Chapter 665: THE SURPRISE GUEST

Morning light did not warm the castle.

It felt cold.

Hollow.

Like every wall had learned the truth last night and was silently judging her for it.

Rose sat alone in the throne room, still wearing the same gown from the night before.

Her hair was loose around her shoulders, her eyes swollen from crying.

In front of her, the ruby carpet blurred as she stared at it, unblinking.

Auburn.

An impostor.

Jasmine.

Her real granddaughter.

Cherry.

Her betrayer.

Her sister.

Coral

Her own daughter

The child she had birthed and raised… had pushed her own sister off the both with the intentions to have her killed.

And Roland.

Her very own Husband.

Rose closed her eyes, breath shaking.

Her husband had been sleeping with Cherry.

Her bitch of a sister.

The truth was muddy, poisoned, confusing but it didn’t matter.

It hurt all the same.

She touched the crown on her head.

For the first time in her life, it felt like a burden.

A weight she didn’t deserve.

A reminder of every failure she had made.

“You should step down,” a dark whisper in her mind said.

“You don’t deserve this crown.”

Royals who ascended the throne were meant to stay on the throne for life.

Stepping down meant only one thing.

Killing your self.

Her fingers trembled against the cold gold.

She didn’t know how long she stayed frozen like that, but eventually, footsteps echoed through the hall.

“Hildegard,” Rose whispered without lifting her head.

Her best friend.

Her one and only true sister approached with careful steps and bowed.

“Rose may I speak with you?”

Rose let out a short, humorless laugh.

“Of course. Go on. Tell me you told me so. You’ve wanted to since the day Cherry and Auburn walked into this castle.”

Hildegard blinked… then actually smiled softly.

“This is not the time for who was right and who was wrong,” she said gently. “This isn’t a victory.”

Rose let out a shuddering breath.

Her throat tightened painfully.

“I had her… here,” Rose whispered. “My granddaughter. Under my roof. And I didn’t see it.”

Her eyes overflowed, tears sliding down her cheeks again.

“Everything I said about her family abandoning her and how terrible her family were. How stupid they were to have left her and-

Her voice cracked like old glass.

“I was talking about myself.”

Hildegard stepped closer and took Rose’s trembling hand.

“Rose in as much as I would like to say so. Jasmine came to you because fate brought her here. You didn’t know. And you were sick. You were poisoned for years. Cherry did everything she could to blind you.”

Rose covered her eyes with her free hand.

“I failed her. I failed Scarlett. And she has been suffering her whole life because of me. All the monstrous things Bale did. All the things I let him get away with and my own grand child had to face. I wish I could bring him back from the dead and kill him myself.”

Hildegard squeezed her hand.

“But now you know. And now what matters is finding her. We can fix what remains. We can save what we still have.”

Rose nodded, swallowing hard.

Hildegard looked around the room.

“Where… is the Roland?”

Rose’s expression shifted instantly.

She rolled her eyes so hard her head tilted with it.

“To hell with him.”

Hildegard smiled. “Well that’s a fair statement

“I don’t care about him anymore,” Rose snapped. “He was fucking my sister my sister, and now he wants to claim he can’t remember any of it? Nonsense.”

Hildegard’s lips parted, unsure what to say.

Rose paced, fury returning like fire beneath her skin.

“I threw all his things out of our chambers,” she hissed.

Hildegard smiled. “We ll He’s probably in a guest room. Hopefully freezing.”

“I’d prefer he slept in the deepest pit of hell.” Rose snarled. “I would drag him there myself, but unfortunately, I have more important things to handle.”

Hildegard cleared her throat lightly.

“I heard Xaden went out with the search party looking for Jasmine. And he… still hasn’t returned.”

Rose froze.

Her stomach twisted.

Her wolf stirred.

“Oh, Goddess,” she whispered. “I know he hates me so much now! And I hate him too! All the terrible things he did to her! And myself! Locking my own flesh and blood in a cell for a crime she never committed.”

Before she could finish, a Lycan sprinted inside, panting heavily.

“Your Majesty!” he yelled. “There is a problem!”

Rose straightened instantly.

“What happened?”

The Lycan swallowed, his entire body tense.

“T–The King of Sirens is here.”

The throne room went cold.

Rose felt her heartbeat stop then slam back into rhythm.

“What?” her voice shook, “swore never to cross into each other’s lands.”

“I know, Your Majesty,” the Lycan said, trembling, “but he is waiting outside. At the palace fountain.”

Rose exchanged a sharp look with Hildegard.

“Come,” she said, her voice suddenly commanding again.

Together, they rushed through the corridors.

When they stepped outside onto the castle grounds, they didn’t need to go far.

Rose froze.

Standing by the main fountain was the handsome Corallos.

His skin shimmered like deep ocean sapphire.

His beautiful grey eyes glowed faintly.

His presence rippled the air itself.

Behind him, the water of the fountain churned unnaturally, rising and falling like a living beast.

Rose swallowed and stepped forward.

“Your Majesty,” she began carefully, “I greet you and-

“Save your greetings,” he snapped, his voice like crashing waves.

Rose stiffened.

He stepped closer, the water behind him rising in response.

“How dare you,” he hissed, “send a trespasser into my waters?”

Rose’s heart dropped.

Her blood ran cold.

She didn’t know who.

She didn’t know how.

Didn’t understand what he was on about.

“What are you talking about?” She asked.

The King of Sirens raised his hand, and the fountain burst upward behind him like a rising storm.

He glared at her with eyes full of sea-fire.

“Speak one more word,” he warned, “and I will bring down the entire ocean upon your kingdom.”

“Corallos.” She began in a cool warning voice. “You’re a king as much as I am Queen. I do not take threats lightly.”