The door of the entrance opened and Beatrice walked in with Max.She was wearing an emerald green sleeveless gown with a sweetheart neckline and a high-low skirt and she wore a short sleeve black lace bolero jacket. Emerald teardrop earrings, an emerald necklace, black gloves, and black cut-out heels completed the look.Max stood next to her in an emerald green velvet suit." She looks so beautiful", Gabriella muttered." Not as beautiful as you", said Myles with a smirk.Gabriella rolled her eyes.People in the banquet hall also began talking about the couple." It seems like Lady Lillian lost to Lady Beatrice"" Serves her right. She used to walk around like she was the future Empress"" I wonder how Lady Freya feels right now"" Wasn't Lady Freya always bragging about the close relationship between the Crown Prince and her daughter?"" How could she still show up here? I would just stay at home if I were her"When Lady Freya heard what others were saying, her kind smile fell and he
The banquet was going great. People were dancing, drinking, and socializing. Everyone was having a great time except a few. Lady Anne has been on alert all night. She was constantly following Gabriella around leaving behind Empress Jane that raised a few questions.' Their first and only target will be Princess Gabriella. If she dies, all hope is lost. I must not let her get hurt'Lady Anne's thoughts were running wild. She felt nervous. Her heart was beating faster and faster as time ticked. She had a very bad feeling about this.Midnight hit.Lady Anne noticed that most people at the banquet showed signs of tiredness but didn't think much. A sweet melody filled the air. The moment the sweet melody entered the ears of someone, they dozed off. People began dropping to the floor.Gabriella and Myles were the first to notice that something was wrong. They looked down from the dining table on the first floor to the banquet on the ground floor. They saw the bodies on the ground and slippe
The veil fell to the ground. The lady wearing the veil was Lillian. Her eyes were filled with rage now. She lunged at Gabriella but with a wave of Gabriella's wand, Lillian flew a few meters away from her.Lillian took deep breaths as she felt out of breath. She quickly held on to the pendant around her neck and began chanting." I, the servant of Black Rose, command you Azgul Dragon to kill her! Kill her! Don't let her live"The ground began shaking. A dragon with silver scales and bright golden eyes emerged. It roared as it flew around Lillian. It looked at Gabriella and Myles and flew right at them.Myles guessed the dragon's intentions so he grabbed Gabriella's arm and pulled her towards him." Watch out!", said Myles.The dragon missed its targets by an inch." Get them, you foolish creature!", Lillian yelled.This time, the dragon flew right at Myles and knocked him down to the ground. Myles fell right into the little lake near the gazebo. Satisfied, the dragon then went after G
Gabriella felt herself being pulled out of the water. When she managed to get back on land, she saw Lady Anne, her mother, and her father, Max, Beatrice, Helena, and Riley standing before her. Myles was nowhere to be seen.Empress Jane hugged Gabriella tightly despite Gabriella's wet clothes. She cried. This was the first time Gabriella saw her mother crying. Usually, no matter how hard the situation is, Empress Jane can remain calm and make rational decisions but right now, emotions took over Empress Jane.Empress Jane finally pulled away and wiped her tears."Come inside before you catch a cold", said Empress Jane as she hurried inside with Gabriella.Empress Jane and Emperor Nicholas along with Lady Anne went to Emperor Nicholas's study, leaving Gabriella in the care of her ladies-in-waiting and Beatrice.----In the study.Everyone was quiet. Empress looked dazed and her eyes were blurred by tears. Emperor Nicholas held her hand." We have to carry on with the marriage. We have to
" It really is..", Gabriella muttered to herself." Don't try anything funny tonight. Get some sleep. I will leave now", said Beatrice before she bowed and left.----When Beatrice came out of Gabriella's room, she saw Helena and Max talking. Max had a smile on his face and Helena was laughing. In the next moment, a servant came and whispered something to Max who then bid farewell to Helena and left.When Helena saw Beatrice, she smiled and greeted her." What were the two of you talking about?", asked Beatrice." Oh, it's really nothing. We were just discussing some childhood memories", Helena replied.Beatrice nodded." In the future, keep a distance from the Crown prince. People in the palace might start gossiping", said Beatrice.Then she began walking away."Is it just because people might start creating rumors? Are you really afraid that I might steal the Crown prince from you?", asked Helena.Beatrice stopped in her tracks. She turned around and asked." What did you just say?"
