Alex immediately lunged at his father from behind, Ariana too lunged at Father from the side, and his mother also wrapped her arms around Father the moment he stepped out of the sphere of black light that had engulfed both him and the emperor.
Alex had run into the room the instant he saw his father being taken inside the black light, but he had not reached in time. Neither had his mother, who had been inside the drawing room, been able to stop the black light from forming a sphere around the two men and swallowing them whole.
"From this moment forth, I, James Evernight, the reigning emperor of the Evernight Empire, void the future marriage agreement between my daughter Eva Evernight and Alex Drakethorne, an agreement that was bound by the ancient promise given by the first founding patriarch of the Drakethorne house, Kael Drakethorne." The emperor's voice thundered through the hall, snapping every eye in the room toward him. He sliced his finger and let the droplets of blood fall onto the floor.
"No!" Alex, immediately drawn in by the emperor's voice, screamed, releasing his hold on his father. He felt something snap inside him, like a weight had been lifted, like he had been bound by chains all this time that he had never known were there. He felt his body freed from something.
But it did not feel right. It felt more like he had been stripped of something deeply close to him, and more than anything he had been stripped of the right to be together with the princess. He did not want their future marriage to be broken like this. He wanted to be with her. He liked her company, her presence, the warmth of simply being near her.
"Father, you cannot do this." Princess Eva grabbed the emperor's arm and began to beg, tears rolling from her eyes. Before long she was desperately clinging to him as her knees buckled and she sank to the ground, refusing to release his hand even as she lay there.
"Eva, I have made my decision and the marriage agreement is already void. I cannot take back my words." The emperor's face remained completely stoic. He did not react in the slightest, even with his own daughter crumpled on the floor, clutching his hand and begging him with everything she had.
"Your Majesty, you should give this more thought." Sera said at once, clearly unable to contain herself at the sight of the princess crying like that and the sudden dismissal of Alex's and princess's marriage agreement.
"I have made my decision. Daughter, stand up." The emperor's voice came low and final, his aura releasing outward like a slow tide of pressure. He did not answer Sera nor did he look at her instead, his eyes remained locked on the Princess.
Alex, unable to fully digest the scene unfolding before him, felt his eyes beginning to moisten and before long tears were streaming down his face. He ran straight toward the emperor. No one stopped him. The knights hesitated, and the emperor himself raised a hand, signaling them to hold.
Alex grabbed the emperor's leg with both hands. "Please do not do this. I cannot live without her." His voice was choked and broken, unable to hold back the feeling swelling inside him. He felt that if he allowed the emperor to walk out of this hall, he would lose the princess for the rest of his life. She was the only true friend he had ever had, and he could not imagine a life without her. He had taken her for granted all this time, and had never truly stopped to think about this marriage or what it meant.
But at this very moment, he understood how deeply he had cherished being with her, how deeply he had come to like her. The thought of a life without her, where he could never see her again, never hang around with her, never simply be near her, felt like arrows being driven directly into his heart, one after another.
"Dear, please do something." Sera pleaded, grabbing onto Shane's arm.
"Father, please stop this." Ariana likewise seized Shane's fingers and began begging, her face filled with tears and her voice low unlike her usual bubbly voice.
Shane's jaw tightened, his expression that of a man being pulled apart in two directions at once, desperately trying to find some way to salvage what was happening right in front of him. He drew a deep breath. "Alex, let go of the Emperor." His voice betrayed his frustration, a barely contained anger that was palpable from across the room, and Alex sharply raised his eyes to meet his father's gaze with a look that said he felt utterly betrayed.
His father should be stopping the emperor. His father should be saying something, doing something. Yet there he stood with a creased and frustrated face, looking as though he was on the very edge of losing his composure, and still he told Alex to back off rather than trying to change the emperor's mind.
"No. I will not." Alex's voice came out thunderously, and the entire hall went silent.
"Father, ple... please, I will do anything you want. Anything. Just please do not take Alex away from me." The princess could barely get the words out, choking on every breath, her cheeks flooded with tears and her eyes threaded with red. She clung to the emperor with everything she had left.
But the emperor did not react. Not even a flicker. "Shane, take your son away." His voice came out with a note of irritation, as though the scene around him was making him lose his temper.
Shane bit down on his lip, his face carrying the expression of a man who was ready to throw everything aside and clash with the emperor right then and there. He stepped forward. The knights tightened their grips on their blades. He stopped just short of the emperor and then, instead of doing what his face so clearly wanted to do, he lowered himself to his knees and pulled Alex into his arms.
"Son," Shane said, his voice rough and hoarse. "You have to be strong. You can't break down like this"
***
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