Chapter 16.The choice to fight for myself

The palace was quieter the following morning, and for once, I woke without the immediate feeling that something terrible was about to happen.

For a few seconds, I stayed beneath the blankets, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling while my mind slowly adjusted to where I was. Pale sunlight slipped through the curtains, spreading across the floor in narrow lines, while the distant sounds of servants moving through the palace reminded me that the day had already begun.

Then everything came back to me.

The palace. Adrian. My mother's records. The royal library. The accident from eleven years ago.

I pushed myself upright and rubbed my eyes.

There were mornings when I wished waking up could erase everything that had happened the day before. This was one of them.

Unfortunately, I had a feeling the palace wasn't going to give me that kind of peace.

A knock sounded against the door.

"Come in."

One of the maids entered carrying a basin of warm water and a breakfast tray. She placed both carefully on the small table near the window before turning toward me.

"Good morning, my lady."

"Good morning."

"His Highness sent word that you are expected at breakfast."

I glanced at the tray.

"Expected?"

She nodded politely.

"His Majesty and Her Majesty will be present."

The King and Queen.

My stomach immediately tightened.

I had known I would eventually meet them, but knowing something was going to happen and actually facing it were two very different things.

"Thank you," I said.

The maid gave a small bow before leaving.

I waited until the door closed, then let out a slow breath.

Meeting the Queen wasn't something I had been looking forward to. She was one of the few people in the novel whose intentions I had never been able to understand. She had never openly mistreated Seraphina, but she had also remained distant whenever trouble began to surround her.

That had always bothered me.

Now I was going to sit across from her at breakfast and pretend I wasn't carrying years of secrets inside my head.

I dressed carefully, choosing a pale-blue gown instead of anything too elaborate. I wanted to look presentable without attracting more attention than necessary. My hair fell loosely over my shoulders, and after a moment of hesitation, I placed the silver pendant around my neck.

The pendant my mother had supposedly given me before my accident.

I still didn't understand why it mattered so much, but after everything that had happened, I didn't feel comfortable leaving it behind.

When I opened the door, a guard was waiting outside.

"Lady Seraphina."

I nodded.

"Is Adrian coming?"

The guard hesitated for a moment.

"His Highness is already in the dining hall."

I followed him through the eastern corridor.

The palace looked completely different in the morning. Sunlight poured through the tall windows, illuminating the marble floors and the enormous paintings hanging along the walls. Servants moved between rooms carrying trays, folded clothing, and stacks of documents, while guards remained stationed at every major entrance.

People still watched me.

Some tried to hide it behind polite smiles, while others didn't bother pretending.

I couldn't blame them.

The Crown Prince had returned from the Vale estate with his fiancée beside him, and I had a feeling everyone in the palace had already created their own explanation for it.

Lady Seraphina had suddenly changed.

Lady Seraphina had been involved in an attack.

Lady Seraphina had returned to the palace because she was plotting something.

By the end of the week, they would probably have invented something even worse.

The thought almost made me laugh.

When we reached the dining hall, the guard opened the doors.

Adrian was already seated at one side of the long table.

He looked up when I entered, and something about his expression softened.

"You came."

I raised an eyebrow.

"You sound surprised."

"I wasn't sure whether you would."

"Why wouldn't I?"

He glanced toward the empty seats around the table.

"Because you don't enjoy being surrounded by people you don't trust."

"I don't," I admitted as I pulled out the chair beside him. "But I'm learning to survive uncomfortable situations."

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"That's a useful skill."

I sat down.

For a moment, the room was peaceful.

Adrian reached for his tea, and I noticed that he looked more tired than he had the previous evening.

"You look exhausted."

"So do you."

"I slept."

"Good for you."

He gave me an amused look.

"I was awake for most of the night."

I turned toward him.

"Why?"

"I was reviewing the reports from yesterday."

"Did you find anything?"

"No."

His answer was simple, and strangely enough, I wasn't disappointed.

I was beginning to understand that not every search ended with a dramatic discovery. Sometimes you looked through documents for hours and found nothing useful. Sometimes the answer you wanted simply wasn't there.

That was probably something I needed to learn if I was going to survive this place.

The dining hall doors opened before I could say anything else.

The King entered first.

