Arion's hand shot out, his fingers wrapping around Evangeline's other arm. His golden eyes, now blazing with a possessive fury, seemed to burn right through her. "Evangeline!" he snarled, his voice a low, dangerous growl. He was no longer the conflicted prince; he was a dragon king whose claim had been publicly challenged.
But Evangeline didn't flinch. The pain was gone, replaced by a cold, quiet calm. She looked at him, not with fear or anger, but with a detached sadness. She saw a man who had chosen his pride over her pain, a man who had clung to a lie rather than face the truth. His desperate grip on her arm felt like a last, futile attempt to regain what he had so carelessly thrown away.
Just then, Seraphina, the architect of this chaos, sidled up to them, a perfect picture of innocence and concern. "Oh, please, you two," she cooed, her eyes wide with false pity. "Let's all just calm down. This is all just a misunderstanding. Arion, darling, let's just go. The princess is clearly ungrateful for all you've done for her. What a shame. So much kindness wasted on a wild thing like her."
The words, laced with venom and delivered with a sweet smile, were the final straw. Evangeline's calm shattered. A lifetime of being called a "wild thing," a "monster," and being treated as less than human came crashing down on her. She had endured the lies, the betrayal, and the gaslighting. But she would not stand for this. She would not be humiliated in front of everyone, not by a woman who had tried to destroy her.
With a speed that surprised even the princes, Evangeline pulled her arm from Arion's grasp and swung her hand. The sound of her palm striking Seraphina's face was a sharp, resounding crack that echoed through the stunned silence of the courtyard.
Seraphina's head snapped back. Her eyes, filled with triumphant malice just a moment ago, now stared at Evangeline in stunned disbelief. A red handprint bloomed on her cheek as a single, perfect tear of shock slid down her face. She had expected to win. She had expected to see Evangeline break down and weep. But instead, she had been humiliated.
The cat prince simply watched, a flicker of a smile touching his lips. Arion, however, was in a state of shock, his fury momentarily forgotten as he stared at the two women. The quiet, docile princess he had brought to his kingdom had just proven that she was not to be trifled with.
The Princess Unleashed :)
Evangeline stood tall, her hand stinging from the force of the slap. She didn't feel remorse. She felt a surge of cold, righteous fury that had been building for a lifetime. She had been seen as a monster, an outcast, a wild animal to be tamed. But she would not be. The calm mask she had worn for so long finally cracked, revealing the fire that lay beneath.
"I have had enough of being seen different!" she said, her voice sharp but still low, a dangerous undercurrent to her words.
A tremor ran through the courtyard as the air around her began to grow heavy. Her eyes, which had returned to a normal brown, began to bleed into a violent, throbbing purple. Her power, so long suppressed, was coiling around her like a hungry serpent.
The cat prince, his senses far keener than any human's, felt it instantly. He knew this wasn't a calculated use of her power. This was a raw, unfiltered release of her emotion—a dangerous and volatile force. He moved with a speed that was almost imperceptible, pulling her behind him. He placed a hand on her back, his touch firm and grounded, his own power a steady anchor against her roiling emotions. He was not trying to control her, but to calm her.
"Breathe, Princess," he whispered, his voice a low rumble meant only for her. "Calm yourself. Don't let their fear become your cage."
His words, along with his steady, calming presence, worked like a charm. The purple light in her eyes flickered, then began to recede, her body slowly relaxing into his embrace. She was a hurricane, and he was the eye of the storm. She looked up at him, her eyes wide with a mix of shock and gratitude. He hadn't just protected her; he had saved her from herself.
Seraphina, meanwhile, stood in shocked silence, her hand on her stinging cheek. She had lost control of the narrative. Her victim act had been shattered by the one person she never expected to fight back. Her eyes, filled with a burning, humiliated rage, were fixed on Evangeline and the new prince.
Arion, however, was a whirlwind of confusion and anger. He had been so focused on his rival that he had missed the true extent of Seraphina's malice and Evangeline's pain. He saw her fury, the raw power that had almost burst forth, and the way the other prince had been able to calm her so effortlessly. He had been so blind.
*The New Path*
Seraphina's carefully crafted victim act, a performance that had worked flawlessly for years, was now failing. She placed a hand on her stinging cheek and began to sob, her tears a torrent of frustration and fury. She turned to Arion, her eyes pleading. She wanted him to rage, to fight, to punish the woman who had dared to strike her.
"Arion, look at what she's done!" she wailed, her voice a desperate plea for him to act as her champion.
But Arion didn't look at her. He was staring at the retreating figure of Evangeline, his golden eyes filled with a dawning, terrible understanding. The rage he had felt just moments before had been replaced by a cold, sickening realization. He saw the truth in Evangeline's face, the deep-seated pain that had finally erupted. And he saw Seraphina's tears, now so obviously manipulative, her distress a hollow performance.
"Evangeline," he called out, his voice a soft, almost broken whisper. He took a step forward, his hand outstretched, no longer with anger, but with a plea for her to stop.
But it was too late. Evangeline didn't hesitate. She looked over her shoulder at him for just a second, a fleeting glance filled with so much hurt that it was a thousand times more painful than any slap. Then, without a word, she turned on her heels and walked away.
The cat prince, her silent protector, walked beside her, his hand resting lightly on her back. He didn't rush her. He simply followed her lead, his presence a quiet, unwavering support. The two of them, the outcast princess and the mysterious shadow prince, walked away from the courtyard, from the lies, and from the painful betrayal that had defined her life.
Arion stood alone, the courtyard's silence a heavy weight on his shoulders. He had been so blind, so caught up in his jealousy and his pride, that he had failed to see the truth. The woman he had promised to cherish had just walked out of his life, and he had no one to blame but himself.