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TVTranscripción
00:00¡No me voy! ¡No me voy!
00:07En el Kingdom de Coralia, deep beneath the sea,
00:10el abyssal sharks, manta rays, phantasm squids,
00:13y dragon eels all lived beneath the Mare King's rule.
00:16I was Eloise, the Mare King's only daughter.
00:18Cuando yo era 7, mi padre chose un heir
00:21de cada uno de los cuatro clans.
00:22Cuando yo era de age, yo tenía que elegir
00:24uno de ellos como mi mate.
00:26Yo elegí Felix, el abyssal shark que he loved desde childhood.
00:30I thought my love could soften his coldness,
00:32but on the night of my coronation,
00:34he opened the palace gates for Quinn.
00:36All the subjects who had sworn loyalty to me
00:38turned to him instead.
00:39Her family dragged me from the throne.
00:41Felix held me down himself while Quinn
00:43drove a coral-beming crystal through my heart.
00:45I stared at him in disbelief.
00:47Only then did I understand.
00:49In his eyes, I had never been his mate.
00:51I was only the cage keeping him from Quinn.
00:55When I opened my eyes again,
00:56I was back on the day my father asked me
00:58which of the four I wished to marry.
01:00Without hesitation, I said,
01:02Father, I choose Maverick of the Dragon Emil Clan,
01:05the most unreliable man among the four lords,
01:08a playboy who never slept alone.
01:10Elise, are you sure?
01:12Once the mating decree is sealed,
01:14there is no taking it back.
01:16I knew that, but Felix had never wanted me.
01:20I would not hand him my life twice.
01:22Beyond him, marrying any of the others
01:25made no difference to me.
01:26I was the Mare Princess.
01:28I had duty and I had burdens.
01:30Father, my mind is set.
01:31I will not regret this.
01:33In three days, I will announce to the kingdom
01:36that Maverick of the Dragon Emil Clan
01:38is to be your husband.
01:40I nodded and left the king's chamber.
01:42The moment I walked out,
01:43four striking young men were already waiting in the corridor.
01:48Let me...
01:48They were my four male candidates.
01:51Jax of the Manta Ray Clan was the first to speak.
01:53Princess, we heard the king ask you to choose one of us.
01:56Who did you choose?
01:57My eyes drifted to Felix out of old habit.
02:00Brody of the Phantasm,
02:02Squid Clan clapped Felix on the shoulder.
02:04Do you even need to ask?
02:06It's our Felix, of course.
02:08Everyone in this palace knows
02:09the princess has been pining after him for years.
02:13Felix's face went cold as stone.
02:15His gaze met mine,
02:16dark with resentment, bitterness, and defiance.
02:19For a heartbeat,
02:20I wanted to tell him I had not chosen him.
02:22Don't look at me like that.
02:23I had thrown myself at his ice-cold feet for years.
02:26Let him stew for a few days.
02:28When I said nothing,
02:30Jax nudged me.
02:31Come on, Elise.
02:32Don't keep us in suspense.
02:34Who is it?
02:34I glanced at Maverick.
02:36Maverick caught my look.
02:37He arched a brow.
02:41In three days,
02:42you will all know.
02:44I didn't say another word.
02:45I turned and walked back to my chambers.
02:48They were my f**k.
02:49Brody was not wrong.
02:50Everyone knew I had loved Kasha,
02:52but Felix was proud.
02:54To him,
02:54rising through a woman was a disgrace.
02:56His heart had belonged to another all along.
02:59Every smile I offered him,
03:00he met with cold disdain.
03:02But what he had never understood
03:03was that my marriage was never just mine to decide.
03:06My father was ill.
03:07I was his only daughter.
03:09To stabilize the four great clans,
03:11my husband had to come from one of those four,
03:13whether they wanted me or I wanted them.
03:16Lost in thought,
03:16I heard a voice call out behind me.
03:18Eloise, wait.
03:19Is something wrong?
03:21Felix gave a stiff, formal bow.
03:24My heart already belongs to another.
03:25I beg you not to choose me.
03:27Felix, you really thought I'd choose you?
