The Dark Fairy King
Chapter 63: Sabotage Before Confrontation

Chapter 63: Sabotage Before Confrontation

The next day came too soon—not that I’d slept at all the night before.

Scarlette was already out there, training Lumera. They’d been at it for hours now. I knew this because the blasts hadn’t stopped.

Funny thing—Scarlette wasn’t exactly a morning person, but for chaos? For sheer, unhinged destruction? Oh, she’d happily wake up for that. Someone probably enjoys being a demented mentor a little too much, but heck, I still love her for it.

They’d probably destroyed half the palace by now, judging from the sounds of it.

But I was mentally prepared. Considering the impending catastrophe we were about to walk into, this might actually be minor.

I wasn’t going to watch though. Better to freak out once than scream internally every time something exploded.

Fine. Let them redecorate the palace in the name of what Scarlette calls training.

At least I still had Juniper—the little kitsune who sat faithfully by my window sill, waiting for me to wake.

"Juniper..." I called, and she padded over, purring, hopping onto my chest and rubbing her snout against my nose before curling up beside my pillow.

So fluffy I could cry.

"Juni... Daddy’s gonna have to feed you a bit later. He’s too tired from yesterday," I murmured, stroking her soft fur.

Then—impatient knocking rattled my door.

Who now?

Frustrated, I shoved myself up from the bed, hair still a tangled disaster, and shuffled toward the door.

"This better be good," I muttered under my breath.

I cracked open the door.

Devran.

"Hey, Your Majesty, open up," he called.

I lazily widened the door, but Devran pushed past me like he owned the place.

"Excuse me, Devran—do you have no concept of privacy?" I scowled.

Surprisingly, he was quick to apologise. "Sorry, my King. I didn’t mean to invade your space." His eyes flicked nervously toward the hallway, like he expected to be followed.

"There better be a reason for this, Dev..." I yawned. "I’m trying to conserve my strength for the evening battle, if you haven’t realised."

Devran ignored my comment but what he said next made me worry.

"King Veravos, the library’s open—and the palace is practically empty. Should we be worried about that?"

"What do you mean, the palace is practically empty?" I frowned.

"No guards. No palace workers. No one’s around."

"What happened? Where did they all go?"

"I was hoping you’d have the answers," he said flatly.

I stepped into the corridor. Aside from the relentless blasts from below—where Scarlette and Lumera were probably still reducing the palace to rubble—I saw no one.

No footsteps.

No clinking of armour.

No murmurs from the guards.

"Very unlike other mornings," I muttered. "Did you check the dining room?"

"No one there either. The food on the table looks like it’s been sitting there since last night."

Juniper now crept toward Devran, tails low, stalking him like prey.

Devran flinched, noticing her behind him. "Oh my gods—"

Interestingly, she did not growl at him this time.

"Juni, don’t terrorise Devran," I called. Juniper purred at me as if I offended her.

Then she looked at Devran once again, sniffed the air around him, then turned away cautiously.

Was Juniper slowly accepting Devran? She actually did not bark at him this time.

Nevermind. More important issues are at hand.

I snapped my fingers. Shadows wrapped around me, neatening my hair and changing my clothes in an instant.

Devran raised a brow, mildly impressed, but I wasn’t in the mood for small talk.

"Come. Let’s go," I ordered, striding down the hall. Devran quickly followed.

"Do you want to check the library first?" he asked.

"And how would you even know where the library is? I haven’t exactly given you a house tour."

"Big room. Old oak carving outside the door where you place your hand. Shelves arranged like a maze?"

I paused. "Yes. That’s the library."

He smirked. "Thought so. Let’s start there."

Something was wrong. I could feel it.

And I wasn’t about to wait for the answer to find me.

I let the shadows entwine around Devran, Juniper, and myself. In a blink, we were at the library entrance.

It was like Devran said. The door was wide open.

Someone had done this—but who?

"Hold up," Devran said. "Why are we bringing the fox?"

I ignored him.

"Juniper, help us sniff for magical trails. Lead us."

Juniper jumped in front, nose to the ground, pausing and glancing back as if asking us to follow.

