Claimed by the vampire prince

Chapter 358: Chapter 358

"May I have some time alone with him?" Elka asked at last, breaking her long silence. She forced her voice to sound small and timid, carefully shaping it into something that resembled sincerity. "This might be the last time I get to speak to him."

Her mother hesitated, reluctant to leave Galen’s side, as though her mere presence could keep him alive when physicians had failed to do so. After a long moment, she drew in a deep, trembling breath and finally relented. As she passed, she brushed a hand over Elka’s shoulder in what was meant to be a comforting gesture.

Elka fought the sharp, instinctive urge to recoil from the touch.

The door shut behind her mother with a dull click, leaving Elka alone with Galen.

Silence settled over the room, thick and clawing.

She approached the bedside slowly, each step deliberate, and lowered herself into the chair her mother had occupied only moments before. For the first time since entering, she allowed herself to truly look at him. Her gaze traveled over his still form, down to the bandaged wound wrapped tightly around his abdomen. His chest rose and fell in shallow, uneven breaths, each one seeming to cost him effort.

Elka reached for his hand. Her fingers were steady as she turned his wrist and pressed her thumb against the fragile beat of his pulse. It fluttered weakly beneath her touch, but it was still there.

His lashes fluttered as she gently returned his hand to the bed. Slowly, with visible strain, his eyes cracked open.

"Elka," he rasped, the word barely more than a whisper.

Despite everything that had transpired in the last few days, there was not a single hint of anger on her face when she met his stare. Just cold detachment, which somehow felt far worse.

"Close your eyes, brother," she said softly. "And die."

"Elka," he repeated, the name breaking apart on his lips. But she wasn’t done yet.

Her voice was still too calm, still too gentle.

"For all the times you stood back silently and watched Father torment me. For all the times you joined in. Do us both a favor... and die."

His lips quivered. Gathering what little strength remained to him, he forced out, "I... didn’t mean you any harm."

Her eyes hardened, whatever faint warmth remained in them vanishing completely.

"I will never forgive you. It is far too late for that now. In the end, you and Father won, didn’t you? I’m married to Prince Hairan. I’m a princess." A bitter, humorless smile touched her lips. "And I will forever be trapped in the cage you built for me." freewebnoveℓ.com

She leaned closer still, and the expression that overtook her face was one Galen had never seen before, an expression filled with years of buried malice and resentment, sharpened into something unrecognizable.

"I curse you, Galen," she whispered. "I curse you to never know peace, even in death."

Something inside her shifted as she spoke. The crushing weight she had carried for years dissolved, leaving behind a cold resolve.

The greatest way to get revenge on men like Galen and their father was to survive. To thrive despite everything they had done to break her. Enduring long enough to reclaim what they had tried to take. Her freedom.

For years she had imagined that, when her untouchable brother finally died, she would have a hand in ending him. But she would have to settle for this.

***

Circe’s eyes snapped open. She was no longer in her chambers lying beside her husband. Her first thought was that Dena had summoned her again, but that assumption vanished the moment she looked around. She was standing in the center of a small bedroom she did not recognize.

The air was warm and heavy with the scent of fresh flowers and perfumed oils. A narrow bed stood against the far wall and a woman stood beside it.

She was tall and slender, dressed in a pale blue gown that fell to the floor. The fabric stirred faintly, as if touched by a breeze drifting in through the open window—though Circe felt no wind against her own skin.

In the woman’s arms was a restless baby, his soft cries filling the room in uneven bursts.

Circe tried to step forward but her body resisted. It was as though unseen hands held her in place, pinning her to the spot. Her vision wavered, the edges of the room blurring like paint washed with water. No matter how hard she squinted, the woman’s face refused to come into focus. Circe could see everything else, including the graceful line of the woman’s shoulders, the long cascade of her hair down her back, the careful way her arms curved protectively around the child.

But her face remained hidden in the haze.

The baby fussed again. The woman shifted him gently as she began to sing.

The melody was soft, a simple tune meant to soothe. A tender lullaby. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

Gradually, it worked. The child’s cries dwindled to hiccupping breaths, then faded into silence.

Circe strained to see more but there was nothing beyond the haze. Only the woman’s pale blue dress and the child pressed against her chest.

The woman did not look up. She did not acknowledge that Circe stood only a few paces away. It was as if Circe did not exist at all.

"My sweet boy," she cooed. Her voice sounded distant now, as though it were drifting to Circe from somewhere deep underwater. "I love you with my whole heart."

The words settled into the otherwise quiet room, lingering in the air like an echo that refused to fade.

Circe opened her mouth to speak, to call out to the woman, to ask where she was, but no sound left her throat. It was as if her voice had been stolen, trapped somewhere deep inside her chest. Panic fluttered faintly beneath her ribs as she tried again, only to be met with the same heavy silence.

And still, the woman continued rocking her child. Back and forth. She held the boy close, murmuring soft, affectionate sounds meant only for him, completely unaware that Circe was even there.