Betrayed by My Ex, Marked by His Alpha Emperor Brother novel Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Kaelen’s POV

The woman reeked.

Not of danger. Not of blood or treachery. Those scents I could handle. Those I understood.

No. She reeked of something cloying and chemical—a perfume so aggressively sweet it coated the inside of my throat like syrup. My wolf recoiled the moment she stepped into the grand reception hall of the royal palace, pressing itself flat against the back of my skull as if trying to physically retreat from the smell.

“Your Imperial Majesty,” she purred, sweeping into a curtsy that was more performance than respect. “Or may I call you something less formal? After all, we’re hardly strangers.”

I studied her.

Bleached blonde hair—not naturally golden, but stripped and processed until it held a brittle, artificial shine. Lips swollen beyond proportion, plumped by some surgeon’s needle into a permanent pout that looked more painful than alluring. Her dress was red and tight, straining across curves that sat too high and too rigid to be anything nature had provided.

My wolf snarled. Wrong. Everything about this one is wrong.

“You may address me as Your Majesty,” I said flatly. “Nothing less.”

Her smile didn’t falter. If anything, it widened, revealing teeth that were unnaturally white. “Of course, Your Majesty. But I do hope in time you’ll remember what we once were to each other.” She stepped closer. Her fingers grazed my sleeve. “That night at the masquerade... surely you haven’t forgotten?”

I pulled my arm away.

The motion was subtle. Controlled. But unmistakable.

“I remember the night,” I said carefully. “I remember very little about the woman.”

“Well.” She pressed a hand to her chest with theatrical hurt. “I suppose I have changed quite a bit since then. I was so young. Silver hair, slim as a willow...” She gestured down at herself with a coy flourish. “A woman grows into herself, doesn’t she, darling?”

Darling.

My jaw clenched. The word landed like a slap. No one called me that. No one had earned the right.

“Do not call me that.”

“Forgive me.” But her eyes said she wasn’t sorry at all. They were calculating, those eyes. Hungry. They swept over the hall’s gilded interior—the crystal chandeliers, the silk curtains, the marble floors—with the naked appetite of someone mentally tallying the cost of everything in the room.

The communication crystal in my breast pocket vibrated. Needing a moment away from her cloying scent, I stepped out of the reception hall into the adjacent grand corridor, turning my back to Seraphine completely and pressing the crystal to my ear.

“Kaelen.” Cassian’s voice came through, low and precise, roughened by what sounded like several sleepless nights. “I have the full report on the badge holder.”

“Go ahead.”

“The blonde woman matches the pawnshop descriptions exactly. She attempted to sell the gold badge at least four separate times over the past month. Different shops each time, always asking top price. Never mentioned where she got it—just that it was hers by right.” A pause. Papers rustled. “Yesterday, she appeared at three different shops in a single afternoon, asking about the wanted notice. She seemed... eager. Almost rehearsed. But Kaelen—the badge itself is genuine. I verified the metal composition, the engraving, the maker’s mark. It’s yours. The one you left that night.”

I closed my eyes.

The badge was real. That was the fact I could not argue with. The gold pin I had pressed into my mystery woman’s palm before dawn broke over the masquerade—the one I’d told her to keep, the one I’d promised would guarantee her a place at my side if she ever chose to return—was now in the possession of this woman.

“And no other leads?” I asked, keeping my voice neutral.

“None. Every trail ends cold. She’s the only person who’s come forward with the physical badge in hand.”

Silence stretched between us.

“Your instincts are telling you something,” Cassian said quietly. “I know that tone.”

“My instincts are irrelevant if the evidence contradicts them.”

“Are they, though?”

I didn’t answer.

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