I Left The Wolf King Who Loved Me For The Dragon King Chapter 05

I Left The Wolf King Who Loved Me For The Dragon King Chapter 05

The gray rabbit sat frozen on its velvet cushion. Under the steady radiance of my lunar magic, its frantic breathing slowed, the vitality returning to its frail body.

Bryony glared at me, her jaw clenching as she forced another wave of her erratic magic into the room. But no matter how hard she strained, her flickering sparks couldn’t begin to compete with the sheer brilliance of my light.

“Why is Bryony’s power so much weaker than Aylin’s?” an elder whispered.

“Could Aylin be the true heir of the bloodline?” another murmured.

On the dais, the flesh beneath the rabbit’s fur knit together, its wounds completely healed.

“No! No!” Bryony shrieked, the poise dropping from her face. “You’re cheating! It’s a trick! We try again!”

“As many times as you like,” I replied, my voice cool and unbothered. “But the outcome will remain the same. I will still win.”

Another pair of wounded rabbits was brought out and placed between us.

I closed my eyes and raised my hands. The moment my palms unfurled, a blinding column of celestial light flooded the hall, drawing sharp gasps from the surrounding court.

Once again, the victory was absolute.

“Do you wish to continue?” I asked, looking directly at my stepsister. “Some things, Bryony, can never be changed.”

The great hall dissolved into frantic murmurs. Violet’s face twisted into an ugly, furious mask. Across the room, Grimm stepped forward from the shadows, his expression heavy and grim as he stared at the two of us.

“No! Shut up!” Bryony stomped her foot, her eyes darting frantically before she turned to Grimm. “Father! Bring out the lunar statuettes! Use them to anchor my core and amplify my magic!”

Grimm’s color changed instantly, and he took a step forward to intervene. “Bryony, stop. Don’t.”

“Why? They’re all I have left, Father!” she cried, her voice cracking. “Do you truly want to watch me lose to her?”

“No, it’s not that, it’s just—”

Before he could finish his excuse, I provided the answer for him.

“I’m afraid the lunar statuettes are already in my possession, Bryony.”

“What?!”

The word strangled in Bryony’s throat.

I unlatched a small wooden box, parting the layers of black velvet inside to reveal three small, meticulously carved sculptures. One by one, I lined them up on the mahogany table.

The Maiden, holding her drawn bow, representing the waxing crest.

The Mother, heavily veiled, representing the glowing full moon.

The Crone, draped in a deep shroud, representing the waning dark.

The triple deity—the fundamental source of a wolf’s purest blessing.

I began to hum a low, ancient chant, letting my celestial power bleed into the relics. The statuettes resonated, expanding my light until the entire hall was bathed in an ethereal brilliance.

For a breathtaking second, the court looked on as if the Deity herself had descended upon the dais.

The relics were my leverage now. Unless Bryony could prove her blood ran purer, her stolen birthright would be stripped away right here.

Bryony twisted her silk sleeves in a panic. Grimm and Violet exchanged frantic, helpless glances, entirely unable to rig the trial in her favor.

But just as Bryony bit her lower lip, tears on the verge of spilling, a sudden, violent gale slammed into the hall. The heavy iron doors blew inward, instantly extinguishing every candle and plunging the room into absolute darkness.

A shadow moved through the dark. Then, the sickening crunch of breaking stone echoed from the dais.

When the torches were finally relit, my heart stopped. The table was bare, save for a scattered mound of silver dust and jagged shards.

The statuettes… shattered.

I stared blankly at the ruined remnants of my mother’s legacy.

Then, a deep, resonant voice cut through the silence from the entrance.

“Forgive the interruption to your festivities.”

“However, by order of the Alpha King, this crown is to be presented to Lady Bryony.”

The figure stepped into the light. “His Majesty sends a message: He will not allow his chosen lady to lose.”

Gasps erupted from the council as they recognized the newcomer. “It’s Jacek! The King’s Commander!”

“The King never reveals his face… all his decrees come through Jacek!”

“The King is backing Bryony?”

“Look at that crown… isn’t that the diadem meant solely for the pack’s true Luna? Jacek would never carry it unless the King himself commanded it!”

My soul went entirely numb, a loud ringing filling my ears as my gaze snapped to Ulvarr.

He merely leaned against his chair, a detached, amused smile playing on his lips as he watched Bryony’s tears turn into an arrogant smirk.

Bryony placed the Luna diadem upon her golden hair. She spun in a slow, mocking circle, letting the silk drape around her before stopping to face me. “Shall we try one more time, sister? I assure you, you won’t win this round.”

Then, her eyes dropped to the floor, her hand flying to her mouth in mock horror. “Oh, heavens… your little toys are broken. Could it be that your cheating ways finally offended the Deity?”

I stared at the shards, my fingernails biting into my palms until the skin split.

I didn’t need to guess who had destroyed them. I could smell the familiar trace of winter and crushed pine lingering over the debris.

Ulvarr had crushed them. The violent severing of the relics sent a harsh magical backlash through my core, the metallic taste of blood rising fast in my throat.

And yet, to ensure Bryony’s victory, he hadn’t hesitated to gift her the crown meant for his mate.

I forced the blood back down, my voice coming out raw and hoarse as I looked past the crowd, my words aiming directly at him. “Does the Alpha King despise me so fiercely?”

Ulvarr blinked, as if only just remembering my presence. He stepped closer, offering a practiced, apologetic arm around my shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Aylin,” he murmured softly. “I’m just a simple vanguard warrior. I don’t have the power to intervene against the King’s commander.”

A violent tremor racked my body.

No power?

The man responsible for all of this was standing right in front of me.I wrenched myself out of his grip. “I don’t concede! It’s just celestial magic, isn’t it? Even if I have to offer my own blood as a sacrifice, I will—”

“Enough! Bryony, Aylin, stop this childish nonsense at once,” Grimm interrupted loudly, his gaze shifting to me with a complex, heavy unreadability. “Deciding the succession based on a parlor trick is absurd. The trial is voided. Consider it nothing more than a jest between sisters.”

The tension in the room gradually dissipated, the banquet resuming its hollow chatter.

But Bryony remained parading through the tables, the Luna diadem catching the light at every turn. I kept my head down, kneeling on the cold stone floor to gather the broken shards of my mother’s legacy, piece by piece.

The moment the dinner concluded, I refused Ulvarr’s offer to walk me back and returned to the residential wing alone.

As I approached the dark corridor, the low whisper of a heated argument drifted down from the upper landing.

“Do you regret throwing me away back then?” Ulvarr’s voice demanded.

“You’re about to wed Aylin, and I am being sold to that wretched dragon,” Bryony spat back, her voice thick with frustration. “There is no future for us.”

“Admit your mistake to me, Bryony,” Ulvarr murmured, his voice dropping into that dark, predatory tone. “Tell me you belong to me, and I will make this entire nightmare vanish.”

Bryony let out a sharp, mocking scoff. “You? You’re a low-ranking grunt, Ulvarr. Don’t tell me you’ve actually deluded yourself into thinking you wear the King’s crown?”

A heavy pause settled over the stairs before Ulvarr spoke, his voice dangerously level. “The truth is… I am—”

“Ulvarr!”

I stepped out of the shadows, my voice cutting through the corridor like a whip, shattering the silence between them.