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Chapter 44: The Mark

Autor: KOSSY
last update Fecha de publicación: 2026-10-07 19:19:11

POV: KAELEN

The heavy linen curtains in the examination room were drawn tight against the harsh afternoon sun, filtering the light into a soft, golden dust. I stood near the marble washbasin, meticulously drying my hands on a crisp white towel, maintaining a cool, detached composure that years of royal duty had drilled into me.

Across the room, Aria sat on the edge of the wooden examination table. Rowan stood silently in the corner, his broad form positioned near the door, his eyes tracking my
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    POV: ROWANThe leather messenger pouch brought by my private Winter Guard courier was stamped with three black wax seals, the confidential code reserved for sensitive intelligence gathered from the capital's central archival registries.I sat at the heavy oak desk in my private quarter, breaking the seals with my dagger.Inside sat a thick, yellowed ledger marked Frostwood Border Integration, Classified Dossier. It was the original, unedited transfer file compiled fifteen years ago when Lord Frostwood brought an orphan girl to his keep, cross-referenced with the initial investigative logs from Luna Elena’s collapse two years ago.I opened the folder under the warm glow of the oil lamp, my eyes scanning the faded ink lines.What I read made my jaw tighten, a cold, dangerous stillness settling over my chest.The documents directly contradicted both the formal royal records Kaelen had retrieved from the Directorate and the public narrative Gavin’s pack had maintained for fifteen years.A

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