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152 The Price of Being Blamed
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2026-01-27 03:24:20
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Tempting the Wrong Prince 219 The Poison That Chose Its Targets 2
Arden’s POVRichard continued quickly, practical, like his mind had already shifted into protection mode.“She and I have eaten the same meals,” he said. “From the same kitchen. If it’s in my system, ”Then it could be in hers.The thought hit me so hard I felt it in my stomach.Cassy.In Richard’s wing.Already arrested.Already accused.Already trapped.Already vulnerable.If poison isn't found in her system, it would be another weapon against her. Another reason for the palace to claim she was involved. Another reason to bury her.Or worse, it could actually hurt her body.And that thought made something cold and violent rise in me.Silvia nodded immediately.“That’s reasonable,” she said. “I’ll send someone to your wing to get her sample. Just to be sure.”Richard’s jaw tightened. “No,” he said, and his tone carried an edge that made the nurse nearby flinch. “I’ll go.”Silvia hesitated. “Your Highness, ”Richard cut her off. “I’m not leaving her in that wing without knowing.”He d
Tempting the Wrong Prince 218 The Poison That Chose Its Targets
Arden’s POVThe corridor outside the ICU had its own kind of time.It didn’t move like normal time. It stretched and tightened and snapped back again depending on what the doors did, whether they opened, whether they stayed shut, whether a nurse walked out with a neutral expression or a doctor came out with a face that already carried the weight of a decision.People talked in low tones here. Even the security men lowered their voices instinctively, as if loudness might jinx survival. The air smelled like disinfectant and metal and stale coffee, an ugly cocktail of emergency and routine.Father was still behind the glass.Still hooked to machines.Still breathing, but not in a way that felt like control.And even though Silvia had earlier told us he was stable, the word stable didn’t comfort me the way it should have. Stable was what doctors said when they didn’t want you to panic. Stable was what they said when things could change in minutes.Richard stood near the observation panel
Tempting the Wrong Prince 217 The Call That Didn’t Need a Trace
Arden’s POVA revolution message sprayed on palace walls.My jaw tightened, but I forced my voice to remain steady.“What do you mean by that?” I asked.Roger’s laughter returned immediately, and this time it was almost delighted, like he enjoyed the way my question revealed interest.He didn’t answer directly.He laughed like a man who knew something and loved knowing it.“You don’t see it,” he said. “You don’t even understand how easy it will be.”I kept my voice calm, but there was a sharper edge now.“Explain,” I demanded.Roger chuckled, slow and cruel.“I don’t need to make the move to take the country,” he said. “Taking Eldenwald would be easy.”My blood ran colder.Because it wasn’t just a threat.It was confidence.The kind of confidence you had when you had already planted something.When you had already bought someone.When you already knew the doors were open.He kept talking, voice almost conversational, like he was discussing weather.“Especially with Queen Ivana’s help,
Tempting the Wrong Prince 216 The Call That Didn’t Need a Trace
Arden’s POVWaiting did something ugly to men like us.Not the ordinary kind of waiting, waiting for a meeting to start, waiting for a car to arrive, waiting for a delayed flight. I meant the kind of waiting that sat on your chest and pressed down until you couldn’t tell whether you were breathing or just surviving out of stubbornness.Waiting while a king lay in the ICU.Waiting while the palace tightened its locks and pretended everything was fine for the sake of optics.Waiting while the streets outside still smelled faintly of smoke and anger.Waiting while international news turned like a wheel and everyone’s fate changed with headlines.We had been in the palace hospital wing long enough for the fluorescent lights to start feeling personal. The kind of light that didn’t flatter anyone, didn’t soothe anyone, didn’t care who you were. It made princes look tired and queens look brittle and guards look like they were carved from stone and fear.Richard stood near the glass observati
Tempting the Wrong Prince 215 A Door That Shouldn’t Exist
Cassandra’s POVThe gazebo.That morning.The one where the king cornered me with that false calm on his face and those real threats underneath it. The one where he spoke to me like he was being generous while trying to erase me. The one where he offered me freedom, but only if I left Arden and disappeared quietly like I was something shameful. Like I was a stain that needed to be removed before it embarrassed the palace further.I had thought that conversation was private.I had thought at least that much belonged to me.But of course it didn’t.Nothing in this palace was private.Not grief.Not fear.Not love.Not even desperation.Aldrich watched my face as if he had been waiting for that exact reaction. His eyes narrowed just slightly, and I hated how observant he was. Hated how he stood there looking at me like a man studying a wound to see how deep he had cut. He did not rush. He did not need to. Men like him knew silence could do half the work.“She might think,” he said, “her
Tempting the Wrong Prince 214 A Door That Shouldn’t Exist
Cassandra’s POVGeneral Aldrich filled the corridor the second he stepped into it.Not loudly.Not with shouting.Just... completely.Like smoke creeping into a room.Quiet at first.Then all at once you realise you can’t breathe.He walked like a man who never had to ask for space. Like the palace itself already knew to move out of his way. His boots landed against the concrete floor in slow, measured steps, and every guard straightened the moment they saw him. Not out of respect. Out of fear. Like whatever authority existed down here began and ended with him.My mother’s crying dropped into shaky little breaths the second she saw him.My father’s jaw locked.And me?My stomach twisted so hard it hurt.Because I remembered him.Too well.Not as some official name.Not as some decorated man from court.I remembered him as the one who stood over my family when they were arrested before. I remembered the way he looked at us then. Calm. Cold. Like our lives were paperwork. Like whether w
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