Chapter 139: Chapter-139

Hearing that, Rony paused. He looked at Elara with amusement and then said, “Oh, really? Then tell me, sister—why do you think we want to kill you today? If you have the answer to all these things, then I think you have the answer to that too.”

Elara paused. Looked at them calmly. Then said, “Well, I heard that today is a full moon day. And not just any full moon day—it’s a golden full moon day, if I’m not wrong.”

Both Rony and the Emperor looked at her with genuine impression.

“Oh, is that so?” Rony said, his tone mocking but curious.

Elara’s voice stayed flat. “Rony, isn’t it true that on this night, every mage’s magical powers weaken? Right now, I’m like a lamb ready for slaughter. And if I’m not wrong, after Eleana is eliminated and the First Consort is down, I’m the only one left in your way. So of course, you wouldn’t let me stay alive.”

Rony looked at her and smiled—cold, appreciative. “Smart. So choose the way you want to die, sister. I’m actually quite impressed. Living with you wasn’t that bad.”

He examined his nails casually, playing with them. “Except for that damn broken house you lived in. Those terrible beds. Everything was so uncomfortable. Do you know how much I had to endure? If not for Father sending me money secretly, do you think you would have even gotten those palace funds you thought were yours?”

Elara looked at him. “Oh yeah, I know.”

Silence.

Rony’s face lost its smile completely. He stared at her. “What?”

“I said I know.”

“Even after knowing that, you still let me stay? Why?”

Elara looked at him like he was genuinely stupid. “Here I thought you were clever, brother. Until now you haven’t asked this question, when the first thing you should have done was ask it. But fine, I’ll answer you.”

She leaned forward slightly.

“Isn’t it clear? Because I wanted to know who you really are. I knew you were a prince. I knew you were Father’s son. But who are you actually?”

She looked at him with slight focus, her eyes cold.

“You killed my mother.”

She turned to look at the Emperor.

“You killed your own consort. Lin Mei, or whatever her name was—the one you claim to have loved so much.”

The Emperor’s face turned red with rage. He looked at her and shouted, “Don’t you dare—!”

Elara just looked at him blankly and said, “Come on. You’re going to kill me today anyway. So why would I be scared?”

Her voice stayed perfectly calm.

“You killed both your consorts. And not only that—you killed the First Consort’s eldest daughter when she was born. The real first princess.”

She turned to look at Rony.

“And he is none other than just a bastard you got from God knows where and fabricated into existence.”

Then she looked at Duke Romian kneeling at the Emperor’s feet.

“And this damn old man who doesn’t even know how to properly control a sword? You tell me he’s a knight, and you think I would believe that? Really, Father. Such a joke.”

Silence.

Complete, deadly silence.

Rony, the Emperor, and Seraall stared at her.

Then Serastarted clapping. Slow, deliberate applause.

“Well, well, well. Very nice.” She clapped again and again, genuine amusement in her expression. “Now that all the chatting is done, let’s finish it, Dad.”

She pulled out a thin dagger from her sleeve.

The Emperor stood slowly, his face dark with fury. “You know too much. Far too much. I thought you were just smart about tactics. I didn’t realize you’d uncovered the entire operation.”

“I uncovered it three weeks ago,” Elara said calmly. “When I confirmed Rony was a prince, I started investigating everything else. Your history. The dead consorts. The fabricated identities. The murdered children. All of it.”

Elara’s words settled into the hall like falling ash.

Three weeks.

Rony’s fingers stilled. The Emperor’s jaw clenched so hard a vein throbbed at his temple. Even Duke Romian, still kneeling, looked as if the floor beneath him might give way.

“You’re lying,” the Emperor said finally, but there was no conviction in it. Only fury—raw and cornered.

Elara didn’t bother answering him. She straightened slowly, the chains at her wrists clinking softly, deliberately. The sound echoed, each ring a reminder that she stood restrained—and still unafraid.

“I didn’t rush,” she continued, her voice even. “I watched. I listened. I confirmed names that vanished from records. Children that were never meant to exist. Consorts that died too… conveniently.” Her gaze lifted, sharp. “You’re sloppy, Father. Power made you careless.”

Rony laughed once—short, disbelieving. “You knew all this,” he said, eyes narrowing, “and you still ate at the same table as us? Slept under the same roof?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you run?” Sera asked, tilting her head, dagger glinting lazily in her fingers. “You’re smart enough. You had time.”

Elara finally looked at her. Really looked.

“Because running would have made me prey,” she said. “And I don’t survive by being hunted.”

She took a breath—not shaky, not rushed. Controlled.

“I stayed because I needed certainty. Proof. And because I needed all of you in one place.” Her eyes flicked briefly to the ceiling, where moonlight seeped through the high windows, tinted faintly gold. “Tonight made that convenient.”

The Emperor barked out a harsh laugh. “You’re powerless tonight. A golden full moon strips mages bare. What exactly did you think you’d do? Talk us to death?”

Elara smiled.

It wasn’t wide. It wasn’t warm.

It was knowing.

“You assume I rely on magic the way you do.”

Rony’s amusement finally cracked. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” she said softly, “I planned for this night long before you did.”

She shifted her wrists, just enough for them to notice.

The sound of footsteps cut through the tension.

Everyone froze.

Not because someone was approaching—no, they already knew reinforcements were coming—but because of who emerged.

Just behind Elara, two women stepped out of the shadows.

Alive.

Unbroken.

Ileana… and the First Consort.

For the first time that night, true fear crossed the Emperor’s face. The color drained from it so fast it was almost startling.

“Y–You?” he stammered. “How could—”

The First Consort met his gaze calmly, a faint, cold smile curving her lips. “What happened, Your Majesty?” she asked softly. “Shocked to see me alive?”

She raised her hand.

Only then did they notice the glass she had been hiding behind her palm.

With a sharp flick of her wrist, she threw it to the floor.

Crash.

The glass shattered, water splashing across the stone.

Elara’s eyes lowered to it briefly.

Violet poison.

A simple name—for something monstrously cruel. The kind of poison that didn’t kill quickly. It twisted the body, crushed the lungs, made breathing feel like drowning in fire. Victims screamed, convulsed, begged for death long before it came.

The Emperor stared at the broken glass as if it might leap up and accuse him.

Eleana let out a low whistle. Then she laughed, slow and mocking, eyes sliding over Kira and finally landing on Rony.

“Wow, brother,” she drawled. “This is quite a… gathering.”

Then Parmilda—no, the First Consort—turned fully toward Rony, her gaze sharp as broken steel.

“I should have broken your bones back then,” she said coldly. “If not for Elara interrupting, I would’ve killed you myself.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep