CHAPTER 127: I CAN’T LET THEM KNOW

{Regina}

~**^**~

The lounge was too quiet.

Usually, it was our throne room, a place of power and indulgence. But today, after Kaelis’s humiliating little announcement over the speakers, the air felt different. More like thick and stifling.

No one spoke or made any attempt to utter a word.

Thorne kept flipping that damned coin of his, but even he wasn’t smiling. Soraya sat with her arms folded tight, her glare promising blood if anyone dared to annoy her.

Nyra looked carved from ice, still and unreadable, and Caleb, who never took anything seriously, was swirling his glass as if he could drink away the sting of being undermined.

But I could feel their gazes continuously drifting subtly toward me just because of Zenon.

Zenon had barged into our authority without even doing so much, and stripped us of control. And Kaelis, Princess Kaelis to be direct, the girl who thinks the entire Academy bows to her had been forced to bend.

I clenched my jaw so hard it hurt because once again, Elira had escaped from my hands.

Then Kaelis’s fingers stopped drumming against the velvet armrest. Slowly, she turned, her eyes locking on me like knives.

"I thought Professor Zenon was your mate," she said, her voice so sweet it made my skin crawl. "So tell me, Regina, why did you let him interfere with our affairs? Why did you let him stop us from teaching that lowly omega a lesson?"

My heart slammed against my ribs as every head turned to me at once.

Soraya’s lips curled in the faintest smirk, enjoying every second of this. Thorne’s coin stilled between his fingers. Caleb leaned forward, eyes sharp with curiosity. Even Nyra looked up, her gaze cold and cutting.

I forced a breath past the knot in my throat. I couldn’t let them see. I couldn’t let them know that Zenon wasn’t my mate—that he had never been in the first place.

I couldn’t let them know that the engagement had been called off, and I had spun my lie ever since. A tower of glass I couldn’t afford to let crack.

And Elira... Goddess, if they ever discovered she was my cousin, they would tear me apart, piece by piece.

I lifted my chin and painted on a brittle laugh. "Of course Zenon is my mate," I said, too quickly. "It’s just the way he is. Sometimes he oversteps as he is used to being in authority."

The silence that followed was worse than the accusation.

Kaelis’s eyes narrowed, sharp with doubt. Soraya’s smirk deepened. Caleb tilted his head, as if weighing me, measuring every word. And quiet Nyra just kept staring at me like she could already see the cracks spreading under my feet.

Their silence weighed on me like a stone, pressing harder and harder against my chest. I could feel the questions clawing at the edges of their thoughts, and if I didn’t act fast, they would drag me down with them.

I forced myself to lean back into the velvet cushion, folding my arms like I still owned the room. "Zenon and I agreed," I said smoothly, "that while we are on school grounds, I treat him strictly as a professor. No exceptions. It’s about appearances and discipline. My hands are tied because of that promise. That’s why I didn’t barge into his office today to smooth things over."

I lifted my chin, daring them to challenge me.

Nyra’s calm voice slid in like a knife. "And what happened to communicating through the phone?"

My stomach dropped, but only for a moment before I quickly schooled my face, swallowing my panic before it showed.

"He’s been ignoring my texts," I said quickly. "Because he’s still annoyed about an argument we had a few days back. You know how he is. He can be cold and stubborn whenever he is in a bad mood. Sometimes he makes me pay for it with silence."

I let the lie roll off my tongue as if it had always been there, crafted and ready. And then I sat straighter, painted on a mask of indifference, as if the weight of their gazes didn’t crush me.

But they didn’t look convinced by my explanations. At least not yet.

Kaelis finally leaned forward, silver curls gleaming as her eyes narrowed like sharpened blades. Her voice was soft, too soft, and that was worse than shouting.

"The first time," she said, "Elira was seen climbing out of Professor Zenon’s car. On a Monday morning, no less, which makes it obvious that he drove her to school on that day. And now..."

She gestured vaguely, but her meaning was clear, "...he steps in to defend her and protect her. Again."

The room’s silence tightened around me, unrelenting.

Kaelis tilted her head, her gaze cutting straight through me.

"There is something that doesn’t add up here, Regina." Her smile was sweet poison. "So tell me, who is Elira Shaw to Professor Zenon?"

My blood almost turned to ice instantly.

I thought all my lies that I had worked hard to develop would bring all the pointless and interfering questions to a complete halt by now, unfortunately, it seemed like I wouldn’t be getting out of this hot seat so easily today.

But that was good. I am not a softie either. I had worked hard to earn a spot on the Student Council board so of course, I was confident that I could get out of this mess, no less.

I forced a light laugh, though it came out thinner than I intended. "Zenon doesn’t like seeing weak students bullied. That’s all this is. He is so annoyingly noble that way. And just like his brothers, he is always trying to play the savior."

I let the words drip with disdain, as if I, too, found his interference distasteful. Inside, though, my pulse was hammering so hard I swore they could hear it.

Soraya leaned forward, her cold eyes cutting into me like blades. "This is not who we know you as, Regina," she said flatly.

"You are too reserved, too calm, for someone who is supposedly the mate of a future Alpha. Where is the pride? The fire? If Zenon truly belonged to you, why would you let him humiliate this council in front of the entire school, literally?"

Her words slashed the air, leaving no room to breathe.

But I quickly straightened my shoulders, tightening the mask over my face. "You think it’s that simple? You think being his mate means I can snap my fingers and he will obey?"

I gave a small, practiced scoff. "Zenon has always been detached. I learned early that the only way to keep him is to balance, to be composed. To give him space instead of suffocating him. That’s why our bond works. He respects me because I don’t push him. Because I trust him."

The lie flowed smoother than I expected, so convincing I almost believed it myself. I met Soraya’s gaze, unblinking, as though my very calmness proved my point.

But the silence that followed was heavy and skeptical. I could feel it—the way Kaelis’s calculating eyes lingered, the way Thorne’s smirk tugged at his lips like he had caught the scent of something rotten.

I held my posture, refusing to falter. If I cracked now, even a hairline fracture, the whole tower I had built would crumble.

Kaelis’s fingers drummed lazily against the armrest of her velvet chair, each tap echoing louder in my ears.

Then she tilted her head, the sweetness of her smile gone, her eyes as sharp as a wolf’s fangs.

"Trust?" she repeated softly. "Or fear?"

The room went still. Even the air felt heavier now than before.

She leaned forward, her voice lowering into something colder. "Because I find it strange, Regina. Strange that your mate would risk his authority, his reputation, and his position to shield a powerless first-year girl. Do you not see how it looks?"

Heat pricked at the back of my neck.

Kaelis’s smile returned, but it was poison-sweet again. "Tell us, then. Is it really that Zenon is noble, as you claim? Or is there really something more you are hiding form us?|

The words struck like a slap, and my carefully laid composure wavered. Every eye in the room was on me, piercing, questioning and even doubting.

But I forced a sharp inhale, schooling my face into neutrality, but my hands curled tight in my lap, hidden beneath the folds of my skirt.

I can’t let them know the truth. If even one of them suspected it, then all my past efforts would be for nothing.

So I lifted my chin and let my lips curve into a small, practiced smirk. "You can believe what you want," I said evenly. "But I will tell you this, Zenon doesn’t see Elira Shaw the way you think. He never will. She’s nothing. He is probably shielding her now to try to annoy me. And I can’t fall for it."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and added, with a sharper edge, "Also, don’t mistake a professor’s pride for something else."

The silence that followed felt like standing at the edge of a cliff, waiting to see if the ground would give way.