03:29Princess, you have endless choices.
03:31Why force someone who doesn't want you?
03:33Don't worry.
03:34I won't chase after you anymore.
03:37You're free to live your dreams
03:38and run away with your beloved.
03:40Eloise,
03:42what do you mean?
03:43Just as I was about to tell him I had chosen Maverick,
03:46someone rushed straight at me.
03:47She crashed into me
03:48and sent me sprawling to the kelp floor.
03:50Princess, forgive me.
03:52I didn't mean to.
03:53I swear.
03:55Please forgive me.
03:56It was Quinn.
03:57She came from one of the most powerful
03:59shark bloodlines in the kingdom.
04:01Yet every time she saw me,
04:03she trembled like prey before a hunter,
04:05even when I had done nothing to her.
04:07Brody,
04:07in my last life,
04:09I thought she was only pretending to be weak
04:11to win his pity.
04:11Now I knew every tear was part of the act.
04:14She kept slamming her forehead to the coral floor
04:16until it turned red.
04:18Enough.
04:18It was nothing.
04:19There's no need for this.
04:20Princess,
04:21I deserve to die.
04:22Please just forgive me this once.
04:24Aline,
04:24she didn't mean to.
04:26If you bully the weak like this,
04:27how will you ever rule a kingdom?
04:29How will you earn anyone's loyalty?
04:31Bully the weak?
04:32Fine.
04:33I'd show him what real cruelty looked like.
04:37Remember this.
04:38That is bullying.
04:39Felix was too late to stop me.
04:41A red handprint bloomed on Quinn's cheek.
04:43His finger jabbed at me,
04:45shaking with rage.
04:46You will address me as princess.
04:49In my life,
04:50Felix froze.
04:51He had never imagined I would raise a hand to him.
04:54After all,
04:55I spent years adoring him.
04:56His jaw clenched,
04:58his fists curled until the knuckles cracked.
05:01Fine.
05:01Well done, princess.
05:03Quinn,
05:03let's go.
05:04Felix was not always this cold to me.
05:06When I was seven,
05:07I lost my footing and fell into a deep sea undertow.
05:10Someone pulled me out.
05:11I had always believed it was Felix.
05:14After that,
05:15of all four male candidates,
05:16he was the one I had held closest.
05:18He used to sit with me through my lessons.
05:20He defended me when the tutor scolded me.
05:23He took my punishments alongside me.
05:25Then we grew older.
05:26He learned what we were to each other.
05:28He was being raised to become my future husband.
05:30He couldn't accept that future.
05:32So slowly he pulled away from me.
05:34Only now did I understand.
05:36While I was clinging to a childhood dream,
05:38he and Quinn had already chosen each other.
05:41No wonder every tear of hers mattered more to him than every wound of mine.
05:45If he ever found out I had chosen Maverick instead of him,
05:47he should have been relieved.
05:49Felix.
05:49The next day was the Empire's annual ceremony.
05:52My father's health was failing,
05:54so the right fell to me.
05:55The four male candidates stood at my side.
05:58Felix was still angry the day before.
06:00He did not give me a single warm glance all morning.
06:03After the midday meal,
06:05I went into the back kelp garden for a moment alone.
06:07Felix.
06:08I made these honey siennara cakes for you.
06:11Try one.
06:12Tell me if they're good.
06:13Quinn laughed and brushed a crumb from his lip.
06:15I had no interest in watching the two of them together,
06:18so I turned to leave.
06:19And that was when figures in black burst from the reef shadows.
06:22Who are you?
06:23The next day did not answer.
06:25They lunged at me with every sign,
06:27their blades aimed at every killing point.
06:31I instantly transform into my full bowel form
06:34and soon pin two of them onto the kelp bed.
06:36But just then,
06:36the others grab a handful of toxic coral crystal powder
06:39and fling it toward my fishtail.
06:41The moment it touched my scales,
06:43pain ripped through me.
06:44My limbs buckled.
06:45I reached for the mind link at once.
06:47At the same time,
06:48I shouted through the garden,
06:50Guards!
06:51To me!
06:53Felix had clearly heard the disturbance,
06:55and my link had reached him.
