When I handed the map to Cassian, I expected him to examine it immediately, maybe react, maybe start piecing together whatever secret my father had hidden from the King. But instead of urgency, he walked into my room like he had time <i>to </i>spare, as if this was just anotherzy morning.


    He sat down next to my bed, too calm, too rxed, his attention divided between the parchment that contained the traces of the dark te in his hand and the windows. I didn’t understand it. Maybe it was because I’d never been good at reading people like him, men who didn’t flinch, who wore masks with ease. Or maybe I really was too naive to grasp what was going through his head.


    I let my gaze drift to his profile. I have been with him several times now, but it still felt surreal. How could a man with features that sharp, that striking, like something carved from ancient stone, be the same one they called a monster?


    “Are you satisfied with what you can see, Consort?“He didn’t look at me when he spoke.


    My breath hitched. I quickly averted my eyes, heat rushing to my cheeks. I had no idea what he truly meant, but the way his voice dipped made it impossible to respond. Then, I lowered my head, eyes on myp. And didn’t dare meet his gaze.


    “I–I just want to know if I brought the right one.” My voice barely above a whisper. I hated how weak I sounded. I wasn’t weak. I might look sick, my body pale and still, but I was very much alive and fully aware of everything.


    Cassian finally turned his head, a faint smirk pulling at his lips. “We’ll know soon enough.”


    That answer didn’t settle me. “What… what do you mean by that?”


    I nced out the window. The morning sun had already risen. We were supposed to depart for the North within the hour. There was no time left to decipher secrets or test theories. How could he be so sure we’d know soon?


    Cassian stood slowly, rolling his shoulders as if this entire moment bored him. Then he turned to me and said, “We’re leaving shortly. If you intend to keep up your performance,


    now’s the time.”


    His next words dropped like ice into my stomach.


    “Your mother and sister are on their way.”


    At those words, I immediatelyy back down and stared nkly at the ceiling. My chest rose


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    and fell evenly, and I tried to match the rhythm I remembered from the nights I truly was


    sick.


    Then… Mendez appeared beside me, holding out another tablet. He didn’t speak until I hesitated. “It won’t harm you,” he said simply. “Just makes it look like it did.”


    I nodded and took the tablet. The moment it touched my tongue, I braced myself, but just like before, nothing happened. No burning sensation, no rush of cold through my veins. It tasted like stale tea. nd. Harmless. I waited for my body to react, to warn me, to resist but nothing came.


    That was the problem.


    I had always known when something foreign entered my body. My healing ability screamed at the slightest imbnce. Even poison, even blood loss, it all triggered something.


    But this… didn’t.


    My body didn’t resist it because whatever was in that tablet, it didn’t register as a threat. Not to me. That alone made it more dangerous than any poison. This was the second time Mendez had given it to me, and I still had no real idea what it was.


    It didn’t burn going down. It didn’t cloud my mind or slow my heartbeat. It mimicked the symptoms of poison perfectly but left no trace behind. Not even my instincts, the ones tied to my healing, could sense anything wrong.


    Of course I was curious. Deeply. But there hadn’t been time to ask questions. I made a mental note to speak to Mendez as soon as we left this ce. I wanted answers. About the tablet. About what it really did and why my body couldn’t see iting.


    I swallowed hard and closed my eyes.


    And as if on cue, a knock came at the door.


    I didn’t move.


    I heard the hinges creak open, boots clicking softly on the wooden floor. Then came the voice I knew all too well.


    “How is she?”


    It was Genevieve,


    Mendez answered calmly, “She’s rpsed. The fever’s back. The poison’s still in her system. I’ve done what I can, but she’s very weak. Barely responsive.”


    I heard a sharp sob, too loud, too forced. Something thudded to the ground. Maybe she


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    dropped to her knees or kicked something. I would have wanted to see it but I quickly reminded myself to keep my act together.


    “Please… let me say goodbye to my daughter,” Genevieve cried.


    Cassian’s voice followed. “I am leaving first. Mendez, wait outside. Lucas is ready. Escort her to the carriage. I’ll follow soon.”


    I heard more footsteps. The door opened again and closed.


    Then there was silence.


    And the shift was immediate.


    The air changed. Genevieve no longer bothered to cry.


    She stepped closer, her footsteps soft now. I could feel her presence beside me, feel the way her shadow loomed.


    “This is your fate,” she whispered, her breath tickling my ear. “You saved Celeste from that monster. For that, I suppose… thank you.”


    I kept my eyes shut.


    “You don’t need to know what you are. Or where you came from. It’s better that way. This world is cruel enough as it is without burdening yourself with purpose.”


    I heard her turn, her voice now directed elsewhere. “Celeste. I’ll be waiting outside.”


    Another set of soft steps approached. A hand touched mine, small, familiar, but colder than I remembered.


    Then Celeste’s voice came, and it was nothing like the sweet little sister I thought I knew.


    “I always hated you.”


    I almost opened my eyes. Almost.


    “I thought it was strange… how you clung to me. How you followed me around like some pathetic stray. But I smiled. I yed along. Because that’s what I was supposed to do.”


    The grip on my hand tightened. Growing up, I never noticed any hatred from my sister. Had I been that blind and stupid?


    “I deserve to be the one next to the King. You don’t even have a wolf. You don’t have power. You don’t have worth. All you had was a borrowed title and a face too in to be remembered.”


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    your


    “I’ll be at peace,” she continued, her tone lighter now, almost gleeful. “Knowing that death will be painless. It’s a small kindness, I suppose. You get to die like a ghost, quiet and forgotten. Just like your family…”


    What? What did she say? For a moment, I thought I misheard her.


    Then her hand slipped from mine.


    “Goodbye, sister,” she said, her voice curling with satisfaction. “From this day forward, you’ll be remembered as nothing more than that beast’s fifth bride.”


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    ATASHA’S POV