Chapter 009 - The Kingdom's Fate

I roam the once-familiar corridors and grand halls of the palace. Gideon has sent me an assistant named Claire. She is mid-thirties and is supposed to help me acclimatize to the castle’s inner workings. This castle, the same place where I felt both unimaginable happiness and pain, will be mine soon — or sold, or destroyed. Anything. As long as in the end, Gideon and his family will live like slaves amidst every piece of rock and stone of this castle.

As I pass through the different offices and rooms, Gideon’s closest kin watch me as if I am some kind of apparition. Their glances are a mix of curiosity and disdain.

Claire then leads me into a room filled with luxurious furniture and paintings adorning the walls. “This is where the King and his Council members hold important meetings and negotiations,” she explains, gesturing towards a large mahogany table in the center of the room.

I nod, taking it all in. “These paintings weren’t here before,” I say, pointing at one depicting a ster