Elara's POV
I burned the letter.
Watched Cassian's words curl and blacken in the fireplace until nothing remained but ash.
I never stopped searching.
Lies. They had to be lies.
You should sleep, Zara said from her chair. Tomorrow's negotiations will be brutal.
But sleep meant dreams, and dreams meant remembering. The way Cassian used to kiss my forehead when he thought I was asleep. The rare smiles he'd give me when no one was watching. The man I'd loved who'd turned into a stranger overnight.
I need air, I muttered, heading for the door.
Elara, wait—
But I was already gone, slipping past my guards into the palace corridors.
Muscle memory guided me through hallways I'd walked a thousand times as Crown Princess. Left at the marble statue. Right past the portrait gallery. Down the servants' stairs that nobles weren't supposed to know about.
The gardens.
I pushed through the hidden door and cool night air hit my face. The moon was full, casting silver light over flower beds I used to tend. This place had been my sanctuary when court life became too much, when Cassian was too cold, when I felt like I was drowning in my own marriage.
I walked to the fountain where he'd kissed me once, six years ago, when we were newly engaged and I still believed in happy endings.
I knew you'd come here.
I spun, heart hammering.
Cassian stepped from the shadows like a ghost. He'd changed from his formal robes into simple dark clothes, his hair disheveled like he'd been running his hands through it. He looked exhausted. Desperate.
Dangerous.
How did you I started.
You always came here when you were upset. His voice was rough. Some things don't change.
Everything changed. I backed away, hitting the fountain's edge. You made sure of that.
He moved closer, and moonlight caught his face. Up close, I could see the devastation three years had carved into him. New scars. Sleepless shadows. Eyes that looked like they'd seen hell.
Good.
You're alive, he breathed, like he still couldn't believe it. Elara, you're alive.
Don't call me that. Ice coated every word. That girl is dead. You killed her.
I thought I had. His voice cracked. I found a body in the river. A woman with your height, your build. Her face was He stopped, swallowing hard. I buried her with royal honors. I mourned you for three years.
How sad for you, I sneered. Did you cry at the funeral? Or were you too busy with your pregnant mistress?
He flinched like I'd struck him. I executed her.
The words hung in the night air.
What? I whispered.
Celeste. Two months after the divorce, I had her executed for her role in the conspiracy. His hands clenched into fists. When I discovered the truth, when I realized what my mother had done, what I'd done—I started killing everyone involved.
Conspiracy? My laugh was bitter. There was no conspiracy. There was just you, choosing to believe I was a traitor instead of your wife.
I was told you were plotting with enemy kingdoms! His voice rose. The Grand Chancellor had letters, witnesses, evidence—
FAKE! I screamed back, three years of rage erupting. It was all fake! I never betrayed you! I loved you, you bastard! I loved you and you threw me away like garbage!
I KNOW! His shout echoed across the gardens. I know it was fake! I know you were innocent! Adrian's investigation proved everything two years ago!
Two years? I choked on the words. You've known for two years that you destroyed an innocent woman?
I've known since the day after you supposedly died. Cassian's voice dropped to a broken whisper. My mother got drunk at dinner, celebrating your death. She told me everything. How she fabricated the evidence. How she sent assassins. How she'd been planning to get rid of you since our wedding day.
I couldn't breathe. And you what did you do?
I put a knife to her throat and came this close to killing her. His hand shook, measuring inches. Adrian stopped me. Said I needed her alive to expose the full conspiracy. So I've spent three years systematically destroying everyone who hurt you while searching for a wife I thought was dead.
He stepped closer, and I saw tears on his face. The mighty Crown Prince, crying.
I divorced you to save your life, he continued, his voice raw. My mother threatened civil war if I didn't. The Grand Chancellor had nobles ready to rebel. She said divorce was your only option—that if I refused, they'd execute you for treason and I'd have to watch.
So you humiliated me instead? I demanded. You couldn't even look at me! You let them drag me away while the whole court laughed!
Because if I looked at you, I would've broken! He was close enough to touch now. If I saw your face, I would've said screw the empire, screw the throne, and chosen you. And then my mother would've had you killed anyway for making me weak.
You should have chosen me, I whispered, hating how my voice shook. You should have fought for me.
I know. His voice broke completely. I know, and I've paid for it every second since. Elara, please
Stop calling me that! I shoved him hard. He stumbled back, surprised. Stop saying my name like you have the right! You divorced me! You accused me of treason! You let them cut my hair and strip me naked and throw me in a cell like an animal!
I didn't know about any of that
You should have! Tears streamed down my face now, years of pain flooding out. You were my husband! You should have protected me! Instead, you handed me to your mother and walked away!
I tried to send guards to escort you safely
They tried to KILL me! I was screaming now, not caring who heard. Your mother's assassins chased me through the forest! I jumped off a cliff into a freezing river because dying that way seemed better than letting them cut my throat!
