[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-alpha-s-unwanted-bride":3,"chapter-the-alpha-s-unwanted-bride-the-alpha-s-unwanted-bride-chapter-704":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The Alpha's Unwanted Bride",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1497078,1945,"Chapter 704: TEN MILLION FIREFLIESS","the-alpha-s-unwanted-bride-chapter-704",704,"\u003Cp>THREE\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t run.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not that day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not the next.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stayed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that, I quickly learned, was the most dangerous choice of all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I forced myself to breathe through the panic that still sat like a blade under my ribs and did what survival had taught me long ago—I performed. I smoothed my face, softened my eyes, and let the fear drain from my posture until I looked like the same tired, grateful daughter they all expected me to be.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the servants returned, I let them in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I let them bathe me, dress me, brush my hair until it fell in gentle waves down my back. I smiled when they complimented my glow. I laughed softly when one of them said pregnancy suited me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All the while, I watched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I watched who spoke first when instructions were given and who waited for permission.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I watched who avoided my eyes when my father’s name was mentioned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fear wore many faces here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some hid it behind obedience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Others behind devotion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I noticed how information moved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Quiet murmurs passed from one servant to another, always upward, never sideways.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I noticed how quickly conversations ended when guards approached.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How doors were never quite left open unless they were meant to be overheard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn’t a home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When my father sent word asking how I felt, I replied just as carefully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Weak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still shaken.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Grateful for his concern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I let myself be seen resting, reclining on cushions with my hand over my belly, playing the part of a woman too fragile to question anything. When training was mentioned, I smiled apologetically and said perhaps in a day or two once my strength returned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside, I rehearsed my lies like prayers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’m tired.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’m dizzy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The baby needs rest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I repeated them until they sounded natural even to my own ears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But at night, when the castle quieted and the lamps dimmed, I became something else entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I listened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I pressed my ear to doors, lingered in corridors longer than necessary, learned which staircases echoed and which swallowed sound. I learned which guards rotated at which hours, which ones grew lax near dawn, which ones never did.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I started asking questions but never the dangerous ones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, I asked about supplies going missing. About patrols changing routes. About disturbances beyond the outer grounds. I let curiosity mask intent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are things safe outside the walls?\" I asked one maid casually while she folded linens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She stiffened. \"Of course, my lady.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another time, while a servant poured tea, I asked, \"Do the rebels really come this close?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cup rattled faintly against its saucer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I wouldn’t know,\" she said, eyes fixed firmly on the table. \"That’s not something we’re told.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was answer enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I asked about Sofia once, only once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I framed it gently, as if remembering a passing face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There was a maid,\" I said lightly, adjusting the blanket over my knees. \"Dark hair. Quiet. I thought she helped me the other night.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The servant’s smile froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There are many maids,\" she said carefully. \"Perhaps you’re mistaken.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t press.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because every time I drifted too close to the truth, the castle seemed to tighten around me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guards appeared where there had been none moments before. Servants became suddenly busy. Doors that had once been unlocked were now barred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were watching.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was when it truly sank in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This place didn’t just protect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It contained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And still, every night, I watched the window.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I waited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the fireflies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They never came.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Night after night passed in quiet disappointment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I would sit by the window long after the castle slept, my palm resting on the cool glass, searching the dark for even a single flicker of light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No glow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No movement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No whisper of guidance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I began to wonder if they had been a one time miracle. Or worse\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>if I had imagined them entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hope thinned, stretched fragile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If I couldn’t find the rebels, I couldn’t find Maelis.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If I couldn’t find Maelis, I couldn’t find the truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And if I couldn’t find the truth...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was trapped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The realization sat heavy in my chest, making it hard to breathe some nights.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I thought of my mother’s voice, telling me to reach out to bale and trust him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But how?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t leave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t ask.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And I couldn’t risk another disappearance—not now that I knew how quickly punishment followed suspicion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some nights, exhaustion won. I would fall asleep with my hand over my belly, whispering apologies to my child for the uncertainty I had brought them into.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’ll get us out,\" I promised again and again. \"I just need to know how.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Days passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too many.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, on a night when I had nearly convinced myself to abandon hope altogether, it happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was standing by the window, staring out at the empty grounds, preparing myself for another night of nothing when a flicker caught my eye.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just beyond the glass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A single point of light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then several.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fireflies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My breath hitched so sharply it hurt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They hovered near the window, pulsing softly, brighter than before, their glow steady and insistent as if they had been waiting for me to notice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My heart began to race.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I glanced over my shoulder instinctively, scanning the room for any sign of watchers. The door was closed. The corridor outside silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slowly, carefully, I stepped closer to the window.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fireflies drifted downward, moving with purpose now, trailing toward the edge of the grounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Come.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The message wasn’t spoken but it was clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My hand slid to my belly, fingers trembling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fear surged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But beneath it, something else stirred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Resolve.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn’t coincidence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn’t imagination.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a second chance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And I knew, with sudden clarity, that if I didn’t take it now, if I hesitated again, I might never get another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I turned away from the window and crossed the room, moving with quiet urgency.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was my escape\u003C\u002Fp>",1015,"2026-06-06T04:22:27.141Z",1,"novelbin.me","1169154d46c86646637e24b9848787f316dcd3d2238006277bf2412f2cd29c6e","the-alpha-s-unwanted-bride-chapter-651","the-alpha-s-unwanted-bride-chapter-703",728,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-alpha-s-unwanted-bride-cover.jpg"]