Ariana was being taken to her chamber by Luna Barbara on one side and Anwar on another. On the way, she kept on trying to convince them. But her words couldn't even be understood by them as she was sobbing in between.
When they reached the door, Luna Barbara shoved her inside and made her sit on the bed forcefully.
"Mother!" Anwar raised his voice.
"Anwar! Not you too." Alpha Edward warned which made Anwar shut up.
Satisfied by Anwar's silence, Luna Barbara turned her head towards Ariana. "Now, tell me. Why did you do that?"
Harsh tone of her mother made fresh tears stream down Ariana's face. She opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she saw curious faces of everyone present int he room.
She realized that nobody had believed her words, not even her brother. Sure he was feeling bad for her but not because he thought that she was being deprived of her right but because he knew the consequences she will have to face for her actions.
Her "father" of course wanted his golden child to be happy. So when he saw that she could be in a position which would enable her to step on everyone else like she always did and be happy about it, he was beyond relieved. He wouldn't let his obvious least favorite child ruin it!
Nevertheless, she decided to speak up for herself. She looked straight and answered. "I did that because I cannot let another woman snatch away my soulmate."
Naomi gasped at her boldness.
"Perhaps you mean that you cannot let your sister be happy with her soulmate." Alpha Edward put emphasis on the word "sister" and "her".
Ariana narrowed her eyes at him. "Of course you would say that." She threw her hands in the air and let out a bitter scoff. "Just snatch something which belongs to me and hand it over to your precious little daughter like you always do, won't you father?" She mocked.
Alpha Edward was taken aback. Never had she spoken to him in this manner. He cleared his throat and retorted. "You are making many false accusations today, aren't you?"
"False accusations?" Ariana asked with a shaky voice. " Of course you would deny your blatant favoritism as well." She bit her lip in frustation.
Alpha Edward shifted his gaze to his wife and son in hope of their support in this matter. However, their silence left him hopeless.
Ariana got up from her bed and started pacing for a while before looking directly at her father and asking suddenly, "Do you hate me?"
Her arms were crossed and she was tapping her right foot impatiently. "Is that why?"
Her question and her continuous stare with teary eyes made Alpha Edward, judging by his body language, very uncomfortable. He stormed out of the room.
"What has gotten into you?" Luna Barbara gave her a nasty look and shook her head in disappointment before following her husband.
"I'm not lying, Anwar." Ariana reached out for his arm.
Anwar squeezed her hand in his arm with his other hand, then freed himself from her hold and walked out of the chamber, followed by Naomi, who gave her a sympathetic look.
~~***~~
Two guards were standing in front of the Crown Prince's chamber. Despite being crowned already, he hadn't moved to the royal chamber built for the King and Queen.
The guards heard footsteps approaching followed by a girl who looked a mess. One of them whispered to another, "Send for a maid. Quick!"
The other one rushed to find a maid. Ariana was about to reach for the door when the guard put his spear forward to block her. "Apologizes, Lady Bennet. His Majesty does not wish to see anybody in the moment. He is exhausted by all the ceremonies he had to attend today."
She ignored his pretense and started banging the door.
"Please. Do not disturb the King, M'Lady." The guard pleaded. He looked at the direction which the other guard had gone and prayed for him to come soon with a maid as he couldn't manhandle the daughter of an Alpha.
"Open the door! Please." Ariana cried.
Just then the door swung open. Seeing Persephone inside her mate's chamber, something broke inside her.
~~***~~
Duke Lorenzo was seated on the bed, watching Duchess Lily pacing back and forth in their chamber.
"This was my first time meeting Lord Nathaniel but Ariana -" Duchess shook her head. "I had bonded with her in these past few days. Never had I thought that she would do something like this."
"But Lily, Lady Ariana and Lord Nathaniel wouldn't have accused their King of something as disgraceful as lying about mates if they weren't sure of themselves -"
A knock at the door made the Duke stop talking.
~~***~~
Ariana was being held by maids from either side. She struggled to free her hands from their hold but they wouldn't budge.
"Stop it!" Persephone snapped.
Ariana looked at her with disgust. " Never had I thought that you would stoop so low."
Duke Lorenzo, Duchess Lily, Alpha Edward, Luna Barbara, Anwar and Noami arrived with the guards, who had been sent by Persephone to fetch them.
Persephone's demeanour softened upon their arrival. "Look at what she's doing! She just barged in here and called me all kinds of names under the Sun." She complained.
Alpha Edward glared at Ariana.
Persephone wrapped her arms around herself and lowered her eyes. "She even tried to choke me."
Those maid widened their eyes in disbelief. But they didn't dare call out the lies of their future Queen.
"NO I DID NOT!" Ariana shouted. "But I should hav -"
She was cut mid-sentence by a slap. across.her.face.
"Edward!" Luna Barbara wailed.
"Alpha Edward!" came a deadly roar.
Everyone bowed upon the arrival of the Alpha King. Everyone except the Duke, the Duchess and Ariana.
"No matter what your rank or your relation is, you are not allowed to lay a finger on her." The King commanded every word clearly in his Alpha voice.
Seeing his jaw clenched and his hands balled into fists, Alpha Edward submitted immediately.
To everyone's surprise, the King's face softened as his gaze shifted to Ariana.
"Are you fine?"
There was a vivid contrast in his voice between now and a few seconds earlier.
No reply came as Ariana was visibly too stunned to say anything. Her hand was covering the cheek on which she had received a slap from her father not a long moment ago. Tears were streaming down her face and she was shaking.
She walked out of there slowly, unaware of all the eyes that were watching her move.
~~***~~
"A part of me will go with her. I am her mother after all. But I agree with your decision, Edward." Luna Barbara wiped her tears.
"It's for the best." Anwar agreed.
Alpha Edward released the breath he had been holding. "So it's settled then.
Ariana will be sent to the human world."