06:56The burning sensation of the coral venom
06:58pierced through my body like a blade,
07:00and I couldn't help but let out a howl.
07:01Every breath I took was a struggle.
07:03The assassins closed in.
07:05One of them raised the coral venom crystal,
07:07ready to stab it into my heart.
07:09I thought I had changed the fate
07:11that destroyed me in my last life.
07:13But in the end,
07:14I still could not escape death.
07:16They did.
07:16I forced my eyes open
07:17and saw Maverick standing in front of me,
07:19a curling ribbon of water coiling at his fingertips.
07:22With a single flick of his hand,
07:24the water lashed out.
07:25The assassin's blade flew across the garden.
07:27Jax's manta ray warform tore through the reef.
07:30He and Brody charged in behind him.
07:32Within moments,
07:33every attacker was pinned.
07:35Realizing they had failed,
07:36the masked men yanked daggers across their own throats.
07:39Their blood sprayed across me.
07:41I lay on the kelp,
07:42barely breathing.
07:44Maverick lifted me into his arms
07:45and ordered the guards to fetch the healer.
07:47Now,
07:48Felix was still shielding Quinn with one arm,
07:50but his eyes were on me,
07:51darted with guilt.
07:52In my last life,
07:53I had forced him into a bond he hated.
07:56From now on,
07:57I owe him nothing.
07:58Word reached my father swiftly.
08:00He ordered a full investigation.
08:02The Thorn family was too powerful to touch directly,
08:05but my father's fury demanded a target.
08:07Quinn was placed under house arrest.
08:09That night,
08:10Felix stormed into my chambers.
08:12His face was dark with anger.
08:15Eloise,
08:16this has nothing to do with Quinn.
08:18Why would you do this to her?
08:20This is petty revenge.
08:21To Felix,
08:23I was only taking revenge out of jealousy.
08:25He had no idea I already knew the Asheville had been eyeing the throne for years.
08:30Felix,
08:31do you understand that today I almost...
08:33Died?
08:34But you didn't,
08:35did you?
08:36You are a princess.
08:39You have an army of people to save you.
08:42Quinn has no one but me.
08:45And you saw what happened today.
08:48She was almost killed by those assassins too.
08:51She is the victim here.
08:53Go to your father.
08:55Beg him to lift her house arrest.
08:57Pain pulsed through the wound on my arm.
08:59No.
09:00When he saw my refusal,
09:01his chest heaved with rage.
09:03And you call yourself a princess.
09:05You can't even tell right from wrong.
09:08This is unforgivable.
09:10He turned and stormed out of the room.
09:13Felix did not return to the palace for two days.
09:16It was not until the third day that he finally came back.
09:19That was the day the mating decree would be announced.
09:22His...
09:23My father took my marriage seriously enough to throw a grand feast for it.
09:27By the time I arrived,
09:28Felix was already seated at his place.
09:30The moment our eyes met,
09:32he turned his face away.
09:33The hall buzzed with whispers.
09:35Nobles leaned toward each other across the long tables.
09:38Who do you think the princess will choose as her husband?
09:41Need you ask?
09:42It'll be Felix, of course.
09:44Everyone knows the princess has been mad for him for years.
09:47I heard the Thorn family has already prepared their gift.
09:50Jax isn't a bad pick either.
09:51He grew up with the princess,
09:53and a marriage would bind the Manta Ray clan and the royal family twice over.
09:56Brody wouldn't be a bad match.
09:58A chillier voice cut through.
10:00Anyone but Maverick.
10:02Why?
10:03Maverick spends his nights in nightclubs chasing skirts.
10:05He's the most reckless, most useless of the four lords.
10:09The princess would never settle for someone like him.
10:11Those words drifted into Felix's ears.
10:14His fists curled tight at his sides.
10:16Jax and Brody acted as if none of it concerned them.
10:19They sipped their coral wine in peace.
10:21Maverick seemed lost in some thought of his own.
10:24When the feast began,
10:25a troupe of dancers swept into the hall.
10:27I caught sight of Quinn among them.
10:29My eyes widened.
