Chapter 141: Not Learned Her Lesson
Nina’s brows drew together slowly as her gaze settled on the figure standing quietly by the chamber doors.
For a brief moment, she almost didn’t recognize her.
Sabrina stood in a plain maid’s uniform that hung loosely from her thin frame. In only a matter of days, she had become frighteningly gaunt. Her cheeks were hollowed, dark circles shadowed her sunken eyes, and her once carefully tended hair was tied back in a rough, messy knot, loose strands clinging to her damp skin.
The sleeves of her dress had been rolled to her elbows, revealing reddened, raw wrists and chafed fingers that looked as though they had spent countless hours scrubbing laundry in ice-cold water.
Nina regarded her in total silence.
Several long heartbeats passed before she finally exhaled. “What are you doing here?”
Her voice was neither warm nor cold. It was completely devoid of feeling.
The moment the words left Nina’s lips, Sabrina dropped to her knees with a heavy thud.
“Your Grace… I am sorry.” Her voice cracked, tears spilling instantly over her lashes. “Please forgive me. I have learned my lesson. Please… please.”
She pressed both palms against the floor, lowering her head until her forehead nearly touched the cold stone.
“The other maids bully me. They barely let me eat.” Sabrina sobbed, her shoulders trembling violently. “Please, Luna… forgive me.”
A thick silence settled over the room.
Nina simply watched her, her expression unreadable and still. After what felt like an eternity, she lifted a hand dismissively.
“Who let you in here?” Her tone remained flat. “Get out.”
Sabrina’s head jerked upward in disbelief. Before Nina could repeat herself, Sabrina scrambled forward on her knees, dragging herself across the floor until she reached Nina’s chair.
She reached out and wrapped both hands frantically around Nina’s ankles.
“Please!” she begged, her voice high and desperate. “Nina… please. I’m going to die down there. Please…”
Ruri, standing nearby, flicked her eyes from Sabrina clinging to the Luna’s feet back to Nina’s darkening expression.
“My leg.” Nina’s voice sharpened. “Let go at once!”
Nina pulled her foot back, but the movement only caused Sabrina to tighten her grip. “Please, Luna—”
“Luna.”
A calm, measured voice drifted in from across the room.
Nina lifted her eyes. Joanne bowed her head slightly, stepping forward with deliberate grace.
“Your Grace, it does not reflect well upon the pack house for your own sister to be serving as a common maid,” Joanne said carefully. She paused, letting her words sink in before adding, “Regardless of what she has done… perhaps justice has already made its point.”
Nina’s gaze narrowed on Joanne. One brow arched slightly.
Why? Why was Joanne—a woman who had never shown an ounce of selfless charity—speaking up for Sabrina?
Beside her, Ruri cleared her throat, looking visibly uncomfortable. “Luna…” She hesitated before speaking. “I hate to admit it, but I think she’s right.”
Nina turned to look at her. Even Ruri looked annoyed with herself for agreeing with Joanne.
“The annual hunt is approaching,” Ruri continued smoothly. “The packs from every territory will be attending. You don’t want vicious rumors flying around, nor do you want to give the visiting Alpha guests something to gossip about.”
Sabrina remained on the floor, her face buried near Nina’s hem as her chest heaved with quiet sobs.
Joanne inclined her head in agreement. “If Your Grace still wishes to punish her, allow her to remain within the Pack House, but assign her a position with some degree of dignity. A maid’s station is… beneath the Luna’s own blood.”
Silence stretched across the chamber. Nina looked at Joanne, then back to Ruri, who gave the faintest, reluctant nod.
Finally, Nina lowered her gaze to Sabrina. The girl was still weeping at her feet, shuddering as though terrified this was her final plea.
Without another word, Nina pulled her feet firmly free from Sabrina’s grasp.
“Get up,” Nina commanded.
Sabrina hesitated for a second before pushing herself up onto shaking legs, wiping her nose with her sleeve. “Thank you, Your Grace.”
Nina studied her face. Though part of her wanted Sabrina to pay for every past cruelty, she also knew the optics mattered—and she needed to know if Sabrina was truly broken or merely acting.
“You will—”
“You could make her the Matron’s assistant,” Joanne interjected smoothly before Nina could finish.
Nina’s eyes flicked to her.
“She would still be bound to service within the Pack House, but it is a far more dignified role,” Joanne explained, glancing briefly toward Sabrina. “Besides, Lady Gina is growing old. Before long, she will need someone to take over her administrative duties. Sabrina can learn under her.”
