragmented bursts. Lila trying to tell someone, anyone. But no
one would listen. No one believed the mad, jealous sister locked away for trying to seduce her sister's husband.