10:31Isn't she meant to be locked away?
10:32I glanced at Felix without thinking.
10:35His gaze was fixed on her.
10:36I understood at once.
10:38He had pulled some strings to have her freed early.
10:40Quinn caught my stare.
10:42Her lips curled into a smug little smile.
10:44I looked away.
10:45When the dance ended,
10:47my father beckoned me forward.
10:49Eloge.
10:50This is the most important day of your life.
10:53The decree is yours to read.
10:56By the will of the coral throne
10:58and the blood of the four sacred clans,
11:00let it be known.
11:00Maverick, heir of the dragon Emil clan,
11:03is hereby chosen as husband to Princess Eloise.
11:06The mating shall be sealed on a day soon appointed.
11:09Decree so written,
11:11so shall it be.
11:13Princess,
11:14did you read it wrong?
11:16Are you sure it says Maverick,
11:18not Felix?
11:19This cannot be right.
11:20How could the princess choose Maverick?
11:22No one wanted to believe it.
11:24I nodded and handed the decree to Maverick.
11:27There is no mistake.
11:28It is him.
11:29Maverick looked at me.
11:31He did not want this.
11:33Maverick lowered his hand and held out both hands.
11:35He received the decree.
11:37I finally let out the breath I had been holding.
11:40Then I looked up and met Felix's eyes.
11:42His face had gone pale.
11:43He stared at me as if he could not believe what he was seeing.
11:46He did not even react when Quinn nudged him.
11:49I watched him quietly.
11:51In my last life,
11:52I chose him and he hated me for it.
11:54In this life,
11:55I did not choose him and he looked even more shaken.
11:58By then,
11:59I had already given up trying to understand him.
12:01So I looked away and did not look at him again.
12:04Jax took the decree from Maverick's hands,
12:06looked at it,
12:07and laughed.
12:08Well done.
12:09I always thought it would be Felix.
12:11Then he looked between the two of us.
12:14When did you and the princess fall for each other?
12:16Maverick only shrugged.
12:18Then he looked at me.
12:19For the rest of the feast,
12:21Felix stayed quiet.
12:22The moment I stood up to leave,
12:24he shoved Quinn's hand off his arm and came after me.
12:27His voice was rough,
12:28almost accusing.
12:29Why Maverick?
12:31Maverick.
12:31Why Maverick?
12:32I looked at him mockingly.
12:34Who else should it have been?
12:35He opened his mouth,
12:37then closed it again.
12:38For a long moment,
12:39he said nothing.
12:40I remember what you told me.
12:42You said your heart already belonged to someone else.
12:45You told me not to force you.
12:47I gave you exactly what you wanted.
12:49So shouldn't you be relieved?
12:50He should have been.
12:52That was what he had wanted in my last life.
12:54So why did he look as if he had just lost something important?
12:58Then he finally said it.
12:59He is not worthy of you.
13:01I beg you,
13:02reconsider.
13:04If I chose him,
13:05then he is worthy.
13:06But you do not even know him.
13:09Marrying him will be the worst mistake of your life.
13:11It will not.
13:13The moment I chose Maverick,
13:14I had already accepted everything that might come after.
13:17Whether it was good or bad,
13:18I would bear it.
13:19Then I turned and walked away.
13:21Felix was left standing there alone.
13:24The date for our mating ceremony was set three weeks later.
13:27I would marry Maverick.
13:29That afternoon,
13:30Maverick asked me to slip out of the palace with him.
13:33Are you truly willing to take me as your husband, princess?
13:37Of course.
13:38No regrets.
13:40I found my choice had shocked almost everyone in the kingdom.
13:43Half of them were waiting for me to change my mind.
13:46And clearly,
13:47Maverick was no exception.
13:49Why do you keep asking?
13:50Maverick smiled.
13:52Surely you have heard rumors about me, princess.
13:54You do not have to worry.
13:56My father told me everything.
13:58It is not what it looks like.
14:00Everyone thought Maverick was a drunk.
14:02A man who chased women,
14:03the laziest and most useless of the four lords.
14:06That was only a mask.
14:07Under that mask,
14:09he had been gathering intelligence for my father for years.
