Chapter 14
Ella's POV
The celebration ceremony was far grander than I had imagined.
The central hall of the Silver Moon estate glittered with gold and jade, nobles gathering in small clusters. I stood beside Julian, wearing the deep blue gown he had specially prepared for me.
"Relax," Julian whispered in my ear.
His hand rested on my waist, intimate yet measured, as if showing everyone—this was his companion. I took a deep breath, willing my hands to stop trembling.
Julian led me through the crowd toward the platform at the center of the hall.
Old Wolf King Walter sat in the central seat, Luna Jenna standing elegantly beside him.
Julian brought me forward.
"And who is this?" Alpha Walter looked at me.
"Ella, my savior," Julian introduced.
"Quite the transformation," Alpha Walter remarked with amusement.
Luna Jenna gave me a faint smile.
Just then, a blonde, blue-eyed girl ran over from the crowd. She wore a pink ball gown and looked about fifteen or sixteen, lively and cheerful.
"Julian!" she called excitedly.
"Fiona," Julian patted her head affectionately, then introduced me. "This is my sister, Princess Fiona."
"You're Ella, right?" Fiona grabbed my hand excitedly. "Come on, let me take you to my room—I have so many pretty accessories to show you!"
Julian nodded at me. "Go ahead, keep Fiona company for a while."
I had no choice but to follow Fiona out of the hall.
Behind me came the sounds of Kane and Victoria arriving, but I didn't look back.
I only felt a chill down my spine, as if someone's eyes were boring into my back...
Fiona's room was in the east wing of the estate, decorated like a dream castle. Pink curtains, stuffed animals, and walls covered with accessories and clothes.
"Look at this!" Fiona excitedly pulled out a necklace. "This is my favorite—it has moon and star patterns!"
I praised it politely, but my mind was elsewhere. Fiona chirped like a happy bird, constantly showing me various beautiful things.
Her innocence reminded me that I once had such carefree times, though that was very, very long ago.
I noticed a faint, cloying sweetness in the air, like some expensive incense, but something about it felt wrong.
Suddenly, I felt dizzy.
The room began to spin, Fiona's voice growing distant and muffled.
I tried to grab something to steady myself, but my body grew weaker and weaker.
"Ella? My head... feels a bit dizzy..." Fiona's voice also became drowsy and confused.
I saw her swaying too, then my vision went completely dark.
Drugs. There were drugs in the air.
In the last moment before losing consciousness, I felt someone lift me.
That scent... it was Kane.
When I regained some awareness, I found myself in Kane's arms. His arms held me tightly as he strode through a dim corridor.
The drug's effects left me powerless, completely at his mercy.
"Kane..." I said weakly. "What are you doing?"
He looked down at me, madness in his eyes I'd never seen before. "What am I doing? Teaching a runaway slave a lesson, of course."
I struggled to escape, but my body had no strength.
"No... let me go..."
Kane ignored my pleas, taking me straight to the Tower. Whips and chains hung on the walls, gleaming coldly in the dim candlelight.
"Do you know the price of running away?" Kane threw me to the ground. "I should have crippled both your legs the first time you escaped."
"Kane, please..." I cried.
He walked to the wall and took down a whip. My heart nearly stopped.
"No! Julian will come looking for me!" I screamed hoarsely.
Kane stopped, turning around with a mocking smile. "Julian? Ella, you really think Julian dressed you up so beautifully and brought you here for what? To seduce me in front of the nobles, make me lose face publicly, ruin my reputation!"
His words struck my heart like a hammer.
"Kane! You already have a mate," I choked out. "You should give me my freedom!"
"Freedom?" Kane suddenly grabbed my chin. "Being with Victoria is just expedient. Haven't I told you this? Why can't you understand?"
He raised the whip...
As the whip came down, I kicked hard at his groin.
Kane let out a pained grunt, the whip falling from his hand.
I scrambled up, stumbling toward Fiona's room.
"Someone help!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. "Fiona collapsed! The princess collapsed!"
I didn't dare shout for help directly—that would only expose what was between Kane and me to everyone.
But I was betting Kane wouldn't dare do anything to me in a crowded public setting either.
Soon, Alpha Walter, Luna Jenna, and a group of guards came rushing over.
They went to check on Fiona first, and I followed closely behind them.
Fiona had awakened. Though still dizzy, she wasn't seriously hurt.
I stayed by her side, helping her sit up. Just then, footsteps sounded again.
A woman in a deep purple robe entered. Kane followed behind with an air as if nothing had happened, Victoria at his side.
The purple-robed woman radiated an authority that made people afraid to look directly at her, each step carrying oppressive force.
"What happened?" Her voice was deep and powerful. "We can't let what happened at the last hunting ceremony happen again. Victoria, take the warrior squad and search for whoever drugged people."
Her tone was that of a commanding general.
Alpha Walter's expression became visibly uncomfortable. He looked at the woman with complex emotions.
"Stella..." he began slowly. "Why did you come?"
"What?" Stella laughed coldly. "Alpha Walter, from your expression, did you think I was dead?"
"I just didn't expect you to attend," Walter's voice was somewhat stiff. "After all these years, you've always..."
"Always hidden away in that remote iron house?" Stella interrupted, her tone full of mockery. "Yes, because when you used ice element to suppress my wounds back then, that reluctant expression on your face was truly memorable."
Walter's expression shifted. "Stella, about back then—"
"What happened back then needn't be mentioned again," Stella said dismissively, but the chill in her voice was bone-deep. "After all, you never came again afterward, did you? I suppose a disfigured woman has no use value."
The atmosphere instantly froze. Everyone could sense the tension between these two.
Only then did I realize this masked woman was Victoria's mother—the former "Silver Fang War Princess."
Walter opened his mouth, ultimately just shaking his head, saying nothing.
I helped Fiona up, wanting to leave this place of conflict. But just as I turned, Stella suddenly said:
"Wait."
Her gaze fell on me, dangerous light flickering in the eyes beneath her mask.