Chapter 21:zerach has grown distant again

Daphne didn’t sleep that night.

Even after Rosa left her chamber, the air seemed to hum with danger, thick and poisonous. The sound of Rosa’s laughter echoed in her head, that wicked melody of triumph that stripped away every illusion of peace she’d clung to.

Rosa had spoken her truth — cruel, fiery, and venomous — and Daphne could no longer deny it.

She had come not as a daughter, not as a healer of wounds past… but as vengeance wrapped in silk.

The next morning dawned gray and heavy. Rain lashed against the palace windows as if the heavens themselves grieved for what was coming. Daphne sat before her mirror, her reflection pale and hollow-eyed.

She should tell Zerach.

She should warn him.

But how?

Every time she imagined the words leaving her lips, they turned to ash.

Your daughter wants to destroy us. She blames you for her mother’s death.

Would he even believe her?

No — Rosa had woven herself too perfectly into his heart. The dutiful daughter, the repentant soul, the gentle reminder of his lost love. He would see Daphne’s words as jealousy, not truth.

Still, she had to try.

When Zerach entered her chamber that evening, Daphne rose to meet him. The firelight gilded his skin in warm gold, but his eyes were shadowed — burdened, weary.

“You sent for me?” he asked, his tone gentle but distant.

Daphne hesitated, her fingers twisting in her gown. “Zerach… there’s something I need to tell you. About Rosa.”

Immediately, his expression hardened. “What of her?”

She swallowed. “She’s not what she seems. She—”

“Enough.”

The single word cracked through the room like thunder.

Zerach turned from her, his hands curling at his sides. “I’ve heard enough of this jealousy. Do you think I don’t see it? You’ve accused her before, searched her chambers, questioned her loyalty. What more do you want, Daphne?”

Tears burned behind her eyes. “I only want the truth.”

“And so does she,” he snapped. “She came here broken — my child — seeking forgiveness, and you treat her like an enemy.”

“She is an enemy!” Daphne burst out, her voice trembling. “She hates us both! I went to the village she came from, Zerach. I spoke to those who knew her mother. Fatima died cursing your name. Rosa is here to finish what she started!”

The words struck him like a blow.

For a long moment, silence hung between them — heavy, suffocating.

Then his voice came, low and cold. “You went where?”

“I had to know the truth—”

“You had no right,” he said sharply. “You went digging into my past like a spy, like you don’t trust me.”

Daphne’s heart twisted. “I did it because I love you!”

But her cry fell against stone. Zerach’s face was unreadable now, his fury barely contained.

“I will speak with Rosa myself,” he said finally, turning toward the door. “And I pray you are wrong, Daphne… because if you’re not, then I am the fool who brought ruin into his own home.”

But when he found Rosa, she was already prepared.

She was sitting in the courtyard beneath the rain, her cloak wrapped around her shoulders, her face pale and wet — from tears, not weather.

“Father?” she whispered when he approached. “Is it true? Did she tell you I want to destroy you?”

Zerach froze. “You know?” No

Rosa smiled bitterly. “Of course I do. The servants whisper. They say the queen calls me poison. That she wishes I’d never come.”

Her voice broke, soft and trembling. “I tried, Father. I tried to love her — to make peace. But she’ll never forgive me for being my mother’s child. I can’t change who I am.”

Zerach’s anger faltered. He reached for her shoulder. “Rosa—”

“She hates me,” Rosa whispered. “And she’s trying to turn you against me. Just like she’s turned the court. They all look at me like I’m cursed.”

Her hand lifted to his chest, her tears glistening like diamonds. “All I ever wanted was a father. All I ever wanted was you.”

Zerach closed his eyes. The storm within him softened. “You have me,” he said quietly. “You always will.”

And just like that… Rosa had won.

The next morning, Daphne found herself alone at breakfast.

No summons from the king.

No message.

No word.

The silence was louder than any accusation.

When she entered the hall later that day, the courtiers bowed — but none met her eyes. The whispers had already begun.

The queen is losing her mind.

She’s jealous of the king’s daughter.

She’s dangerous.

And Rosa — always watching from the shadows — smiled.

Each time Daphne tried to reach Zerach, Rosa was already there: serving him wine, attending his council, kneeling beside him like a perfect reflection of loyalty.

Days turned to weeks, and the palace that once felt like home became a cage.

Rosa’s poison wasn’t in the food — it was in the hearts of those around her.

Even the servants who once adored Daphne now hesitated to meet her gaze.

One night, as she sat alone by the window, Daphne whispered to the darkness, “She’s winning.”

And somewhere in the halls below, Rosa’s laughter echoed softly, cruel and triumphant.

But Rosa had made one mistake.

She thought she had broken Daphne’s will.

What she didn’t know was that the queen still had a secret of her own — something hidden deep in the ancient archives, something that could tear down Rosa’s web of lies once and for all.

And for that truth… Daphne would risk everything.

The rain had not stopped for days.

It fell in endless silver sheets across the dark towers of the palace, washing the courtyards clean but leaving Daphne’s heart heavy and unquiet.

Every breath she took seemed to taste of betrayal.

Zerach had grown distant again, his time spent in long councils or in the company of Rosa, who now drifted through the palace like a shadow turned to light — obedient, soft-spoken, endlessly attentive.

And everyone loved her.

The guards bowed deeper when she passed.

The servants smiled when she entered.

Even Zerach’s laughter — rare and deep — had returned to the halls whenever Rosa stood beside him.

But Daphne saw what others didn’t. The cold calculation behind those soft eyes. The faint, mocking smile that bloomed only when she thought no one was looking.

Daphne had sworn to find the truth — and she would.