The chamber suddenly went deathly silent. The ministers stared at her as if she'd grown wings. Madam Yuwen gasped and clutched her chest, which was aching painfully.
"Don't say that!" Duke Yuwen snapped, his voice cracking under the weight of fear. "You are our only daughter. You will not throw your life away for a man you do not know!"
" I would rather die than stay here," Yueshuang resolutely spoke up, her voice trembling now but still steady, "If you do not let me go, I will end it myself tonight. You will lose me either way."
" My child, listen to me..." Madam Yuwen reached for her, but Yueshuang stepped back avoiding her like she was a plague.
"You think I don't understand?" Yueshuang's eyes shone like molten silver as her hands clenched at her sides. "I understand more than you ever will. I am not afraid of him. I am not afraid of his clan. I am only afraid of rotting here, living a life that isn't mine."
Her mother's knees buckled, defeated, "Please… please, Shuang'er… don't say such things…"
Yueshuang's vision blurred for a moment; a sharp, pulsing ache gripped her chest. Her breath came shallow, but she straightened, forcing her voice to remain calm.
"I will marry him," she said again, her voice low this time. "This is my choice and not yours."
Then the world suddenly tilted, and the faces around her smeared into colors. Her knees hit the polished floor as a cold sweat broke across her skin.
"Shuang'er!" Madam Yuwen cried, rushing forward.
Yueshuang tried to speak, but only a faint whisper escaped her lips, words none of them could understand. Her eyes fluttered shut, her body going limp in her mother's arms.
"Call the physician!"
"Quickly!"
The hall erupted into chaos as Duke Yuwen stood there frozen, his heart hammering in his chest heavily. For the first time, he saw a resolve in his daughter's face. He felt so helpless and wondered what this Alpha truly had.
Outside, the crimson moon rose higher over the Silver Fang palace, spilling its blood-red light across the windows like a silent omen.
The doors burst open a few moments later. A healer in silver robes hurried in, his attendants carrying small chests of herbs and glowing stones.
"Make space!" he ordered quickly, kneeling beside Yueshuang's still body. His hands moved with precision, checking her pulse, feeling her forehead, and pressing a hand against her heart.
"She's burning up," the healer murmured, checking her from one point to the other, but there's no fever… did her heart condition worsen in these few past days?"
" Nooo..."
Yueshuang was born with a weak constitution; she was raised with great care, and now knowing how stubborn she was for this love, they were lost. Yes, because of her weak heart, they always kept her within the clan and mansion.
But to her, it seemed to have become a cage.
The healer's brow furrowed deeper. His fingers hovered above Yueshuang's chest, not quite touching, as though an invisible force warned him away.
A faint shimmer rippled beneath her skin, a pale silver glow, fleeting and strange, and then it vanished.
"What was that?" one of the attendants gasped.
The healer didn't answer immediately. He just pressed his palm against her sternum, then hissed softly, jerking his hand back.
A current, cold and sharp, had bit into his flesh.
"Her pulse is there… but irregular, and fleeting," he murmured pressing his fingers to feel the pulse, "It's as if her heart… fights against itself."
Madam Yuwen's voice trembled as she looked at her baby lying there silently. "What are you saying? Speak plainly!"
The healer looked up, his face pale. "It means her body is rejecting its own rhythm. The heart's flow of energy is disrupted, as though something inside her chest no longer obeys the natural order."
A silence fell, broken only by the whisper of burning incense.
"She was born weak," Duke Yuwen said lowly, half to himself. "We feared this day would come. Her heart has never been steady since birth. But I didn't expect it to be so soon!"
He hasn't had enough time with he is daughter, but now, he might truly lose her.
The healer's expression darkened faintly, "This is not simple frailty, my lord. I have never seen anything like this. It is not sickness, yet it devours her strength like one."
He leaned closer, listening to her heartbeat.
Each pulse echoed with a faint hum, not human, low, resonant, and deep. The air itself seemed to quiver.
"Fetch the Heart Lotus Elixir," he ordered the guards sharply, " And the cooling talisman. Her heart is overheating from within."
Madam Yuwen held Yueshuang's hand, tears slipping freely... "Shuang'er… please… don't do this to me." They had managed to have only one child and three adopted brothers.