Princess's Revenge: Slave to the Soulbound King Chapter 33

Adelaide

I lay still in the spacious chamber within Lycandor Keep's royal wing, moonlight filtering through heavy curtains to cast silver patterns across the bed's edge. What a contrast this was to the sparse quarters in the slave section—this grand bed with its soft mattress and velvet canopy that shielded me from the cold felt almost sinfully luxurious.

My shoulder and arm were wrapped in fine bandages, the wounds from Lycanthar's claws still throbbing with each breath, each movement pulling at the barely healed flesh. Draven had ordered all my belongings moved from the servant quarters, ensuring I could recover in proper comfort.

The door opened with a gentle creak, and Thalia stepped inside cautiously, clutching a mysterious cloth bundle in her hands. When she saw my pale face and the bandages covering my wounds, her eyes immediately filled with tears, her voice trembling with suppressed emotion.

"Dear God, Ade... I've never seen you hurt this badly." She settled carefully on the bed's edge, her fingers hovering over the bandage edges, eyes brimming with guilt and pain. "I should have stayed with you always."

I managed a weak smile, though the movement made me wince as it pulled at my injuries. "Don't look at me like that, Thalia. I'm still alive, aren't I?" My voice was fragile but carried an underlying strength. "Besides, this isn't the first time we've faced danger together. Remember when we were twelve and snuck out of the castle, getting lost in that forest?"

I reached out with my uninjured hand to grasp hers gently. "We always make it through these trials."

After this brief comfort, my expression grew serious, my voice dropping to an urgent whisper. "Thalia, I need your help." I glanced around cautiously, ensuring we were alone. "In your father's ancient texts, is there any record of how to restore a werewolf who has lost their sanity? Specifically, someone like Lycanthar who has been in a bestial state for so long?"

Thalia's expression shifted from surprise to complexity, her golden curls catching the moonlight as she shook her head. "From what I know, no werewolf who has lost their reason has ever returned to normal." She paused, seeing the disappointment bloom across my face. "Especially someone like Lycanthar, completely transformed under forbidden magic's influence. The ancient texts record this state as irreversible."

My shoulders sagged, the light of hope in my eyes dimming. I turned toward the window, gazing at the moon, whispering softly, "So we're all powerless? We must just let him remain trapped forever in that beast's shell..."

Thalia hesitated for a moment, then withdrew an ancient crystal orb from her cloth bundle, its surface carved with mysterious lunar phase symbols. Her voice carried a note of uncertainty: "Perhaps... there might be one way." She looked up at me. "You are a Moon Bride, personally chosen by the Moon Goddess herself. Legend says that under specific conditions, a Moon Bride can speak directly with the Moon Goddess."

Her fingertips traced the crystal orb's surface lightly. "We could attempt an ancient ritual, seeking the Moon Goddess's guidance."

Thalia's voice turned concerned: "But this ritual requires enormous spiritual energy and will leave you very weak." She studied my already pale complexion and fragile state. "In your current condition, I'm not certain you can endure it. Perhaps we should wait until your injuries heal—"

I struggled to sit up, cutting off Thalia's words with firm determination. "No, we do it now." My eyes blazed with resolve. "Every day we delay, the shadow of war draws closer. We don't have time to wait." I took a deep breath, suppressing the pain caused by sudden movement. "Whatever the cost, I'm willing to try."

Under my insistence, Thalia helped me move to a small round table in the room's center. I leaned weakly against the chair back, draped in a silver throw. Thalia carefully placed the crystal orb in the table's center, then lit three silver-white candles arranged in a triangle around it. The candlelight danced across the crystal's surface, casting mysterious shadows.

"Place your hands on the crystal orb," Thalia instructed softly. "Close your eyes, clear your thoughts, and focus only on your question. Open your consciousness to the Moon Goddess, call her name—Selene." She touched my forehead lightly, leaving a silver crescent mark. "This ritual requires absolute concentration and devotion."

I followed her instructions, placing my hands gently on the cool crystal orb, closing my eyes and breathing deeply to still my thoughts. In my heart, I repeatedly called: "Selene, guardian of the moon, please hear your chosen daughter's plea..." Initially, everything was silent, only my heartbeat echoing in my ears.

Time passed minute by minute. I felt sweat beginning to slide down my forehead, the blood moon mark on my back gradually heating up, from warm to burning, as if a flame blazed beneath my skin. I clenched my teeth, persisting despite my arms trembling from both injury and maintaining position, refusing to give up.

Thalia watched me anxiously, noting my pained expression and the cold sweat beading on my skin. She hesitated whether to stop the ritual, but seeing my determined posture, she could only whisper encouragement: "Hold on, Adelaide... I can feel power gathering."

Just as my will approached its breaking point, the crystal orb suddenly burst with brilliant silver-white radiance, so intense that Thalia had to shield her eyes. I felt a powerful force penetrate my body, pulling my consciousness away from reality—

The world around me dissolved into fragments of light and shadow, and I felt myself floating, weightless, in a space between spaces. The pain from my injuries faded to a distant memory as my spirit separated from my physical form.