Elara's POV
The palace is already buzzing with rumors when I arrive the next morning.
I didn't go home last night. Cassian insisted I stay in a guest room in the tower—safer, he said, with guards posted. I barely slept, my mind spinning with everything that's happening.
Now I stand in an ornate dressing room while servants flutter around me, trying to make me look like someone worthy of being the Crown Prince's fiancée.
"Hold still, miss," one of them says, yanking at my hair.
I want to scream. Want to run. Want to grab Iris and disappear to somewhere the moon magic can't reach.
But there's nowhere to run. Cassian was right about that.
The door opens. Cassian enters, already dressed in formal attire. He dismisses the servants with a wave.
"How are you holding up?" he asks when we're alone.
"Terrified. You?"
"Same." He almost smiles. "The council is demanding an explanation. Half of them think I've lost my mind."
"Have you?"
"Probably." He crosses to me. "But it's too late to back out now. The announcement is in ten minutes."
My stomach drops. "Ten minutes?"
"I moved it up. After last night—after someone got erased—I don't want to wait." His eyes are serious. "The moment we make this public, you're under my protection. No one can touch you."
"Or I become a bigger target."
"That too." He doesn't lie to me, and I appreciate it. "Are you ready?"
"No. But I don't think I ever will be."
He holds out his arm. "Then let's do it anyway."
I take his arm, and we walk together to the announcement hall.
The council is assembled, along with palace officials, nobles, and—my stomach lurches—Victor and Selene.
My ex-fiancé and my sister stand near the back, whispering to each other. When Victor sees me on Cassian's arm, his face goes white, then red with fury.
Good. Let him suffer for once.
"Lords and ladies," Cassian's voice cuts through the murmurs. "I've called you here to make an announcement that affects the future of our kingdom."
The room goes silent.
"I am formally announcing my engagement to Miss Elara Thorne."
Chaos erupts.
Nobles shouting. Council members demanding explanations. Victor pushing forward through the crowd, his face twisted with rage.
"This is absurd!" he shouts. "She's a disgraced librarian! She's mentally unstable! She—"
"She is my chosen bride," Cassian says, his voice dropping to something dangerous. "And anyone who insults her insults me. Are you insulting your Crown Prince, Councilman Ashwood?"
Victor's mouth snaps shut.
Selene steps forward, her face pale. "Your Highness, surely you must know about my sister's... condition. She suffers from delusions. Our family had to have her treated for—"
"Your family had her declared unstable to cover your own crimes," Cassian says flatly.
The room goes dead silent.
"I don't know what she's told you," Selene continues, her voice shaking, "but whatever it is, it's not true. She's been making up stories for years—"
"Like the story about you and your husband stealing from the royal treasury during reset hours?" Cassian's eyes are cold. "That story?"
Selene's face drains of color.
"Yes, Miss Thorne told me about that. Among other things." Cassian's voice is deadly calm. "And I believe every word. So I suggest you and your husband accept this engagement gracefully. Otherwise, I might start investigating those accusations more closely."
It's a bluff. We don't have proof that survives the resets.
But Victor and Selene don't know that.
They both pale and step back, knowing they've been backed into a corner.
The council murmurs, uncertain. One elderly lord steps forward.
"Your Highness, this is highly unusual. Shouldn't there be a formal courtship period? A proper investigation of the lady's background?"
"My personal life is not subject to council approval," Cassian says. "The engagement is final. The wedding will take place after the lunar ceremony in thirty days."
Thirty days. The same timeline as my death.
If we're still alive by then.
"This meeting is dismissed," Cassian continues. "My fiancée and I have much to discuss."
He guides me out of the hall before anyone can protest further.
In the hallway, my legs nearly give out.
"That was—" I can't even find words.
"Brutal. Necessary." Cassian's jaw is tight. "Victor and Selene will spread rumors, but they won't move against you openly now. They're too afraid of what we might expose."
"We don't have any proof of their crimes."
"They don't know that." His hand tightens on my arm. "Come on. We need to move your daughter before word spreads."
We race through the palace to the waiting carriage. During the ride to the Forgotten Quarter, Cassian outlines the plan.
"I have a private estate outside the city. Remote, heavily guarded. Iris will stay there with trusted staff until this is over."
"I want to see her every day."
"You will. I'll make sure of it."
We arrive at Mrs. Holloway's building. I run up the stairs, Cassian following.
But when I open the door, my heart stops.
The room is empty.
Mrs. Holloway is unconscious on the floor, a bruise blooming on her temple.
And Iris is gone.
"No," I breathe. "No, no, no—"
Cassian is already moving, checking the other rooms, searching for signs of struggle.
On the table, there's a note written in blood:
We have the child. Come to the Shadow Market at the next reset. Come alone, or she dies. Tell the prince, and she dies.
The paper falls from my numb fingers.
Someone took my daughter.
Someone took Iris.
And they're using her as bait.