He was older than I had imagined, with dark hair touched by gray and a serious expression that made it easy to understand why people listened when he spoke. The Queen walked beside him in a deep green gown, her dark hair arranged neatly beneath a delicate silver crown.

Adrian stood.

I followed.

We bowed.

"Your Majesties."

The Queen's eyes settled on me.

She studied me for several seconds, not rudely, but carefully enough that I became aware of every movement I made.

"Lady Seraphina."

"Your Majesty."

She looked at Adrian before taking her seat.

"Please sit."

We did.

Breakfast began quietly.

For the first few minutes, nobody spoke. I tried to focus on my food, although I had little appetite. The silence felt heavier than it should have, and I found myself wondering whether the royal family always ate in such a serious atmosphere.

Eventually, the Queen placed her cup down.

"I understand you will be staying at the palace."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"For how long?"

I hesitated.

"I don't know yet."

Her eyebrows lifted slightly.

"That is an unusual answer."

I almost smiled.

"I don't have a better one."

Across from me, Adrian lowered his gaze, and I suspected he was hiding a smile.

The Queen didn't react.

Instead, she turned toward her plate again.

I wasn't sure whether I had passed some kind of test or simply made things awkward.

A moment later, she looked directly at me again.

Her eyes had moved to the pendant around my neck.

"Where did you get that?"

My hand instinctively moved toward it.

"My mother gave it to me."

"Victoria?"

"Yes."

Something changed in the Queen's expression.

It was small enough that I might have missed it if I hadn't been watching her carefully.

She looked away.

"It is nothing."

Adrian noticed as well.

"My mother?"

The Queen shook her head.

"We can discuss it another time."

I wanted to ask what she meant, but I held my tongue.

Not because I wasn't curious.

Because I had learned that asking the wrong question in front of the wrong person could sometimes close a door instead of opening one.

The King finally spoke.

"Adrian tells me you have been asking questions about the old royal investigations."

I glanced at Adrian.

He didn't look uncomfortable.

"I have."

"Why?"

There were several answers I could have given him.

I could have said that I was curious.

I could have said I wanted to understand my mother's work.

Instead, I decided honesty would be safer.

"My mother was involved in one of them."

The King studied me.

"Victoria was curious about many things."

"I know."

"And you believe her investigation has something to do with your accident?"

I paused.

"I don't know."

That was the only honest answer I could give.

"I only know she was investigating people connected to the Order before I fell."

The atmosphere changed.

The Queen's hand stopped briefly above her plate.

The King noticed.

So did Adrian.

Nobody spoke for several seconds.

Finally, the King said, "The Order of the Veiled Moon is considered a closed matter."

I looked at him.

"By whom?"

His expression hardened slightly.

"By the crown."

"But if it isn't closed?"

"Then whoever believes otherwise should bring evidence."

His voice remained calm, but there was no invitation to argue.

I nodded.

"I understand."

The Queen looked at me.

"Do you?"

There was something almost challenging in the question.

I met her gaze.

"I understand that suspicion isn't enough."

She studied me for another moment before looking away.

"Good."

The rest of breakfast passed without anything else being said about the Order.

When it ended, Adrian walked with me into the corridor.

"You handled that well."

I looked at him.

"I thought I was going to choke on my breakfast."

He laughed softly.

"You didn't show it."

"I was suffering internally."

"I noticed."

I stopped walking.

"You did?"

"Your hand kept tightening around your fork."

I glanced down at my hand as though the evidence might still be there.

"I didn't even realize I was doing that."

"I did."

I shook my head.

"You notice too much."

"It's part of my job."

"Is noticing when someone is nervous really part of being Crown Prince?"

"Sometimes."

We continued down the corridor.

After a few moments, I lowered my voice.

"Your mother reacted to my pendant."

"I noticed."

"She said it was nothing."

"Which usually means it wasn't."

I looked at him.

"You've been around her too long."

"Probably."

His answer made me smile.

We reached a balcony overlooking the palace gardens.

Adrian opened the door and stepped outside.

"You said you wanted to see the gardens."

"I did."

"Then come."

I followed him.

The gardens stretched below us in neat rows of roses, flowering trees, and stone paths. A fountain stood in the center, its water catching the sunlight as it fell into the pool below.

For several minutes, neither of us spoke.

I leaned against the railing.

It was strange how peaceful the palace could look from a distance.

