Chapter 113

FELIX

The sight of Mila’s dead body caused my legs to buckle under me. I wasn’t aware that I was falling until my knees hit the cold stone beneath me, sending ringing pain throughout my body.

But none of that compared to the pain that was in my heart.

Mila was dead. Mila was dead, and it was all my fault.

I knew that she was gone for real as strength and power surged into my body–the final burst of energy that had been absent for so long. The last time I’d been at full strength, I hadn’t even met Mila yet.

The curse was broken, then. Which meant she was well and truly gone.

I was vaguely aware of my parents and Esmeralda rushing up the stairs towards me, that horrible magical barrier finally gone. Joseph was kneeling on the ground next to me, but his voice sounded far away, drowned out by the incessant ringing in my ears.

“Felix? Felix? Felix!” My mother’s voice, shrill with worry, finally pierced through the fog surrounding my brain. “Are you alright? What’s going on?”

I pushed myself to my feet, stunned at the feeling of magic thrumming through my body. I did not acknowledge my mother, instead, scanning the courtyard for Isla.

“Felix!” My father took a step towards me, grabbing my arm. I shrugged him off. “Talk to us, son.”

I pushed through them and headed to the bottom level of the courtyard, where Mila’s limp body lay. She was always a small woman, but her body–her dead body–looked even tinier and sadder against the cobblestones. Her skin was pale and her eyes closed. That chest did not rise and fall with a single breath.

Seeing her up close like this knocked the wind out of me again. It took all of my newfound power to stop myself from collapsing to the ground beside her.

My parents, Esmeralda, Joseph, and Isla all finally converged on me, all of them reaching for me, their voices forming a great cacophony around me. Despite the fact that I knew I had allies in a few of them, it all felt too much. Too overwhelming.

But then my father spoke. “At least you’re alive, son. We’re so glad you’re alive.”

The rest of the crowd went quiet, as if they all realized that my father had crossed an uncrossable line.

I turned to him slowly. “What did you just say?”

My father’s face paled.

Esmeralda stepped forward, as if to mediate. “Tell the guards to bring Mila’s body to my chambers. I must examine her to better understand the magic that has happened here.”

I shook my head at her in disgust. “She’s been dead for not even five minutes and you’re already tearing her apart for your own personal gain?”

Esmeralda straightened her shoulders. “Examining Mila’s body will give us the answers we’ve been looking for in regards to both your curse and her origins. Don’t you think it’s better this way, to not have an outsider that we know nothing about on the throne?”

Her words made my stomach twist. I knew that she wasn’t trying to be cruel–she really and truly thought that she was doing the right thing by the kingdom. After all, she was specifically sworn to protect the royal Dragon Knight bloodline, not Mila.

Still, it was far too soon.

“She deserves a proper burial. She was the queen of the kingdom,” I said through gritted teeth.

My parents exchanged a look.

“We shouldn’t announce her death just yet,” my father said cautiously. “We should let it slip that she has caught a mysterious illness and go from there. Perhaps we announce the sad news in a few weeks.”

“What are you talking about?” My head was spinning.

My father cleared his throat. “There is no need to disclose to the kingdom the exact circumstances that led to her death. That just casts doubt and shame on the royal family.”

“You should feel shame!” I roared.

Red rage clouded my vision. I lunged for my father, my anger overtaking me. Joseph held me back, barely containing me.

“You’re all monsters!” I yelled. “You killed her and made her think I chose this!”

“It was the only way!” My mother protested.

“My wife died thinking that I killed her for my own personal gain!” I howled. “I can never forgive you for that!”

My mother reached for my face but I slapped her hand away. She recoiled. I felt a fleeting moment of sadness for treating her this way, but they had all conspired behind my back to kill the love of my life, and there was no taking that back now.

When I spoke again, my voice came out in a deadly, quiet calm. “You have exactly twenty-four hours to move out of this castle. Take up residence in one of the other royal properties in Fresonia, but I cannot bear to see your faces here for the time being.”

“Felix,” my mother pleaded. “Don’t do this. We’re family.”

“I denounce this family,” I spat. “In fact, I give up this throne–”

“No, you don’t,” Joseph cut me off. “No, you don’t. Giving up this throne means giving up whatever power you have to redeem Mila from this. To preserve her memory. To bring honor to her name and her death.”

“Her rather dishonorable death,” Isla piped up. I shot a grateful look at my late wife’s friend.

“I will not give up the throne, then,” I conceded. “But your exile from this castle still stands. And that means all of you–including Esmeralda.”

“I can’t leave you now,” my mother said desperately. “We’ve already lost one son. I can’t bear to lose you, too.”

My voice was gruff. “Then you shouldn’t have killed my wife.”

Joseph looked around at the royal family clearly divided into two factions. He stepped forward. “You will be allowed to visit the castle once per week, so that Esmeralda can conduct her research. Beyond that, we will be doing research of our own–to see if there is any way to reverse Mila’s death. If magic killed her, then perhaps magic can revive her.”

It was a solid plan, and a reminder that Joseph was very, very good at his job. Even when I could barely think straight, he was taking care of the messes.

Isla nodded. “I’ll help too.”

I looked at her, slightly confused. Isla was merely a castle maid–how could she assist with such complex magic?

Isla caught my eye and blushed slightly. “There are people in my family who could lend a hand.”

I decided to unpack that later.

I gave my parents a curt nod. “There you have it. Spend these next few weeks reflecting on your actions. If, or when, you decide that you are willing to help rectify your mistakes, then we can talk. Until then, you are dead to me. All of you.”

Heartbreak washed across my mother’s face, but nowhere in my cold, dead heart could I find sympathy for the woman who greenlit the death of my wife.

I strode away from where they stood, aware of Joseph and Isla following behind me, out of the courtyard and into a new era of Fresonia.

I made it as far as the hallway before I once again collapsed in sobs.