ログインAziel’s POVI couldn’t understand why her words still affected me.She had stood before an entire court and admitted that she had expected Ragnar to kill me. When that failed, she had admitted she intended to do it herself. There should have been nothing left to question after that. Any doubt I still carried should have disappeared the moment those words left her mouth.Instead, they stayed with me.Not because I believed her. Because a part of me had spent so many years believing everything she ever said that it no longer knew how to stop.Weak.Ungrateful.A burden.Those words had followed Lior through almost every memory I had recovered. They had been repeated so often that they no longer sounded like insults. They sounded like rules. Rules I had never realized I was still obeying.I hated that. I hated that after everything she had confessed, I still found myself wondering if I really was making a mistake.I lowered my eyes for a moment and quietly drew in a slow breath. The voic
Ragnar’s POVThe audacity of this woman.I had met arrogant people before. Kings who believed their crowns placed them above the law. Nobles who thought wealth could erase every mistake they had ever made. Generals who believed victory on the battlefield gave them the right to ignore every order that followed.Lady Seraphine was different.She had just admitted, before my court and her own delegation, that she had expected me to kill Prince Lior. When that failed, she had calmly declared that she would do it herself. Yet she still stood there as though she believed she could walk away from this meeting with her reputation untouched.She truly believed she could talk her way out of anything.The throne room remained silent. No one rushed to defend her. No one dared interrupt. Even the nobles who had arrived with her looked uncertain. Some avoided meeting my eyes altogether. Others stared at Seraphine with expressions that suggested they were questioning everything they thought they kne
Aziel’s POVThe walk to the audience hall felt much longer than it usually did. Ragnar stayed beside me without speaking, and for once I appreciated the silence. My thoughts were already loud enough. Every step seemed to pull another memory from somewhere deep inside Lior’s mind, and each one left me feeling a little less certain of what I would find waiting for me. The palace corridors were already busy with servants carrying trays, documents, and baskets of fresh flowers while guards stood at every entrance with their hands resting on their swords. Nobles stepped aside as Ragnar passed, bowing respectfully before letting their curious eyes drift toward me. No one dared ask questions, but it was obvious they all knew why the palace had become so tense. News traveled quickly within these walls, and by now everyone had heard that the Blue Moon Kingdom had sent an official delegation.Neither of us spoke until we reached the enormous doors leading into the audience hall. Two royal guard
Aziel’s POVI didn’t sleep.I closed my eyes. I lay still. I even convinced myself a few times that I was beginning to drift off, but every single time another thought dragged me back awake. The Blue Moon Kingdom. The words repeated inside my head until they no longer sounded real. Yesterday they had been hundreds of miles away. Today they were inside the palace. They had come for me. No. They had come for Lior. The problem was that I had no idea which version of me they expected to find, and that uncertainty refused to leave me alone no matter how hard I tried to ignore it.I sat up as the first light of morning slipped through the curtains. The room was quiet except for the distant sounds of servants beginning another day somewhere beyond the palace walls. Normally I enjoyed mornings. They were peaceful. They gave me time to think before the rest of the world decided to become troublesome. Today, thinking was exactly what I wanted to avoid. I rubbed my face and swung my legs over th
Aziel’s POVThe dining hall felt strangely quiet after Magnus left.No one spoke immediately. The servants resumed clearing the table as though nothing unusual had happened, but their movements lacked the confidence they had carried earlier that evening. Every now and then, one of them would glance in my direction before quickly looking away again. I couldn’t blame them. A few minutes ago, the Grand Mage had nearly ordered me dragged beneath the palace for questioning. That wasn’t the sort of dinner conversation people easily forgot.I remained seated for another moment, watching my untouched cup of tea while replaying everything Magnus had said. I had managed to satisfy him, at least for now, but only barely. The old man hadn’t believed everything I told him. He wasn’t foolish enough for that. He simply believed enough of it to decide that forcing the rest out of me tonight would accomplish nothing.For now.That was the dangerous part.Magnus had not abandoned his questions. He had
Aziel’s POVIt had been four days since Magnus questioned me in the garden.Four days of pretending everything was normal.Four days of pretending I hadn’t noticed him watching me from across courtyards, training grounds, libraries, and hallways. The old man had become surprisingly interested in my daily routine. Sometimes I caught him standing on a balcony overlooking the palace grounds. Other times he simply happened to be walking through the same corridor I was using.Coincidence.A wonderful invention.Unfortunately, Magnus was terrible at pretending.The man was many things. Subtle was not one of them.I closed the book resting on my lap and stretched my arms above my head before looking through the library window. The palace gardens were unusually lively this afternoon. Servants moved between flower beds while guards changed shifts near the outer walls. Everything looked peaceful.Too peaceful.Life had taught me to distrust peace; it rarely lasted.A knock interrupted my though
Aziel’s POVThe gates closed behind us with a thunderous sound that echoed through stone and bone.It did not feel like entering a kingdom.It felt like being swallowed.I walked forward anyway.The courtyard stretched wide, paved in dark stone worn smooth by years of war and blood. Tall pillars li
Aziel’s POVMorning came without warmth.I opened my eyes to silence.The carriage no longer moved.For a moment, I stayed still, listening.No wheels grinding against dirt. No distant shouts. No clash of steel.Just quiet.I pushed myself up slowly.Pain flared along my side.The wound.Right.I g
Aziel’s POVI stepped out of the carriage and the cold night air hit my face.The world outside was chaos.Torches blazed against the darkness. Horses screamed. Men shouted over the clash of steel. The smell of blood and smoke filled the air.Bandits.Or assassins.I did not care which. Bodies alre
Aziel’s POVThe carriage jolted violently beneath me.I opened my eyes.My body ached. Every muscle felt sore from forcing this weak body through hours of breath control and instinct suppression. My back pressed against velvet cushions that were too soft, too useless. The scent of flowers clung to







