In the middle of the night, Leah Wolfborn stood in front of his private residence and shouted, "Call the Prince. I need to speak with him!"
"I'm sorry, but the prince has forbidden your entry."
Her heart felt like it was splitting apart. It was as if something inside her had shattered. She cried out at the top of her lungs, "Damon! Damon! Come out! I didn't kill him! The boy's death has nothing to do with me! I was in my own home, and when I woke up, I was dragged to court!"
The lycans stared at her wasted eye in disgust.
A young lycan was sacrificed for a bogus demonic ritual in the forest behind the palace. Her old wedding ring, which she still used to wear, was found near the dead child's body.
It was as if someone had attempted to steal the young boy's lycan, and Leah was the only half-human in the Royal grounds.
The boy had been really close to Leah. His death still felt unreal to her.
"Damon!"
"Stop it," a soft voice interrupted.
A young lycan woman appeared behind the guards. She was slender and graceful.
"Leah, he will not see you. The child's death has shaken the noble houses. He needs rest before he has to face the council tomorrow."
It was she, the public mistress of Damon, who was once Leah's best friend — Clara Mooncrest.
For five years, Clara had been on Damon's arm. In the eyes of the world, Clara had become the actual Princess Varkos. On the other hand, Leah was dirty laundry to hide away.
Clara walked down the stairs slowly. The guards respectfully opened the gate for her upon her arrival. The treatment of the two women was so different that Leah hated Clara even more.
"Please, excuse us. I need to talk to my friend alone."
The two lycans looked at each other, and left.
"I did not kill him!" Leah cried, barely holding back her tears.
"Of course you didn't." Clara smiled, glancing behind her to ensure the lycans were out of sight before stepping out. "I would know."
Motioning for Leah to walk with her, she soon stopped before the man-made pond.
The pond was deep and dark, with no lighting. It was hard to see exactly where Clara was standing. Something about her tone dried Leah's tears.
She followed Clara hurriedly and asked, "What?"
"Of course you didn't kill him. You were knocked out with the essential oil in the humidifier."
Leah had assumed it was something in her food. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen those essential oils she had used that day.
She stared at Clara in disbelief. "So… it was you!"
"Shh…" Clara winked, smiling sweetly.
"Ho-How could you? He was just a child! Why…?"
"A child?" Clara scoffed out a laugh. "He was ten and barely bonded to his lycan. I did their bloodline a favor. Wouldn't you say from experience?"
"Y-You are insane! I will tell them everything!"
As Leah turned to leave, she simply smiled coldly. "And who will believe you?"
Leah froze in place.
"When you said, you didn't spike Damon's drink with wolfbane on the night of your wedding to trick him into marking you. Who believed you?"
Leah turned back sharply, staring at Clara in shock.
Clara savored the look of horror on her face. "And it was the same when you said you did not attempt suicide to get Damon's attention."
"Clara!" Realization struck Leah. "That attack—"
"That's right," Clara said with a snort. "But so what? They said you tried to kill yourself for attention. And now they say you sacrificed a noble child to awaken your dirty lycan blood to attract Damon's attention."
Hearing that, Leah instinctively touched her ruined eye.
She was the illegitimate child of the Wolfborn Pack, always told she existed only to marry Damon.
When she married him at twenty, she didn't understand why she was constantly compared to Clara.
Clara studied abroad, was beautiful and generous, while Leah was rude, greedy, and barely a high school graduate.
For eight years, she foolishly believed Clara was a good friend. At that time, she had no idea he had a childhood sweetheart who was manipulating her.
Now, everyone believed she had murdered a boy during a diplomatic gathering with a bogus demonic ritual to awaken blood she did not possess.
Her ring had been found beside his corpse.
There was no direct evidence, but she knew it would not be long before they apprehended her based on circumstantial evidence to appease the council.
"You...! Why would you set me up like this?" Leah pounced on Clara in desperation.
But Clara was a full-blooded lycan. She easily grabbed Leah and shoved her into the pond.
Choking on water, Leah struggled desperately. "St-Stop…! Plea…!"
Water rushed into her mouth and nose, burning her lungs.
Clara stood above her, watching as she went still, a cold smile on her face.
"Go in peace. Soon I'll be the new Princess Varkos."