14:12He was my father's hidden blade.
14:14Maverick raised an eyebrow.
14:15He clearly had not expected me to know.
14:18There is one more thing I want to ask, princess,
14:20if you would indulge me.
14:22Go on.
14:23His gaze locked onto mine.
14:25Why me?
14:26I hesitated.
14:27When I saw how serious he was,
14:29I finally gave in.
14:31I no longer want a husband
14:33whose heart already belongs to another woman.
14:35Maverick's eyes flickered.
14:36I looked away.
14:38And you at least look as if you belong to no one.
14:40Trust me, princess.
14:42My heart belongs to you alone.
14:44I will never let you regret choosing me.
14:47Would you like to take a walk with me in the city?
14:49I could not deny it.
14:51Being near him felt easy.
14:52So when he asked me to walk through the city with him,
14:54I did not refuse.
14:56We had not gone far before I saw two familiar figures.
14:59What are you two doing here?
15:00But my future mate and I cannot even spend an afternoon getting to know each other?
15:04Quinn and I are not what you think.
15:06Shock flashed across Quinn's face.
15:08A guard slipped up behind Maverick and murmured something low and urgent in his ear.
15:11But I waved him off.
15:12I can get back on my own.
15:15Maverick looked back once.
15:16I was just about to step into my shell palanquin when Felix rushed forward and walked my way.
15:21Felix stood in front of my palanquin.
15:24Princess, are you really going to marry Maverick?
15:26I lifted my eyes and gave him an impatient look.
15:30What else would I do?
15:31The whole palace was already preparing for the ceremony.
15:34Felix's eyes flashed with panic.
15:36This is the rest of your life.
15:38If you regret it, there is still time.
15:40I stared at him.
15:41Why would I regret it?
15:43Felix had no answer.
15:45When he stayed silent, I turned to leave.
15:48Then he shouted at my back.
15:50You said you loved me.
15:51Why are you marrying someone else?
15:53I stopped.
15:54For a moment, I almost laughed.
15:57He had never loved me.
15:59He had even held me down while another woman killed me.
16:02And now he was asking why I would marry someone else.
16:05I turned back and looked at him coldly.
16:07Felix, you were the one who told me to leave you alone.
16:11I have done exactly that.
16:13Why are you still hounzing me?
16:15His eyes flickered.
16:16It does not matter what you mean.
16:18In two weeks, I will be mated.
16:20Stay far away from me.
16:22But Felix did not let it go.
16:24He started appearing wherever I was.
16:27He went out of his way to please me.
16:28As if a few late gestures could erase everything he had done, I ignored all of it.
16:33Then one afternoon, Jax came tearing across the courtyard and dragged me toward the training
16:38grounds.
16:38Maverick and Felix were there.
16:40No one knew why.
16:41By the time he had pulled them apart, Felix's face was covered in bruises and blood.
16:46Maverick had taken his share too.
16:49What are you doing?
16:51Who knows?
16:52He just snapped and demanded a fight.
16:55Felix would not lift his head.
16:57The mating ceremony was 10 days away.
16:59I would not let Maverick walk into it with a battered face.
17:02I led Maverick away and didn't spare Felix so much as a single glance.
17:07That evening, the royal seamstresses delivered my mating gown.
17:11I had just put it on when Felix stormed in.
17:13For one moment, his eyes burned.
17:16I looked at him coldly.
17:18What do you want?
17:19Felix pulled his gaze away.
17:21Then he dropped to one knee.
17:22Princess, I was wrong.
17:25I frowned.
17:26Wrong about what?
17:27Princess, break this engagement with Maverick.
17:29Mate me instead.
17:30I could not believe what I was hearing.
17:34Felix, do you have any idea what you are saying?
17:37Princess, I was a fool.
17:38I could not bear to admit I wanted you.
17:41I was afraid of being chained.
17:43I was afraid the kingdom would mock me as a man who climbed up through a woman.
17:47But the moment I learned you were going to mate Maverick, I remembered what I had lost.
17:51I could not do it.
17:53I could not watch another man take you.
