Claimed by the vampire prince

Chapter 479: Chapter 479

Elka stared at the letter in his hand, the familiar words she had written now a mocking reminder of her foolishness. The ink might as well have been fresh, the words damning enough to start an entire war between two families. She knew every line of it without needing to read it again. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

Her throat felt raw, as though she had swallowed shards of glass.

"Then do it," she whispered, the words tasting like ash. "Send it. Ruin me. At least then this game of yours will be over."

For a moment he was as still as a statue. Then Azul’s brows lifted slightly, the only crack in the calm demeanor he wore so easily. He studied her like he was seeing her for the first time, and his gaze felt intrusive as it moved over her.

Then he laughed and it was low and mocking.

"You surprise me again, Elka. Most women in your position would already be on their knees begging."

He drifted even closer into her space, the distance between them shrinking inch by inch until she could smell the wine on his breath. She was forced to tilt her head up to hold his gaze and now his face was hovering just over her.

"But you..." he continued, "you still have some fight left in you. Fire in your eyes as well. I can’t wait to blow it out like a candle light. I can’t wait to break you until you are nothing but what I say you are, nothing but my plaything to be used and discarded. I reckon that it would be quite the experience for the both of us."

His words painted an image in her mind that frightened her. She imagined a life where she was completely stripped of everything, even her dignity, a life where she would have to always be at his beck and call. It almost sent her into a panic.

Still she held her ground, even as every instinct told her to put space between them.

"Unfortunately for you," he said, his voice dropping lower, "I don’t just want your ruin. I want your surrender. You can give it willingly, that will be easier for you because I have no qualms dragging it from you. Like I said before, it’s entirely your choice"

Something inside her twisted at that. A laugh broke from her before she could stop it. The sound was brittle and sharp.

"My choice?" she echoed. "You call this a choice? Threatening to report this to my father, threatening my future—my very life—if I don’t spread my legs for you?"

He tilted his head slightly as if she had just said something mildly interesting rather than accusatory.

"Every choice is born from limited options, Elka," he replied. "Some women choose survival. Some choose pride. Very few choose both."

His hand lifted without giving her enough time to pull away. His fingers brushed her jawline, light enough to almost be mistaken for gentleness.

"But I am not a monster. I see how distressed you are and I am willing to make a compromise. After all, you will soon become my mistress and I take good care of my possessions. You have until the king’s funeral ends tomorrow," he went on. "After that, I will stop asking nicely."

Before she could respond, he leaned closer, his breath warm against her ear. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

"And when I stop asking nicely," he murmured, "I will take what I want anyway. I will make sure the entire court knows exactly why Hairan’s wife betrayed her own blood and started a war. I will make sure your father disowns you publicly. And then I will still have you. Only then you won’t be living comfortably in one of my estates, you’ll be warming my bed as a broken, discarded thing no one else wants. Not even my brother."

The room felt smaller with every word.

Elka shut her eyes for a second. When she opened her eyes again, Azul was watching her.

He drew back just enough to look at her properly.

"Think very carefully tonight," he said. "Tomorrow, after the funeral, you will come to me because you’ve realized there is no other path that doesn’t end in your destruction."

The certainty in his voice made the threat feel like needles stabbing into her skin.

It made her wonder how many others he had this to before her, how many people he had managed to break with his manipulations and intimidation.

Then, as if the matter were already settled, he lowered the letter and returned to the table. He placed it back inside the drawer with care before stowing it away.

"You may go." He said flippantly over his shoulder, like she was a maid he was casually dismissing and not his sister in law.

Her body felt slow to respond and her thoughts were loud. Rage pressed against her ribs, sharp and insistent. Fear followed close behind it. And beneath both was the same powerlessness she had felt for years while she lived with her parents.

She wanted to say something. Anything. But there was nothing she could say that would matter.So she swallowed it. Turned and opened the door.

The corridor beyond felt colder than she remembered. She forced her body forward even when all she wanted to do right then was collapse in despair. But she stopped herself from doing just that because she didn’t want him to have even more power over her.

Each step carried her farther from the room. By the time she reached the end of the corridor, her hand had curled into a fist at her side.

She picked up her pace until she found herself in the space between the tall hedges, hidden from the rest of the world. Only then did she allow her back to slide down slowly, the chill seeping through the fabric of her dress as she sank onto the ground, drawing her knees tightly to her chest as though she could make herself smaller and less visible.

Silent sobs wracked her body. These were not the pretty delicate tears, they were something else entirely. This was raw and ugly, the kind that tore itself from somewhere deep and primal, leaving her breathless and aching. Her shoulders shook violently with each suppressed cry, her fingers clutching at the fabric of her skirts as if it was the only thing keeping her from shattering completely.

She had survived her father’s cruelty.

She had survived a loveless marriage.

She had survived inciting a war from the shadows.

But this felt worse somehow.

Azul did not just want her body. He wanted to own her spirit. To strip her down piece by piece, to unravel her will slowly until there was nothing left of her but something pliant, obedient... something he could shape and keep like a favored pet.

And the worst part? A small, treacherous voice in the back of her mind whispered that maybe survival meant giving in. That maybe giving in just this once was the only way to preserve the fragile power she had fought so viciously to claim. That perhaps becoming Azul’s mistress was not the life sentence she had made it up to be in her mind.

Surely spreading her legs for him a few times a week wasn’t as bad as what would happen to her if he exposed her letter.

The thought made her stomach churn.

She pressed her forehead against her knees, her breathing hard, trying to silence that voice before its words could take root.

Then, as she remained there, hunched in on herself and trembling, a figure stepped into the narrow space before her, blocking out the light and casting her in shadow.

Her head snapped up, her heart lurching violently into her throat.

For a fleeting, dreadful second, she thought it was Azul, that he had followed her here. Panic flared in her chest, tightening her lungs.

But as she looked closer, she realized it was not Azul at all. It was Jayran.

He stood there, looking down at her with a faint crease between his brows, his expression caught somewhere between confusion and concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Elka could only blink up at him, momentarily at a loss for words.

She did not answer.

Instead, her gaze drifted to the hand he extended toward her. It hovered there between them like a silent offer, one she wasn’t pressured to accept.

For a moment, she hesitated.

She did not know whether to take it. But in the end, her fingers moved of their own accord. She placed her hand in his.

Jayran’s grip was firm but gentle as he helped her to her feet with ease.

"Thank you," she said softly once she was standing, throat hoarse from crying.

He nodded in acknowledgment, accepting her thanks without comment.

Then, just as quickly as he had appeared, he stepped back, turned, and walked away, his footsteps fading into the distance as though he had somewhere else to be.

Elka watched him go. She realized that this might have been the longest interaction she had ever had with Jayran.

And yet, he had said so little.

The moment he disappeared from view, the fragile calm he brought with him dissolved, and the weight of her reality came crashing back in all at once.

Azul had left her with no choice. It was either her pride or utter ruination.

But even as the hopelessness pressed down on her, something within her refused to simply give in.

She refused to give Azul the satisfaction he was looking for. He would not own her. Not her body.

Not her spirit.

She would not take this any longer. She would fight him if she had to and she didn’t care what she lost in the process..