' I can't let my efforts go to waste'-----" How is her attitude towards you?", asked Gabriella.Helena laughed." Not good. I have a feeling that she might try to do something to get me kicked out of the royal palace", replied Helena." Not on my watch", said Gabriella.Helena smiled and hugged her. On the outside, a palace is a place full of every luxury you could dream of but in reality, it's a lion's den. If you don't watch your back at all times, your enemies will take you down. In other words, living in the royal palace requires intelligence above all. Having someone powerful backing you and supporting you can help you survive in the palace.There was a knock and Helena went to open the door and saw her mother Lady Anne walk in. Lady Anne was wearing a solid pink knee-length long sleeve dress with a white ankle-length coat over it." Greetings your highness Princess Gabriella", Lady Anne greeted Gabriella with a bow." Greetings Lady Anne. Why are you here so late at night? Is
" I repeat, you are to be married to Prince Myles as soon as possible", said Emperor Nicholas." But why?!", asked Gabriella." Recently there have been too many assassination attempts on the royal family. We suspect that it has something to do with the Quinn clan. We need the help of the grand mage that is currently living in Gwacary. But as you know, the Quinn clan has ties with Queen Camilla. Queen Camilla has been doubling her efforts to make her son the Crown prince. Her men are checking every single letter and gift sent to the palace. So, it is almost impossible for us to contact the grand mage who is living in the royal palace of Gwacary", Emperor Nicholas explained." What does this have to do with me?", Gabriella asked." I want you to go to Gwacary, talk to the grand mage, keep an eye on Queen Camilla and her supporters, help Myles to become the King of Gwacary, and help us deal with the Quinn clan for once and all", said Emperor Nicholas." Why me? Why not a daughter of a n
" How did she take it?", asked Empress Jane.Emperor Nicholas sighed and looked up at Empress Jane. Empress Jane looked out the window and sighed as well.Both of them knew that there was a one in a million chance of Gabriella agreeing to do this but they still decided to try it. Now they needed another way to reach the grand mage without alerting anyone.----At Lilac's and Lavender's" What's wrong with marrying him? From what I saw during the last visit, he seems to be a decent guy. Don't tell me! That was all an...act?"Loralye went on and on and she made cocktails at the bar and slid it towards the customers. Her bright aqua blue hair was tied up in a bun with a huge claw hair clip." No. It's just that...I feel like I'm using him", said Gabriella." Why is that?", asked Loralye." I'm just using him to make myself less suspicious in Gwacary and to get in contact with the grand mage. I just...I just feel guilty", replied Gabriella." He also needs your help to become the king of
Gabriella and Helena were in Gabriella's room. Both of them were sitting on Gabriella's bed with the basket in between the two of them. No one said anything. They were still shocked by what they saw. They were speechless. They were disappointed and mad." So she has been cheating on him the whole time?", Gabriella broke the silence as she asked." Seems like it"" After all that he had done for her...how could she be so cruel towards him? How could she still face him with a smile, hug him, and talk to him as if she had never done anything? "" I told you. She was born an actress. What are we going to do now? He will be broken if he knew the truth. "" He deserves to know the truth. "" So we are taking her down?"" Of course. No one and I mean no one is allowed to deceive him. "" So what's the plan?"" I will tell you later. Right now, we need to pay Riley a visit. "" Let's get going then. We need to change our clothes. "---At the Dwyer manor.Riley ran to hug Helena and Gabriella
" Oh..."" I will be leaving now. Goodbye, I will see you soon!", said Gabriella as she walked out of the room.Myles felt a hint of disappointment.' She left so quickly...'---Gabriella walked out of the room in long and fast strides. Her heart was beating faster than usual. She thought that it was because she was basically jogging so she stopped for a moment and leaned against a wall.She placed her hand over her heart and took deep breaths.Gabriella saw Helena walking towards her carrying a basket of fruits and other various snacks. Helena was eating strawberries and grinning." Where did you get that?"" Someone sent it to me. I think it's a secret admirer. "" A secret admirer?"" Yeah, the lady who brought it to me said that it was from a secret admirer."" And you don't know who it is yet you are eating it?"" Yes. I checked for curses and poison. There is none of that in this basket. "Gabriella spotted a little clear box filled with muffins and held her hand out." I'm not
She flew to his side within seconds and knelt beside him. Everyone was extra quiet. You could hear the breathing of the hundreds of people present. The healers that were hiding earlier, slowly came out of their hiding spots to see why it was so quiet all of a sudden. When they saw Myles, they immediately rushed to his aid with their tools. They heard the quiet sobs of someone and as they went closer to Myles, the sobbing grew louder. They saw Gabriella sobbing. Her tears were...somehow gold in color and they stained the area of Myles's shirt where his heart was. The healers stepped back and watched in awe. ---- ( This part of the chapter is from Myles's POV) A ray of sunlight attacked my eyes as soon as I opened them and I immediately closed them and turned to my right and then opened them again. I saw a human sleeping on a chair while resting her face on my bed. It was Gabriella. Her flaming red hair was scattered across the bed. It covered parts of her face too. I swept her hai
