Chapter 142 NOW YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW MY PLAN

Chapter 142 NOW YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW MY PLAN
NARRATOR
“I know you recognize it. You’ve almost deciphered it, and it’s the key to why you’ve never found the final formula that drives the prince’s Lycan insane,” she said it, and Leonardo stared at the symbol, obsessed... the one he’d never been able to crack.
“The formula was in the book the Queen gave you. She must’ve put it there so you’d study it and use it against me. That way, if anything happened, she’d come out with clean hands... and she’d have her scapegoat,” Kaden said, flat and brutal.
“She knew you were in love with Isolde. She tried to drive me mad that night with the original spell, but my father didn’t react the way she expected and he kept supporting me, so she moved to plan B... you.”
He pointed at him without hesitation, and Leonardo clenched his teeth in denial.
His brain, so sharp, refused to accept he’d been used that coldly... that perfectly.
“No. No... this proves nothing. Who cares if you know the original spell? You’re a witch!” he screamed at Agata.
“I’m not just any witch. I’m the witch who invented that spell. Nobody else can replicate it completely without my personal rune. I gave it to the Queen to treat her Lycan son’s illness, and I warned her it would drive an adult Lycan insane,” Agata said, her voice firm as stone.
She pricked a finger and flicked a drop of her blood. It flew forward and struck the rune hanging in the air.
The glow was instant. The strokes shimmered and shifted, changing slowly until a name appeared, floating in magic.
«Agaëthara Tzáraviel»
“If you’ve studied alchemy, you know only the creator’s blood can reveal their own seal. A Fae descendant like me has no reason to lie to a little boy like you. Now stop being so damn stubborn and accept you were wrong!”
She barked it, and Leonardo’s knees gave out. He dropped hard into the grass.
It wasn’t because of Isabella’s hit.
It was the emotional shock, ripping him open.
From the start... had it all been a lie?
Leonardo wanted to defend the Queen with everything he had, even though she’d never been warm with him. She’d sheltered him. She’d handed him the chance at a good life.
But he remembered that day. The Queen giving him the old book, swearing it had cost a fortune.
The Queen told him in private she was doing it for Kaden. She’d drawn his attention to that specific spell herself, the one Leonardo later studied and twisted to his own benefit.
Or at least that’s what his naive mind had believed...
From the start, had she dangled bait he ended up biting?
“This doesn’t prove anything!” he shouted, desperate. “It doesn’t prove he killed Isolde in cold blood because of his own madness! He’ll kill again. He’ll tear you apart because of his lust!” He shouted at Isabella.
“Kaden will never hurt me. I trust him with my life,” Isabella said, without hesitation.
Leonardo snarled, ready to spit another insult. What did Kaden have that made women fall for him so blindly?
Isolde had too, even after he confessed his love.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over him, snapping his whole body tight with alarm.
“There’s only one way to know,” the prince’s voice said, and something dropped in front of Leonardo.
Leonardo stared at it with wild eyes. It looked like a pass to visit the royal mansion.
He lifted his head, and for the first time he felt so small, facing his greatest rival head-on.
“Ask her the truth,” Kaden said. “But I hope you do it intelligently, the way you fooled all of us until now.”
“And if I don’t do what you want?” Leonardo asked, a twisted laugh caught between bitterness and resignation. “If I don’t follow the plan you obviously have?”
“Then you’ll die,” Kaden warned, stepping back.
The spell in the air changed again in a second.
It shot forward and pierced straight through Leonardo’s chest. He roared in pain, feeling something brand itself into his ribs.
“You’re marked by that spell. You won’t be able to run, not even if you hide under a rock... but if you manage to drag the truth out of the Queen’s own mouth...” Kaden paused, watching the man’s bloodshot eyes lock onto him.
“Then I’ll give you the chance to disappear from this realm... forever.”
Leonardo didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He needed to get his head back. He needed... to turn time backward.
“And don’t even think about going to that witch accomplice of yours. I already know about the passage, and I’m going to use that route to secure my power. Whether your Queen wants it or not... I’ll be the next Lycan King.”
With those words, they vanished into dense fog, leaving Leonardo stranded in pure desperation.
His trembling hand reached for the permit. The same one he always had to request to visit the Queen in her royal mansion.
It even had his name on it. It was obvious Kaden had already gotten the pass in Leonardo’s name.
Leonardo crushed it between his fingers, furious.
Now more than ever, he felt useless. Weak. Like that helpless orphan again. Like the man who went every month to visit the grave of the woman he couldn’t protect.
His eyes flashed with rage as he lifted his head and pressed the pass to his chest.
“If you really used me like this, I won’t forgive you, dear aunt. I won’t hesitate... not this time.”