Mated To The Cruel Prince-Chapter 825: One Big Family

Queen Nirvana’s spy stood in her chambers delivering the latest news from King Oberon’s court.

"What do you suggest we do now, my Queen?" he asked, his tone deferential.

Queen Nirvana remained silent, her slender finger tapping rhythmically against her lips.

She sat in her high-backed chair, her face shrouded in thought. Her plans, meticulously crafted over the past months, had crumbled in an instant. She had hoped to threaten Islinda with the secret of her heritage, forcing her to marry her son, Theodore. But that leverage had evaporated the moment King Oberon had pardoned Islinda.

"We do nothing but watch, for now."

The spy blinked, his eyes darting to her face, as if searching for some hint of the deeper machinations hidden behind her calm facade.

Queen Nirvana continued, her tone clipped with resignation, "All our plans are useless now. Her identity is no longer a secret. It’s been revealed—and worse, it’s been pardoned. The threat has no weight anymore." She leaned back, her gaze hardening as she stared into the shadows. "Had she not ended up as Aldric’s mate, things might have been... salvageable. But now?"

Her voice trailed off, and the spy understood. The mate bond was sacred. It bound two souls so deeply that no other could replace the other. Islinda would never see her son, Theodore, as anything but an outsider now. Queen Nirvana’s grip on the situation had slipped, but she would not lose her composure.

"I don’t trust this truce will last forever," she finally said, her eyes narrowing. "So we just wait... and strike at the slightest crack."

"Yes, Your Majesty—" the spy began, but was interrupted by a sudden knock at the door. Both of them tensed, and Nirvana’s eyes flickered to the spy, who vanished into the shadows without a sound.

"Come in," Queen Nirvana called, her voice cool and composed.

Her handmaiden entered, bowing deeply. "My Queen, King Oberon has requested your presence."

A slow, calculating smirk curved Nirvana’s lips. "That has been long overdue," she said, rising gracefully from her chair. "Let’s go."

—-------- freēwēbnovel.com

Elsewhere, in the grand palace, chaos reigned in Queen Maeve’s chambers. She was in the midst of one of her violent outbursts, her wrath transforming the room into a scene of utter devastation.

Shattered glass littered the floor, and the elegant tapestries that once adorned the walls lay in tattered heaps. Her three handmaidens cowered against the wall, terrified to move or make a sound, lest they attract her fury.

"After everything I’ve done for this kingdom!" Queen Maeve screamed, her voice laced with venomous rage. "He’s going to make Aldric what? Dark Fae king? And he’s going to rule side by side with Valerie?!"

She swung a bat at the large mirror in front of her, shattering it further into a web of cracks. Her reflection, distorted by the broken glass, only fueled her anger. She looked wild, her hair disheveled from her constant tugging, her eyes wide with madness.

Although the black eye Queen Victoria had given her had been healed by the royal healers, she still caked her face with layers of makeup, desperate to erase any trace of that humiliating encounter.

"I am the reason this family is standing today!" she raged, her voice echoing through the destroyed room. "And this is how he repays me?!"

She raised the bat again, ready to obliterate what remained of the mirror, when a handmaiden entered the room and interrupted her fury.

"Your Majesty..."

Queen Maeve spun around, her eyes blazing with fury as she fixed her gaze on the trembling handmaiden. The girl visibly quaked under her queen’s glare but forced herself to continue.

"My Queen, King Oberon has requested your presence."

At the mention of her husband’s name, something shifted in Queen Maeve. The madness in her eyes dimmed slightly, replaced by a desperate need to appear composed. She dropped the bat with a clatter and turned to her handmaidens.

"I can’t go to him like this," she said, her voice frantic. "Do something. What are you waiting for, you morons?"

The handmaidens scrambled to obey, moving with feverish haste to restore their queen to a semblance of her usual regal appearance.

---

The tension in the room was almost suffocating as King Oberon’s family gathered. It was clear from the taut expressions and stiff postures that none of them had expected this.

When the summons had come from the king, each had thought it would be a private meeting, perhaps some one-on-one with Oberon to discuss the latest developments. Instead, they found themselves in the midst of a family assembly, one that none of them had the appetite for.

Oberon knew his family well. If he had announced a family meeting upfront, neither Maeve nor the children would have agreed to come. Now, as they all stood in the same room, the tension was unbearable. Maeve and Victoria glared daggers at each other, their animosity filling the space like a poisonous fog.

Oberon stood at the head of the table, his face a mask of gravity and frustration. Never before had they been so divided, and it pained him to see the chasm that had opened between them. He had hoped that time might heal these wounds, but the events of late had only deepened the rift.

"I would like to begin," King Oberon said, his voice commanding but weary, "but we are missing an important guest."

"Who?" Queen Maeve snapped, her tone dripping with suspicion.

The king glanced toward the entrance, and every head turned. A moment later, a figure stepped into the room, his presence commanding, with an air of arrogance that only Aldric could carry.

"Hello, fam," Aldric said, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he sauntered in, his mate Islinda by his side.

Queen Maeve’s face twisted with revulsion. "You have got to be kidding me," she spat, her voice seething with hatred.

Aldric, however, was undeterred. His lips curled into a smirk as he looked around the room. "What a wonderful day to become one big happy family, isn’t it?" he said, his voice mocking the tense atmosphere.