A Kingdom of Regret

**Chapter 2: A Kingdom of Regret**

The violets had long withered.

Lyra stood alone on the edge of a high balcony, the wind teasing her crimson cloak. 🌬️👑 Elarian shimmered below, quiet and oblivious to the storm inside its true queen. To the world, nothing had changed. But everything had.

She had walked away from Kael — the only man who’d ever truly looked at her, seen her beyond the silks and silence. But he had lied, just as everyone else had. And queens, real queens, didn’t bow to betrayal.

Yet her heart beat with the echo of his voice.

His eyes, wide with disbelief.

His hands, trembling as they reached for her.

She had left not because she didn’t love him, but because she did — and because love, without truth, was poison. ☠️💔

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Kael had been silent for days.

In the heart of his dark estate, broken glass littered the floors. 🥀🕯️ Maps burned in fury. Scrolls of prophecy lay in ashes. Not even Thorne dared speak. But tonight, Thorne approached with quiet purpose and placed something before his leader — an ancient drawing of a moon-marked rose.

“She’s still out there,” Thorne said. “So stop breaking things and go find her.”

Kael’s voice cracked. “I didn’t want her crown.”

He stared at the rose. “I wanted her.”

His voice trembled — not with weakness, but with a storm he couldn’t tame. The same storm that now consumed him.

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Far away, Lyra sat beneath a flickering torch, holding a message burned around the edges:

> *Kael has vanished from the Black Fang. They say he seeks the Queen, not the throne.*

She tossed the paper into the fire, but her fingers shook. Mira noticed.

“You still care,” Mira whispered.

“I care about what he could become,” Lyra replied. “Not what he was.”

The words felt like thorns inside her mouth.

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Meanwhile, Kael knelt in the ruins of the Whispering Chapel — once a place of coronations and vows. 🕊️🌒

He whispered into the stone, “Forgive me, Lyra. I never wanted to wear your crown. I just wanted to be worthy of standing beside it.”

He left behind his dagger, his family ring, and a vow written in ancient ink.

A single tear fell on the cold floor — the only proof he still bled.

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Days passed. Then, one night, a raven appeared at Lyra’s window. In its claw — no scroll, just Kael’s ring. 💍🦉 On its band was a new engraving:

> *To kneel for love is the highest crown.*

Her breath caught. Her mask cracked. Her decision formed.

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She left the palace without guards, without warning.

To the field where violets once grew.

To the place where it all began.

There, Kael waited — no weapons, no lies. Only hope. 🌧️🖤

“You broke me,” she said.

“And I rebuilt myself for you,” he replied.

She didn’t say yes.

But she didn’t walk away.

Some stories burn. Some reign. 🔥

Theirs would do both.

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✨ TO BE CONTINUED ✨

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