17:55I knew he was telling the truth.
17:57He had hated being bound to me.
17:59He had hated what the kingdom would say.
18:01But every choice he made had still been for himself.
18:04And I had paid with my life for all of it.
18:07I looked at him calmly.
18:09Felix, you know the word of a Maverick's line is final.
18:13Princess, your father loves you.
18:15He would give you anything.
18:17One word from you and he would let you mate me instead.
18:21It is too late.
18:23The smile froze on his face.
18:25I let out a soft, scornful breath.
18:28After everything you put me through, what makes you think I still love you?
18:31Felix?
18:32I know I was terrible, but I swear I'll be good to you from now on.
18:36Just give me a chance to make it right.
18:38Enough.
18:39Get out.
18:40My patience is long gone.
18:42My engagement to Maverick is sealed.
18:45No one and nothing is going to change that.
18:47No, princess, you cannot do this.
18:50Maverick is not worthy of you.
18:52Then what were you worthy of me for?
18:55Do not throw your life away because of what I did before.
18:58Maverick was not worthy and Felix was the man who had once held me down while a coral
19:02venom crystal pierced my heart.
19:04I had run out of words to waste on him, so I had my guards drag him out.
19:08In the days that followed, Felix came begging at my door again and again.
19:12I refused him every time until Jax's birthday arrived.
19:15His invitation came with it.
19:17I could reject Felix, but I couldn't reject Jax.
19:21I looked.
19:21The moment I arrived, Felix was already at my side.
19:24To get away from him, I slipped off into the back coral garden.
19:28Quinn came striding toward me.
19:30I rolled my eyes and turned to leave.
19:32Princess, you're about to be mated.
19:35Why is Felix still circling around you?
19:38Aren't you afraid the whole kingdom will condemn you?
19:40She used to flinch from me like prey before a predator.
19:43Now she stood there questioning me, and I had no idea where she had found the nerve.
19:48My voice dropped low.
19:49Are you questioning me, princess, or not?
19:52You don't get to steal someone else's man.
19:55I almost laughed.
19:56Whether in my last life or this one, I had known Felix first.
20:00Back then, Quinn was still hiding behind her mother's fins.
20:04Now she had the nerve to call me a thief.
20:06I did not want to waste my breath on her.
20:08Then her face changed.
20:10No, princess, please!
20:11I can't swim in currents!
20:13Before I could react, her hand slammed into my back.
20:16I lost my balance and fell straight off the reef ledge into a churning deep-sea undertow.
20:20The current swallowed me whole, and the cold tore my breath from my lungs.
20:24The moment the undertow dragged me into black water.
20:27Coral venom, I could taste it.
20:29This wasn't natural.
20:31Quinn had seeded the current.
20:33My limbs went numb.
20:34My vision darkened.
20:36Then a body sliced through the churning water like a blade.
20:39Maverick's dragon eeltail coiled around me, hauling me against his chest.
20:43His bioluminescent markings blazed with fury.
20:45I've got you.
20:46Breathe.
20:47He carried me upward.
20:48When we broke through into calm water, his face was murderous.
20:52Who?
20:53I coughed.
20:55Quinn.
20:56She pushed me.
20:58There's coral venom crystal in the current.
21:00His jaw clenched so hard I heard it crack.
21:02Then she dies tonight.
21:03No.
21:04I gripped his arm.
21:05Not yet.
21:06I want her to suffer slowly.
21:08He carried me upward through the dark.
21:10The un...
21:11I woke up in my own chambers.
21:13Maverick sat beside my bed, his fan closed on his lap, his usual lazy smirk nowhere to be found.
21:19Six hours.
21:21The palace healers flushed the venom from your system.
21:24His voice was even, but his jaw was tight.
21:27Eloise.
21:28That wasn't an accident.
21:31I know.
21:32He leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
21:35For once, the playboy mask was gone entirely.
21:39Beneath it was something sharp and dangerous.
21:41The dragon eel lord that people forgot existed behind all that charm.
21:44Was Quinn pushed you?
21:46She made it look like I fell.
21:47She even cried out beforehand.
