Chapter 46 Portrait

Chapter 46 Portrait


"Before you go on your little adventure, I want us to have a little chat," Lucien began.

Nova narrowed her eyes.

"Do you think I'm going to rat you guys out? That's not my plan. I only intend to secure a better chance for the people close to me to survive."

"We are not going on a bloodbath, Luna. Your loved ones will be fine regardless. And I'm not worried about you ratting us out. I trust you." He paused. "But that's not why I'm here. I want us to take a little trip to the past."

"What?"

"Let's talk about Veronica, shall we?"

Nova shifted in her seat. What else was left to say about her? She didn't like how everything in her life kept circling back to that woman.

"What's there to say about her?"

"What's there not to say?" Lucien leaned back. "I actually quite admire her, you know. A single woman, bringing five races to their knees. Do you know, some theories suggest she could have easily escaped the fire she started to kill her mate and husband, but she chose to burn alongside him because she couldn't bear the pain of parting from him."

Nova's brows furrowed. Not because of his theory, but because she couldn't understand why he was suddenly telling her this. Still, she went along.

"Didn't she hate her mate? Why would she be in pain? She killed him."

"She was married to him for seven years. I'd like to believe that despite the hate, she still had some love left for him. But in the end, she had her mission to fulfill, and she was loyal to it for reasons best known to her. She loathed supernaturals and fell in love with one. She must have loathed herself, too."

Nova blinked, raising a brow. "Why are you telling me all this? It was her choice to stay with him."

"What if she was trapped?"

"It was still her choice. She chose to rebel against supernaturals, to infiltrate them. She accepted being mated to one and played the role of a loving wife."

"Because she had something greater in her hands. The fate of humanity. I don't believe Veronica turned vengeful for no reason. Sometimes I wonder—we must have done something to really piss her off, don't you think?"

"Are you defending her right now?" Nova had to ask.

Lucien smiled and rose to his feet. He walked to the wooden shelf in the corner of the room and took out a moderate-sized portrait before laying it on the table in front of her.

In it was a woman. Veronica. Nova could see her face more clearly now. Her blonde hair had streaks of brown. Her brown eyes were vivid and striking. Her straight nose and soft jaw. Everything was clear. She was a beautiful woman indeed.

"I've had this portrait for quite some time now. You know by now that every council member has one. For some reason, it's passed down from generation to generation. It's like they want every head to remember who the enemy is," he said, his tone turning serious.

Then he tapped on the portrait. "What do you see in her eyes?"

Nova glanced down at the portrait again. She studied it for a long moment before blurting out, "She looks sad."

"Precisely. Not only did she have to save humanity, she had to kill the people she'd grown to love. Her mate. Her unborn child. She was in a prison of her own making."

Nova swallowed. "What makes you think she loved them?"

"Because I've been in love once, and I can recognize the look anywhere. I've also been in sadness, so I'm quite proficient with that emotion." He sighed.

"You still haven't told me why you're telling me this."

"Because you remind me so much of her. Forget the fact that you look alike—you're in a similar situation." Lucien's gaze held hers. "You were forced to stay in the pack against your will, trapped in an environment where everyone loathed you. And now, you're here, trying to warn and save the bit of humanity you care about. One wrong move from us could send you into your villain arc. That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid."

"What do you mean?"

"You're not a prisoner here, Nova." Lucien moved back to the table, the old mischief returning to his eyes but tempered with sincerity. "I brought you to the city because you asked to leave. I wanted you to see that you have a choice. You can go to the human authorities, tell them everything. That's your right. But I also wanted you to see…" he gestured to the painting of the sad woman, then back at her, "…what real love looks like. And what it doesn't."

He leaned forward, his voice dropping. "I'm giving you a chance that Veronica may never have had. A chance to leave all this behind. Take your loved ones and go. I can even protect you from Rune. He would never find you. All you have to do is say the word, and it's done."

Nova's eyes widened at the offer. She couldn't help but think about it. When she first arrived at Ashfall Pack, all she wanted was a way to leave. All she felt was anger and frustration at being trapped in a place like that. All she felt was hate.

And now, before her was a chance to leave it all behind with her family. The offer came from a man she didn't doubt could make it possible.

She expected herself to be excited, ecstatic. To jump at it and say yes. But for some reason, she didn't feel the happiness she anticipated. All she felt was sadness and… worry. Worry for Rune.

Had she really been trapped by him?

Sure, he had tricked her into marriage, but he had stopped using her loved ones as leverage. He never actively stopped her from running away. Rune, who had the power to complete the bond and take what he wanted, held back every day because he saw her fear. Rune, who had been trying in his clumsy, wolfish way to earn her trust—the breakfasts, the questions, the quiet respect for her space. He had held her captive, yes, but had he truly tried to cage her spirit? Or had he just… held on, terrified of losing her, waiting for her to choose him?

Lucien looked directly at Nova, and his next words seemed to pierce through her. "Things with Rune might have started off badly, but from what I saw in the few days I spent with you both, you care about each other. But because of your insecurities and resentments, you refuse to take a step forward. Don’t blame Rune. It’s his first time loving too. And he is trying his best amidst this chaos.”

He let the statement hang in the air, the unspoken parallel to Rune's actions—and her own—starkly clear.

Nova felt a strange crackle in her chest, a fissure in the wall of resentment she'd so carefully built. Lucien wasn't talking about Veronica anymore. He was talking about Rune.

He was offering a choice that Veronica never had because he didn't want history to repeat itself. He was making her weigh her options. Escape or Rune?

Cunning bastard.

She smiled, tears welling in her eyes. "Wow. You have a way with words. Did you really have to drag Veronica into this to get your point across?"

"I didn't, but didn't it make it so much easier to understand?" Lucien shrugged, smiling. "The world is about to enter a critical phase, and it's my job to make sure things don't go haywire. You needed to be free to make a choice. Otherwise, you would have held onto your resentment for a long time. I don't want that. Your collaboration is too important."

Nova nodded, looking away. Ever since she had climbed into Lucien's luggage that morning, all she had thought about was Rune. She hadn't thought of home. Just Rune. That was enough to know where her heart truly lay.

She glanced at the portrait once more. Poor woman. What if she had indeed been lonely?

Raising her hand, Nova hesitated before caressing the portrait.

The moment Nova touched the painting, it was as if a violent force crashed into her, knocking her spirit from her body. For a moment, the world seemed to stop—and then the whole universe tilted upside down.