Chapter 112: _ My Mate is a Thief

"Hey, look at me. Look at me, Elira." Ivar murmured, reaching out and pulling me forcibly into his arms. He wrapped his broad frame around me, burying his face in my hair as I violently shook against his chest.

I couldn’t. I couldn’t look at anything. I just buried my face in his tunic, sobbing.

"I’m sorry. I swear to you, I will tear down whoever did this. I will rip them apart with my bare hands." Ivar growled.

I forced my head up, and on my tear-streaked face was a burning humiliation and a murderous fury. My fingers dug so hard into his shoulders that my nails pinched through his leather vest.

"Who?" I choked out. "Ivar... who the hell did this to us?!"

Ivar’s jaw clenched so hard a muscle throbbed along his cheekbone.

"I don’t know who held the transmitting glass in the cloister, but I have a strong hunch who ordered it. I heard it was Vaela who set up that massive scrying screen in the Quadrangle. Which means it’s almost certainly Veyra’s doing."

"Veyra?" I rasped, wiping a tear from my cheek with the back of my hand.

"Vaela’s twin sister," Ivar spat with disgust. "She’s been pathologically obsessed with me since last year. She’s pulled insane, jealous stunts before, but this? This is her pathetic way of trying to ruin me—and get back at me for claiming you instead of giving her the time of day."

"Why on earth would a Dragon Princess go to such insane lengths?" I demanded, my hands clenched into tight fists against the silk sheets. "She ruined my entire reputation! She publicly humiliated me in front of the whole realm... just to get back at you?!"

Ivar winced, his eyes darting around the room as if searching the velvet drapes for a sudden escape hatch. He opened his mouth, closed it, and cleared his throat.

I knew that look.

"Ivar? Answer me."

"Well," he began cautiously, scratching the back of his neck, "to be entirely fair to Veyra... I might have slightly exploited her feelings for me during my second year."

"Slightly exploited? What does that even mean?!" I shrieked.

"Look, petal, what was I supposed to do?!" Ivar threw his hands up in self-defense, looking genuinely bewildered by my outrage. "Every noblewoman in this academy practically throws herself at my feet! They line up outside the Wolf Wing! Am I supposed to just stand there and ignore free mana? It’s practically sitting on a silver platter! I take them to bed, I sample a little fraction of their magic, and everybody walks away happy. Or, well... usually happy."

I stared at him in sheer disbelief. I knew the princes were arrogant, self-serving, and ruthless. But hearing Ivar casually describe his past romantic escapades like a farmer harvesting seasonal crops made my jaw hit the mattress.

"You used them!" I bellowed, poking him hard in the chest with my forefinger. "You used girls who genuinely liked you just to steal their abilities! Do you have any idea how messed up that is?!"

"We’re royal princes, Elira! We rule realms! We do whatever we like! Besides, they were the ones seeking me out. I never forced a single one of them into my bed." Ivar argued, catching my finger before I could bruise his sternum again.

"That doesn’t make it right, you idiot!" I snapped, pulling my hand back. "Consent to touch someone isn’t consent to treat them like a magical juice box! You weaponized their affection for your own gain. It’s trash behavior, Ivar. Utter, unmitigated trash!"

Ivar blinked, stunned into temporary silence. No one in his entire life had ever spoken to a Crown Prince of the Wolf Realm with such blistering disrespect. He looked down at his hands, then up at me. The cocky smirk vanished completely.

"I..." He rubbed his face, letting out a long breath. "I suppose... when you put it like that... it sounds a bit terrible."

"It sounds monstrous!"

"Alright! Alright, I get it!" Ivar raised his hands in surrender, looking genuinely chastised. "I promise I’ll change, okay? I’ll stop doing it. I’ll change for you, Elira."

I shook my head. "No. Don’t you dare say that. You don’t change for me, Ivar. You change because you realize being a predatory leech is a garbage way to live. You change for yourself."

Ivar held my gaze for a long moment. Slowly, a humble smile softened the hard lines of his jaw. "Fair point, little commoner. Then I promise to change for myself. Starting today."

He leaned in, capturing my mouth in a tender kiss that tasted of buttered bread. When he pulled back, a playful glint returned to his eyes. "Does this mean I get a gold star on my behavioral chart?"

"You get a gold star when you go a full week without infuriating me," I retorted, though the tightness in my chest finally began to thaw.

Then, like a bucket of ice water dumped over my head, reality crashed back in.

The trial.

My heart plummeted into my shoes. "Oh gods."

"What?" Ivar asked, his brow furrowing as I scrambled out from under the heavy blankets.

"Prince Raice! Tobin’s case! Headmistress Maisie!" Panic seized my vocal cords, making my voice pitch embarrassingly high. "We were supposed to testify yesterday! Maisie threatened to expel Bren, Miriel, and me if we didn’t lie for her! My friends had no idea what to do, and I was supposed to tell them that Prince Ajax promised to protect us..."

I paused, slapping a hand over my mouth.

Ivar’s eyes narrowed instantly, his wolfish instincts flaring to life. "Wait. Back up. Did you just say Ajax?"

"I... uh..."

"Why in the hells is the High Prince of the Lion Realm giving my mate his personal protection?" Ivar stood up from the bed, his possessive aura flaring. "Elira. What aren’t you telling me?"

"It’s a really long story!" I stammered, frantically looking around for my ruined tunic before remembering it was probably in pieces on the cloister floor.

"I told my roommates yesterday morning that I was just running to the laundry chutes. Then you showed up, kidnapped me with your mouth, marked me, and I ended up sleeping in your bed for sixteen hours! If Bren and Miriel went to that tribunal without me, they might have lied to save their skins—or worse, gotten executed for defying Maisie!"