I woke up coughing, my body aching, sprawled on the cold floor.
Thick, swirling mists of red, yellow, and black choked the once-white room, heavy with power. The air buzzed with energy—an echo of something violent that had just transpired.
And there, in the middle of it all, sat King Luxeron.
His once-blinding radiance was gone. No glow, no power—just a hollow shell of a ruler, cross-legged on the floor, his gaze distant. He was catatonic, speaking only when prompted, answering Scarlette's questions with an eerie, detached calm.
I forced myself upright, my limbs trembling. A sharp pang shot through me, and I nearly lost my balance.
Scarlette was at my side in an instant.
"Veravos, you are finally awake," she murmured. "You were unconscious for two days. Please—be careful. You need to rest my friend."
Her voice was softer than I expected.
My friend. That's what she called me. But did I just want to be a friend? After everything we'd been through?
Yeah, that sounded about right. This week with her had felt like a lifetime. Scarlette was nothing like I had expected. But it was only a week.
She hesitated, then exhaled, as if bracing herself.
I glanced at the swirling mists around us, realizing just how much work she'd done. The scroll lay unrolled before her, the emerald resting atop it.
"Wasn't there anyone else besides the King?" I asked.
She smirked, her olive eyes glinting with mischief. "No. Just him. I tore down his palace and all its corrupt glory."
I looked up at the mist overhead, the strange, shifting colours swirling in red, yellow, and black. "Is this… love magic?"
Scarlette chuckled, tilting her head. "Just a little something that hides behind nightmares and dreams."
It wasn't just the way she said it—it was her. That bit of madness, that ruthless unpredictability. And I liked it.
I met her gaze, holding it a moment too long, drawn to her beautiful, dark mind and the chaos she wielded so effortlessly.
Scarlette blushed and looked away before turning back to me.
"I need to admit something to you, Veravos."
Another surprise? Great. Might as well tell me birds have wings or trees have leaves. What now?
She took a step closer, her expression unreadable. "I need you to hear this from me, personally. It doesn't change anything."
My gaze flickered to the swirling mists, to the Light Fairy King sitting motionless in the haze.
"What did you do to him?" I asked, my voice tight with urgency.
Scarlette exhaled, her eyes heavy with something unspoken. "Veravos—"
"What?" I snapped, still groggy, struggling to piece everything together.
Her next words cut through the chaos like a blade.
"You've heard of me before," she said, her voice low. "There was a legend that spread throughout all of Fairy Land… A tale of a lost, powerful fairy."
I stared at her, clueless, yet still captivated by her. What secret could she possibly have left?
Scarlette held my gaze, unwavering.
"It's me. I always have been. I am the Queen of Hearts and Ruin."
I almost laughed. Almost.
But she didn't blink.
Her crimson eyes locked onto mine, steady, unflinching.
"It's not a joke," she said, her brows furrowing, a flicker of tension in her voice.
I froze.
The Queen of Hearts and Ruin.
Not just any Love Fairy—the first Love Fairy. The most dangerous one. The one locked away for centuries. The one the Love Fairies had forgotten, but still terrified the Dark Fairies to this day.
And suddenly, everything made sense.
The power. The chaos. The way she stood against the royals like they were nothing.
I let out a slow breath. "No way. The rumors said you were dead a century ago. Wait… that actually makes so much sense." My thoughts raced. "All the abilities you have. The way you fight. No wonder you could take on Fairy Kings like Baltimore and Luxeron."
Scarlette shifted, pressing her lips into a thin line.
"Yes," she admitted hesitantly. Then, with a flash of pride, "That's how I so easily took King Baltimore's most prized emerald, too."
"Your Majesty," I bowed, the words slipping out almost automatically.
"Don't do that, Veravos," she said, her hand gently lifting me back up. "I said you should treat me the same."
Her eyes softened, and for a moment, there was a quiet understanding between us.
"I need you to be who you were to me," she continued, her voice barely a whisper. "The first person who actually worries about me."
She smiled then, a small, bittersweet expression that made my chest tighten.
