Chapter 228: Inferno Of Consequences
Ivan turned his molten-orange gaze on the king, his jaw tightening as he fought the instinct to tear the man apart for daring to speak to Evelyn that way. He held himself back only because he felt Evelyn respond first.
"And what makes you think I need your permission to decide who I choose to be with?" she replied, her voice calm, sharp, unyielding.
"You insolent girl!" Solan roared, pointing a trembling finger at her in fury. "How dare you speak back to me! Your father?!"
It was then that Ivan slowly released his hold around Evelyn, only to wrap one arm firmly around her waist and draw her to his side. When he spoke, his voice was low and quiet....yet the lethal threat laced within every syllable was unmistakable. "And what makes you think you can speak to her that way?"
His cold, molten eyes locked onto Solan, who trembled with barely contained rage.
"You stay out of this, vampire!" Solan spat.
A ripple of disbelief passed through the onlookers. Several exchanged looks, silently wondering whether the king had well and truly lost his mind to speak with such disrespect to Ivan, especially after the revelation of who he truly was.
Cece and Damien eyed the Lumen King with growing displeasure as he attempted to insult not only Ivan but Evelyn as well and they didn’t like it one bit. Alex and Caleb, along with the other Ignis Blades, were not far away, and the moment they heard the king insulting their beloved prince, they zapped into formation around Ivan, creating a protective circle while glaring at the Lumen King as if daring him to continue.
Ivan made no effort to stop them, but Alex, having enough sense, lifted a hand and signalled them to hold and wait for his command.
Meanwhile, Septimus, Oliver, and Edward watched the king with grim expressions, stunned that he was finally doing something they had never imagined he would dare. Septimus, especially, felt a sense of foreboding creep into his heart as the vision and the goddess’s warning echoed in his mind: "Consequences..."
Ivan’s brow lifted, and a cold, amused smile touched his lips, "Stay out? I will not," he said, in a deep, unyielding voice, "Not when it concerns my Eve."
Solan’s jaw clenched so tightly he feared it might crack. He glared at Ivan and barked, "I do not acknowledge this relationship! If you continue to covet the Princess of Luminear, then your kingdom will face the consequences! I’ll declare war on Versailles!"
Septimus’ brows drew together at the king’s words, and he stepped forward urgently. "Your Majesty, please, think for a moment about what you’re saying!" He moved closer and lowered his voice to a tense whisper. "I warned you....remember what I told you about my vision."
"No! They cannot be together! I will not allow it! And if I must take her by force, then I’ll do exactly that!" Solan roared.
He stepped forward, eyes flashing a blinding white, and with a furious sweep of his hand, he unleashed a blast of pure white light straight towards Evelyn, who stood beside Ivan.
What followed unfolded both in slow motion and in the blink of an eye.
Just before the blast could touch Evelyn, a colossal wall of roaring fire erupted before her, consuming the incoming light. At the same time, a massive fireball rushed towards King Solan in retaliation, so swift and deadly that it would have struck him directly had Gideon, his right-hand man, not leapt in at the last possible moment, dragging his king out of harm’s way.
People stared in shock at the turn of events, holding their breath as they braced for what might happen next. Their heads snapped towards Ivan the moment the temperature around them began to climb sharply.
Damien let out a weary sigh and muttered under his breath, "Why don’t people ever learn?"
"His anger won’t settle now," Cece added, her expression tightening. "Not after that mad king tried to harm Evelyn right in front of him."
"The king is making a grave mistake," Edward murmured, watching the scene unfold with growing concern.
Oliver folded his arms and said dryly, "Not to mention, it’s entirely unconstitutional to force a member of royalty like this."
The temperature skyrocketed to the point people began to sweat bullets, as though they were standing at the very mouth of a volcano. King Solan, who had fallen to the ground, stared around him in shock. The raging fire reflected sharply in his dark-blue pupils as he watched flames spreading across the ruined courtyard. The ground trembled beneath them, and the scene looked nothing short of apocalyptic.
Elara gasped, "My King!" She quickly scrambled to his side before turning to glare at the inferno where Eve and Ivan stood. "Is this how you treat your father, Princess Evelyn?!" she shouted, her voice shaking with fury.
A heartbeat later, the towering wall of fire parted, revealing the two figures at its centre, one with cold, golden eyes, the other with blazing molten-orange eyes fixed directly on the king.
Ivan released Eve’s waist and stepped forward, placing himself protectively before her. His voice dropped to a cold, lethal rumble as he spoke, "How dare you attack her....and that too in front of me?"
Ivan’s aura flared like living fire, and he took another threatening step towards the king, flames igniting beneath his feet with every step he took, revealing just how furious he truly was. The inferno surrounding them spread to the nearby trees, setting anything it touched ablaze as the flames devoured the landscape with hungry delight.
Wildfire coiled around Ivan’s arms, twisting and snapping like serpents eager for his command to unleash devastation upon everything in their path.
Meanwhile, Eve watched the broad, powerful line of his back as he placed himself before her like an immovable shield, just as he always had. The corner of her lips tugged upward ever so slightly. She couldn’t have cared less about the fate of her audacious so-called father, as her attention was wholly fixed on the drool-worthy bare upper body of the man protecting her.
Still, she felt that a little harsh treatment was long overdue for the king. He needed to be shaken awake and made to see the reality before his eyes. So she made no move to stop Ivan. Solan had to witness the consequences of trying to tear her and Ivan apart. Not again. Not in this lifetime. Not after they had waited centuries to find each other once more.
On seeing Ivan approach, anger and fear surged through Solan once more, yet his pride blinded him to a simple truth: nothing he said or did would change the fact that Evelyn and Ivan were no longer the beings who once walked these lands as mere mortals. Their connection was bound by a force far stronger than any blood relation they possessed in this lifetime.
Solan seethed in rage, "Stop! Stop right there! What do you think you’re doing? She is my daughter! I will decide how she is treated!"
Solan staggered upright with Elara gripping one arm and Gideon the other. All three stared in growing dread as Ivan approached them, fire swirling around him like a living beast, until he stood only a single step away.
Halting directly before Solan, Ivan spoke, his voice cold enough to freeze bone despite the heat radiating from him, "A daughter, you say? Then tell me....what right do you have to call yourself her father...when you have never acted like one?"
Solan faltered for a second before roaring back, "How dare you! What gives you the right to interfere?! What could you possibly know?!
Whether we have a close relationship or not, she is my daughter, and I will decide who she is allowed to be with!"
Ivan’s lips curled into something much colder, "Oh?" His voice dropped to a deadly whisper. "Just like you ’decided’ to hand her over to those ingrates over there-" he tilted his head toward the battered mother and son sprawled across the ground, "and left her in their care to rot and bleed in silence?"
"So what if they turned out this way?! I will find someone else to marry her! Anyone but you! You will never be with her!"
And with that, the last strand of restraint Ivan had been holding on to snapped.
His hand shot out, closing around Solan’s neck before lifting him clean off the ground as though he weighed nothing. In that moment, Solan was no king, no self-proclaimed father; he was merely a man foolish enough to try and sever the bond between Ivan and his Eve.
And Ivan would not tolerate such insolence.
How could this man ever begin to fathom what he and Eve truly were? A lifetime forged together. A grace bestowed by the gods. Centuries of suffering spent wandering in separation, lifetime after lifetime, never knowing if they would ever find one another again. And now that fate had finally returned them to each other...this audacious king dared to stand between them like a wall.
Ivan would break every wall that came between him and Evelyn. He would tear it apart. He would turn the very world to dust if it threatened to take her from him.
He had defied the gods themselves for her once.
So who, truly, was this lumen king before him?
