My Most Precious Human

Déjà vu

I opened the balcony and let the flow of cold wind brush my face. The sun was rising lazily in the

perfectly clear sky. It seemed to be the beginning of a beautiful day, but I was far from enjoying it. I felt

as if my heart weighed a ton and my chest could barely carry it.

I could now see it as clearly as never before: I had been amazingly naïve. Sariel and Elora were

husband and wife, and the king and queen, whereas I could barely earn the title of "respectable"

mistress. If a royal prince from the human world asked me to become his wife, it would be obvious to

assume that I was way below his status and I would never become the queen, so what made me trust

that it would be different with Sariel? I believed in the cheesy slogan "Love conquers all", but even

though my life was far from ordinary, it had always been the furthest away from romantic fantasy.

I wanted to believe Sariel. I wanted to trust that he would make me his Queen soon, but how long

would I be able to wait? My heart and mind only halfway acknowledged the fact that Sariel behaved as

Elora's husband during the daytime as well as in bed. I could bet that if it weren't for the fact that the

Royal Army swore their loyalty to me, I would have to stay locked up inside my chamber for most

palace events because Elora would make sure I suffered unimaginable humiliation every time I showed

up. Sariel couldn't have protected me, even if he had sworn he would have.

The more my heart ached, the more I asked myself if I was fit for this fight or if I had the strength to

keep fighting. I wasn't fighting for power. I had no attachment to any race or nation. I could only fight in

the name of my love for Sariel… which seemed shallower every time I thought about it. Certainly, each

time I realized that, I clenched my fists and confidently declared in front of myself that I had every right

to be happy and to live happily with the man I loved. The problem was, I was no longer certain if I had

the right to claim Sariel as my own…

For the first time, I managed not to say a word about what had happened between Sariel and me to

Martha. She noticed how depressed I was, but luckily for me, she chose not to push me. I was thankful

for that. She gave me a comforting, warm smile as she gave me breakfast, and she said that she would

bring me the dress Dominique sent me for the garden party. I thanked her, struggling to stretch my

mimic muscles into a smile as if my face had become a rock.

I needed to get my mind busy, so I took out the coded messages again. I wanted to read as many as I

could decrypt. This time I didn't use many keywords; I focused on the word "power" and its equivalents

in French, Italian, and Spanish. It turned out that my approach was correct. I had all the translations in

less than an hour.

I should have been ecstatic, but I wasn't. There wasn't Elora's name anywhere, although the context

was obvious. Surely, I would have been perfect if I had gotten my hands on Elora's replies to those

messages, but I didn't even know where I should look for them... somewhere inside my father's pack?

Well, like I could see that happening.

Nonetheless, I was certain that Elora had been in constant contact with my father and his old Beta for

many years. I wished that Dominique could use her lie-detecting mojo on Elora; it would save us all the

necessary trouble, but I was aware that sending a Princess who had just become the Queen in front of

the court required solid, undeniable proof of her crime first…

I attached the decrypted meaning below each message and put it back inside the box. Then I spent my

day reading online business articles and market predictions. The less feeling-related news the better.

After dinner, Martha brought me a black dress cover with my evening gown inside. I didn't even bother

to look at it. I couldn't care less about what I was going to wear at the party that I certainly didn't want to

go to. I took a long shower, hoping the water would finally wash away all of my gloominess and misery.

I gave up after thirty minutes and walked out of the cabin to wrap myself in a towel, admitting my

surrender. I blow-dried my straight black hair and reluctantly applied light make-up with little concern

about whether it was going to match the dress Dominique had chosen. But then I looked at myself in

the mirror and my hardly-no-make-up face and decided to add at least a thin line to mark my eyelid and

put on mascara as the finishing touch.

"All right, Lilith. Let's look at the outfit Dominique is forcing you to wear this time," I said to myself while

unzipping the cover.

I took out the gown and jumped back, dropping the dress on my bed as if its fabric was on fire. I closed

my eyes and opened them again to check if I wasn't seeing things, and then burst out in nervous

laughter. It was a silk bottle-green dress. It was made to slenderize every curve while underlining

breasts with a deep-cut neckline and perfectly exposing legs with two symmetrical slits on the sides of

the dress. The gown wasn't just similar; it was THE dress I had seen in my dream.

"It's only a weird coincidence…" I chuckled, trying to rationalize the dress issue. "Lilith, you already

know Dominique's taste and how she likes to dress you up. You might have as well visualized the type

of dress in your dream. It's only a coincidence."

I took a deep breath, put the gown on, and glanced at myself in the mirror. I knew I looked sexy and

elegant, but I forced myself to chase away the instant question of whether Sariel would like me wearing

this beautiful dress.

"I don't care," I stated, rebelliously like a sulking child.

Of course, I cared. It just ached too much to ponder about it. I took another deep breath, hung a light

scarf on my shoulders, and walked out of my chamber. I headed towards the garden that glowed with Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

lantern lights from afar. Every path was hardened with boards and covered with carpets, making sure

that guests' feet would never touch any dirt from the ground. As I walked further, I saw three large,

already set tables…

"Just another coincidence…" I muttered under my breath, shaking off the feeling of déjà vu.

The werewolves from the Moon Hill Pack started gathering, and the vampires from the meeting were

coming as well. I became strangely nervous. I even pinched myself in case I had suddenly fallen

asleep and entered my nightmare again.

"Lilith, you may have superstrength, agility, and other "super" abilities, but clairvoyance isn't one of

them," I mocked myself inside my head, exhaling my anxieties.

Suddenly, Draven showed up in front of me, looking me up and down with a beaming grin on his face.

