“Sister… you don’t look well. Are you alright?”


    :


    Celeste’s voice slid into the room like warm honey. But I heard the de behind it now.


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    I stiffened. My eyes lifted to her face, the same face that once lit up my childhood like antern in the dark. She looked perfect, as always. Glossy ck hair cascading over her shoulders, warm brown eyes filled with what appeared to be concern. She looked like safety. Like home.


    But I knew better now.


    “I didn’t sleep,” I said quietly, lowering my gaze. “I… I had a nightmare. About Lord Cassian.”


    Her handnded gently on my shoulder. “Shhh… walls have ears,” she whispered. “You’ve been under so much pressure. I understand. But you have to be careful not to say these things in the future, especially in the north.”


    Pressure?


    I bit the inside of my cheek. Pressure wasn’t the word. Pressure was what I’d felt the day I failed to awaken my wolf. This… this was something else. Afterst night, after standing outside that balcony and hearing my own mother hand Celeste a reward for betraying me, there wasn’t anything left inside me to press. I was hollow.


    Cassian hadn’t said a word after it happened. He’d just dropped me off on my attic bed, soaked through from the storm, and vanished. Not a taunt. Not a threat. Not even a look. He just left. Somehow… that silence hurt less than Celeste’s smile did now.


    Now, I followed Celeste down the corridor like I knew nothing. One foot in front of the other. Surprisingly, I only felt numb.


    How could someone act so pure yet <i>so </i>evil at the same time? Perhaps I had been naive, so naive to think that a wolfless girl deserves some love.


    “I’ve prepared a bath for you,” Celeste said, as if she were doing me a kindness. I nodded without answering, letting her lead me into the room.


    The tub was full of milk and petals,vender, rose, violet. They were my favorites, and Celeste knew. The water steamed softly in the candlelight. It looked like a bath meant for a queen. Or a bride.


    I stripped in silence and stepped in. The warmth soaked into my skin, but it didn’t reach my bones.


    Celeste sat beside me, humming, chatting about old memories I barely heard. Something about sneaking pies from the kitchens. How I used to curl up in her bed during thunder.


    I remembered those nights. Her arms wrapped around me when the storms got too loud. The time she gave me her scarf after I scraped my knee. How she used to call me “little mouse” when I couldn’t sleep.


    Back then, I thought those moments meant something.


    Now… I wasn’t so sure<b>. </b>


    Lies. All of it. Or maybe not lies. Maybe half–truths twisted into weapons. How cruel.


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    When we dried off, she took me to her dressing room. “Choose any dress,” she said, opening the wardrobe wide. “Tonight is your introduction. Lord Cassian will being to collect his bride.”


    Collect his bride. A night ago that would have made me feel a little something, frightened maybe. But now? I felt nothing. Not after what I heardst night.


    She pulled out a gown without waiting for my answer. Burgundy. Deep as blood. It would make me look pale, drained. Spectral. The perfect sacrifice.


    “This one,” she said with a soft smile. “It’ll bring out the blue in your eyes.”


    I nodded again. Wordless. As always.


    Then I started to wonder. When did I be this quiet?


    I used tough. I used to ask questions. I used to dream.


    Maybe it was the years of bullying. The mockery. The days I was told to eat by the kitchen door because I didn’t have a wolf. Maybe it was my father’s silence. My mother’s cold voice. Or maybe it was Celeste–my sun–slowly fading into shadow.


    Bit by bit, I disappeared. The sunshine in my eyes dulled. The smile on my lips faded. I became what they needed me to be. Obedient and small.


    Easy to use. Easy <i>to </i>throw away.


    Celeste pped her hands, and her personal maid entered without a word. “Fix her hair. It needs to be perfect.”


    The girl worked quickly, tugging and twisting, weaving in baby’s breath, pale roses, and silver ribbon. I let them dress me up like a doll.


    Celeste reached for my hands, brushing her thumbs against my knuckles. “Promise me you won’t forget to write,” she said softly. “I want to know you’re safe… that you’re warm… that you’re okay.”


    I stared at her.


