STRINGS BETWEEN US

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: OF PRINCES, DAGGERS, AND THE GIRL WHO STOPPED RUNNING

The Court fell silent.

Because they all knew that it was true. She didn't become someone else. She just accepted who she really was. And this time, she wasn't hiding it.

"Still," Saichel broke the silence again, tapping a knuckle against the table, "we didn't come here just to watch our Princess rise like a phoenix."

He leaned back.

"We came to see how the King would react."

The screen shifted, Khaizer standing between Xythe and Rielle. Khaizer silencing chaos with calculated grace.

Seb whistled under his breath. "Cold."

"Controlled," Tofer agreed. "Like he already had six moves ahead."

Alexie smirked. "Ice President lives up to the title."

"But we didn't go there to doubt him," Lyle reminded.

They all nodded.

"We went to test him," Xythe said, his voice more measured now. "Not because he's unworthy..."

"But because she's worth the kind of protection that doesn't flinch," Saichel finished.

"And he didn't flinch," Keryn said.

"No," Lyle said. "He didn't."

But the room shifted. Because they all knew-they weren't here to discuss Khaizer's merit anymore. They were here for the storm they had seen brewing behind him. A name no one said aloud-but all of them knew.

Bianchi Madriaga.

Thres pulled up the feed-cross-referencing committee logs and tagged social accounts. "She's been planting narratives for weeks. Whispers. Forum posts. Feeding specific students the idea that Ari is just a 'privileged transfer' riding Khaizer Dylan's name."

Seb added another tab. "Three fake accounts linked to a media leak group. All tied back to her shadow committee."

"She's not just playing defense," Alexie said. "She's laying gunpowder under the ballroom."

Lyle leaned back, folding his hands.

"Because she thinks she can still win him."

"To her," Saichel said, his voice no longer playful, Ari is the thief who took something that belonged to her."

"But she never had him," Keryn snapped. "Not really."

"She had his protection. Not his heart," Seb said. "And now that it's clear she can't get either..."

"She'll settle for destruction," Lyle finished.

They all looked at him.

"If she can't have Khaizer's heart..." he said slowly. "she'll destroy the girl who does."

"And she'll bring Supreme Allievo Academy with it," Tofer added. "Start a scandal from the inside."

Everyone turned to the screens again. The cracks were already forming. Because this wasn't just about students anymore. This was about two of the most powerful academies in the country.

Celestine Ardent Academy and Supreme Allievo Academy.

Their alliance? Fragile at best.

Behind formal smiles were decades of comparison, envy, silent competition.

And now? Arielle Rylance Del Rio, the Celestine's own Princess, was walking the marble halls of SAA. And Saichel Andreau Levesque-SAA's Headmaster's son-had studied under Celestine's roof.

What began as silent tension had become political pressure.

And the pressure? Was now entirely on Rielle.

Especially now that her entire Celestine record had been exposed within SAA.

Her top rank. Her honors. Her history. And the whispers that followed it.

"She's the centerpiece of two kingdoms now," Alexie said. "No matter which one claims her-someone loses."

"And no one hates losing more than Bianchi," Keryn said.

"That's why," Lyle continued, "we gave her something to chase."

Everyone turned to Xythe.

"She thinks he's desperate," Alexie said. "That he wants Ari back."

"She'll try to reach out to him," Lyle said, certain.

And then he smiled.

"Let her."

Because this time, the trap is for her.

The Court turned back to the screen one last time. The dagger still quivered on the table.
Rielle's image still frozen mid-smirk.

Their Princess? She wasn't hiding anymore.

And now that the board was set.

They weren't just watching anymore.
They were closing in—dagger first.