The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 103: No Escaping

Chapter 103: No Escaping

Descending down the depths of the dungeons, Mineah steeled herself for the meeting ahead even as she went through it alone. As expected, her Shadow Maidens had to be left behind since the dungeons had a limit on the number of visitors allowed. Not that it bothered her. Again, she was more than ready to defend herself, even if it meant she had to do it alone.

Taking a deep breath, she blinked as she reached yet another part of the dungeon. This time, it was even more guarded than the last one. The walls shimmered with what looked to be spells designed to keep even the most powerful of people out. She didn’t know what they did exactly, but she was sure that even the most powerful vampires would be unable to escape from this place.

"Halt, Your Majesty," the guard stationed there respectfully stopped her. "Do you have permission to enter this area?"

Mineah blinked. Grabbing the permission she got from Minister Haman, she almost let out a chuckle as she showed the guards the document. "Will this do?"

Placing the document on the counter, Mineah watched as they scrutinized the document with as much care as her mother would whenever she did her experiments. It almost looked like they were seeing if it was a fake even though it came directly from Minister Haman.

She was wondering why she didn’t seem to need the document when she first entered the dungeons. It would seem that there were two layers in this prison, and the permission she got from him allowed her to access the more secure part of it.

"Very well. You may enter," the guard hummed.

Giving the guard a nod, Mineah went ahead and entered the deepest parts of the dungeon. Around her, the cells seemed to be empty. All save for one...

"Here you are," Mineah remarked as she stood right in front of Rosela’s cell. The bars were coated with the same security spells as the walls, which meant that she’d be safe no matter what happened. "How’s your stay?"

Predictably, Rosela didn’t respond. Instead, she simply glared at her, her eyes burning with hatred as she stared at her with a burning fury.

"Not even going to ask why I’m here?"

Rosela grumbled. "Fine. Why are you here?"

"I’m here because I want to know more about Dahlia," Mineah directly stated. "I want to know how she died."

"Don’t you know already?" Rosela scoffed. "Nikolai killed her."

"I want to know the truth," Mineah directly confronted her. "I know you’re lying. You did something to your sister, right?" She was ready to use her both eyes on Rosela to find out the truth.

***

Nikolai’s eyes widened as he listened in on the conversation happening in front of him. After he had heard that Mineah wanted to go down the dungeons, he just had to make sure that she’d be safe. It was already a miracle that he somehow got into the most secure prisons in his kingdom without anyone knowing, but hearing that Rosela had something to do with Dahlia’s death was a surprise in itself.

"And how do you know that?" Rosela growled.

"I have my sources," Mineah cryptically replied. "You still haven’t answered my question, by the way. Tell me the truth about Dahlia’s death, Rosela."

He held his breath, hoping that Rosela truly had nothing to do with Dahlia’s death. He didn’t want to believe it, and yet the proof was already starting to come to light right in front of him.

"You really want your answers? Very well," Rosela chuckled. "It’s true. I did have something to do with her death. I made sure he killed her. It was the only way I can be by his side."

Nikolai bit his tongue. He wanted so badly to reveal himself right then and there, but he knew he shouldn’t. At least not until Mineah was done with her questioning.

"Why? Isn’t she your sister? Your twin, even?"

Rosela let out a hollow laugh as she replied, "That she was... I loved her, but not as much as I loved Nikolai. I couldn’t stand seeing her beside him much in the same way as you are doing right now. So instead, I killed the part of me that loved her... I killed my twin sister just so I can be with Nikolai instead of her."

He gritted his teeth. Years of guilt all seemed pointless at the revelations he was hearing. So he wasn’t the one responsible? It was all a lie?

"That’s all I wanted to hear," Mineah coldly scoffed. "You’re despicable."

"Not as despicable as you, bjtch," Rosela bit back. "Using your wiles and magic on our king to achieve your goals..."

"That was all me, idiot," Mineah retorted back as she turned her back on the woman he once considered a sister. "Being a decent person is so much more attractive than being a manipulative obsessive witch that can’t seem to take a hint. I hope you rot here in the prison of your own making..."

Rosela was silent as Nikolai watched his wife leave the dungeons. After a few minutes, he finally revealed himself, a scowl on his face as he stood in front of the traitor that planned to use him to further her own ends.

"N-Nikolai?" Rosela asked, her voice filled with hope. "You came for-"

"I heard everything," Nikolai cut her off, his disdain dripping from his tone. "You killed Dahlia."

"W-What? No! How can I-"

"How can you do that? To your own twin no less?" Nikolai asked. He didn’t want to hear any excuses anymore. "You two loved each other! Out of jealousy then?!"

"H-How can you think that?! You just said I loved her!" Rosela denied, tears running down her cheeks. "How can you push the blame on me when you’re the one that killed her?!"

"I was here the whole time," Nikolai revealed with a growl. "There’s no escaping your fate now, Rosela."

The woman fell quiet, having realized that she had been caught red-handed. Silently, Nikolai watched as she raised a hand to him while seemingly mumbling about something before she gave him a look that screamed of desperation.

"I saved your life," Rosela sighed. "If I can’t have you, then nobody will..."

Seeing that he wasn’t going to get any coherent answers from her anymore, Nikolai decided to cut his losses and leave the dungeons.