21:49Princess, I can't swim in currents, so anyone watching would think she tried to warn me.
21:53Maverick's eyes went cold.
21:55Clever little fish.
21:56She's not clever.
21:58She's desperate.
21:59There's a difference.
21:59He studied me for a long time.
22:02Then, slowly, his smirk returned, but it didn't reach his eyes.
22:06You know when my future mate nearly dies, I take it personally.
22:10I looked away.
22:11Don't pretend you care about this arrangement.
22:16Who's pretending?
22:17I didn't know how to answer that.
22:20The next morning, Felix appeared at my door.
22:23My handmaiden tried to turn him away, but he pushed past her, all barely contained fury and clenched fists.
22:29Are you hurt?
22:30I was sitting at my vanity, brushing out my hair.
22:33I didn't turn around.
22:34Why would you care?
22:37Eloise.
22:39I fell into an undertow.
22:41It happens.
22:42The healers fixed it.
22:44He moved closer.
22:45I could see his reflection in the mirror, dark eyes scanning me for injury, his shark tail rigid with tension.
22:51Quinn told me you slipped.
22:52She said she tried to grab you, but the current was too strong.
22:55I set down my brush.
22:57Slowly, I turned to face him.
22:59It wasn't a question.
23:01And you believed her?
23:03His silence was answer enough.
23:05Get out of my chambers, Felix.
23:07I said get out.
23:08Eloise, if something else happened...
23:10He stared at me, the same way he used to stare in our last life.
23:13Like I was a puzzle he couldn't be bothered to solve.
23:16Then he turned and left.
23:18I looked at my own reflection.
23:20The girl who would have wept at his retreating back was dead.
23:23I had killed her myself.
23:25Then...
23:25That afternoon, I went to my father.
23:28The Mare King looked older than he should have.
23:30His illness was progressing.
23:32I could see it in the way his hand trembled when he reached for his coral scepter.
23:36Iliwis, you look pale.
23:38I'm fine, father.
23:40I came to discuss the mating ceremony timeline.
23:43His brows rose.
23:44You wish to move it forward?
23:46I wish to move it forward to the next tidal cycle.
23:49He set down the scepter.
23:51That's in twelve days.
23:53The preparations...
23:54Can be handled.
23:55I have jacks for logistics.
23:57Brody's clan controls the artisan guilds.
24:00Everything can be ready.
24:02My father studied me with those ancient, knowing eyes.
24:05This is about the incident at the Reef Garden.
24:08I said nothing.
24:10Elos, if someone is threatening you...
24:12Then the fastest way to protect myself is to secure my position.
24:15Once I am formally mated, I am no longer just a princess.
24:18I am a lady of one of the four clans.
24:21Quinn cannot touch me without declaring war on the dragon eels.
24:23A long silence.
24:26You have grown, my daughter.
24:29More than I expected.
24:30He pressed the royal seal to the new decree.
24:33Twelve days.
24:34That word spread through the palace like an ink cloud.
24:37The mating ceremony had been moved forward.
24:40Maverick and Eloise would be bound in twelve days.
24:42I found jacks in the war room, already reorganizing schedules.
24:47His manta ray wing spread across the table like a canopy as he leaned over maps and guest lists.
24:51You don't waste time, he said without looking up.
24:54I can't afford to.
24:56He glanced at me then.
24:58The undertow wasn't natural.
25:00Brody confirmed it.
25:01Traces of coral venom crystal in the current path.
25:03Someone seeded it deliberately.
25:05I know.
25:06You know, and yet you haven't accused anyone publicly.
25:08Because I don't have proof that would hold before the council.
25:11Quinn's too careful for that.
25:13She made sure she was the one crying for help when witnesses arrived.
25:16Jack straightened, folding his wings.
25:19Then we find proof before the ceremony.
25:22Twelve days is enough time if we're smart about it.
25:24We?
25:26He gave me a look, calm, steady, utterly certain.
25:30You're still our princess, Elise.
25:32Maverick may be your mate, but Brody and I aren't going anywhere.
25:35Something loosened in my chest.
25:37In my last life, I had been so blind, so focused on Felix that I never saw the others clearly.
