CHAPTER 196: SUPPORTING HER ENEMY

"No!" Lumina cried, clutching Ashen’s trembling hand. His body shuddered as a faint light drained from his skin, pulled into the air like smoke.

She could fee it and she needed no one to tell her that King Aden was about to take his power.

His power, his birthright was being torn away slowly from him.

"Father, stop!" Aurelia cried, finally horrified, for the first time she was regreeting telling against her brother’s wife.

"Father, stop!" Aurelia cried again. But King Aden’s face was stone. "He must learn that no one stands above the throne. Not even my own son."

"Please!" Lumina’s voice broke, tears streaking her cheeks. "He spoke in anger, please he didn’t mean it please, Your Highness, stop!"

She cried out but Kind Aden was long so gone in it, his rage filled him already.

Just then Ashen’s eyes flickered open, his voice faint. "Don’t... kneel... to him.... He doesn’t know his responsibility as a father." he argued in pain.

"Quiet," she whispered, holding him tightly. "Please, just breathe."

The golden smoke coiled around his body, his veins burning. He gasped, his power screaming to stay within him, but King Aden’s command was absolute.

Lumina turned desperately toward the throne. "If you take his power, he might die!" King Aden didn’t respond.

"Please," she begged again, rising shakily to her feet. "If you will not spare him as your son, then spare him for me. I will do anything."

King Aden’s cold gaze met hers. "Anything?" Her lips trembled. "Yes."

Then the hall fell utterly silent, as King Aden let his son go, making Ashen finally breathe.

Lumina closed her eyes, her heart pounding so violently she thought it would burst. For years, she had hidden what she was, buried it deep. But now, the man she loved was being destroyed before her eyes.

Lumina’s voice came out soft but unwavering. "I am not what you think I am," she said, her blind eyes glowing faintly beneath her lashes. "The poison in your palace... the sickness in your wife... it all traces back to magic you cannot fight because it was born from my kind." King Aden stiffened hearing this.

She took a slow breath and lifted her chin. "I am not the one who hurt her because I am an enchantress."

King Aden froze, his eyes wide as he stared at her in stunned silence. Aurelia covered her mouth, tears spilling down her face. "No... it can’t be."

Ashen struggled to rise, reaching for her, his voice hoarse. "Lumina... what have you done?"

Her lips curved in a small, broken smile. "Saving you," she whispered.

The golden light that had been draining from Ashen suddenly flickered and stilled.

King Aden’s power wavered, recoiling as though meeting something greater for the first time.

" How dare you hand your father, fool me! You!... how dare an enchantress have her way inside of my palace!" Pain fluttered so deep into her heart.

Lumina had always felt and hoped that the king would act differently when he knew of her power and never knew he hated enchantresses that much.

"Guards!" King Aden shouted, his voice cracking. "Seal the hall...now!"

But before the guards could move, a wave of invisible energy swept through the room, silencing every sound and freezing every motion.

Lumina lifted her gaze toward the throne. "If you want his punishment," she said quietly, "then you will have to go through me."

And then the light exploded.

The blinding glow that had filled the grand hall pulsed like a heartbeat, its rhythm quick and frantic.

Lumina stood at the center, her trembling hands still shimmering faintly with the energy she had tried to suppress.

The court was frozen, time itself caught between moments of every guard, even King Aden and Aurelia, and her husband locked in eerie stillness.

Her eyes glistened with tears as she took an unsteady step forward, her breath shallow.

She hadn’t meant for this to happen. She only wanted to save Ashen. The world around her seemed to tremble, reacting to her grief and fear.

The light beneath her skin burned brighter, and for a moment, she felt her control slipping.

Her heart raced. She could feel it. Her true form calling to her. The power buried deep within her soul wanted to rise, to break free, to remind the world of what she truly was.

But just as her body began to glow a quick sound smack through the frozen air.

The slap resounded across the silent hall like thunder. Lumina’s head jerked to the side, a soft cry escaping her lips as the glow around her flickered and died. Her cheek burned, her body trembling. Only then did she feel the presence.

"Aunt... Seraphina," Lumina whispered weakly, her voice breaking.

Seraphina’s expression was blank, "What have you done, Lumina?"

Lumina took a shaky breath. "I had to..."

