Chapter 305: A Lesson In Consequences
Evelyn, however, had anticipated this reaction. She did not flinch as she was waiting for this very moment to finally deal with this vixen.
Before Ruby could reach her, a violent tremor suddenly tore through the estate, jolting the ground beneath everyone’s feet and sending the crowd into horrified panic.
After that, everything happened far too quickly.
Their eyes flew wide as they turned towards Ruby, only to find her suspended mid air by an unseen force, her claws frozen just inches from the woman now glowing like a radiant golden star.
Evelyn’s pupils had turned completely gold, while her long, beautiful brown hair whipped lightly behind her. She stood perfectly still, her expression terrifyingly cold and devoid of emotion, rivalled only by that of their prince.
Nowhere did she resemble the beautiful, harmless woman who had merely accompanied the prince. Instead, she looked like a goddess of vengeance, poised to deliver judgment upon sinners.
But that was not all. They saw Prince Ivan’s clawed hand already extended, aimed straight at Ruby’s heart, while Ignis Blade’s commander, Alexander Valehart, and his second in command, Caleb, along with several others, already had their swords drawn.
The blades were not only pointed at Ruby, but also pressed threateningly close to the necks of Silas and his wife, a reflexive response to the audacious threat their daughter had just hurled at their princess.
Faced with this terrifying tableau, no one dared to speak or move. They only shrank back slightly as the trembling continued, and many wondered if it was born of their prince’s wrath.
Yet upon closer inspection, it became clear that Ivan was not the source of the overwhelming force shaking the estate.
It was the princess standing beside him.
Their gazes drifted back to the princess, and only then did they truly register the immense pressure radiating from her, so powerful that it made their legs tremble, as though they were on the verge of willingly submitting to her will.
They could not quite name what they were feeling, but they knew with absolute certainty that this crushing presence came from the princess who was glowing like a living star.
As everyone held their tongues, breath caught painfully in their lungs, Damien, Cece, and Edward observed the scene with impassive expressions, as though they had half expected something like this all along.
They knew Evelyn had meticulously goaded the not-so-bright Ruby into acting irrationally, giving her the perfect excuse to finally rid herself of the persistent itch to teach a lesson to the woman who was hell-bent on throwing herself at Ivan at every opportunity, aided eagerly by her equally greedy parents.
The trio could only sigh internally, knowing that no good would come for Ruby now that she had managed to anger the two people on the planet one should never cross.
But on the bright side, they realised this was the moment for Evelyn to finally silence those who doubted her. For too long, people had whispered that the stories of her being a celestial being in a past life were nothing more than baseless rumours.
Tonight, she was going to kill two birds with one stone.
Not only would she eliminate a nuisance, but she would also set a long-overdue record straight: her power was very real, and her divinity was absolute.
Eve lifted her hand and brushed it lightly against Ivan’s arm beside her, prompting him to turn and look at her. No words were exchanged as they simply held each other’s gaze.
Then, without a single utterance, Ivan finally straightened.
His deadly claws withdrew from Ruby’s heart and reverted to normal. He slipped his hands into his pockets, as though leaving everything in Evelyn’s care. His expression was unreadable, though his eyes still burned with rage at the ingrate before him.
At a single look from his Prince, Alex pulled his blade away from Ruby and took a step back. However, he did not sheath his sword. He remained on standby, his posture making it clear that he wouldn’t hesitate to slice the woman in two should the need arise.
"Kill me?" Evelyn’s cold, ethereal voice finally shattered the silence. "How very brave of you....or perhaps I should say, how incredibly foolish."
Ruby’s eyes, stretched as wide as they could go, darted frantically, the only part of her body still capable of movement. She was so stunned that it took several long moments for the reality of what had just happened to sink in.
It was not only Ivan’s lethal claws, halted mere inches from her heart, that terrified her, but the woman who had managed to immobilise her completely without so much as lifting a finger.
As her frantic red eyes focused on Evelyn’s bone-chilling gaze, she felt a primal fear unlike anything she had ever known. Her entire body trembled as she tried to move her limbs in a desperate, futile attempt to get away from the woman she had deemed powerless only moments ago.
The jealousy and hatred she had felt for Evelyn evaporated instantly. It was replaced by a cold, hard dread that she couldn’t shake, no matter how much she struggled.
"W-W-What did you do to me....y-you witch?!" she stammered, her voice cracking with terror.
That was when she saw Evelyn finally lift her hand. The words died in Ruby’s throat as beads of cold sweat broke out across her shivering skin.
Suddenly, the claws that had been inches from Evelyn’s face were forcefully curled back. It was as if an invisible weight was crushing her hands down, and she could do nothing to fight against it.
Still suspended mid-air, Ruby’s arms were yanked and twisted painfully behind her back. Her veins bulged from the strain as waves of agony wrecked her body. She let out a piercing shriek under the immense pressure, her limbs contorted by a force she couldn’t see.
Silas and Maribel watched the scene, frozen in horror, until their daughter’s cry finally jolted them from their stupor. They whirled toward Ruby, watching her being restrained by thin air, and then toward Evelyn, whose expression remained as cold and deadly serious as a judge delivering a sentence.
Swallowing the fear bubbling inside them, Maribel cried out, "L-Let go of my daughter! W-What do you think you are doing to her? Do not forget that you are in a vampire kingdom, so you have no right to treat her this way!"
Silas quickly joined in, his voice rising in outrage. "That is right! I will take this matter to court for attempting to harm a citizen of this kingdom!"
Evelyn turned her ice-cold golden gaze towards the frantic couple, and they immediately stiffened under the crushing weight of her attention.
Without a single change in her expression, Evelyn finally spoke. "Attempting to harm a citizen of this kingdom, you say?"
She tilted her head ever so slightly as she continued, "Are you forgetting that your daughter’s claws were mere inches from my face not long ago? It was not just me. The entire ballroom heard her scream that she intended to kill me."
She took a threatening step towards them, prompting both of them to shriek in fear as she continued, "You think your brainless daughter can simply attack me and I would do nothing to protect myself, that I would allow her to tear me apart just because she is a citizen of this kingdom?"
A small, cold smile curved her lips as she went on. "Do you truly believe that being a citizen of this kingdom gives you the right to attack whomever you please, whenever you please, without facing the consequences? Your dim-witted daughter not only dared to attempt to kill me, the Crown Prince’s partner, in front of so many witnesses, but also a royal of one of the most powerful kingdoms. And you think I would simply let her?"
Her voice dropped to a chilling whisper, sending shivers through everyone present.
They could scarcely believe she was the same woman who had appeared so docile and beautiful on the prince’s arm only moments earlier.
All this time, they had assumed she possessed no power beyond her association with him, yet the fear gripping them now mirrored the dread they felt in the presence of the prince himself.
The power radiating from her was so overwhelming that they could hardly believe there was anyone in the world who could rival their prince.
All at once, a single thought struck them like lightning.
Were the rumours true?
Was she truly the celestial being from the past who had saved the world alongside their prince?
It couldn’t be!
Before they could sink fully into denial, Evelyn’s voice rang out once more, yet now it felt as though it did not belong to her alone, but to some higher, supreme being.
"Just who do you think you are, to believe you could so blatantly treat me this way?"
Her tone was soft, almost gentle, yet her aura flared fiercely, burning with unmistakable anger.
