Chapter 104 No! I think your weak
Darkness pressed against Lila's closed eyes. Not the soft darkness of sleep, but thick darkness that felt like it was watching her. Her body felt strange, like she was floating and sinking at the same time.
Slowly, her feelings came back. She felt silk sheets against her legs and the taste of herbs on her tongue. Her eyes opened slowly.
She was in Adrian's room again.
The realization shot through her like ice water. She sat up carefully, testing her body. Everything worked. No pain, no dizziness. Just an empty space where memory should be. How long had she been unconscious?
The room loomed around her, all shadows and expensive furniture she couldn't see clearly. A thin line of moonlight cut through the heavy curtains, showing her a path to the door.
She swung her legs over the bed's edge. Her bare feet met cold marble as she walked towards the door handle.
"Leaving already?"
Lila froze and turned sharply. Her heart jumped into her throat.
"Not even a thank you?"
The voice came from her left. She turned, her pulse hammering, and then she saw him.
Adrian stood by the window, half hidden in shadow. He wasn't the king she'd learned to fear. This time he wore simple clothes: dark pants and a white shirt with the collar open. His hair fell across his forehead in soft waves instead of the severe style he usually wore. He was just a man, lit by moonlight, watching her.
Her breath caught.
She'd always known he was handsome. Everyone knew that. But seeing him like this, unguarded and informal, the knowledge hit differently. The strong line of his jaw. The way shadows pooled in the hollow of his throat. The casual way he leaned against the window frame, one hand in his pocket.
Then his scent reached her.
Pine and winter rain. Smoke and something darker, richer. It crashed over her like a wave, stealing the air from her lungs. Her wolf surged upward, desperate and yearning. She gasped before she could stop herself.
Adrian's nose flared. His pupils grew larger, swallowing the gray of his eyes.
They stared at each other across the darkness. The silence stretched tight as a rope about to snap.
"Thank you."
Her voice came out hoarse. She dropped her gaze and made a small bow, keeping her eyes on the marble floor. "For whatever you did. I'm grateful."
Footsteps whispered across the floor. She watched his bare feet approach. When had he taken off his shoes? He stopped close enough that she could feel his body heat. Close enough that his scent wrapped around her like an embrace.
"Lila."
Just her name, nothing else. But the way he said it made something crack open in her chest.
His fingers touched her chin, tilting her face up. Then they moved to her temple, brushing back a strand of hair that had fallen across her cheek. The touch was so gentle it hurt. His thumb traced the curve of her ear, tucking the hair behind it with infinite care.
She couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Her skin burned everywhere he touched, fire racing down her spine and pooling in her stomach.
"I..." She stepped back, breaking contact. Her cheeks flamed hot. "I shouldn't be here. The servants will gossip and…"
"Is that so." He folded his arms across his chest, leaning against the bedpost. The movement should have looked casual, but she could see the tension in every line of his body. "Since when do you care what other servants think?"
'since she woke up for the second time in the alpha's room' she thought as she wrapped her arms around herself. But she didn't voice it out, she only stared back at Adrain suddenly aware of how thin the nightgown they had worn her was under her skin. "I've already caused enough troubles. I don't need rumors about..."
She gestured vaguely between them.
"Trouble?" His eyebrow rose. "Is that what you call nearly getting yourself killed?"
Her spine stiffened. "I was handling it."
"You were unconscious on my floor." His voice stayed level but something cold crept into it. "That's the opposite of handling it."
"I meant before that. At the training yard. I was fine until you…"
"Until I what?" He pushed off the bedpost. "Until I stopped you from charging a formation you had no business being near?"
"I was keeping up!"
"You collapsed after twenty laps." Each word fell like a stone. "The weakest warrior in that yard ran fifty without breaking a sweat. You couldn't even manage basic balance drills."
Heat flooded her face. Shame and anger twisted together in her chest. "I'm learning. I'm trying…"
"Trying isn't good enough." He moved closer. "Not when your weakness puts other people at risk. I almost clawed keal's throat because he tried to save you.“
"That wasn't my fault!"
"Wasn't it?" His eyes went cold. "You couldn't withstand a simple instruction I gave you. And you fell like a clueless block headed person. Lila, whose fault was it?"
Tears burned behind her eyes. She fought them back. "It was my first time training."
"And yet you dared raised you hands against a high rank council.“ His voice cut like a blade. "You should have thought harder before allowing anger to push you to your own death sentence."
The words hit like a physical blow. She took a step back, arms wrapping tighter around herself.
"That's what you think of me?" Her voice came out small. "That I am reckless, stupid? Act at my impulse?"
"I think you're a liability." Adrain said with no hesitation or softness. "I think you're weak and yes, your reckless and completely unprepared for the world you're trying to survive in."
Each word landed like a fist. Lila felt something crack inside her chest, something she hadn't even known was still whole.
"Then why don't you just sentence me to death? Isn't it what lord Thorne demanded as my punishment?" The question came out broken. "Why keep me here if I'm such a burden? Why not just exile me and be done with it?"
Adrian's jaw clenched. For a moment, something flickered in his eyes. Something that looked almost like pain.
Then it vanished.
"Because I'm not done punishing you yet." His voice went flat and empty. "When I'm finished, you'll beg me to let you leave. Until then, you'll train and you'll suffer for your actions. You'll learn exactly how pathetic you really are compared to real warriors."
Tears spilled over. She couldn't stop them anymore.
"I hate you," she whispered.
"Good." He turned away, back to the window. "At least you're finally being honest about something."
Lila stood frozen for one more heartbeat. Then she ran.
She yanked the door open and fled into the corridor, her bare feet slapping stone. Behind her, was silence. Adrain didn't pursuit or called to stop her from running.
Just his cruel words chasing her down empty halls.
She didn't stop until she reached the servant quarters. Only then did she collapse against the wall, pressing her palm to her mouth to muffle her sobs.
'I think your weak, a liabilitty. Your pathetic!
The words echoed in her head, over and over, cutting deeper each time.
She'd known he hated her. Known he blamed her for things she couldn't remember. But hearing him say she didn't matter, that she was nothing but a burden
waiting to get killed for always violating the rules…
That hurt worse than any physical punishment he'd ever given.