Adrianna glared at Dmitri. He was well aware of the fact that if Fleur would be ousted as her personal guard, she would lose her immortality. Yet he was giving such a horrible solution.

She tried to prowl in his mind, but he had blocked her. She was frustrated now and heat flared up in her neck. She looked at Isidorus who was sitting there staring with a face as hard as stone. His expressions were unreadable.

​​

Fleur blinked her eyes and her throat bobbed. "I- I don't think that you can use that as a basis to remove me."

The leaf of the tattoo in her hand burned with pain as if Isidorus was getting mad at her silently. She clenched her hand tightly as the pain seared.

"You didn't have the guts to do what it takes to be her personal guard. You should have fought her or talked her out of it, but all you kept talking about was protocol. As the queen of the Wizard Kingdom, Adrianna doesn't belong to me or to you, she belongs to Isidorus, to Mihr, and to all the citizens of this place." Dmitri was unfazed by her shocked expressions as he continued, "You should have thought about all of us. However, all you did was to leave her there inside that bubble, while all of us on the outside wondered whether she was even safe or not."

"I know I could handle myself Dmitri," said Adrianna trying to reason with him. Did he think of her to be any less powerful than Rhys? She coughed slightly in a muffled way to show her shock.

"It's not that you can handle yourself Adri. We all know that you can handle yourself, but you are not answerable to yourself. You are answerable to all of us here." Dmitri crossed his arms across his chest and asked, "Tell me Adrianna, aren't you?"

"Y- yes," she stuttered.

Isidorus was listening with rapt attention, not moving even an inch around. If he was raging inside, one couldn't feel it on the outside. He broke his calm and in a with a cold, calculated voice said, "You do realize that if Fleur opts to not be Adrianna's personal guard, she would cease to be a witch."

Fleur turned her head sharply to look at Isidorus. She had a tight feeling in her chest as if something bad was about to happen. She struggled to find the right words as her mouth opened and then closed. Eventually she lightly held her neck in order to soothe herself from the onslaught of the emotions that were about to choke her.

Dmitri's face was a mask of cold calm.

Adrianna braced herself before saying, "She is Liam's mate Dmitri."

"That's not my problem," he replied. Flat, cold words. With a threat simmering beneath his calm. He looked at Isidorus who matched his cold demeanor. "Remember, Fleur is not opting out. We are removing her because she is incapable of being Adrianna's personal bodyguard. Because I as the King of the Wizard Kingdom wants her to be replaced by a Mozia, who is bound to the ruler of the Kingdom and not to Adrianna."

Fleur kept her hands on her mouth. Her face had paled. She had argued countless times with Liam not to leave her job. She had made her decision to marry Liam and that way, she would cease to be a witch but that would have been her decision. She would have exited in a dignified way. But this – this was outright insult. They doubted her capabilities and her reasoning. This was so debasing.

"You are just biased because Adrianna is your wife!" argued Fleur. "Just because you couldn't get into that bubble! Just because your fury kept rising while circling the periphery of that bubble." She stopped to look at Adrianna with eyes that held rage in them. "You have to stop him from dishonoring me in such a way."

But Adrianna ignored her and looked at her husband. Fleur is not opting out. We are removing her… She knew what he was doing, so she kept quiet.

"Silence!" Isidorus deep voice boomed in the hall.

Fleur cringed.

He looked at Fleur and said, "You should have broken the bubble to see Adrianna. Although this is extremely subjective, I have to look at the circumstantial evidence to come to a decision."

Dmitri and Adrianna nodded while Fleur got up from her seat, bowed and walked out of the hall – her walk of that of a confident warrior.

Isidorus also left soon after.

Adrianna looked at Dmitri and softly squeezed his hands. "I am sorry," she replied.

Dmitri slumped his shoulders and closed his eyes. "That was not as easy as I had thought."

By the time it was evening, the news came that Fleur had been discharged from her duties and Mozia had been appointed in place of her. Isidorus was quick with his decision.

When Adrianna came to know about it, she made a hasty visit to meet Fleur. Dmitri stopped her from going to meet her so soon but she didn't listen to him. She didn't even bother to ask as to who was her new bodyguard and while going to her house in the royal carriage she didn't even take a look at him.

When she reached her home, all the people inside were immediately alerted. There were two layers of security – one on the inside of the house premises and one on the outside.

Fleur's mother bowed and guided her to her room.

Her room was encased in darkness. Her mother waved her hand and dim lights burned from the corner. Adrianna found Fleur sitting on the yellow carpet with her head tucked in her knees as one finger tugged the soft threads. Her mother left.

"Fleur…"

"I was only following the protocol…" came a sad, distant voice.

"I know…" Adrianna walked to her in small steps.

"Why did he insult me like that?"

"Can I take a look at your hand?"

Fleur looked up at Adrianna. Adrianna's heart wrenched when she saw her red, tear-stricken face. She went and sat beside her and slowly lifted her limp left hand. The tree tattoo had disappeared. Her chin trembled. She hugged Fleur.

What happened to her existence as a witch? Was she a mortal now?