"Don't be afraid." Her words were a quiet reassurance, though I couldn't shake the unease that still lingered in my bones.
And that's when I realized it. The first Love Fairy, bound by a magical deal with me. Powerful, unpredictable, and as dark as the chaos she embodied, yet her fate was still tangled with mine.
I couldn't help but grin—a cheeky, almost mischievous thing.
I can do anything now.
Scarlette tossed me the scroll and the emerald, and I stared at them, blinking in disbelief. Wait—she still trusts me?
"Do what you need to, Veravos. And I'll handle the King," she added, her voice steady, almost too casual for the situation.
She may be the Queen of Hearts and Ruin, but her relentless chaos and questionable morals showed she hadn't changed a bit. Her methods, always shifty and unpredictable, matched every rumor. Scarlette was exactly what I'd imagined the Queen of Hearts and Ruin to be—powerful, dangerous, and a breaker of hearts.
But in this moment, she was just chaos incarnate.
"Scar... what are you doing?" I asked, my voice low and wary, eyes darting to the mists still swirling in vivd colours—red, yellow, black—tugging at the air, hungry for something.
She met my gaze, searching. Her expression softened, earnest.
"Ver… do you trust me?"
Something in her tone made my chest tighten, and I hesitated for just a beat.
Do I trust her?
"Yes," I replied, no second thoughts, no doubts. Maybe it was desperation, or maybe something deeper, but in this moment—on the brink of life and death—I trusted her.
Or did I? Could I? She's the freaking Queen of Hearts and Ruin.
Then I saw it—the shift. That grin. Sharp. Knowing. Devious.
The Scarlette I knew.
"Then lend me a bit of your dark magic," she commanded. No plea—only a demand.
Without hesitation, I extended my hand, releasing a ribbon of dark mist into the air. It swirled and twisted as it merged with her red mists—a dangerous dance of black and crimson, pulsing with unspoken power.
"This will scare the daylights out of him, reveal his secrets to me. Dark and obedient love." She winked at me.
I couldn't look away and smiled in delight.
Oh my Gods. I liked her.
"Tell me," she snapped, her tone dark and commanding, "Where is the Light Guardian?"
King Luxeron's eyes flickered, his breath shallow as the mist curled down his throat. "Judorah's got him," he rasped.
Scarlette's grip on the magic didn't waver. The red and black tendrils coiled tighter around him, keeping him bound.
"Where is she? Where are the other Dark Fairies?" I pressed, my pulse hammering in my ears.
Scarlette barely spared me a glance. Her focus remained on the king, who sat frozen like a puppet waiting for its next command.
"Answer him," Scarlette commanded.
"I don't know," he replied.
"He really doesn't," Scarlette shrugged.
"Now, you will sit here like a good boy and wait," she ordered.
Without hesitation, the king obeyed, sinking onto the floor with the blank, lost expression of a child. The sight sent a shiver down my spine.
Scarlette finally turned to me. "That should hold him long enough."
The mists thickened around us, shifting and twisting, and in the next instant, the throne room faded.
We reappeared on the outskirts of the Light Fairy Kingdom.
I took a sharp breath, steadying myself. "I can't believe how close we actually came." My fingers tightened around the Baltimorean Emerald and the ancient scroll. "We have what we need. Now we just have to find Judorah."
Scarlette stretched, rolling her shoulders as if she had just woken from a nap. "Mmm. Easy part's done," she said lightly.
I shot her a sharp look. "Easy?"
She smirked. "Compared to what's next? Yeah."
I exhaled, scanning the golden-lit streets ahead. "We don't even know where she is. Searching the entire kingdom would take too long."
Scarlette hummed thoughtfully, tapping a finger against her chin. Then she grinned, sharp and knowing. "Then let's make her come to us."
I frowned. "How?"
She stepped closer, her red mists curling around her like a living thing. "Simple. We have something she wants. Two things, to be specific."
Realization struck like lightning. My grip on the emerald and the scroll tightened. "You mean—"
Scarlette's eyes gleamed.
"Let's set a trap."