Cassian went white as death. No. No, she said she'd just exile you
She lied! She sent assassins! I was shaking so hard I could barely stand. I drowned, Cassian. I felt my lungs fill with water. I felt myself dying. And my last thought before everything went black was that you'd killed me.
He made a sound like a wounded animal. Elara
I survived by pure luck. My voice turned cold again. The river carried me to the Shadow Kingdom. To my mother's family. To people who actually gave a damn if I lived or died.
I gave a damn! His voice was desperate. I've done nothing but give a damn for three years! I've barely eaten, barely slept. I executed everyone involved in the plot. I stripped my own mother of half her power. I've been trying to find you, to make it right
You can't make this right! I shouted. There is no making this right! You broke me, Cassian! You took a girl who loved you more than breathing and you destroyed her in front of the entire empire!
I know
Do you? I stepped closer, getting in his face. Do you know what it's like to beg someone you love to believe you, and watch them stare right through you? Do you know what it's like to be stripped naked by servants who used to bow to you? To have your hair cut off like a criminal's? To watch your own father disown you?
Each question made him flinch harder.
Do you know what it's like to be so broken that jumping off a cliff feels like mercy? My voice dropped to a whisper. Do you know what it's like to die?
I do now, he whispered back. Because these three years without you have been death. Every morning I wake up and remember what I did. Every night I dream about the throne room and your face when I He couldn't finish.
We stood there, inches apart, both crying, both broken.
I love you, Cassian said suddenly. I've always loved you. I was just too proud, too stupid to show it. And when I lost you, when I thought you were dead— His voice cracked. I realized I'd wasted five years with the only person who ever genuinely cared about me.
Past tense, I said coldly. I cared. I don't anymore.
You're lying. He searched my face desperately. If you didn't care, you wouldn't be crying.
I'm crying because I hate you. But even as I said it, I knew it wasn't entirely true.
Cassian reached for my hand, slowly, giving me time to pull away.
I should have. Should have stepped back, should have maintained my ice queen mask.
Instead, I let him take my hand. Let him interlace our fingers like he used to.
The touch sent fire through my veins. Three years apart and my body still knew his.
Tell me how to fix this, he begged. Tell me what I need to do. I'll abdicate. I'll execute my mother. I'll burn the entire empire to the ground if that's what you need.
For one second, I was tempted. Tempted to forgive him. To believe that love could heal this.
Then I remembered kneeling in that throne room, begging him to defend me, and seeing nothing but cold indifference.
I pulled my hand away and slapped him.
The crack echoed across the gardens. His head snapped to the side, a red mark blooming on his cheek.
That's for the divorce, I said quietly.
I slapped him again, harder.
That's for the treason accusation.
Again.
That's for making me jump off a cliff.
Again.
That's for three years of hell.
My hand stung. His face was marked with red handprints. But he didn't move. Didn't defend himself. Just stood there and took it like he deserved every blow.
Maybe he did.
Are you done? he asked quietly.
No. I stepped back, my whole body shaking. I'll never be done. You want to fix this? You can't. Some things are too broken to repair.
I have to try
Don't touch me again, I cut him off. Don't call me Elara. Don't act like we have history. As far as the empire knows, I'm Lady Seraphine, and you're just another client.
We both know that's not true.
It's the only truth that matters. I turned to leave. You lost the right to touch me, to love me, to even speak to me the day you chose your throne over my heart.
I made it three steps before his voice stopped me.
I found your wedding ring.
I froze.
After the divorce, he continued softly, I went to your chambers. Found your ring on the floor where they'd taken it. I've worn it on a chain around my neck every day since.
Slowly, I turned back.
Cassian pulled open his collar, revealing a gold chain. And there, hanging against his heart—my simple wedding band.
I swore an oath the day I found it, he said, meeting my eyes. That if by some miracle you were still alive, I'd spend the rest of my life earning the right to put this back on your finger. Even if it takes forever. Even if you never forgive me.
My throat closed up. That ring. The one he'd slipped on my finger six years ago while promising to love and cherish me forever.
Lies. They'd all been lies.
Hadn't they?
Keep it, I said, my voice barely audible. Consider it payment for all the pain you've caused.
I walked away before he could see me completely break down.
But his next words followed me into the darkness:
I'll never stop fighting for you, Elara. Even if you hate me forever. You're worth it.
I ran then. Ran through the gardens, through the palace, back to my rooms where Zara took one look at my face and pulled me into her arms.
What happened? she demanded.
He still loves me, I choked out. After everything, he still—
Good, Zara said fiercely. Let him love you. Let him suffer wanting something he can never have.
But as I lay in bed that night, unable to sleep, I kept thinking about his face. The devastation. The guilt. The desperate hope.
And the terrifying realization that some part of me—some stupid, broken part—still loved him too.
The revenge was supposed to be simple: make him suffer, make him pay, make him regret.
No one told me it would hurt me just as much.