The Bride He Hates-Chapter 91: Enough!!

Emma’s screams echoed through the healing room. Her body arched off the bed, convulsing violently as vampire blood fought the human disease inside her.

"Her temperature is rising!" The healer shouted.

Emma’s skin turned red, then pale. Her breathing became ragged.

"It’s difficult to tell whether the vampire blood is fighting the infection or killing her." Sienna said.

"Shut up and help if you can!" Lyanna snapped, holding Emma’s hand. "Emma, I’m here. Hold on."

Emma’s body went rigid. For a moment, she stopped breathing. Then she gasped, and her eyes snapped open. The healer immediately rushed to examine her.

"The infection is gone." He said in disbelief. "Her temperature is normalizing. She is healing."

"She is still human, right?" Lyanna asked.

The healer examined Emma’s eyes, teeth, and vitals again to make sure.

"Yes. She is human. The vampire blood healed her without transforming her."

Lyanna almost collapsed from relief.

"Come with me." Azrael said, grabbing her arm, and taking her to their chambers.

"Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?" He asked the moment they stepped inside.

"I saved a child’s life."

"You experimented on a dying child!" Azrael shouted. "You had no idea what would happen! She could have died, could have transformed! You gambled with her life!"

"She was already dying!" Lyanna shouted back. "The healers gave up! What was I supposed to do? Just watch her suffer?"

"You can’t save everyone, Lyanna! A ruler has to make difficult choices! Has to..."

"Has to let children die for politics?" Lyanna cut him off. "Has to ignore suffering because helping might create complications? That’s what you wanted me to do?"

"I wanted you to think about the consequences. What happens now? Every dying human in our kingdom will demand vampire blood. We’ll have riots, political chaos..."

"So we should have let her die to avoid political chaos?" Lyanna asked. "Listen to what you are saying, Azreal!"

"I just want you to understand you can’t just do whatever your heart tells you without thinking about the implications!"

"My heart told me not to let a child die. I’m sorry if that doesn’t go with your governance strategy!"

"You have no idea what you’ve done. But you don’t care because you feel good about yourself. You have to be the hero who saved the child."

"And you wanted to be the king who let her die!" Lyanna shot back. "You wanted to maintain control even if it meant her death?"

"I wanted to make a rational decision instead of an emotional one!"

"She’s a child, Azrael! A child who deserved a chance to live."

"A chance you gave her by gambling on her life!" Azrael was burning with rage. "You just did what felt right and got lucky!"

"I did what was necessary when no one else would!" Lyanna shouted back. "I had to act because you were too busy being a king."

"Too busy being a king?" Azrael laughed bitterly. "I think you’ve forgotten I’m the king. I’m responsible for thousands of lives. I have to make difficult choices, but I guess you’re too human to understand that!"

"Too human?" Lyanna repeated in disbelief. "There’s the truth. I’m too human. I’m not strong enough to sacrifice people for power."

"I’m not talking about power. I’m talking about responsibility!" Azrael shouted. "The burden of deciding who lives and dies because you can’t save everyone. That’s what you don’t understand, because you think like a human!"

"And you only think about politics and control. You were stopping me because you knew it could create problems for you. You are a coward!"

"Coward?" Azrael laughed. "I’ve ordered executions, sacrificed soldiers, and made choices that killed people to save more people. Don’t you dare call me a coward just because I wanted to think before making a decision m!"

"And while you were thinking, she would have died!"

"And what if you’d killed her with your impulsive decision?" Azrael asked. "Would you still feel like a hero?"

"At least I would have tried."

"This is exactly what I feared. You still act on emotion without thinking. You’re reckless and impulsive, but you call it compassion."

The words hit her like a slap.

"I’m not impulsive or reckless. I’m just not as cruel as you."

"You think I’m cruel? I’ve built a kingdom where humans and vampires coexist, where humans aren’t just food, where vampires and humans are treated equally. But that doesn’t matter to you because I didn’t drop everything the second one child got sick!"

"You didn’t drop everything; you did nothing!" Lyanna shouted. "You were willing to let her die to avoid political chaos."

"And you were willing to risk killing her to make yourself feel better!" Azrael shouted back. "This isn’t about Emma. It’s about you. You saved her for yourself!"

"How dare you..."

"It’s true!" Azrael cut her off. "You couldn’t watch her die, so you did whatever you could to avoid that feeling. You acted to comfort your conscience."

"It was the right choice. She’s alive!"

"By luck!" Azrael shouted. "And now you’re judging me for wanting to be careful!"

"If being careful means letting children die, then I don’t want to be careful!"

"If you can’t prioritize the kingdom over your personal feelings, if you can’t think strategically instead of emotionally, you’re not fit to rule."

Lyanna laughed.

"Then maybe I shouldn’t be queen!" Lyanna smiled bitterly. "Maybe you need someone who thinks like you do, someone who’s a true vampire. Someone like..."

She stopped herself, but they both knew what she was about to say.

"Someone like Sienna." Azrael finished for her. "Go ahead. Say it. You’ve been thinking it for weeks."

"Yes." Lyanna replied. "Someone like her, who understands vampire society, thinks strategically, and won’t create political complications by trying to save lives. Maybe you should have married her instead of me!" Tears streamed down her face.

"I’m too human, emotional, and compassionate. I care too much about people and not enough about political strategy. I’m everything you don’t want."

"I didn’t mean..." Azrael struggled for words.

"I’m leaving tomorrow. I’m going to Valdris." Lyanna said as she wiped her tears.

"What?"

"I can’t stay with someone who sees my compassion as a flaw and my humanity as a weakness."

Lyanna left without waiting for his answer, leaving Azrael standing alone in their chambers.