Chapter 203: The Father Who Failed Her
[Music recommendation: Yanni - Nostalgia - Live at Royal Albert Hall]
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Viva then gestured to the guards, and they retreated at once, though Gideon and Septimus remained behind in case things escalated further.
It was then that Solan’s eyes flashed a brilliant, chilling white as he said, "Whether you marry elsewhere or not, you are still a member of the Lumen royalty. I will not allow you to tarnish our name. You will show respect to the King and Queen of Luminear, Princess Evelyn." His voice was cold, sharp, and utterly commanding.
Evelyn looked at him and narrowed her eyes in open defiance, "Or what? What exactly are you going to do? Hurt me? Your own daughter?"
"If I have to discipline you, yes," Solan replied without hesitation.
"Well," she said coldly, "I have an appointment with my husband-to-be. So if you don’t mind, you can save your ’discipline’ for another time. After all, you are the one who forced this relationship onto me, aren’t you?"
As those words left her lips, the entire room froze like an iceberg. For the first time in her life, Evelyn had spoken back to the king, something she had never once dared to do.
"Evelyn! I am warning you!" Solan thundered again, and the lights in the room flickered violently under the pressure of his surging aura.
But Evelyn didn’t back down. Her lips curled into a cold smirk....so unexpected, so defiant, that everyone in the room stared at her as though she had truly lost her mind.
"And I dare you to stop me." With that, she turned and began walking toward the door.
It was then that the final thread holding Solan’s temper together snapped.
With a furious burst of power, he unleashed his aura, and a blinding white barrier erupted around Evelyn, trapping her in place.
"Your Majesty!" Septimus, Gideon, Elara, and even Viva shouted at once.
None of them wanted Evelyn harmed....not now.
Septimus and Gideon shouted out of genuine fear for her safety, both of their hearts lurching at the sight of the barrier lashing around her.
Elara and Viva, however, had entirely different reasons. They needed Evelyn presentable, unharmed and perfect enough to parade before the public and accept her union with Valen. That was the only reason their cries held a note of panic.
However, Solan didn’t back down. Her constant defiance, her refusal to bow, to obey him, sent his rage spiralling beyond reason, so he no longer cared to control it.
Evelyn, inside the barrier, felt a sharp, stinging pain spread across her skin. The crushing pressure of his power wrapped around her like chains made of light. And in that moment, all she could think of was the golden cage she had been trapped in her entire life....silenced, restrained, treated not as a daughter, not even as a person, but as some pet to be controlled. And something deep within her cracked.
She would not be caged again! She would not kneel, not to him or to anyone else! Her powers surged violently in response to that instinctive rebellion.
Within the blinding white barrier, her golden aura began to leak out, first as small threads, then it began to flare brighter and brighter as it pushed against the confinement.
The ground beneath them rumbled. Cracks splintered through the marble floor as the entire room was swallowed by a clash of white and gold light, both forces battling for dominance and the building itself began to shake.
Evelyn’s eyes blazed a brilliant gold as she forced herself forward; every muscle in her body trembled with resistance. Through clenched teeth, she growled, "I. Will. Never. Let. You. Control. Me. Again!"
Her power surged outward like a shockwave. Cracks spider-webbed violently across the white barrier encasing her. At the same time, the ruby embedded in her golden bracelet glowed fiercely, struggling to suppress her power; its red light flickered in frantic pulses. But Evelyn pushed harder, and a thin fracture began to split across the ruby’s surface.
"Princess Evelyn! Don’t do it!" Septimus shouted as rushing forward in alarm. He could see the vein near her temple bulging sharply from the strain as she stubbornly poured every ounce of her strength into breaking her father’s barrier.
But she didn’t listen, she couldn’t listen.
In her mind, if she didn’t break through his barrier now, she would forever remain his puppet. She would let him win again. And she refused to! Not anymore. The man before her had failed her as a father, as a protector, as the one person who was meant to shield her from the world. She owed him nothing now. No obedience, no respect.
So she fought. She fought for the respect she had never been given, for the love she had never known, for the family she had been denied, for even the simplest right to be treated with basic kindness.
And then that familiar feeling rose inside her again, fierce and primal. Every fibre of her being demanded respect, demanded that others bow, to kneel before her as if she were something greater....something superior.
And with that rising storm inside her, her power rose exponentially. A blinding golden force erupted from her, and the barrier around her shattered like glass, releasing a shockwave that blasted everyone in the immediate vicinity backwards, including King Solan himself. He staggered with his eyes widened in disbelief as he was unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Evelyn had broken his barrier, and for the first time in his life, King Solan stood frozen in shock. His wide blue eyes dropped to the bracelet on her wrist, still perfectly intact...which could only mean one thing:
She had unleashed that much power while wearing that cursed restraint.
It wasn’t just Solan who stood stunned into silence. Gideon and Elara were equally shaken. Neither of them had ever seen Evelyn wield even a smallest bit of power before; they knew nothing of the secret of her birth, nor the reason she had appeared powerless since childhood, so this came as a shock to her.
Elara’s breath hitched as she could not believe what she had just witnessed. The weak, powerless princess she had tortured for years now stood before her like something dangerous, something untouchable. She wanted the throne for her own son, and with everything happening, she had been certain that securing it would be easy.
But now?
Now everything had changed. If the court ever learned the truth of Evelyn’s powers, they would undoubtedly push her as the rightful heir instead.
Viva, meanwhile, was staring at her own trembling hands, which she had instinctively raised to shield her face when the blinding blast of light rushed past her. The exposed skin had shrivelled, wrinkling like aged parchment, as if scorched by holy fire. A gasp stuck in her throat as she quickly hid the ghastly sight beneath her shawl before anyone could notice.
She could not wrap her head around the fact that Evelyn had managed to use so much power even with that magical restraint on. How?! How was that possible? She stared at Evelyn in utter disbelief, watching as the girl still stood firmly on her feet after the ordeal.
As Eve’s powers ebbed, the stone in her bracelet still glinting a threatening red, everyone stood frozen in shock. How could she have shattered the king’s barrier while wearing a power-restraining bracelet? The amount of exertion she unleashed would have killed anyone else.
Solan’s shocked blue eyes fell upon her lone figure, who was still standing, trembling as she struggled for breath. She was clearly on the verge of collapsing, yet she remained upright, tall and unyielding...like a true ruler.
For a long moment, no one moved. Then Evelyn took a shaky step forward before her knees finally buckled. She collapsed, leaning forward as a splatter of blood hit the cold white floor.
Septimus saw this and rushed to her, "Princess Evelyn!" he cried, utter worry lacing his words as he knelt beside her and lifted his hand. "Let me heal you."
But Evelyn raised a trembling hand to stop him, still gasping painfully for air. She hadn’t realised, in the heat of the moment, just how far she had pushed herself simply to escape her father’s grip. And in doing so, the bracelet had turned against her, draining her life force, feeding on it.
Septimus’s brows furrowed at her refusal as she clearly looked like she could barely remain upright and was on the verge of collapsing altogether. His silver eyes dropped to her wrist, and the moment he saw the bracelet, recognition struck him like lightning. His eyes widened as he gasped, "This!"
Evelyn followed his gaze and realised what he was reacting to. She slowly pulled herself upright again, swaying slightly as she stood. "You don’t...need...to concern...yourself, High Priest," she managed to speak between her shallow, ragged breaths.
Her cold blue eyes swept across the room, taking in each stunned face that had failed to stop her.
"Since you failed to stop me," she continued in her faint but firm voice, "I’ll be taking my leave. Prince Valen must be waiting for me."
With that, without sparing another word, she took one unsteady step after another until she finally walked out of the room.