If someone had shown me a painting of this place before I entered the novel, I would have imagined that living here would be wonderful.

I wouldn't have imagined how lonely it could feel.

"Did you always live here?" I asked.

"Most of my life."

"Do you like it?"

Adrian considered the question.

"Sometimes."

I turned toward him.

"That's not a very convincing answer."

He smiled.

"The palace is home, but it has never really felt private."

I understood immediately.

Every room belonged to someone. Every corridor had servants and guards. Every conversation could potentially be overheard, and every mistake made by a member of the royal family could become gossip before the day was over.

"Do you ever want to leave?"

"Sometimes."

"Where would you go?"

He looked toward the horizon.

"Somewhere nobody knows my name."

I smiled.

"That sounds nice."

"What about you?"

I looked at him.

"What about me?"

"If you could go anywhere right now, where would you go?"

The answer came to me before I could stop it.

Home.

But I wasn't sure what home meant anymore.

The home I had known before this life belonged to another world. My apartment, my clothes, my phone, the ordinary things I had once complained about without appreciating them, all of it was gone.

"I don't know," I admitted.

Adrian didn't press me for an answer.

Instead, he leaned against the railing beside me.

"You'll figure it out."

"I hope so."

The breeze moved through my hair.

For a while, I allowed myself to enjoy the quiet.

There were no questions about the Order.

No mysterious letters.

No memories forcing their way into my mind.

Just the two of us standing in a palace garden.

It was almost normal.

I liked that.

Footsteps sounded behind us.

Adrian and I turned at the same time.

A young woman stood at the entrance to the balcony.

She wore a simple cream-colored dress, and her brown hair was tied loosely behind her.

I recognized her immediately.

Evelina.

She looked relieved when she saw me.

"Seraphina."

Adrian's expression became guarded.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for her."

"Why?"

Evelina glanced at me.

"I need to speak with her."

Adrian didn't move.

"You can speak in front of me."

She hesitated.

I noticed the way she glanced toward the corridor before answering.

"It concerns your mother."

That immediately got my attention.

"What about her?"

Evelina looked around the balcony.

"Not here."

Adrian's voice remained calm.

"Then we'll find somewhere private."

We moved to a smaller sitting room nearby.

Once inside, Evelina closed the door.

She remained standing for a moment before finally sitting across from me.

I looked at her.

"Tell me."

She took a breath.

"I heard you came to the palace."

"I did."

"And I heard you found your mother's records."

I frowned.

"Who told you?"

"No one."

"Then how do you know?"

Evelina looked uncomfortable.

"Because someone has been asking about them."

Adrian leaned forward.

"Who?"

"I don't know."

His expression hardened.

"That's not very useful."

"I know."

She looked frustrated with herself.

"I only heard two servants talking yesterday. They said someone had asked whether Lady Victoria's old files had been moved from the royal library."

I exchanged a glance with Adrian.

"Did they say who?"

"No."

"Did they mention a name?"

"No."

I leaned back.

It wasn't much information, but I didn't want to make it more important than it was.

Someone had asked about my mother's records.

That didn't automatically mean the Order was involved.

It didn't even mean the person was dangerous.

"What else did you hear?" I asked.

Evelina hesitated.

"I wanted to warn you about the Queen."

Adrian's expression changed immediately.

"Be careful with what you say."

"I am."

Evelina lowered her voice.

"Your mother trusted her once."

I frowned.

"What happened?"

"I don't know."

"Then why tell me?"

"Because your mother stopped trusting her afterward."

The words stayed with me.

I wanted to ask more, but Evelina shook her head.

"I don't want to tell you something I can't prove."

I appreciated that answer.

At least she understood the difference between a fact and a suspicion.

"Then tell me what you know for certain."

Evelina thought for a moment.

"Your mother and the Queen worked together during the investigation into the Order."

Adrian looked at her.

"How do you know?"

"My father served in the palace at the time. He told me they were close."

"Your father?"

"Yes."

I remembered that Evelina's family had connections to the palace, although I hadn't paid much attention to that part of her story when I was reading the novel.

"Why did they stop working together?" I asked.

Evelina shook her head.

"I don't know."

There was no dramatic explanation.

No secret hidden beneath the floor.

Just another question without an answer.

Oddly enough, I preferred it that way.

