As I watch Alice's smug smile appear upon seeing me drink, she immediately signals to Susan. With a fake smile, Susan walks over to help me up.

"Delia, it's getting late. Let me escort you out of the palace," Susan says, her tone laced with feigned politeness.

I nod, bowing slightly to Luna before following Susan out of the palace. I don’t miss the fleeting arrogance on Alice’s face, nor the barely contained excitement in Susan’s eyes.

As I watch Susan's back, a smirk plays at the corner of my lips. This time, I won’t let you feel so victorious.

When we reach a corner of the palace hallway, I suddenly stop.

"What’s wrong?" Susan turns around impatiently and asks.

"I dropped my money. It’s the gold I prepared for my family, the gift Luna gave me."

Susan’s eyes light up at the mention of money. She immediately starts looking around with a feigned concern.

I point towards the lawn outside. "Go check there, I think I saw something reflecting there!"

Susan eagerly rushes toward the lawn, and I watch her intently, quietly following behind and picking up a stone.

"Delia, are you sure it’s here? We need to hurry to the palace gates... oh, I mean, the gates," Susan stammers, but I’m already behind her. With a quick motion, I slam the stone into the back of her head.

Thud! The stone hits her skull with a dull, heavy sound.

Her body goes limp, and she turns around in disbelief before her eyes roll back, and she collapses onto the ground.

Blood pours from the wound, staining the grass beneath her.

"Eric, the Duke? You really had everything planned out."

Looking down at her, I feel a wave of satisfaction surge through me. My wolf stirs inside, thrilled, showing its sharp teeth.

“Since I’ve been given this second chance, I will make sure everyone who owes me pays in blood. You are just the first.”

I drag Susan’s body, hiding it in the garden’s grass. Holding the stone, I glance up at the clear sky and can’t help but let out a soft chuckle.

It only took a stone to completely change my fate.

With a soft plop, I toss the stone into the corner’s pond, my reflection rippling across the water.

For a moment, the face I see isn’t mine, but the scarred version of myself from a past life.

This palace—there’s no way out for me. Suddenly, it’s crystal clear to me: my fate is sealed here.

My enemies are still alive, and I can’t leave until they’re gone.

Alice, you will regret not letting me leave.

The palace is heavily guarded, but as Luna’s most trusted personal maid with ten years of experience here, I know exactly how to avoid being questioned.

The halls are quiet, and I move swiftly and silently, making my way into a secluded basement room. Inside, a little girl named Lina is chopping wood.

She’s an orphan, taken in by a former maid, and I’ve watched her grow up. I once saved her life in the palace when she resembled my younger sister.

Now, in this crucial moment, I have no choice but to trust her.

"Lina!" I say, my voice shaking from the drugged wine taking effect. "Listen, I need you to do two things for me."

Lina gasps and rushes to embrace me. "Delia! Are you leaving the palace? You regret it? I’m so happy, I—"

"Listen!" I cut her off sharply, my tone stern. Lina is a timid child, easily frightened.

But I have no choice now. I grip her shoulders. "First, you need to go to the palace gates and find my parents and my sister. Tell them to hide immediately. I won’t be leaving the palace today."

"My parents are omaga, and my sister looks like me. You’ll find them quickly. Tell them not to return to the pack—tell them to go somewhere else and hide until I come for them myself."

Lina nods instinctively, her eyes wide. I hand her all the gold and silver coins I have on me.

"This can’t be told to anyone, or we’ll both die. These coins are yours. And the second thing..."

I reach up and tear at Lina’s clothes. She’s just a little maid, her attire vastly different from mine.

"Delia?" Lina stares at me in confusion, clutching the coin pouch. Her face turns pale. "What are you—"

"I need your clothes. The ones I’m wearing—burn them in the furnace."

I change into her clothes, walking over to a water basin and starting to wash off the layers of makeup and disguises I’ve worn for years.

In the mirror, a woman with delicate features and flawless skin stares back at me.

This is my face. I run my fingers over my cheek, realizing that for the past ten years, I’ve hidden my true self to blend in, to survive in the palace.

No one knows that the maid with a clean face is actually extraordinarily beautiful. I did this all to ensure I could one day leave, return to my home.

I sigh and close my eyes, feeling the weight of my past.

With Lina’s shocked gaze following me, I step out of the room, crossing the garden to my destination.

This is a secluded study. As the night falls, I quietly stand outside the window, peering inside where only a few candles flicker in the darkness.

This is my only chance, my one opportunity. It’s now or never.

I adjust the strands of hair framing my face and take a step toward the door.

Every full moon, the King comes to this remote attic study alone, without guards.

I’m not sure if I will succeed, but even if I’m executed on the spot, it’s better than being tortured by Eric.

Alice, you will regret not letting me leave.

I can make you the King’s Luna, and I can also make you disappear from his life.

The door is almost within reach, and I slowly push it open.

William sits by the window, holding a golden goblet encrusted with jewels. Empty bottles of wine lie scattered around him.

His eyes are fixed on a portrait on the wall, depicting a serene and beautiful woman smiling at him.

As someone who’s been in the palace for ten years, I know exactly who she is. She was once the most likely to become the King’s Luna, the girl who grew up alongside him. Had she not died from a sudden illness, no pack would have had the chance to offer their daughters to the King.

She was the true Luna in William’s heart. Every full moon, he comes here alone to mourn her.

Creeeak— The door creaks open.

I stagger into his embrace, the goblet falling from his hand.

"Who are you?" William growls, his voice low and menacing. His hand grips my arm like iron, pushing me away.

The moonlight spills in through the window, illuminating my face. I look up at the slightly drunk King.

No one knows, but my features bear a striking resemblance to the woman in the portrait—William’s lost love.

The moment I first saw the portrait in this room, I realized it. This is why I’ve hidden my face all these years.

Now, it becomes my advantage.

With my face, and especially tonight, when William is alone and thinking of her, how can he not hesitate to kill me?

"Anna?!" William’s eyes widen in shock. His grip on my arm loosens, and he pulls me into his arms, his voice shaking. "Is it really you? Is this a dream?"

His fingers tremble as he lifts my face, his eyes confused and filled with disbelief.

"Help… help me!"

The drug in the wine finally kicks in, and I feel my body flush with heat. My hands grip his sleeve as the sweet scent of wine mixes with his body’s intoxicating presence. I can’t control myself, my body rubbing against his.

"Please..."

Thanks to the drug, every sensation feels real, and William’s golden eyes lock onto me, his mind slowly shifting from shock to cold calculation.

He doesn’t release me, but the emotions in his gaze are unreadable.

"Please!"

I cry, pulling him closer, sinking my teeth into his skin.

Behind me, a cold, gleaming knife presses against my back.