ANMELDEN*Anastasia*“Unforgive—” The word catches on my tongue, thin, startled, as if my mouth rejects it on instinct. Not because I don’t know the word—of course I do—but because why on earth would he say—He says unforgivable like it’s a verdict.The absurdity of it lands instantaneously. Not because it’s funny or anything, but because that is just impossible.The light shifts overhead.Clouds are churning, swallowing up the pockets of light before spitting them back out in flat, brittle flashes that don’t warm anything. Bruised slate stacked on slate, sagging lower by the minute, pressing the sky down until even the garden feels cramped beneath it. Already turning the pale day sour, both too bright in one moment, and then too dim at once, as if mocking the way the sun is still above, but smothered in wool.And all the while, the air keeps scratching the inside of my throat with that strange charge. As if it was protesting for rain. But it doesn't feel right.It just pricks at my skin. My
*Anastasia* “Why are you running from me?” My words hang over the air, too loud to be just a simple question, because it feels too alive, twisting with so much more felt than said in the plainness of it, before slowly fading into thin shapes back into the bare bushes and trellises. For a moment, neither of us speaks.Only our breathing fills the space between us.His comes fast but controlled, like he’s already actively forcing it down in preparation. Like he may have already decided where he’ll bolt if given another chance. Like his eyes are already seeking new routes of escapes. Cracks to fall through. Stay out of reach like a whisper of smoke. Bruno feels like a spring, coiled tight and ready to vault once again, while I…I don’t think I can. Because I’m still breathing ragged, uneven like little torn sounds drag out of a body that was not made for sprinting. My lungs burn right now as if I’ve swallowed the torches from inside the corridors. Decorating the air with hot puffs o
*Anastasia*“Papa…” I breathe, the word so soft it barely disturbs the fog on the glass. “Is this you?”It feels too long since I saw sapphire eyes look after me like the world couldn’t tame that stubborn gentleness that believed in me. That I could do anything. Like my ideas were not foolish just because they were mine. Like my wanting to be better—better than blood, better than tradition, better than what they expect of a woman and a half—wasn’t some childish fantasy to be corrected.He always believed in me. That I could rule at all.And it has been too long since I last received anything that felt like him. Not a report. Not a request. Not another clipped summary of someone else’s suffering. Something warm. Something like home.I want to hear from him. I want to hear from Johan, too. I want a letter that isn’t returned unopened, isn’t swallowed by distance, and isn't lost to silence like so many prayers flung into the wind.My mind betrays me with images I shouldn’t tempt myself
*Anastasia*I barely notice my skirt whispering against the stone as I push forward. A bit too fast to be dignified, but too intent on putting distance between myself and that room. The domed chamber falls away behind my shoulders in a blur of gold and turquoise, torches and marble and watching mouths. The doors shut somewhere behind me, heavy, final.But the warmth doesn’t follow. The fire pits can crackle and pop all they like in there, so bright and careless, pretending at comfort. But out here the corridor is immediately colder, and it feels personal. As if the chill seeps through the seams of my very slippers like an unwavering judgement at everything I do. Relentlessly quiet, efficient, and straight to bone.I keep moving anyway. Press faster. Not that it changes the feeling.Because I can still feel it. The lingering gaze of both trailing after me till the very last turn. Pale brown and vermillion both. Admiral Nugen’s steady weight. The opposite to Mykhol’s…something else. So
Nugen didn’t slow.Winter slammed into him. The dry, biting air went straight for the soft places. It clawed at his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, stole the warmth from his breath the instant it left his mouth. His lungs seized around the cold, and for a heartbeat the air tasted almost familar—thin, metallic, almost electrical, the sharp scent that came before weather changed. Like the sky was deciding whether it wanted to break.But he didn’t have time to ponder if that meant more rain or something. It didn’t matter right now if it did or not.Outside, the walkway stretched bleached and brittle under the dim winter light. The fountain stood in its familiar place, near the center of the walkway. Gurgling mass should have been loud, alive—but it was caught in silence now. Iced over from the unusually frigid temperatures for Nochten. The water froze mid-spill, ice glazed over carved stone like glass set wrong. It made the familiar landmark unnatural. Again, warning that this winter
*Admiral Nugen* Nugen watched Anastasia go. Watched as the vast white hall swallowed her fleeting figure quickly. Only the flash of her red shawl remained against his vision. The streak of crimson trailed behind her, lifted once behind her as a flag caught by a one final, dry breath of winter air before it fell and vanished through the archway.He watched on until even the memory of red finally faded like a dying ember in the bitter winter morn.Only then could he allow himself to stop.Not because he wasn’t afraid for her out there. He still was, more than ever now. But that was just another worry he would have to deal with.But for right now, Ana was beyond the threshold, likely to return to where her study, or rooms, or wherever else that was better than here. Because anywhere, anything, was going to be better. If it meant she was beyond his reach. Good.A bare sigh slipped from him, thin as smoke.She’s safe, he told himself. Safe.For now…But already, the words tasted like sa
Chapter 64 Sour Peaches *Queen Belinda* That turned out better than I expected. Queen Belinda secretly relished the sight of the girl walking away. Ana walked with her head cast down, full of shame. But, of course, she would be. It was a public display of embarrassment. And it was all under the gui
*Queen Belinda* Queen Belinda stared into the pair of red eyes. Even though Mykhol was exceptionally handsome, the hue of red warned Belinda to be wary. Even Lucifer was said to be beautiful. Thus, Queen Belinda was simultaneously intrigued and sickened by him. It could be worse. Queen Belinda relen
*Ana* Maddie was right. I feel dismal as the temperature drops the closer the maid guides us outside. She leads me down the patio steps toward the gardens. All the while, I try not to shiver obviously but it’s becoming more frequent. The Autumn chill is no joke. I have to pull the shawls closer.
*Ana* We are escorted to a set of guest rooms that are freshly cleaned with flowers in every vase. The rooms smell sweet and airy. And it feels bright with the yellow wallpaper and soft cream-colored furniture. It was more than adequate for anyone staying in the castle. But I feel odd about having