    “I heard it’s freezing in the north,” she continued. “So I packed more than just coats. The thick fur–lined one Father used to wear, two of Mother’s cloaks, I even tucked in the quilt from the attic, the one you used to steal from my bed.”


    My breath caught.


    “I packed you some wool socks. The mittens with the velvet lining. An extra nket or two, just in case the castle’s drafty.”


    Each item she listed cut deeper than thest. Was she doing this out of guilt?


    She reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “Take care of yourself, Atasha. Even if no one else


    will… you have to. Do you understand?”


    I nodded and forced another smile.


    :


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    “If you stop writing letters, I will tell father to visit you,” Celeste pouted. “I am not kidding. You are my only sister. You have to write me letters and tell me all about the snow.”


    I looked at her. Really looked at her. And for a moment, I wanted to believe her. That maybe, just maybe, she hadn’t meant to hurt me. Maybe it was for the pack. Maybe she truly believed that marrying the Tyrant Lord would do more harm than good. That tricking me was the only way.


    Maybe she told herself it was mercy.


    Maybe she thought I’d understand.


    But if that were true… why did it still feel like she gutted me with a smile?


    I heard her voicest night. I heard herugh.


    And I knew. All those nights we shared secrets under nkets, the jokes in the corridor, the bread rolls passed under the table… none of it mattered. Not when it came down to choosing between me and her future.


    So this was what it felt like to be betrayed by someone you love.


    “I can take care of myself,” I said softly, forcing a smile. “You don’t have to worry.” I already showed my cursed ability to the Tyrant Lord. In response, he showed me the true face of my family. That should mean something, right? “And I will be writing.”


    She looked pleased. Maybe even relieved. As if I’d just made things easier.


    “You look like you’re about to cry,” she said, brushing my cheek lightly. “It’ll ruin your makeup.”


    I nodded.


    Then came the knock.


    A different maid stepped inside, her tone brisk. “Lord Cassian has arrived.”


    I kept still, studying the girl in the mirror. My skin looked almost translucent, my lips were a deliberate shade of crimson, and my hairy perfectly secured beneath a row of pearl pins.


    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw it. A flicker of relief on Celeste’s face.


    Then, she slipped a ne around my neck, her ne. The one she wore during court visits. “You look so pretty,” she whispered. “He won’t be able to look away.”


    I sneered inwardly. That man had tried to end my life justst night. He was a beast, nothing more. He was a monster wrapped in devilish good looks and power he wielded like a de. If anything, all I wanted now was to stay quiet, stay small and invisible. Out of his line of sight.


    “Your hair looked like jewels, like gold,” Celeste smiled. “I’m sure he will love it.”


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    Again, I nodded. Pearls glinted in my pinned–up hair, strands curled delicately around my face like I was being prepared for disy.


    For years, I wondered why my hair was blond. Why my eyes were blue. Why I didn’t look like Celeste, or my mother, or anyone else in Nightfall. Everyone else had thick, dark hair. Warm brown eyes. Earth–toned skin kissed by the southern sun.


    As for me, I had always seemed out of ce. My skin was unnaturally pale, the kind of pale that made people whisper about sickness or fragility. My features are unmistakably foreign. For years I told myself there could be only one reason, I must be an unfortunate anomaly.


    Now… I think I finally understood why.


    Before my thoughts could spiral, the maid returned. “Alpha Collin requests your presence in the drawing hall,” she said. Then, after a nce, added, “Lord Cassian is adamant on seeing his bride.”


    Bride.


    I stood. My fingers curled slightly at my sides, just enough to keep them from shaking.


    I knew I shouldn’t be mourning. This ce had never been kind to me, never warm, never safe. And yet… something inside me pulled back at the thought of leaving.


    I should’ve felt relief.


    Instead, all I felt was the weight of the unknown.


    Because no matter how useful I thought I was… I had seen the way Cassian looked at me. Like he was still deciding whether I was worth keeping or burning.


    Sadly, I knew that even the useful bled when he was done with them.


    “My, how romantic of him,” Celeste’s voice cut through my daze, her innocent smile sharp as ss. “Elder sister, aren’t you thrilled to meet your groom?”


    AD