Chapter 192: Through The Gap Beneath The Door
Eve reached to take the letter, but the queen quickly pulled it back and said, "The bracelet, Princess. Then the letter."
Without a moment’s hesitation, Eve slipped the bracelet onto her wrist. The moment it clicked into place, she felt it, the power coursing through her veins slowly dulled, suppressed as if a weight had settled over her very core. It was reminiscent of the amber locket she once wore...but not quite the same.
She lifted her gaze back to the queen, who now regarded her with suspicion. Eve had put on the bracelet far too easily, without a hint of protest. But then, as if convincing herself, Viva’s expression shifted. ’Of course, the little princess must be terrified for her lover and friends. That must be why she was complying so obediently.’
With that thought, suspicion melted into a vicious smirk spreading across the queen’s lips.
Eve then asked, "I hope this closes the deal between us." With that, she took the letter from the queen’s hand and turned to leave, when Viva’s voice stopped her.
"One more thing, Princess. I have one more condition." Viva rose from her seat, her tone annoyingly cheerful. "You will stay here in the palace for the remainder of your trip, in your designated room. And you are not allowed to meet with Prince Ivan until the ball is over tomorrow."
Eve turned back to her, brows tightening. "Is this really necessary?"
Viva shrugged her shoulders with elegant nonchalance. "It will only make things easier for you. All your friends are already in the castle today, and you’ll be able to prepare for tomorrow’s ball without...distractions."
"And what about the students?" Eve asked sharply.
"They will be sent back to the Rosemount Hotel," Viva replied smoothly. "Prince Valen will take care of it, and they will be brought to attend the ball tomorrow."
Eve, in any case, had no desire to return to the hotel when Ivan and the others were here, so she agreed. She cast one last look at the queen and caught the sickening gleam of triumph on her face.
A slow, scorching fire ignited in Eve’s chest. It wasn’t her anger that burned this time. It was her very soul, set ablaze with a promise of vengeance for what this vile woman had done to Ivan.
Her Ivan.
If Viva had harmed her, Eve wouldn’t have reacted like this. But targeting Ivan...That was Eve’s bottom line. The line no one should ever cross.
Her eyes flashed bright gold before the light dulled again, smothered by the bracelet clasped around her wrist.
Coming back to the present...
As she thought of her revenge, her eyes flashed gold again, and a small, cold smile tugged at her lips. She could already picture the moment she would make Queen Viva pay. Eve was not a fool, and she certainly wasn’t careless enough to blindly put on a bracelet given by the same woman who had used vile means to control Ivan.
She wore it because she knew exactly what it was not. It was not a divine artefact like her locket. It had no sacred power. It was merely a suppressor, mundane in comparison.
And Eve knew one undeniable truth: if she truly called to her powers in a moment of desperation, they would break through anything. No trinket crafted by human hands could restrain her anymore.
Such an object could never hope to control her. Not now. Not ever.
Eve knew that even if the queen claimed she would release Ivan from the dark influence, she also knew that there was no undoing what had already been done. The corruption threading through him was nothing like the case she encountered at the inn with Lora. That situation had been manageable; this was something entirely different.
And now that Eve was inside the castle, this was her only chance to reach the Vault and find the answers she needed to undo it, to save him.
So for now, she had to let the wicked woman believe she held the upper hand. She had to play along, just enough to keep suspicion away.
Because when the time came, she would strike, and she would make sure Queen Viva regretted ever laying a finger on Ivan.
...
It had been hours since Cece had slipped out of the dungeon. She navigated through the confusing corridors of the castle until she finally reached the dining hall. There, she discovered just as Dante had predicted that the students had already been sent back to the Rosemount Hotel.
Having found that one precious piece of information, she moved on to search for Eve or Ivan’s whereabouts. She glided through the shadows with the elegance of a vengeful cat, all while mentally cursing the wicked queen and her deranged son.
That was when she noticed something suspicious. She froze mid-stride and melded deeper into the darkness. The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the corridors, which served as a perfect cover for Cece, providing her with plenty of places to hide.
She had no idea where she’d ended up this time, but one thing was clear: that this section of the castle was way too quiet. The only people moving around were a handful of male servants, all marching stiffly in perfect rhythm like malfunctioning toys.
Cece watched them with narrowed eyes and muttered inwardly, ’They’re giving Mrs. Morris a run for her money with the way they’re shuffling around like freshly raised corpses.’
She didn’t think much of it at first and continued forward. But then she noticed the royal guards in the area, and eerily, they also moved with that same monotonous, corpse-like gait as they patrolled.
’What’s with this full-blown dead fest around this morbid castle?’ she thought, her brows pulling together. With her ability to sense intentions, she usually picked up at least something from others...fear, boredom, irritation, anything. But from these guards? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
It was like staring at a collection of blank slates. Coming across one or two people like that was one thing, but finding every single person in the vicinity behaving the same way baffled her. Her senses tingled, as if urging her to dig deeper into the bizarre situation unfolding before her.
She moved forward until she paused beside a huge black double door with two guards stationed on each side. She wondered what might be behind it....and her thoughts drifted straight to Ivan. ’What if they were keeping her brother in there?’
A cold chill crept into her heart at the thought of her ever-powerful brother being locked up in a chamber like this. Fury and pain bubbled in her chest.
She was just about to slip inside through the tiniest gap beneath the doors when she heard another set of footsteps approaching. She paused and quickly concealed herself again, emerging in the shadow of the statue next to the door.
A moment later, a familiar figure emerged from the opposite end of the corridor.
’Jareld, wasn’t it? Their loyal dog.’ She recognised him instantly, the same man who had escorted Ivan away to whatever wretched place he’d taken him. The sharp impulse to tear that wicked human apart pulsed through her. But Dante’s warning echoed in her mind: she must not get discovered. Not when they were already sitting on a mountain of problems.
So, with great restraint, she swallowed her rage and held back.
Jareld stopped in front of the double doors and asked, "Everything all right here?"
"Yes," the guard replied in a monotonous, dead tone.
"Her Majesty has ordered that no one be allowed into the chambers. Keep a strict watch. If you find any intruders, apprehend them immediately and then inform us," Jareld instructed.
"Yes, Sir Jareld," both guards responded again in the same robotic tone.
Jareld gave them a nod and was about to walk away when he paused. His brown eyes shifted to the corner where Cece was blended into the shadows cast by one of the morbid statues. Sweat trickled down Cece’s forehead, wondering if she had already been caught by the human. Jareld stared at the spot for a moment longer before turning back to the guards and saying, "Be alert, especially today and tomorrow, since many people will be in the palace. We don’t want anyone crossing these doors."
"Yes, Sir Jareld," they replied in unison once again. Jareld cast one last glance toward the corner before turning to walk away.
Cece didn’t realise she was holding her breath until he disappeared on the other side of the corridor. A frown settled on her veiled features as she wondered, ’What was that about? Did he discover me or not?’ Not wanting to take any chances, she remained still behind the statue’s shadow for a few more minutes, waiting until his footsteps faded completely from earshot.
Seeing the guards standing there unmoving, she knew this was her chance to see what lay behind those doors. Still believing that Ivan was inside, she darted across the corner of the floor and, in a swift motion, she slipped through the narrow gap beneath the double doors going completely unnoticed.
