Chapter 133: A Foreboding Sign
"He helped me," Naveen said softly, her voice carrying a distant tone as she gazed at the growing disk of the moon. "Just as he promised, he did. He helped me escape the palace and took me to safety. After that, I never saw him again—nor did I want to."
She paused, her shoulders stiffening ever so slightly. Lorelai swore she could hear the subtle shift in the witch’s tone, a fragile tremor of pain and despair woven into her words. Naveen took a deep breath, forcing a strained smile onto her face before continuing.
"I knew his name. I knew everything about him. And, for some reason, I knew that one day—sooner or later—they would either find him and make him pay for helping me, or they would come for me instead. And, if I’m being honest, I wasn’t sure which option was worse."
Lorelai’s heart tightened at the confession. Listening to Naveen’s story felt like a weight pressing down on her chest. She wanted to say something, anything, to comfort her—but the words refused to come. What could she, a sheltered princess, possibly offer to someone who had endured so much?
She felt pathetic.
The more she learned about those entangled in the brutal world of the beasts, the smaller and more insignificant her own struggles seemed. Lorelai had once believed her life was filled with suffering, but compared to what others had endured, her pain now felt shallow, almost inconsequential.
"Did they hurt him?" she finally asked, her voice trembling. She wasn’t sure she wanted the answer, but the question spilled out of her anyway.
Naveen shook her head, her lips curling into a faint, bittersweet smile. Relief flickered in her eyes, though it was tinged with lingering sorrow.
"King Aladar’s men found me several years later," she said, her voice steady but heavy with the weight of memory. "Even before they approached my house, I knew why they had come. They wanted his name—the name of the man who helped me escape. And I knew, deep down, that if they tortured me long enough, I would give it to them."
Naveen fixed her glowing blue eyes on Lorelai, her gaze piercing through the cool night air. Without hesitation, she reached up and pulled down her black mask, unveiling what she had hidden beneath it.
"This..." she said, her voice trembling. "This will forever remain the shameful reminder of my pathetic attempt to protect the man who loved me."