"What now?" Devran asked.

"Now we follow."

We trailed Juniper through the winding maze of shelves.

"You sure you didn’t open this room yourself?" I shot him a sceptical look.

"And get trapped in this maze?" he scoffed. "No thanks. I don’t even have the key to this place."

I glanced up at the imposing rows of books, the labyrinthine paths. Devran was reckless, sure, but he was cautious enough to avoid getting stuck here. He wouldn’t have risked it.

Eventually, Juniper led us to the centre of the room—where I’d kept the Dark Fairy Scroll.

She sniffed beneath the desk.

Gone.

"Uh... why are we here in the middle of the library? Just two chairs?" Devran asked, frowning. "What are we looking for again?"

I sighed, not sure if I should tell him.

"Come on," he pushed. "I brought you both the prison orb and the Midnight Orchids. The least you can do is trust me on this."

Trust him? How could I really.

"I get that I am shifty," Devran added, as if sensing my distrust. "But here I am sharing my secrets one by one, the least you could do is..."

"The Dark Fairy Scroll," I said flatly, interrupting him. "We had it here. The one the Anti-Magic Mages built their religion on."

Devran’s eyes widened. "Wait... you’ve had it this whole time?"

"Yes."

"They’ve been quoting fragmented versions and reinterpreting legends—and you’ve had the original scroll all along?"

"Yes."

"Why not display it publicly? Disprove them right there."

"It’s not that simple, Dev. Extremists would twist it anyway. It’s better to keep them guessing if the scroll even exists."

"And how’s that strategy working out for you, Dark Fairy King?" he muttered, shaking his head.

"Says the one with secrets as well" I mocked.

Juniper leapt onto my shoulder, perching there like a small, fluffy parrot. She stared Devran down, curious as he looked away sheepishly.

"So, do we look for the scroll now?" Devran asked.

"Forget it," I sighed. "I’m not in the mood for a wild goose chase."

"What about who could have taken it?"

"Who else? It’s got to be the Anti-Magic Mages."

It had to be.

Unless it’s an inside job.

"Wait..." Devran paused, interrupting my thoughts, a rare flicker of concern crossing his face. "You think the rest of the palace staff is with them?"

"Or taken hostage," I said darkly. "Call it sabotage before the confrontation."

"You think they know Faragonda’s dead?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, we need a convincing story."

I turned sharply. "Time to alert Scarlette and Lumera."

Devran nodded. "I’ll lead you to them."

"Or," I grinned, "we can just follow the sound of explosions."

So, we followed the sound of explosions, through long corridors lit with candles and velvet carpets, right back into the courtroom.

Lumera floated in the air, a dozen light balls orbiting around her like miniature suns.

"Own your chaos!" Scarlette called.

The light balls exploded mid-air, and Scarlette slow clapped, beaming with pride as Lumera descended.

Juniper barked in excitement, causing Scarlette to notice us.

"Why are you guys here?" Scarlette asked. "We’re still in the middle of training."

Juniper leapt to Scarlette, licking her face, making her giggle.

"We were being discreet!" Lumera insisted. "Did we wake you guys up?"

Devran grinned.

"Lumera," I sighed. "Discreet and explosions don’t belong in the same sentence."

Scarlette chuckled.

"And it certainly doesn’t happen when the marvellous mentor here yells ’Own your chaos.’" I shot Scarlette a look.

"What?" Scarlette grinned. "No comments about burned wallpaper and cracked tiles? Or the portraits you loved so much?"

I ignored her, my smile fading as my expression turned serious.

Her grin softened. "What is it, Ver...?"

"Didn’t you notice the palace is practically empty?" I asked.

"Or were you both that focused on your training?" Devran scoffed.

"I asked the guards to clear the courtroom so we could practice." Scarlette replied. "Lumera needs to focus."

I shook my head disapprovingly.

"But I can summon and explode light balls at the same time now!" Lumera beamed.

"Devran, let’s take that as a yes." I rubbed my temples.

"What happened?" Scarlette asked.

