Semua Bab His Regret: Her Rebirth : Bab 31 - Bab 40

A LINE IN THE DUSTXENIA’S POVWe met in the old greenhouse.It hadn’t been used in years. The glass was cracked in places, and most of the vines had died off or gone wild. But it was quiet, tucked behind the east wall where no one wandered unless they were lost or looking to disappear for a few hours.That made it perfect.They came one by one. No cloaks, no urgency, just normal movements at odd times of day.It didn’t look like a meeting.It looked like nothing.Exactly how it needed to.CATTY’S POVShe didn’t lay out a plan that first day.No maps. No speeches. No “here’s what we’re doing.”She just asked questions.To each of them, separately.“What do you believe they’re afraid of?”“What do you think they’ll do next?”“What are you willing to risk?”They answered honestly. At least, I think they did.None of them gave her everything. But most of them gave enough.And I think that’s all she was asking for.RICO’S POVWhen she asked me, it wasn’t in the greenhouse.It was at night

THE VOTEXENIA’S POVThe council chamber was colder than usual.Someone had left one of the windows cracked, and no one bothered to close it. The breeze moved through the room in slow, steady drafts. Not enough to be distracting. Just enough to notice.They were all already seated when I arrived. No one looked surprised to see me.Cerra gave me a small nod.“Luna.”I returned it, just as quiet. “Elder.”I took my seat. Didn’t ask what the meeting was about. They didn’t offer.The minutes passed slowly.Mostly updates I wasn’t needed for — territory shifts, trade volume changes, a new transport line to the river markets.Then Graythorne cleared his throat and said, “There’s one final matter.”And no one met my eyes.RICO’S POVShe told me not to come.Said she didn’t want anyone standing behind her, like she needed reinforcement.“If I can’t sit in that room and hold the line alone,” she said, “I have no business sitting there at all.”I didn’t agree. But I understood.So I waited outs

THE OTHER DOORXENIA’S POVThe day after the vote, I didn’t go near the council chamber.Didn’t walk past it. Didn’t speak to anyone who had.Instead, I went to the west wing — the part of the palace no one used much anymore. The floors there were dusty. Some of the doors still had old names carved into them, titles no one remembered.But one room at the end of the hall was unlocked.Small. Bare. Windows shuttered.I stood inside for a long time and let the quiet settle.Then I said to no one in particular, “This will do.”RICO’S POVI found her there later in the day, sleeves rolled up, sweeping dust into a small pile with an old cloth.No attendants. No guards. No Catty.Just her.She looked up when I came in, like it wasn’t strange at all that the queen — former or not — was cleaning out a forgotten study with her bare hands.“Do you need help?” I asked.“No,” she said. “But you can stay.”So I did.CATTY’S POVShe never called it a plan.Never announced what she was doing.She jus

A QUIET SHIFTXENIA’S POVI didn’t notice it at first.It was Catty who pointed it out — small things, barely worth a mention.The linens outside the study room were replaced. Clean, pressed. The broken latch on the door had been fixed without anyone saying anything. A small vase appeared on the windowsill one morning, with fresh cut flowers that didn’t grow anywhere near the palace grounds.I asked around.No one claimed it.No one needed to.Sometimes loyalty isn’t loud. It doesn’t march or kneel or speak in full sentences.Sometimes, it just shows up.CATTY’S POVI started noticing who came and went in silence.A guard delivering fruit no one asked for.One of the cooks slipping in a hand pie with her tea.A healer dropping off herbs that Brin hadn’t requested.None of it seemed coordinated.But none of it was random either.People were making space for her.Not because they were told to.Because they wanted to.XENIA’S POVI started taking walks again.Early. Before the sun came u

QUIET TEETHXENIA’S POVI first noticed it in the way people paused when I entered a room.Not everyone. Just a few.A scribe who stopped mid-sentence. A steward who suddenly remembered something urgent. A kitchen boy who went quiet as I passed.It wasn’t fear.It was uncertainty.Someone had been speaking — not loudly, but often enough. Long enough.That’s how erosion works.You don’t always hear it happening.You just wake up one day and realize the ground’s gone soft beneath your feet.CATTY’S POVShe didn’t ask right away.Just paid more attention.Watched where the silences were.Who avoided her eyes.Who suddenly “had to go.”And when she finally turned to me and asked, “Have you heard anything?” — I told her the truth.“Not directly. But something’s moving.”She nodded.She didn’t ask for names.I think that worried me more.RICO’S POVThere was a rumor circulating.Not about her — not at first.About the child.Someone started asking questions:Why hasn’t the Luna’s pregnancy