Chapter 125: Reduced To Nothing

Elara:

Jasper and I turned at the same time, and I felt him immediately going rigid beside me.

A group of people was emerging from between the tall trees surrounding us, their movements almost completely silent beneath the cover of darkness. Lorien was at the front, his silver hair catching the faint moonlight, and behind him were several Moon Warriors, their presence unmistakable even before I could properly see their faces.

But it was the man walking beside Lorien who immediately caught my attention. I had never seen him before, yet something about him made the air around me feel heavier. He carried himself with the effortless authority of someone who had spent his entire life being obeyed, and there was nothing uncertain or hesitant in his stride.

I was still trying to figure out who he was when Jasper immediately straightened and lowered his head respectfully in greeting. "Regent Valemont."

My stomach dropped. That was all I needed. I didn’t need further introduction. Regent Valemont. Reign’s father. The man who, according to everything I had heard, held enough political power to make entire noble families reconsider their decisions before daring to oppose him. And judging by the expression on his face, I had a feeling I had just walked directly into a storm.

"You took the Princess outside the academy?"

His voice was quiet, but somehow that made it worse. There was no need for him to raise it. The sheer command woven through his words made the question sound more like an accusation already accompanied by a verdict.

Jasper remained completely still. "Yes, Regent."

Valemont’s eyes narrowed. "At this hour?" Jasper didn’t answer immediately, and the man’s expression hardened. "You are her blood knight. Your entire purpose is to protect her life, yet you thought it acceptable to remove her from one of the safest locations in the realm after dark without informing the academy?"

His gaze swept over Jasper with open disapproval as he continued, "Do you understand what would have happened if something had gone wrong? Do you understand the consequences of losing the Princess while she was under your protection? Or have you become so comfortable with your sacred position that you have forgotten what it actually means?"

Jasper’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t defend himself.

Valemont stepped closer, his commanding aura pressing against the surroundings until even I could feel it crawling across my skin.

"You were entrusted with something far more valuable than your own life. Instead, you led her directly into danger." His eyes dropped toward Jasper’s blood-soaked sleeve. "And judging by the state of your arm, trouble did indeed find you." His tone became colder. "You should be ashamed. A blood knight who returns injured after unnecessarily exposing his charge to danger is not demonstrating loyalty. He is demonstrating poor judgment."

Jasper lowered his gaze slightly, accepting every word without argument, and somehow that made my chest tighten. I couldn’t simply stand there while he was being torn apart for something that he did for me.

"Don’t be angry with him," I blurted before I could stop myself. Every head turned toward me, including Lorien’s. "I’m the one who wanted to leave the academy. Jasper was only following my order."

Jasper’s head snapped toward me, and his hand immediately caught my arm. "Princess." The warning in his voice was unmistakable, but he released me almost instantly. Beside him, Lorien cleared his throat softly, a subtle but very obvious attempt to tell me that silence would probably be the wiser choice.

Unfortunately, I had already spoken. And more importantly, I had just made the mistake of drawing Regent Valemont’s attention directly toward me. Until that moment, he had barely acknowledged my existence. Now he slowly turned his head and looked at me. For the first time, his eyes settled fully on mine and a chill traveled down my spine before he even said a word.

"So," he said quietly, studying me as though he was examining something he had heard about but never considered worth seeing personally. "You are Princess Argentis."

There was no warmth in the title. No respect. Not even the slightest acknowledgment of the position it carried. If anything, the way he said ’Princess’ made it sound almost insignificant.

I straightened instinctively, refusing to lower my gaze.

He watched that tiny movement before continuing, "You are still new here. That much is obvious." His gaze moved over me with unsettling scrutiny. "You haven’t been in this world long enough to understand how things work. You don’t know our customs. You don’t understand the responsibilities attached to your name, and you certainly don’t understand the consequences of behaving as though your desires are more important than the rules protecting you."

I felt my fingers tightened into fists at my side.

Regent Valemont continued without pausing. "You were raised among humans. You spent twenty years knowing nothing about your own bloodline, your own kingdom, or the society you now expect to accept you as its future Queen. You are ignorant, Princess. That isn’t necessarily a crime. Ignorance can be corrected." His eyes hardened. "But ignorance combined with arrogance becomes dangerous."

My jaw tightened. I knew I should probably keep quiet, especially after Lorien’s warning, but every word felt like a deliberate attempt to reduce me to something helpless and foolish.

Regent Valemont wasn’t speaking to me as though I were the lost heir of Starfall. He wasn’t even speaking to me as though I were an adult capable of making my own decisions. He was speaking to me like a reckless child who had wandered somewhere she didn’t belong.

"You are too naive to understand the world you have entered," he continued. "You see danger and believe courage alone is enough to overcome it. You believe the people around you will always be able to protect you. You believe that because you possess a royal title, everyone will simply accommodate your choices."

He took another step closer, and the pressure of his presence seemed to increase with it. "You are mistaken." His eyes never left mine. "A princess does not simply do whatever she wants because she wishes to. A princess understands that her actions affect far more than herself. She follows the people responsible for her protection because those people understand dangers she does not."

His gaze finally shifted toward Jasper. "And your blood knight should have known better than to indulge your ignorance."