He gently grabbed my hand and kissed it.

"You look like every man's dream tonight, Lilith."

Chills ran down my spine. I smiled vaguely at him as he led me to my seat at the table. He sat beside

me, as if I had just become his partner for the evening. He treated me as his date, or at least that was

how I would describe it. He poured me wine and made sure I tried all the best side dishes that were

served, even if he had to pass them from the other end of the table. What was awkward at first, I

quickly found a blessing in disguise, since it took my mind off Sariel and Elora, sitting at the next table.

The King and Queen were surrounded by high-positioned vampires, with my personal favorite, the late

king's counselor, among them. I guessed they cared little about political correctness, letting their

"guests" from the Moon Hill Pack sit away from the King, as if they all wished to alienate them, as soon

as the formalities were over. I bet it was the Queen who was in charge of the guests' seating. That

would explain why I, as a human, was seated with the wolves…

I briefly saw Dominique sitting next to Leo at the King's table. She seemed more than displeased with

having to sit so close to Elora but apparently decided not to cause a scene for Sariel's sake. Kanan had

also been seated at the King's table, which made me assume that Elora wanted to keep up the

appearance of being a good sister, taking care of her half-blood brother.

Alpha Draven didn't seem to care about placing him and his pack members at the separate table. He

even looked pleased with it. He was doing his best to get my full attention throughout the entire dinner.

Nonetheless, I couldn't help but get distracted every time I heard Sariel's deep voice or Elora's spiteful

laughter. My stomach flipped each time her high-pitch giggle reached my ears.

The three-course dinner had ended, and most of the guests gathered in smaller groups for casual or

business talk. I planned to sneak out somewhere, the further away from the crowd, the better.

Unfortunately, my plan failed miserably as Mr. Parson seized my hand and dragged me away to

introduce me to his friends. They all spoke highly of me, convinced that I was the one who made

signing the treaty possible. I denied it over and over again, but for some reason, they took it as if I was

being modest.

"I know about everything that happened during the meeting, Lady Lilith, and I know what happened

afterward," said Mr. Parson. "I am more than convinced that the negotiation succeeded because Alpha

Draven cherishes you."

"I wouldn't say that, Mr. Parson," I laughed nervously. "After all, he retracted his demand that included

me and chose more Royal Army warriors instead."

"You are a clever woman, Lady Lilith, and yet you are sweetly naïve when it comes to understanding

men," Mr. Parson chuckled. "In my opinion, Alpha Draven's ridiculous demand was his opportunity to

gain your interest, and his withdrawal is him telling you that he is not going to pressure you. It is his

way of playing push and pull. Besides, don't you think he is a little too attentive for someone who gave

up on you?"

I smiled awkwardly at him and then narrowed my eyes, gazing suspiciously, "Mr. Parson, I thought that

you wanted me to become the Queen, not some werewolves pack Luna, or am I missing something

here?"

"Lady Lilith, I am certain that you would become a wonderful Queen, especially since Queen Elora is

an extremely narrow-minded person, but only a fool doesn't consider all the possibilities," he smirked.

His words only confused me more. I sighed and suddenly noticed Sariel and Elora standing a few feet

away from me. For a brief moment, Sariel's and my eyes met, but he quickly turned his sight to Elora,

bestowing upon her his kind and warm smile. My chest squeezed. He made me come here, most likely

knowing that I would sit next to Alpha Draven, but he acted like he didn't care. He ignored me

throughout the dinner, and even when I was so close to him, he still treated me as if I didn't exist.

"Perhaps the concubine should officially greet the King," Mr. Parson sang, winking at me.

I cringed, hearing those words. My heart started to pound erratically.

"This cannot be happening… This cannot be happening!" My mind entered a state of panic.

I looked around. It was the exact scene from my dream. Elora was holding Sariel's hand, teasingly

leaning against his shoulder, constantly maintaining physical contact. Sariel smiled at her, gazing at her

with the same eyes that looked at me during our amazing mornings. High-ranking Royal Army officers

were cheering for the King and Queen, encouraging them to show their "love".

My head started to spin, and I really thought about escaping from there. Deep in my guts, I knew what

would happen next, and I seriously didn't want to witness the scene I had seen in my dream. As Mr.

Parson gave me a little push, I stepped forward. It seemed to be unavoidable. I clenched my fists and

took a deep breath.

"Greetings to the King and Queen." My words sounded exactly the same as in my dream.

I didn't want them to sound like that, but my throat wouldn't let it out any other way. I shivered as I

raised my head to look at Sariel, praying that this time he wouldn't look away… but he did. I gulped,

trembling more and more, watching his eyes on Elora and her putting her arms around his neck. I

couldn't breathe. I wanted to escape, but my body just froze. I was unable to even turn my eyes away

from that horrifying view.

They kissed. The cheers and laughter spread across the whole garden. It was more devastating than in

my dream. This time I couldn't wake up, and this torture seemed to last forever. At one moment, Elora

glanced at me, drawing wicked satisfaction from my pain, visibly devouring my expression. As if it

wasn't enough, Sariel took control, tightening his embrace around her, deepening their kiss, before he

broke it, smirking towards the enjoying-the-show officers. Inside my mind, I begged him for that one

glance at me, the one that could tell me that the show was fake and that he regretted that I had to

witness him kissing Elora. He didn't look at me.

My self-preservation mechanism blocked my voice before I screamed out my pain. I stared at Sariel

while staying still. I knew he was aware of my gaze on him, but it appeared as if he had erased my

existence from his mind. An agonizing pain spread across my chest. Something inside of me broke. I

surrendered.