I had spent enough time chasing mysteries that led to even more mysteries.

Adrian stood.

"Thank you for telling us."

Evelina nodded.

Before she left, she looked at me.

"Seraphina."

"Yes?"

"Don't let the palace make you forget who you are."

I smiled faintly.

"I won't."

She left.

I remained seated for a while after the door closed.

Adrian stood near the window, looking toward the courtyard.

"Do you trust her?"

"I don't know."

"That's fair."

I looked at him.

"Do you?"

He was quiet for a moment.

"More than before."

I smiled.

"That's progress."

He glanced at me.

"You sound pleased."

"I am."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want everyone to be an enemy."

His expression softened.

"Neither do I."

The rest of the day passed more quietly than I expected.

I returned to the library after lunch and spent several hours reading my mother's records.

There were no dramatic discoveries.

Most of the documents contained investigation notes, lists of names, dates, and observations. Some were so ordinary that I wondered why anyone would have bothered hiding them.

But as I read, I began to understand my mother better.

She hadn't simply been searching for the Order.

She had been trying to understand why certain people disappeared and later returned without memories. She had questioned why witnesses sometimes changed their stories and why certain families appeared to have connections that went back generations.

Whenever something didn't make sense, she had written a question in the margin.

Sometimes, however, her notes weren't about investigations at all.

One page contained a short sentence.

Ask Richard before making a decision.

Another said:

Seraphina doesn't like storms. Keep her inside tonight.

I smiled when I read that one.

It was such an ordinary thing to find among pages filled with dangerous investigations.

Then I reached another note.

She finally learned to read the old language. She was so proud of herself.

I stopped.

I read it again.

Something warm settled in my chest.

I could almost imagine my mother writing it.

Not as an investigator.

Not as someone trying to uncover a dangerous organization.

Just as a mother who was proud of her daughter.

I placed my fingers against the page.

The feeling was unexpected.

I had spent so much time trying to uncover Victoria's secrets that I had forgotten she had been a person before she became part of the mystery.

She had loved me.

She had worried about me.

She had probably watched me grow up while carrying fears I didn't know existed.

That thought hurt.

But it also made me feel closer to her.

I closed the file and sat quietly for a moment.

Maybe I didn't need to know everything today.

Maybe understanding her slowly was better than turning her entire life into another puzzle.

The library door opened.

Adrian entered.

He looked at the stack of papers on the table.

"You're still here."

I smiled.

"I lost track of time."

"I noticed."

"How?"

"I sent someone to find you an hour ago."

I looked at him.

"Why didn't they tell me?"

"They said you threatened to throw a book at them."

I stared.

"I did not."

"They may have exaggerated."

"Definitely."

He smiled.

"Dinner is starting."

I gathered my papers.

"All right."

As we walked toward the dining hall, Adrian glanced at the pendant around my neck.

"You've been wearing it all day."

"Yes."

"Does it feel different?"

I touched it.

"No."

"Good."

I looked at him.

"Why?"

"Because yesterday it reacted when you remembered the balcony."

I thought about that.

The pendant was cold against my skin now, no different from any ordinary piece of jewelry.

"Maybe it only reacts when something happens."

"Maybe."

Neither of us tried to turn the possibility into another theory.

We continued walking.

When we entered the dining hall, I immediately noticed that the King and Queen weren't there.

Adrian looked toward the empty seats.

"Where are my parents?"

A servant bowed.

"The King was called away to a council meeting. Her Majesty is resting."

Adrian nodded.

We took our seats.

Dinner was quieter than breakfast.

I was grateful.

Halfway through the meal, Adrian leaned slightly toward me.

"Tomorrow, I want to take you somewhere."

I looked at him.

"Where?"

"The old training grounds."

I almost laughed.

"Why?"

"You said you wanted to learn how to defend yourself."

"I did."

"Then we'll start."

I studied him.

"You're going to teach me?"

"If you want me to."

"I thought princes had people for that."

"I do."

"Then why you?"

His eyes remained on mine.

"Because I trust myself not to let you get hurt."

My smile faded.

He wasn't teasing.

He meant it.

I didn't know why those words affected me as much as they did, but something warm moved through me before I could stop it.

"All right," I said quietly.

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow."

After dinner, I returned to my room.

I changed into something comfortable and sat beside the window with my mother's jour