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“I invited you all here,” she continued, “...because I need witnesses. So many witnesses, in fact, that there’s no way this can be covered up or lied about later.”
From somewhere across the room, Oleander heard the unmistakable sound of their father clearing his throat. Something flickered across Wisteria’s face—something like sadness. She glanced back at him, the briefest moment of vulnerability slipping through the cracks of her carefully constructed mask.
Her shoulders slumped as though the weight of the moment had finally hit her. Her expression grew melancholic, “Just once,” she said, voice filled with regret, “Just once, I wish you would have fought for me.”
The room hung in a frozen spell, each word from Wisteria sinking into the air like a heavy weight. Every syllable seemed to wrap itself around the guests, holding them captive. Oleander, equally entranced, watched as Wisteria shook off her hesitation. A smirk crept over her face.
She bent down unlacing her boots with deliberate slowness, wrenching them off and tossing them aside as she pulled off her socks as well crumpling them into her fists.
Asmodeus stood there, glaring at Wisteria with pure, unfiltered rage. Laurel stared wide-eyed, but gave her daughter a confident nod of approval.
Wisteria met her father’s gaze for a fleeting moment, then, with all her strength, hurled the socks at him with deadly precision, striking his face with a smack.
No one had expected it. The room erupted with gasps and muffled laughter, a strange mix of tension and amusement.
Asmodeus shouted something at Wisteria, but she only smirked. “Looks like someone cast a silencing bubble around you. Nobody’s going to have to listen to you speak for the rest of the night.”
Asmodeus lunged forward, making his way through the crowd toward her, intent on stopping whatever Wisteria had planned. But her eyes never left him—her face impassive as he drew nearer.
She nodded briefly to her mother, then Wisteria turned to her brothers. Her hands shook as she signed, >I’ll miss you, you idiots.I wish you would stay… Wisteria.No<, over and over, his face alight with terror. He broke into a run, but Wisteria remained high above him on the stage.
He wouldn’t reach her. But that didn’t stop him from trying. Hemlock sprinted toward her, his movements desperate.
Wisteria spared him one long, sad glance, then turned away, lifting her head high. She took a slow, calming breath.
Oleander froze, his eyes locked on her. She stood there, barefoot, arms outstretched, palms up—an image of calm before the storm. The room had gone completely still, and the only sound was Wisteria’s sigh, heavy and sad.
She glanced at her father once more. “I deserved so much better than you.”
The words were like a spark.
The air around her seemed to crackle, and then, with the suddenness of a dagger’s strike, Zila appeared in a blur of shadow. Wisteria leapt onto its back with roguish grace, and in one fluid motion, they disappeared into the water.
The crowd exploded into chaos, shouts and gasps echoing around the room as Wisteria made her escape.
The hellcat bounded toward a gathering of almost translucent water spirits, waiting for this very moment. Together, they lifted Wisteria from Zila’s back, and in an instant, the hellcat vanished into the shadows once again.
But Wisteria didn’t stop there.
Her body shifted and changed, her legs fusing together into a thick trunk that plunged deep into the sand. Her torso stretched out, elongating, until bright green leaves sprouted from her new branches. In seconds, lilac-blue flowers bloomed across the tree, their clusters drooping gracefully.
What had once been Wisteria was now a towering tree, swaying gently with the current. Water spirits swarmed around her, their glowing skin illuminating the flowers with an ethereal light.
And then—like a spell unraveling—the water walls fell. The crowd, caught in the rush of water, was swept toward the surface.
By the time Oleander and Perine had managed to claw their way to the shore, the weight of Wisteria’s actions hit him with full force. She defied their father in front of everyone.
And he had unknowingly helped her by giving her the book from Perine. He had played his part in her rebellion—in her flagrant refusal to be used by the Grand Dukes.
