The Moon Cursed Princess And The Three Forbidden Beasts

Princess Veyra Lunareth had everything. A crown waiting for her. A kingdom that adored her. A father she worshipped. A mother whose memory she treasured. A younger sister she trusted with her deepest secrets. And a fiancé she believed would love her until the end of their lives. She had spent her entire life believing that nothing could take those things away from her. She was wrong. On the most important day of her life, Veyra stood before thousands of people, dressed in white and waiting to receive the crown she had been destined to wear since birth. The bells rang. The nobles smiled. The people cheered. Her father looked at her with pride. Her sister stood nearby, wiping away tears of happiness. Her fiancé held her hand. Veyra smiled. She thought this was the moment her life would finally become perfect. She had imagined this day countless times. As a little girl, she had watched her father sit upon the throne and wondered what it would feel like to carry the weight of an entire kingdom upon her shoulders. Her mother had once told her that a crown was beautiful only from a distance. Up close, it was heavy. Veyra had never understood those words. Not until that day. She looked across the cathedral and saw familiar faces everywhere. People she had helped. People she had protected. People who had once called her their hope. Their cheers made her heart swell with happiness. She squeezed her fiancé's hand. He smiled at her. For one brief moment, Veyra felt completely safe. Then the pain began. Something burned beneath her skin. Veyra's smile disappeared. She looked down. A strange black mark was slowly appearing on her body. A crescent moon. Black as night. At first, she thought it was some kind of illusion. She rubbed her skin. The mark remained. Then it spread. A sharp pain pierced through her chest, stealing the breath from her lungs. Veyra stumbled. “Princess!” Someone shouted her name. The music stopped. The bells outside continued ringing, but suddenly they sounded distant. Veyra lifted her trembling hand. She could feel everyone's eyes on her. The moment everyone saw it, the celebration died. Silence swallowed the cathedral. Then came the screams. People backed away from her. Guards reached for their weapons. The priests began praying. And the father who had once told Veyra that he would always protect her suddenly looked at her as though she were something inhuman. “Don't come any closer.” Veyra froze. “Father?” He didn't answer. His eyes remained fixed on the mark. There was fear in them. Not the ordinary fear of a father worried about his daughter. Something deeper. Something Veyra couldn't understand. Her sister was crying. Her fiancé was staring at her. Her friends were whispering. The nobles were already demanding blood. Veyra looked from one familiar face to another, desperately searching for someone who would say they knew her. Someone who would defend her. Someone who would say this had to be a mistake. No one did. The woman who had stood beside her moments ago suddenly stepped away. A friend who had laughed with her that morning refused to meet her eyes. A nobleman Veyra had personally helped during a famine pointed at her and called her cursed. The same people who had cheered her name now whispered it with hatred. That was the moment Veyra realized something far more terrifying than the mark on her skin. She was alone. And whatever had appeared on her body had changed everything. The girl who had been loved by an entire kingdom only moments ago suddenly became the person everyone wanted dead. But why? What was the Black Moon? Why had it appeared on Veyra? And why did the people closest to her seem almost prepared for it? There was something in their eyes that frightened her. It wasn't simply fear. It was recognition. As though they had been waiting for this moment. As though Veyra was the only person who didn't know what was happening. She wanted to ask questions. She wanted someone to explain. But every answer seemed to disappear behind frightened faces and cold silence. Even the cathedral that had been prepared to celebrate her coronation now felt like a place of judgment. The crown she had dreamed of receiving suddenly seemed impossibly far away. The future she had imagined only minutes ago was crumbling before her eyes. Veyra didn't know the answers. Not yet. She only knew one thing. The life she thought she knew was about to disappear. And the greatest betrayal of her life… was only beginning. Because sometimes, the people standing closest to you are the ones who know exactly where to place the knife. And sometimes, the person everyone fears… isn't the monster at all.