"The palace is cleared out, Scar. And the library’s been broken into."

"So the scroll?" she asked, already piecing it together.

"Gone."

"What scroll are they talking about again?" Lumera asked Devran.

"The Dark Fairy Scroll," he replied. "You know, the one about the harbinger of doom? Half Love Fairy, half Dark Fairy?"

"Oh, that slogan..." Lumera nodded. "The Anti-Magic Mages’ rallying cry."

"Not bad," Devran said, almost impressed. "You’re keeping up after all."

"Wait..." Lumera blinked. "You had it here all along?"

We ignored her.

Juniper jumped and sat on Lumera’s hair, causing her to freeze.

"Careful now" Devran teased, "You won’t want Juniper to accidentally pull off your hair."

Lumera frowned at him.

"Clearing out the palace right before the Anti-Magic Mages’ ceremony? That’s not a coincidence," Scarlette interrupted. "It’s like someone wanted us to focus on the missing palace staff."

"Yes. If we chased the missing scroll, we’d miss the ceremony. If we chased the missing staff, we’d miss the ceremony. It’s meant to split us."

"Who else would it be?" Devran added. "Unless it’s an inside job."

I rolled my eyes.

Imagine the most suspicious person in the council having the audacity to say it’s an inside job. Was this a confession or a jab?

But it couldn’t be Devran. I noticed he was always with people this entire time he’s been in the palace. Too obvious.

If I wasn’t with him, either Lumera or Scarlette was. If we weren’t there, Juniper would be watching him, just like how she does for each new council member. That Kitsune is extremely sensitive to new council members and she stopped barking at him.

The next words that came out of Lumera’s mouth reminded us why Devran keeps taunting her.

"Who, me?" Lumera asked, shocked. "I was here all morning! I slept early last night after we parted!"

Lumera tried to steady herself while Juniper remained firmly on her hair, licking its paws nonchalantly.

Devran smirked.

"Hard to take you seriously when you’re a Kitsune’s stool."

"What does that even mean?" Lumera frowned.

"I mean you have a flat head," he grinned.

"Or that I’m the chosen one," Lumera quipped.

"Stop bickering..." Scarlette sighed. "There’s a crisis going on and you two are behaving like toddlers."

Both Devran and Lumera looked to the ground, as if they were scolded by their tiger mum.

"Did you see any guards or palace staff this morning?" I asked.

"No. It was eerily quiet," Lumera looked up and replied.

"I didn’t see anyone either," Scarlette added. "I noticed something was off, but I didn’t investigate. I thought it could wait. There’s always something happening here. I should have done something."

"Don’t worry, Scar. Whoever cleared out the palace wasn’t ordinary. You were right to focus on preparing Lumera."

"All four of us can be ready by this evening... but are we really leaving the palace unguarded?" Scarlette frowned. "Does this mean some of us won’t be able to go to the ceremony?"

"Why not?" Devran asked. "Isn’t Lumera capable of illusion spells?"

"You mean cast illusions of people walking around the palace? Like it’s still occupied?" I asked, intrigued.

"No. It’s too far for her to sustain," Scarlette replied. "She’ll be with me, helping me look like Faragonda. She won’t be here to cast palace illusions too."

"But I can create moving shadows to make it look occupied," I grinned.

"You can do that remotely?" Devran raised a brow.

"I haven’t tried it before. But technically, yes."

"Only powerful Dark Fairies can do that." Scarlette added.

I smirked. "There’s a lot I can do, Devran. I just usually prefer not to."

I let the idea settle. Shadows moving through the palace. A hollow kingdom wrapped in illusion. A ceremony we couldn’t miss. And a trap we were already walking into.

The real question—did the Anti-Magic Mages already know Faragonda was dead?

It didn’t matter who stole the scroll or who cleared out the palace so thoroughly. I wasn’t falling for petty distractions. Not when the game was already in motion.

And tonight, someone was going to lose.

And if nothing went to plan?

Well, Scarlette had a saying for that.

"Throw the rules out the window. Survive. Unleash chaos with no restraint."

Guess we’ll see if it comes to that.