Myles ran to the private hospital wing in the palace. Currently, it was the only place in the palace that hasn't been attacked by the creatures and Dragons that joined the fight letter on. The whole way there, he kept shaking her seemingly lifeless body and begging her to open her eyes. Crystal clear beads of water fell from his eyes and he cried in despair.When he got to the hospital wing, the whole place was empty. Not a single soul was to be seen. He fell to his knees and cried even harder. He was lost.Myles looked at Gabriella's still body. Her face was beautifully sculpted by god. She had naturally long lashes, and her eyebrows were perfectly shaped and didn't look like they could be cousins. Her plump lips were beginning to lose pigment and turned as pale as her skin.Just then, a gigantic claw of a dragon broke through the wall. The impact caused small pieces of bricks and dust to go everywhere. Luckily, Myles had turned around just in time so the pieces of bricks and dust di
The battle outside was getting heated and even Emperor Nicholas had joined in the battle alongside the other soldiers. While all of this was happening, Empress Jane was inside the study trying to contact the Grand Mage and her brother, the king of Laelux. Only the Grand Mage could handle this situation as she didn't even know what the creatures outside were much less how to defeat them.But obviously, she wasn't able to contact the Grand Mage so she frantically tried to contact her brother, Anthony Evans. She wanted to ask him to send reinforcements to Etroana, the soldiers from Etroana that were training in Laelux.Suddenly, one of the walls of the study was blown up. Empress Jane ended up on the floor from the impact of the explosion. One of the creatures came at Empress Jane. It wasn't flying or walking. It was like it was floating lifelessly in the air and being controlled by someone or something. It was like it was possessed.Empress Jane got up and began running for her life. Sh
The sky turned dark and clouds began forming. It quickly became windy. The wind was blowing in the direction of the west. Palace guards were lining up at each palace to search it. The thunder broke the quiet atmosphere.One of the palace guards looked above to see something, something that was huge, something that was moving towards them." Look at the sky!"Everyone stretched their necks to look at the sky. They were horrified by what they saw. Creatures clothed in long black capes that had tears that revealed their bone-like figures. They reached their black hands with long sharp nails in an attempt to attack everyone in sight.People were running around in an attempt to save themselves whereas Helena sneaked into the western palace where Gabriella was staying in. She felt someone around her so she hid inside a small closet. She heard footsteps and immediately covered her mouth so that she wouldn't make any noise.Suddenly, the doors of the closet were opened.Helena saw Max standin
" I didn't know that Helena was my daughter back then. I thought that Alexander was my child and Lady Rose was my wife back then. Why would I take an outsider's side instead of my son and wife's? Look at it from my perspective. It was not my fault", Sir James stated." It doesn't matter. Helena will decide for herself whether she wants to stay with me or if she wants to return to the Dalton family", said Lady Anne as she got up to leave Lilac's and Lavender's.She went outside the diner and tried to wipe her tears but the tears did not stop flowing. She was scared. She was scared that Helena will leave her to be with her real family. Helena was the child she raised for over twenty years. How could she bear to see her leave her one day?' But at the end of the day, it will be her decision and I will respect whatever decision she makes'Said Lady Anne in her head.As she slowly picked herself up, she got into the car where the driver was waiting for her. She wiped her tears with a tissu
" Indeed, you are not easy to fool", Sir James said. " Of course. Anyone with an IQ over 80 can guess your intentions", Lady Anne scoffed. " The real reason I wanted to meet you--", Sir James took out the files Edwin had given to him. He stared at Lady Anne for a few seconds before handing the files to her " The reason is to show you this", Sir James said. Lady Anne hesitated before she took the file. She glanced at Sir James and then looked inside the file. Her eyes widened as she began to flip through it faster and faster. While Lady Anne was reading the file, Sir James poured a cup of tea for himself. He was trying to cool down the tea when Lady Anne suddenly slammed the file against the table. " Sir James, are you lying to me?!", Lady Anne asked angrily. " I'm not lying", Sir James replied calmly. " How could she be your daughter?! She is my daughter!", Lady Anne yelled. " Just as the pictures show, Lady Rose switched your child with hers. She didn't stop there. She switche
" Oh", exclaimed Gabriella.Soon the food was served and everyone was eating. The dining hall was so quiet that you could hear the sound of the forks, knives, and spoons making contact with the plates and bowls." When is the Dalton family coming over to discuss the arrangements for the wedding?", asked Emperor Nicholas." They are coming over this weekend", Max replied." Mhm...how are the preparations coming along?", asked Emperor Nicholas." It is going great", Beatrice replied.' I can see that. Even a whole tube of concealer can't hide your dark circles'Gabriella thought." Good. As I have been saying, the wedding must be a grand affair. Everything must be perfect", said Emperor Nicholas." Of course, I will make sure that everything is perfect", said Beatrice with a smile.From the corner of her eyes, Gabriella saw Empress Jane rolling her eyes.' I know that mother doesn't like Beatrice. But couldn't she make it less obvious?'----Meanwhile, at Lilac's and Lavender's.Lady An