Rebirth Of The Rejected Luna Chapter 241: A Solution For Theo

Tiana's POV

"What did you say?" she asked, her eyebrows pulling together in confusion. She looked at me like she didn’t quite believe what I’d just said.

“You heard me,” I replied with a heavy breath. “It’s true. Theo has lost his mind.”

The room went still. For a few moments, neither of us said anything. It was as if the very sound of those words had silenced everything and even the crackling fire in the fireplace seemed to pause. Then, Cecilia let out a long breath through her nose. She walked slowly to the hearth and picked up the iron poker. With one firm motion, she stirred the fire.

“Theo? That boy? He’s lost his mind?” she repeated, turning back toward me. “What do you mean by that?”

I shifted in my chair. The ride here had been long, and my body ached in places I hadn’t even noticed until now. My fingers still shook a little. I was tired.

“It’s more than just madness,” I said slowly. “It’s something deeper than that. Something worse. He’s trapped inside his own head.”

Cecilia raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by trapped?”

“There’s magic involved,” I said. “Spells, enchantments. It’s not just one person either. More than one person has been messing with his mind. They’ve been twisting it around, making him remember things and then forget them again. Over and over.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. Her face stayed still, but I saw something change in her eyes.

“Who would do that to him? And for what reason?”

I reached for the bag at my side. My fingers brushed the worn leather strap as I pulled it onto my lap. Then, slowly and carefully, I opened it and brought out what I’d been keeping safe, the talisman. I placed it gently on the table between us. As soon as it hit the light of the candle, something shifted in the air. It was like even the fire knew what it was.

“He had this the night I was poisoned,” I said, not looking away from it. “He dropped it."

Cecilia leaned in but didn’t touch it. Her eyes narrowed, and she spoke in a softer voice now.

“Where did you get it?”

“It was Thessaly. One of the maids. She saw it fall from his sleeve by accident. I spoke to her aunt Maris, she confirmed a few things and then the scullery maid who was said to run mad was the one who made me confirm if Theo was really mad."

"The scullery maid is not mad, is she?"

"She seems so, but at the same time, she's not. She's being confined in the infirmary though."

"A way to silence her," Cecilia commented.

Cecilia clicked her tongue, studying the object. “That’s a bloodstone inlay,” she said. “And that design is for memory spells. Strong ones. Dangerous ones. Whoever made this knew what they were doing.”

“That’s what I thought,” I said, nodding. “He was trying to figure out who poisoned the king’s cup. But it turns out he was the one who did it. He poisoned the cup.”

Cecilia’s eyes widened. She looked right at me now.

“Theo did that?”

I nodded again. “Yes. But not because he meant to. He didn’t really know what he was doing. He was being controlled.”

Now Cecilia walked to the chair across from me and sat down slowly, gathering her robe beneath her. She leaned forward, giving me her full attention.

“Tell me everything again. About the night you were poisoned. From the start.”

So I told her the whole story about how Layla had accused me alongside Elara, how Viktor made me drink from the king’s goblet to prove I hadn’t poisoned it. How Theo had just watched and had agreed with Viktor."

“And Layla?” Cecilia asked. “Is she the same as her brother?”

“She can’t remember anything from that night,” I explained. “Just like Theo. They were both under the same kind of spell. Layla truly believed I was guilty. She wasn’t lying. The poison was real, and she remembered someone putting it there. But someone had changed her memory, made her believe it was me. Just like they made Theo pour the poison.”

Cecilia rubbed her temples, looking more tired by the second. “And this person—whoever’s doing this. Do we know who they are?”

I shook my head. “No. But we know who stands to gain from all this. Roman.”

She whispered the name like it hurt her mouth to say it. “His father.”

“He has Theo under some sort of treatment. Or that’s what they call it. But it’s really just a way to keep him quiet. They’re using potions or magic or something to keep him from remembering. Every time he starts to get close to the truth, something happens. Nightmares. Pain. The spells fight back, and his mind collapses again.”

She leaned back in her chair, lips pressed tight.

“There was one time,” I said softly, “when he broke down. He thought I was a ghost. He said he saw me, and he asked for forgiveness. He thought I was Tiana’s spirit. But the next day, he forgot. He didn’t even remember seeing me.”

“You’ve seen him since you came back?”

“Yes. Several times. But twice he wasn’t... himself. The second time, I didn’t speak to him. I just watched. He was walking in the garden, talking to no one. And then he laughed. Like a little boy.”

Cecilia didn’t speak for a long while. Then, finally, she said, “He’s not completely gone. That talisman is still connected to him. If we use it right, we can undo some of the damage. Not everything, but maybe enough to bring him back.”

My heart skipped a beat in excitement at the prospect that Theo would be the same person I knew before. “You can do that?” I asked her.

She shook her head and smiled wryly. “No. My magic only runs thus far, but I know someone who might.”