"Had to?" Seraphina’s voice rang out. "You stood in front of King Aden, the man who murdered your mother, and you confessed what you are? Do you think he would spare you?"

Tears pooled in Lumina’s eyes. "I didn’t care what happened to me, I couldn’t let him take Ashen’s power away. I couldn’t watch him die."

Seraphina’s hand lashed out again, another slap meeting against Lumina’s cheek.

"You are an enchantress! You carry the legacy of our kind. the power of destruction and rebirth and you waste it for love?"

Lumina fell to her knees, her voice trembling. "I only wanted to protect him..."

Seraphina’s voice rose, echoing like thunder through the frozen air. "You should be protecting your blood, not your enemy! You should be building your power, taking your rightful place, reclaiming what was stolen from us! Instead, you let your heart lead you into ruin!"

Lumina sobbed, shaking her head. "I don’t want power if it means losing him."

Seraphina’s fury burned hotter. "You are becoming weak!" she spat. "You disgrace the name of our lineage! What the hell is wrong with you, Lumina? Why are you not thinking?"

Lumina’s shoulders shook with every word. "Because I love him," she whispered.

Seraphina’s eyes widened, her face twisting with disbelief. "Love?" she hissed. "Love is the reason you will die."

"Please... I no longer want.." before her word could be completed Seraphina raised her hands for another smack.

A force collided with Seraphina’s wrist midair, stopping her strike. Time trembled, reality quivered, and in the next heartbeat Ashen moved.

The time seal shattered like glass, and Seraphina stumbled back, her eyes widening. "Impossible... you broke free again from this?"

Ashen’s aura flared, "I warned you," he growled, his voice trembling with rage. "I will not watch anyone hurt her again."

"You dare challenge me, boy?"

Ashen stood his ground, forming a protective barrier around Lumina. "She’s my wife. And if you want her hurt, you will go through me first."

Seraphina’s lips curled. "Then so be it."

With a single sweep of her hand, heat exploded across the hall. Fire twisted through the air, lightning crackling behind it as Seraphina launched forward like a storm in human form.

Ashen slammed his foot into the ground and surged toward her, his fist colliding with her flames. The impact burst like a bomb, throwing sparks and shards of marble everywhere.

The floor split open beneath them. The walls trembled. Every clash between them was a thunderclap, shaking the grand court to its bones.

Lumina didn’t like what she was feeling, she never wanted a fight with her aunt.

Seraphina spun, her movements sharp and deliberate. Chains of glowing energy burst from her palm, snapping through the air like whips. One wrapped around Ashen’s arm, sizzling as it burned into his skin.

He gritted his teeth, muscles straining, and ripped the chain apart with raw force. The fragments dissolved into gold dust that scattered in the air.

"You have grown stronger," Seraphina said, circling him. Her eyes burned with fury, her voice steady but laced with warning. "But you still don’t understand who you’re facing."

Ashen smirked, blood dripping down his forearm. "You don’t know me... also we will find out."

He lunged. Their bodies collided, not just their powers. Ashen blocked her strike, countered with a knee to her ribs, then twisted away from a wave of crackling light that scorched the wall behind him.

Seraphina retaliated fast, a blast of slamming into his chest and sending him crashing backward into a pillar.

Ashen pushed off and came back swinging.

"Stop!" Lumina’s scream broke through the chaos. Her hands trembled, tears streaking down her face. "Please, stop!" But neither of them listened to her.

Seraphina’s expression hardened. She raised one hand high, summoning a spear of pulsing light that hummed with lethal energy. "If he dies, you will never forget this pain," she hissed.

The spear flew Ashen caught it midair with both hands, the impact forcing him to his knees. The light seared through his palms, smoke rising where skin met energy. His jaw clenched, eyes locked on Seraphina’s.

And then, with a roar that shook the hall, he snapped the spear in half.

"ASHEN!" Lumina screamed, she couldn’t see what was happening, all she wanted as to be beside her husband and save him from the wrath of her aunt.

Time slowed without thinking, she threw herself forward, not seeing another spear coming from her aunt, Seraphina’s eyes widened, she wanted to withdraw but it was too late already.

The spear struck her chest and before anyone could think, blood spat out of her mouth leaving Ashen breathless as he stared at his wife being struck.