"Fairy with the purple hair!" King Baltimore's voice boomed across the room.
Oh, he heard me.
The other fairies scattered, leaving me standing alone, exposed under his withering gaze.
"What did you say?" he repeated, his voice colder now.
I froze. I couldn't believe it. Was he really calling me?
"Repeat what you said!" he snapped, his glare fierce and unwavering.
I lifted my chin and met his eyes, but he looked at me like I was just another young, insignificant fairy. Did he really not recognize me? Still? And maybe… maybe that was what I had become to him — nothing more than a speck in his grand world.
"Wait a minute... Let me take a good look at you," he said, his tone not curious, but calculating. His gaze swept over me slowly, but I caught the flicker of confusion in his eyes.
My pulse quickened. He should have known me. We had history.
Sure, I was an ancient fairy, locked for 5 centuries— but that wasn't an excuse. How had I become so invisible to him? How had I become so forgotten?
"I thought you seemed like someone I knew before... but we've never interacted," he continued.
Never interacted?
I saved him from the Dark Fairy invasion.
He locked me up — and he dared not recognize me?
Before I could even gather my thoughts, he spoke again.
"And how many couples did you manage to pair up this month, little fairy?" His voice dripped with mockery, like I was some cheap amusement in his grand performance.
My mouth went dry. I had been dreading this moment. I could feel the eyes on me — all of them — heavy with judgment.
"Just a couple," I said, my voice smaller than I intended, the words escaping before I could stop them.
The King's eyes narrowed.
"How many couples?"
His disbelief sliced through the air between us.
I hesitated. My throat tightened.
"Just... one," I whispered, raising my index finger — a single, trembling finger under the crushing weight of his disapproval.
"One? In the entire month?"
His voice rose to a furious bellow.
"We have a natural order to follow, fairy. You need to take your work seriously. And get that hair of yours back to normal immediately."
My emotions surged, but I forced myself to take a breath. No, Scarlette… you need to give people a chance. Explain your stand, I murmured to myself.
"But Your Majesty," I began, my voice steadying, "don't you think people should have the freedom to choose? To communicate? Maybe even break free from toxic relationships?"
Doverel's face flushed. She covered her eyes and stepped farther back into the group, distancing herself from me as blatantly as she could.
A murmur of disapproval swept through the court like wildfire. Elder Arisa's glare burned through me — judgmental, sharp, suffocating.
"Scar..." Doverel whispered, barely audible. "You should just apologize. It's better if you do."
"Apologize?" My voice cracked, sharp now, as the fury I'd been biting back finally bubbled to the surface. "No. Never."
The King's eyes darkened. He stepped toward me, slow and menacing.
"Scarlette, isn't it?"
His tone was low. Cold. A razor hidden in velvet.
"You will do as you are told. Stop questioning the way things are. Leave these matters to us royals. Your job is to ensure survival — not to stir rebellion or start a riot."
I froze at the weight of his words.
His gaze bore into me, gleaming with authority.
And in that moment, I knew — no one would stand up for me. Not a single fairy. Not even Doverel.
It was happening again. History was repeating itself.
They would accuse me of starting a riot. They wouldn't hear me out. They'd lock me up again and throw away the key.
I looked around the room — desperate for a flicker of solidarity. A glance. A nod. A whisper of support.
There was none.
They all looked at me like I was foolish. Delusional. Alone.
And it wasn't fear I saw in their eyes. It was judgment. Cold. Calculated. Final.
I had thought I could change them. Guide them. Protect them. Lead them toward something better.
But I was wrong.
These fairies — every last one of them — were no different from their king. They weren't worth protecting. They weren't worth ruling.
All of them were rotten to the core.
And King Baltimore? The greatest hypocrite of them all.
I now realized I had gotten it all wrong.
I didn't need to understand this new world or its rules.
I didn't need to gently navigate a broken system to spark change.
I needed power.
Pure. Unrestrained. Undeniable.
And I was going to take it.
They were all wrong. Every last one of them.
Well, King Baltimore…
If you've forgotten me, I'll remind you.
It didn't matter how many years had passed.
This was the moment.
This was the turning point.
"Hypocrites," I mocked as my eyes locked on his gaze.