The Betrayed Princess Rising (Lylah and Ezra) novel Chapter 113

3rd Person’s POV

Lylah felt Cora and Alexander’s taunting gazes long before she dared to meet them. She knew they were waiting for her to stumble. And if she didn’t? They would gladly wedge their claws into the smallest crack and tear her down themselves.

She was also aware that her place among these Modern Healing students remained precarious–like a lone wolf standing at the edge of a hostile pack’s territory. One wrong step and she would be driven out She wasn’t afraid.

But she refused to hand Cora the satisfaction of watching her fall.

So today, she would move with precision.

‘Professor Clark didn’t come. He said he wouldn’t shield me again.‘

Lylah thought.

‘After everything he’s done for me, taking me in as his student, teaching me what no one else would–I won’t disgrace him. I won’t make a mistake that stains his name.’

Her spine straightened.

After a brief welcome, the practical session began.

Lunar Grace maintained a separate ward dedicated to wolves suffering from severe illnesses aligned with this project. It was both a place of hope and quiet despair.

The moment they stepped inside, the scent struck Lylah.

Illness in a wolf carried a distinct stench. It clung to the air, heavy and metallic, laced with something brittle and dying.

Lylah walked behind the others, silent, observant, her eyes sweeping across the room.

“Welcome, Professor Vale.” A woman bowed respectfully. “I’m Gwyn, the physician overseeing the ward today.”

Vale acknowledged her with a slight nod, already stepping forward.

They moved deeper inside.

Every patient lay motionless on their beds, chests rising shallowly. Eyes closed. Faces gaunt.

Lylah swallowed.

They all looked closer to death than life.

“My finest students–Thane Blackridge and Lady Coraline of Ironcrest Pack–will conduct the first examinations,” Vale announced, pride threading his tone.

Thane stepped forward with effortless confidence, Cora gliding to his side.

Vale’s sharp eyes swept over him from head to toe.

“Lung stone,” he pronounced coldly. “Primitive. Not even close to tumorous development.”

His gaze hardened as it shifted back to Gwyn. “No. I will not take this case. This illness offers nothing to my research. You can find someone else.”

“But Professor,” Gwyn pressed, desperation edging her voice. “The disease has consumed most of his lungs. This is urgent-”

“Gwyn,” Vale interrupted smoothly, though steel laced every syllable. “Are you implying my project is less urgent?”

Silence fell.

It was painfully clear. Corbin Vale had no interest in a frail stray whose illness offered him no benefit.

His gaze drifted across the ward once more–then stilled on Lylah.

Something calculating flickered there.

A calculating idea slid into place.