Chapter 157

Chapter 157
Fiona's POV

It was a young woman.

She wore an impeccably tailored dark trench coat, her long hair swept up high to reveal a smooth forehead. Her gaze didn't fall on Raymond—instead, it cut through the crowd with precision and landed squarely on me.

The moment I saw that face, I froze as if struck by lightning.

"Diana?"

I spoke the name in disbelief.

She had changed drastically since I'd last seen her. The fluffy white wolf ears were long gone, and standing before me now was a fully grown woman with graceful curves and a mature face.

"I never thought I'd run into you here, Fiona. Thank God!" Her voice trembled as warm tears soaked into my shoulder. "I thought I'd never… I really missed you."

I patted her back awkwardly, my mind spinning in confusion.

"Diana, what are you doing here? Does Alexander… I mean, does your brother, His Majesty, know about this?"

Underground cities like this were synonymous with filth and chaos. How could the Volkov family's little princess possibly end up in a place like this?

Diana released me, sniffling as an unnatural flush crept across her cheeks. She lowered her head shyly, fingers nervously twisting the hem of her coat, her voice barely above a whisper.

"They don't know. I snuck out. I followed a... sensation that led me here. But I'm an adult now, so I have the freedom to make my own decisions."

"A sensation?" I was utterly lost.

"Yes." Diana looked up at me, her eyes bright and earnest. "Because my fated mate is here."

---

To keep Diana from being exposed to the underground city's complex environment, I brought her to Yulia's bakery for the time being.

The shop was filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread—that warm scent created when yeast and wheat collided under high heat, instantly dispelling the damp chill unique to the underground.

Yulia warmly brought over freshly ground coffee and several plates of delicate pastries.

"Is she a friend of yours, Fiona? What a lovely young lady."

"Thank you. You're such a kind and gentle woman yourself," Diana said, lifting her coffee cup and taking a small sip. Her previously tense shoulders finally relaxed.

"This coffee is excellent," she said, closing her eyes to savor it, a nostalgic smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "It reminds me of the roast from Kelly's shop."

At the mention of that name, my heart skipped a beat.

"Speaking of which," Diana set down her cup and looked at me, "I visited Kelly before coming here. She's five months pregnant."

"Really?" I covered my mouth in delighted surprise, my eyes instantly welling up.

"Yes. If she knew you were doing well here, she'd be so happy." Diana took my hand, her tone gentle. "You have no idea how many tears she cried over your disappearance."

"I'll definitely find time to visit her once I finish dealing with everything going on right now," I said, taking a deep breath to suppress the ache in my chest.

Looking at Diana's face, so full of unspoken thoughts, I finally asked what had been bothering me. "Diana, how did you even find this place? You know this is a gathering spot for mixed-blood werewolves. Your fated mate shouldn't be here."

A princess's destined partner should at least be the heir of some powerful clan, or an exceptional Alpha.

"The Moon Goddess guided me here."

Diana touched her smooth forehead. "My parents plan to send me abroad to study next year. I wanted to at least see him with my own eyes before then."

Her gaze held a stubborn determination. "Even if we can't end up as mates, at least I won't have any regrets."

"Are you planning to reject him in person?" I sighed and said earnestly, "Diana, if you're coming here to reject him, I think you should observe him secretly first. If he turns out to be completely unreliable, you need to strike first. That way, you won't have to bear the pain of being rejected."

As I spoke those words, my heart involuntarily clenched.

I didn't think this hard-won wisdom was anything to boast about. I simply couldn't bear to see this girl suffer the pain I had endured.

That feeling was like having a layer of skin peeled off while you were still alive, your soul torn in half—one half screaming to hold on, the other half drowning in endless despair.

Rita had wailed in my mind for three solid days. I hadn't slept for three days either, and every breath tasted of blood.

I thought that was the most painful thing in the world.

But Diana shook her head, her gaze becoming deep and complex.

"Fiona, it doesn't matter who rejects whom first. What matters is whether there's love or not."

She looked at me and said, word by word, "Even though Alexander rejected you that day and severed your connection, he suffered tremendous backlash too. For a whole month afterward, he was still coughing up blood intermittently, his body weakened to the extreme."

I froze, the coffee cup in my hand trembling slightly, splashing a few drops of brown liquid.

"The branch royal relatives on the border even considered launching a coup while his body was weak and he was suffering. Just like before—they'd already made several attempts on his life, even at the Lefett family banquet. Fortunately, their earlier blunders had already exposed them, so Alexander had arranged everything in advance. He had Cyril by his side, and Fendia, who was already the Purple Wolf Clan's Alpha by then. They resolved the crisis easily."

After hearing Diana's words, violent waves surged again in the depths of my heart, like a stone thrown into stagnant water, stirring up a thousand ripples.

"Would you like more coffee or tea?"

Yulia's gentle voice suddenly sounded beside me, interrupting my thoughts.

I snapped back to reality and took a large gulp from my cup to cover my reaction. The bitter liquid flowed down my throat, but it couldn't suppress the turmoil in my heart.

"No, thank you," I managed a strained smile.

Just then, the bakery door swung open.

"Mom, I'm back..."

A clear teenage voice rang out.

Rasen walked in carrying a bag of flour, covered in sweat. He wore a simple white shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing sturdy forearms, his face bearing a sun-bright smile.

However, when his gaze landed on Diana, his smile froze instantly.

Diana whipped her head around sharply.

Their eyes met.

The air seemed to stand still in that moment.

The flour bag in Rasen's hands dropped to the floor with a thud, white dust flying up into the air.

Diana's pupils contracted violently as she stared at Rasen, her lips trembling slightly, as if witnessing some incredible miracle.

"It's you..." she murmured.