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PRINCESS CASSIOPEIA Soon to be Queen of the Wicker Forest.It felt like lightning struck me in the head and then the rest of my body but it didn’t hurt at all. Instead, I was cocooned in a comfortable embrace as the pixie dust of memories filled my mind. One by one, my memories returned from the moment I was able to see the Wicker Forest with my own eyes as a little fae—my first step, my first magic, and my first introduction to the Imperial Faes’ ways of living. Even without knowing who my mother was, laughter and love surrounded me while I was growing up. I never ran out of it. I had a good childhood.But everything shifted drastically over the last two decades. I saw greed growing in my father’s eyes. He kept telling me that his plans were for the betterment of the Wicker Forest, and I believed him.I didn’t know that the lectures I was given were no longer part of the regular school for Imperial Faes. I was being prepared for a war I had no clue was about to happen. At that
IRIS. “Iris…” She turned to look at me again. “Mama…” “Tell me… Why could I do what I did? And why were you able to show me that thing in your hand?” She asked, and this time, I noticed that she hardly stuttered. And when I looked at her again, I noticed many other things. Her hair became longer and shinier, and her skin became clearer. The color had returned to her face and lips. Her cheeks, once hollowed out, were returning to normal, and her lashes were longer. She looked like someone who was made up for an event and not someone who was almost choked to death earlier by a Dark Fae.So I knew I could no longer delay letting her know everything because her body was slowly returning to her Dark Fae Form. “Mama…” I held her hands, covering the dark ink on her skin with my hands. “There are many things I will tell you, but first, I want you to retrieve that memory you’ve lost. The memory that Franco said you had lost in an accident.”“Will it tell me who my family is?” She asked.
IRIS.I woke up and Mama was still asleep, which was nothing unusual. She let out a full magic earlier, so it had depleted her mana. The only reason I wasn’t worried was that she was breathing steadily and smiling in her sleep. She looked too relaxed for someone who just brutally decapitated a head. Dad was back at the forest where we left Eox’s body. He went back with Brute, so the Guardian could check if he was really dead. And that also eased my worries, because I felt like the Raiders would come and attack us if they hadn’t heard back from their king. But Brute told Dad and Draco while I was asleep that once the Dark Fae King dies, the whole Wicker Forest will feel it. And until the next ruler stepped up, they would not be allowed to leave the realm. And it resulted in Draco asking who was the rightful successor to the throne upon the king’s death.Brute said a dark vein mark would be passed on from one ruler to another. In Eox’s case, the person who stopped the beating of his
IRIS.I should have believed Draco when he told me there was no way Eox would leave the Orebrus unguarded, but the stubborn part of me was so sure Eox had no idea that I knew about the Orebrus. And it was too late to regret that because Eox already held my mother’s life in his hands.So, throughout the confrontation, I tried my best to remain calm, but the moment he tightened the vines around Mama’s neck, I lost it. Everything happened so fast after that. The next thing I knew, I was rolling on the ground with Draco’s beast protecting me. Draco also cut loose the thorny vines that Eox had wrapped around me. But instead of the vines dying or vanishing, they remained alive and were crawling back to Eox. The rolling eventually stopped and I immediately stood up with Draco’s wolf beside me.I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My mother, despite not remembering who she was, was letting out a power I had never seen from any dark fae before. Her vines were thicker and deadly-looking.
DRACO.In seconds, I was pulled into a limbo. I already knew where she was taking me. Earlier, I sent people to locate Vaidas and Cassiopeia, and they found them in one of the streams inside the forest, which was twenty minutes away from our home. They were enjoying their picnic. There was no danger around them, so we just let them stay and continue with their day.My feet landed on the forest ground and I immediately let Iris stand on her own.“No!” Iris screamed as dried leaves rose from the ground, circling together with a big dust tornado. I couldn’t see anything, but I pulled Iris closer so her back rested against my torso, and I placed my arm over my forehead, trying to shield my eyes but still peeking enough to see my mate.“Calm down, Princess Diallica. So we can talk…” Eox’s voice boomed but I had no idea where he was. Iris’ chest heaved, but the dust tornado slowly vanished. I was finally able to see what made Iris scream.Vaidas was tied up around a tree, unconscious. H
DRACO.“Do you know why you can’t manipulate the Orebrus?” I asked her.“What do you mean?”“Because your heart’s not into it. You want it to change a memory that you, yourself, could never let go.”Her eyes watered as she held on to my hand on her face. “My heart is turning black like Dark Faes. I have the desire to punish those who took my family away… But at the same time, I don’t want that to happen, Draco. I don’t know what I want or who I am anymore.”“Look at me, Little Bird.” I pulled our faces closer before I continued. “You are Iris. Not the Omega Iris. Not the Dark Fae Iris. You are my Iris. But like anyone in this world, regardless of species, you are capable of love and caring. But also of anger. Of frustrations. Of hatred. You are capable of thinking negative thoughts against other beings. But it doesn’t make you bad. As long as you don’t act on it and as long as you try to do the right thing, you will remain you. My Iris.”Her tears fell, and I wiped them with my thumbs
LUNA PRINCESS ADESSA. Luna of IronCrest Pack and Princess of Kingdom of Absalom.I didn’t like Draco. Never liked him from day one. I saw how he looked at my husband with disdain, and I personally experienced being disrespected by him. The only reason I invited him to our wedding was that Kael and
DRACO.“Do you still want her back?” Iris asked.“Will my answer matter to you?” I asked back.I had kept things from Iris, but I had never lied to her. And looking at those brown eyes that captivated me since I first saw her three years ago, it was getting harder to keep things from her. Her eyes
IRIS.I stood by the door of my room and watched as he walked back and forth, still on the phone with Roman.Tonight was a laid-back welcome dinner for the guests — a semi-formal or no-coat dinner, so he only had a gray formal shirt with his hair brushed up nicely. And he looked so perfect, even wit
DRACO.I went directly to my room to sleep after I left Iris, but despite the alcohol in my body, my mind wouldn’t shut off. After more than an hour of trying, I finally gave up and walked into my office. Like the other night, I fell asleep in my office chair. But unlike the last time, Iris didn’t







