7
A year and three months later, I finally opened my eyes.
Rhys was dozing, slumped by the bedside. He jolted awake at the slightest sound.
Seeing my conscious eyes, his own instantly welled with tears.
“Elara! You’re awake!”
He reached for my hand, but I pulled away.
“Where is Jasper?”
It was the first thing I said, my voice hoarse and cold.
Rhys froze for a moment, then rushed to call Jasper.
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The little one could run and jump now. Hearing I was awake, he dashed over.
“Mommy!”
He flung himself into my arms, tears instantly gushing.
“Mommy, I missed you so much.”
I held him tight, tears streaming down my own face too.
“Mommy missed you too, my darling”
Rhys stood to the side, his gaze complex. He wanted to approach, but dared not.
Archon Gabriel hurried over, handing me Lyra’s complete soul diary.
“Your Majesty, Queen Mother, we found this in her hidden chambers.”
“It details the entire conspiracy, from beginning to end.”
I opened the diary, turning page after page.
It meticulously detailed how Lyra orchestrated everything.
How she manipulated Rhys’s affections, and engineered me into a breeding tool.
After reading it, I flung the diary at Rhys’s face.
“Take a look at the true nature of the woman you supposedly loved so deeply.”
Rhys knelt before me.
“Elara, I was deceived. I truly was.”
“I thought I loved Lyra, but now I understand.”
“It was always you ! loved.”
He explained frantically.
“Please forgive me. Give me a chance.”
I held Jasper, gazing at him with cold indifference.
“Your foolishness. Why should I pay the price for it?”
“Now, I am awake.”
“It’s time for reckoning.”
As the master of the ‘Transfer‘ pact…
I began to intensify the draining of Lyra’s soul, making her suffer even greater agony.
Her piercing screams echoed from the dungeons.
“No! Please, let me go!”
“I was wrong! I truly was wrong!”
But I felt not a shred of pity.
However she treated me, I would make her suffer tenfold.
The Elder Council convened an emergency meeting. Before everyone, I announced Lyra’s crimes.
“This woman orchestrated all the schemes.”
“Manipulated the King’s affections, and nearly killed the Royal Heir.”
“Now, I offer her a choice.”
My voice was cold and resolute.
“Either her soul shatters, enduring eternal torment…”
“Or she completely sacrifices her soul’s essence to Jasper.”
“Allowing him to break free from the pact and become a perfect divine bloodline.”
Hearing this choice in the dungeons, Lyra struggled in agony.
She knew both choices led to her demise.
Ultimately, under endless torment, she chose the latter, sacrificing her entire soul essence.
Golden light enveloped Jasper.
His bloodline was perfectly purified and upgraded.
And Lyra? She utterly vanished from this world.
No one would ever remember her existence again.
Jasper and I were finally free, no longer bound by any pact.
And Rhys? He lost the woman he’d once ‘adored‘.
It was the retribution he deserved.
