The Shadow King Killed Our Unborn Child

My first love, Caleb, knelt outside the Silver Citadel for seven days and nights. He did it just to break our soul-bond. He wanted to marry a human girl named Elara.

I was heartbroken, so I turned around and married Lucian, the King of the Shadow Court. He had chased me for a thousand years.

For three years, he treated me like his world. I finally got pregnant, but then I found a dark secret. He was putting an anti-fertility draught in my breakfast every single morning.

The pendant he never let anyone touch had Elara's nickname carved on the side. I was just a tool to protect his true love.

My Fire-Shifter blood was special. He wanted to use my child's essence to give Elara an immortal body. He wanted to save her from the pain of aging.

My tears fell like rain. I drank the fake-death potion. Lucian and I would never meet again.

...

"Aria, have you really made up your mind?" Lila, my maid, looked at me with red eyes. "The Shadowshade Root makes you look dead, but the pain is unbearable."

I smiled and swallowed the poison without a second thought. "I lost my baby. No pain can touch me now."

My child. I had waited for him so eagerly. But he never got to open his eyes to see the world.

I thought I had been careless during the pregnancy. I cried every day because of the guilt.

Then, my baby's last spark of spirit pulled me into a dream. That was when I saw the cruel truth.

My baby didn't die naturally. The moment he was born, his father took his soul-essence. He let our son wither away and die.

The most pathetic part was that I thought Lucian and I were happy. Before we married, he followed me for a thousand years.

Back then, I was the fiance of Alpha Caleb. But Caleb only wanted the human girl.

Every time Caleb ignored me, Lucian was there. He gave me sweet words and comfort.

After we married, he wanted me every night. He said he wanted a child as soon as possible. I thought it was love.

But in that dream, I saw it all. He married me because I was the last of the Fire-Shifters.

He wanted a child just to use my bloodline for Elara. I was so stupid. I gave my heart to a monster.

My chest hurt so much I could not breathe. Blood leaked from my mouth, staining my white silk sleeves.

The Shadowshade Root was starting to work. For the next ten days, the pain would get worse.

I would get weaker until my heart stopped. I would enter a state of fake death.

"Aria!" Lila screamed and caught me before I hit the floor.

I tried to smile at her, but the door flew open. Lucian stood there, looking terrified.

"Aria! What's wrong? Why are you so weak?"

I wiped the blood away and lied. "I think I just haven't recovered from the birth. I will be fine."

Lucian frowned and pulled me into his arms. "You look like you are breaking. How can I not worry?"

He reached for my wrist to check my pulse. My heart raced.

If he checked me now, he would find the poison. Suddenly, the pendant on his belt started to glow.

His face changed instantly. "Aria, I just remembered something urgent. I will be back soon."

I watched him run away and finally breathed. I knew that "urgent business" was a lie.

That pendant was one of a pair. He gave the other one to Elara years ago.

Whenever she called his name, his piece would glow. Right now, he was rushing to her side.

He did not care about me at all. Lila was shaking with anger and crying for me.

I wiped her tears. "Don't cry. It's almost over."

In ten days, I would be free. And I would end everything.

2.

Lucian's fake love had always left clues. On our wedding day, Caleb brought Elara to the Shadow Court.

Lucian usually never showed emotion. But that day, his eyes turned red.

The guests thought he was happy. He held my hand and said his dream had finally come true.

I was so foolish that I cried with joy. Now I know he wasn't happy. His heart was actually breaking for Elara.

In our second year, the Elders finally let Caleb take Elara as a concubine. That night, Lucian got drunk for the first time.

He went to a lonely mountain and cried. I found him holding his pendant in the dark.

Later, I learned that was the mountain where he first met Elara. But the real moment I gave up was seven nights ago.

I was still mourning my lost child. I could not sleep, but I stayed quiet so I would not bother Lucian.

In the middle of the night, he got up. He opened a secret passage I had never seen before.

I followed him later when he was gone. What I saw inside was a nightmare.

The room was filled with hundreds of paintings of Elara. He had painted her over and over again.

But the worst part was the small altar in the center. My baby's tiny remains were there.

He looked so small and cold. When I touched him, his spirit pulled me into that dream.

I saw Lucian cut the soul-essence out of him. My baby was a Fire-Shifter; he knew what was happening.

He was so scared. His own father murdered him.

His last bit of spirit stayed behind just to show me the truth. My son saved me from a life of lies.

"Aria, please wake up!" Lila's voice was far away.

I opened my eyes and realized I was covered in tears. The poison was taking over.

I was getting closer to my freedom.

3.

Lucian had been gone for two days. When he returned, he was covered in blood.

He hid his hands behind his back. Then, he pulled out a bright red flower.

"Aria, I got this Fire-Bloom just for you. Do you like it?"

I almost laughed at his lie. The Fire-Bloom grows on the edge of the Mystic Isles.

If he only went for a flower, he would not be this injured. He must have gone deeper into the islands.

He went there for the Dragon-Heart Fruit. That fruit is the only way to help a mortal like Elara use my son's soul-essence.

He risked his life for Elara. Then he picked a random flower on the way back to trick me.

I smiled coldly. "Thank you, my King."

Lucian stared at me. "Aria, why don't you look happy?"

I looked away. "I am happy because you gave it to me."

The room went silent. Lucian sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Are you mad because I haven't been around? I've been busy. Tell me what you want, and I will make it up to you."

He looked so caring. It was the same look he gave me when we were "happy."

But we could never go back. I pulled my hand away from his.

"I don't want anything, Lucian."

His face darkened. "What is wrong with you today? Stop acting like this!"

"I told you I was busy. Stop being so petty. You are a Queen, act like it!"

He grabbed my arm and shoved me. I was so weak that I fell and coughed up blood.

Lucian looked shocked and rushed to me. "Aria! Why are you bleeding so much?"

He tried to check my pulse again. But then, his guard burst into the room.

The guard whispered in his ear. Lucian hesitated for a second, then looked at Lila.

"Take care of the Queen. I have to go."

He didn't even look back as he left me on the floor.

Lucian stayed away for two days. The Shadow Court was in a mess.

The ministers begged me to find him. I agreed and went to the Silver Citadel.

That is where Caleb's palace is. That is where Elara lives.

The side palace was very quiet. It was the perfect place for a secret meeting.

I heard Lucian's voice from inside. "Elara, stop being stubborn! Caleb says he loves you, but he's marrying someone else now."

"You are just a human. Once he has a real wife, she will ruin you. You won't be safe here!"

Elara started crying. "I want to leave with you, Lucian. But you have Aria. Neither of you can make me your only one!"

Lucian yelled back, "You know I don't love Aria! I only married her for you!"

"I had to pretend to love her to get the soul-essence for you. I will divorce her right now if you say yes!"

I couldn't listen anymore. I pushed the door open.

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