LOGINElena's POVAfter Cassian left the North, he never came back.Some time later, word arrived from the Central Territories.The truth about the hunter attack had been made public.Sophia admitted she had falsely claimed credit for saving Cassian's life. I had not fled that night. I had deliberately drawn the hunters away.Her marriage to Cassian was dissolved, and my father sent her back to a minor branch of the Ashford family.Cassian took responsibility for passing judgment without investigating.The Elder Council was displeased.His reputation suffered.I read the letter through, folded it, and set it on the table.The news didn't leave me numb.But whatever I felt was so faint I could barely catch it.It was like reading about something that had once involved me but had drifted very far away.Snow began falling outside the window again.The sky in the North was nearly always overcast, and when the snow came, the entire castle grew especially quiet.I walked to the window and stood th
Elena's POVThe next day, I woke early.The dream from the night before hadn't truly pulled me back, but I slept lightly.Every time I closed my eyes, a phantom ache lingered in my abdomen, as if something had been torn open.I sat on the edge of the bed for a while, waiting for my breathing to even out before I got up to wash.At breakfast, I had little appetite.Rowan glanced at me a few times but said nothing. He only had Maren replace the cup of tea that had gone cold in front of me.That was when Mr. Hale came in."My lady, the guest from yesterday has returned."My hand stilled.He didn't need to say the name. I already knew.A wave of exhaustion swept over me almost at once.I had said everything I needed to say yesterday.I didn't know why Cassian had come back.Perhaps he still believed I was being stubborn, that sooner or later I would go back with him.The thought killed what little appetite I had left.I shook my head."I'll go see him."Better to end it once and for all.I
Elena's POVAfter arriving in the North, I started coughing from time to time.At first, it was only a tickle in my throat when I woke in the morning. I didn't think much of it.The cold was severe here, and the fire in my room burned nearly all night. I assumed I simply hadn't adjusted.Later, I coughed a few times during breakfast.Rowan looked up at me.I said it was just the heavy smell from the fireplace.He didn't press. Instead, he told Mr. Hale to switch the firewood in my room.I started to say that wasn't necessary.Rowan looked at me, and a flicker of warmth and gentle exasperation crossed his usually impassive face."You sleep in that room every night. There's no reason to keep being uncomfortable over something that can be fixed."Elena, you don't have to be afraid of troubling people."With that, he went back to reading.I held my teacup and sat very still.I had rarely spoken up about things like this before.If a banquet wore me out, a good night's sleep would fix it.I
Elena's POVThe North was even colder than I had imagined.On my third day in the Blackthorne domain, snow fell again outside the window.When I woke, a thin layer of frost coated the glass, but the fireplace inside the room was blazing.My maid, Maren Cole, came in with hot water and, seeing me still standing by the window in my dressing gown, immediately brought me a shawl."My lady, you'll catch a cold."I took it and draped it over my shoulders."Thank you."The wedding was already over.From the moment I set foot in the Blackthorne household, I became Rowan's wife.There was no lavish ceremony of the kind I had once daydreamed about, and none of the excitement of finally marrying the man I loved.I simply stood in the chapel, listened to the vows, and placed my hand in the hand of a man I barely knew.When the ceremony ended, Rowan released my hand almost at once.That night, he didn't come to my room.He only sent his steward, Owen Hale, to ask if I was tired from the journey and
Cassian's POVBy the time I returned to the manor, it was already dark.A servant took my coat without asking about the evening's plans, as he normally would.The entire hall fell quiet.I sat in the study, staring at the papers on the desk.Elena had never even had the chance to live in this house before I broke off our engagement and pushed her away.We hadn't known each other for very long.From the families' initial proposal to our engagement, it had been only about a year.She had only visited occasionally for banquets or to attend family events with me.Yet I was beginning to realize that, in that one year, she had understood me far better than I ever imagined.I didn't actually enjoy attending banquets. The pointless pleasantries always gave me a headache.And Elena had said,"If you don't want to stay too long, you can say I'm not feeling well and that you need to take me home early."I remembered being surprised.Most noble ladies would have wanted to use such occasions to sho
Cassian's POVAfter the wedding, I didn't go to Sophia.Everyone assumed I should go comfort my shaken wife first.After all, the attack had thrown the entire cathedral into chaos, and they had all seen how pale she was.But as I stood in the devastated hall, the image of her turning and running kept replaying in my mind.When the guns fired, she hadn't looked back.She hadn't checked whether I was safe.She had simply, instinctively, moved away from danger.That was perfectly normal.She was human.She feared the silver bullets, and she feared death.Any ordinary person in that situation would choose to protect themselves.So why couldn't I shake the unease lodged in my chest?"Reopen the investigation into the previous hunter attack."I told the guard.He stiffened."Sir, you mean...""Everything."Routes, the hunters' movements, and the position of every person who was there."The guard didn't ask any more questions.Before long, the report was in my hands.I took it and went back t