Nina considered it. She had no intention of keeping Sabrina close permanently, but until she was certain her sister was truly humbled, keeping her under Lady Gina’s watchful eye in the pack house was manageable.
“Fine.” The single word cut through the room. “Report to Lady Gina at once.”
Nina dismissed her with a brief wave of her hand.
Sabrina’s eyes widened in sudden relief. She bowed repeatedly, her hands clutched over her heart. “Thank you, Luna. Thank you… Sister.”
Nina winced slightly at the word, but kept her expression stone.
“I’ve learned my lesson now,” Sabrina whispered, hastily wiping the remaining tears from her wet cheeks. “I promise… you won’t regret showing me mercy.”
“You are dismissed,” Nina said, pulling an unrolled scroll toward her to signal the end of the audience. “I will only let this go once I am certain you have truly changed.”
Sabrina bowed low once more. “Thank you, Luna.”
She backed toward the double doors. Just as she reached the threshold, her eyes flicked to the corner of the hall where Joanne sat silently watching. For a fraction of a second, the corner of Joanne’s mouth lifted into a faint, ghost-like smile before vanishing completely.
Sabrina lowered her head and slipped out, letting the heavy doors click shut behind her.
The moment the heavy wooden doors clicked shut, the tears vanished.
Sabrina stood alone in the quiet corridor for a beat. Then, slowly, her slouched spine straightened. She cracked her neck, rolling her shoulders as she wrung her calloused hands together.
The hollow look in her eyes dissolved into pure ice. At least the effort of starving herself had paid off.
She lifted a sleeve, carelessly wiping the remaining tear tracks from her cheeks, a quiet scoff escaping her lips.
“Still a fool,” Sabrina muttered.
A slow, sinister smile curled across her lips as she smoothed down her uniform and began walking down the hallway out of the east wing. She had learned her lesson, of course—next time, she wouldn’t be so sloppy. But it seemed Nina had stupidly refused to learn hers.
“Rodrigo didn’t tell you?” Ruri asked later that afternoon as they sat in the quiet dining hall, picking at lunch after hours of reviewing pack scrolls.
Nina paused, her brows drawing together. “Tell me what?”
Ruri looked up, her spoon hovering in midair. Judging by the sudden shadow across her face, whatever she was holding back wasn’t good news.
Ruri swallowed hard, setting her spoon down as her eyes dropped to her plate. “I’ve been betrothed to Hades.”
An instant, suffocating silence fell over the table.
Nina stared at her as if she had spoken in an alien tongue. For several long seconds, neither of them moved.
A sudden, disbelieving laugh bubbled out of Nina’s throat. But when Ruri’s somber expression didn’t shift, Nina’s smile died. Horror washed over her features.
“What do you mean?” Nina whispered.
Ruri picked up a small piece of meat, tossing it into her mouth with forced indifference.
“Which Hades?” Nina pressed, her voice rising slightly. “The Alpha Hades? Of the Hades Pack?”
Ruri offered another tight, dull nod.
Nina pressed a hand over her mouth in shock. “How? When? Why?”
Ruri’s shoulders sagged, the forced apathy cracking. “That is the question I keep asking myself. Why my parents would sell me off to a strange, bloodthirsty beast of a man who slaughtered his own elder brother just to seize the Alpha seat.”
Nina couldn’t process it. Her mind raced, grasping for motives. Was this tied to the Immortality spell? Did her family trade her for dark power? Or did Hades demand her specifically?
Nina leaned across the table. “What reason did your parents give you for this?”
“None that make sense,” Ruri whispered, her voice thick with barely suppressed pain. She stabbed at her plate, her lower lip trembling. “All I know is that I can’t marry him, Nina. I can’t marry a monster I don’t love.”
Nina watched her closely, taking in the raw panic in her friend’s eyes. Then, she slowly arched an eyebrow.
“Do you already care for someone else?”
Ruri’s eyes flew open, her head snapping up. “What? Why would you say that?”
A deep, fiery blush rushed up Ruri’s neck, staining her cheeks bright red.
Nina smiled softly, flicking a quick glance toward the tightly shut dining room doors before leaning in closer. “Is it your bodyguard?”
Ruri’s eyes widened so fast that Nina almost laughed.
“What? No!” Ruri stammered, leaning across the table in a panic, her hands trembling as she realized her internal turmoil was written plain across her face. “Is it that obvious?! Does… does everyone know?!”