Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King novel Chapter 242

Chapter 242: 0242

Lorelei POV

One by one, the maids lowered their heads and hurried out of the grand dining hall. Their footsteps echoed across the polished stone floor until the heavy wooden doors finally clicked shut behind them.

The room immediately fell into an eerie silence, leaving only the three of us beneath the soft flicker of the candlelight.

Kaelen took a deep breath before turning to me, his dark eyes locking onto mine.

"Jaxen is being used by the Council elders."

I blinked, completely caught off guard by the sudden revelation. "What?" The word slipped out before I could stop it, disbelief flooding my voice as I tried to make sense of what he had just said.

"The High Council summoned me today," Kaelen continued, his voice grim and steady, though I could sense the anger simmering beneath it. "They officially told me I can’t marry you. They claim they know specific details about your curse, and they believe your presence will bring absolute ruin to the entire empire."

My blood ran cold.

All the warmth drained from my body in an instant.

"They... what?" I whispered, barely managing to get the words out.

"It’s a political move," Darius added, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table. His expression was just as serious as Kaelen’s as he continued explaining. "They’re using Jaxen as their pawn. He went straight to them with his whole pathetic sob story. The elders know about your history with him, and they also know about the curse that destroyed his pack."

As Darius spoke, my hands began trembling uncontrollably in my lap.

This was it.

The nightmare I had secretly feared from the very beginning had finally caught up with me. The truth about my curse had reached the highest authority in the empire.

And somehow, I had allowed myself to believe I was safe.

I had convinced myself that because Kaelen loved me, because he was the Alpha King and held the highest position in the realm, his acceptance would be enough to protect me.

But I had forgotten something.

Politics didn’t care about love.

And it definitely didn’t care about me.

If the High Council truly believed I was a cursed blight on the realm, they would stop at nothing to tear us apart. What if they tried to strip Kaelen of his title? What if they threatened his throne?

Oh, Moon Goddess, my mind cried out. Why can’t we just be happy? Why does everything have to keep falling apart?

"Jaxen told the Council that he still loves you dearly," Kaelen added, his jaw tightening so hard I could almost hear his teeth grinding.

My heart clenched.

That wasn’t completely false. Jaxen had shown me tenderness in the past, enough to make me believe he truly loved me. Or maybe I had just been too naive to see through his mask. Maybe all of it had been an act from the beginning.

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