25:43Thank you, Jax.
25:45Don't thank me.
25:46Just stay alive long enough to wear the crown.
25:49Maverick found me that evening on the kelp field terrace.
25:52He was holding a bottle of abyssal wine.
25:54The deep pressure kind that only dragon eels could ferment in their volcanic vents.
25:58Celebrating?
26:01Planning.
26:03In twelve days, you become my mate.
26:07Figured we should at least have one conversation where neither of us is bleeding or unconscious.
26:12I almost smiled.
26:13Almost.
26:14When my father sealed your name, you could have protested.
26:18Refused.
26:20I could have.
26:22But I didn't.
26:24Why?
26:25Because in fifteen years of living in this palace, you never once looked at me with fear.
26:31Do you know how rare that is for a dragon eel?
26:34People fear what they don't understand.
26:37And you understand me?
26:38No.
26:39But I'm willing to learn.
26:41Twelve days, princess.
26:43Try not to get assassinated before then.
26:47Maverick, day five of twelve.
26:49Brody intercepted a message meant for Quinn, carried by a deep sea courier fish.
26:53The crystal has been placed in the ceremonial hall's foundation.
26:57When the tidal current peaks during the mating treat, it will release into the water.
27:01Enough to paralyze every half-myr in attendance.
27:04The throne will be unguarded.
27:06Move then.
27:08The sender's mark belongs to a faction within Felix's clan.
27:11Not Felix himself.
27:13They were exiled for trying to overthrow my grandfather.
27:16And now Quinn has brought them back into play.
27:18History repeating itself.
27:20In my last life, Felix opened the gates.
27:22In this life, Quinn was going to poison the water itself.
27:26We have seven days.
27:28Find that crystal.
27:30Day eight.
27:32Brody's scouts located the crystal, embedded deep within the coral foundation of the ceremonial hall,
27:37exactly as the message described.
27:38Removing it without alerting Quinn's network required precision.
27:42I watched from my chambers through a tied mirror.
27:45Let her believe the trap is still set.
27:48When the ceremony comes and nothing happens, she'll panic.
27:52Panicked people reveal themselves.
27:55You've gotten ruthless, Elise.
27:57I've gotten smart.
27:58There's a difference.
28:00Day eight.
28:01Eloise.
28:01Felix came to me one final time.
28:03I'm not in the mood, Felix.
28:05I know about the crystal.
28:07He stood three lengths away, arms at his sides.
28:10His expression was something I had never seen on him before.
28:13Shame.
28:13Brody told me.
28:14The elders from my clan.
28:16The ones working with Quinn.
28:18I didn't know.
28:19I swear on the Tidral God.
28:21I didn't know.
28:22In my last life, I would have believed him instantly.
28:25Forgiven him.
28:27Reached for him.
28:28You didn't hold the crystal this time, Felix.
28:31But you held the door open for the person who did.
28:35In another life, you held me down while she killed me.
28:39Did you know that?
28:41What are you talking about?
28:43It doesn't matter.
28:44Tomorrow I mate Maverick.
28:46Whatever you and I were, whatever I imagined we were, it ends tonight.
28:51I'm sorry.
28:51I closed my eyes.
28:53I know.
28:54But sorry doesn't undo death.
28:56When I opened my eyes, he was gone.
28:58The mating ceremony.
29:00The ceremonial hall was filled to capacity.
29:03He was looking at me the way no one had ever looked at me in either of my lives.
29:06Like I was something worth waiting for.
29:08From the corner of my eye, I saw Quinn in the crowd.
29:11She was watching the water, waiting for the crystal to activate.
29:14Waiting for chaos.
29:16Quinn's face drained of color.
29:17She looked around wildly and found Brody watching her from across the hall.
29:21Palace guards materialized on either side of her.
29:24She didn't even struggle.
29:26She knew it was over.
29:27Felix stood at the back of the hall.
29:29He did not cheer, but he bowed his head.
29:32So wife, what's our first move?
29:35Our first move is to love.
29:37Then, to rule.
29:39We'll be here.
29:41We'll be here.
29:43We'll be here now.
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