2025-08-05 19:03:10
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 45: The Forgotten Service Entrance
Chapter 45: The Forgotten Service EntranceThe close call with "Prince Kairo" himself in the dining room, the chilling confrontation look, had left Sheila shaken but fiercely resolute. He knew. He had seen her. And the pretender's lapse into that very same, old-fashioned vocabulary of the ten-year-old mandate cemented their suspicion of his entrenched, threatening vocabulary. They had to act faster, before his implicit threats became real."He's employing those secret passageways, Tate," Sheila said tightly, as they crouched in their secret room. "He slips through the palace like a phantom. He was hiding in the kitchens where he ambushed me. Valerius was found in the Crypts, a region believed to be impassable. And I could feel his eyes upon me today. He knew I was there, even when I was in disguise. He glides along with the quiet, unseen assurance bred only of intimate knowledge of every hidden passageway."Tate nodded, unspreading Corvan's partial map of the palace drainage and sec
Chapter 44: The Serpent's Whisper
Chapter 44: The Serpent's WhisperThe ripped-away royal proclamation, so concise and chilling in its old-fashioned language, lay at the center of their investigation. "Unverified speculation." "Rectification." "Full and unrelenting ramifications of their polarizing behavior." These phrases gnawed at Sheila, a haunting, uneasy cadence she couldn't quite place. Tate felt the same level of sickening resonance from the words, but their origin escaped him.They read it hour by hour, reading it aloud, parsing sentence by sentence. The logbook entry informed them of the what and the how of the forgery's deception, but the decree, with its particular stylistic fingerprint, held the clue to who he was, to the origin of his chilling creed."It's like… a learned text," Sheila at last breathed, her fingers brushing against the parchment. "A philosophical essay, perhaps. Or some extremely old legal document. It's too formal, too… cold for a standard royal edict issued by Kairo. He was well known
Chapter 43: The Fragmented Truth
Chapter 43: The Fragmented TruthThe old office of the Sub-Archivist, tucked away far beneath the East Wing of the Obsidian Citadel, was a place time had forgotten. Dust swirled in the slight beams of moonlight that filtered through grimy, high windows, casting pale illumination over stacks of discarded ledgers and unfilled quills. The air reeked with the scent of old parchment and forgotten dreams.Tate moved as silently as a ghost, the long-standing guard training returning to him with eerie precision. He had bypassed the front door with a well-rehearsed set of lock picks, then returned Master Garlen's hidden key from beneath the stone gryphon's claw on the landing. The creaking rusty lock on the inner office door protested loudly, but ultimately surrendered, allowing entry to Garlen's private treasure trove.He lit a small, covered lantern, its soft light barely struggling to penetrate the suffocating dark. His heart pounded within his chest, a drumming of adrenalin. He was aw
Chapter 42: A Ghost In The Citadel
Chapter 42: A Ghost in the CitadelThe chill echo of "Prince Kairo's" recent speech, a thinly veiled threat of merciless cleansing, solidified Sheila and Tate's desperate need for evidence. The imitation was weaving an increasingly tight web of fear, in which every step they took became a risky gamble. Their current theory, that he was a acquaintance of the palace, perhaps a clandestine member of the Vale clan, demanded more than conjecture. It demanded evidence, buried deep among the obscure files of the Citadel."We have access to the old files, Tate," Sheila said, her voice taut with desire. "Not the main ones, the ones Master Aethelred stored in secret. He must have had personal records, private journals, perhaps even information on the more mysterious Vale family members. Or the old guard files. Anything before the imposter's reign, before he started changing history's trajectory."Tate stroked a hand over his face, a frown settling over his features. "Breaking into those rec
Chapter 41: The Weeding Speech
Chapter 41: The Weeding SpeechThe fear that had seized Caelwyn like a strangling blanket thickened with each new disappearance, each brazen murder. Lord Valerius' demise in the crypts had cleared any lingering illusion of safety, even for the highest-ranking nobles. With this atmosphere of mass fear, "Prince Kairo" chose to give another chilling public address, not from the grandeur of the Great Hall, but from the somewhat less public, though no less frightening, realm of the Royal Gardens Amphitheater. This allowed for closer proximity to the assemblage, a more intimate introduction of his veiled threats.The amphitheater was packed to the rafters, a crowd of wide-eyed citizens, trembling guildsmen, and stiff palace staff. The air hung heavy, not with the perfume scent of the blooming flowers, but with the heavy expectancy of a kingdom holding its collective breath. Sheila and Tate, once more attired as commoners, blended into the edges of the crowd, their eyes upon the figure upo
Chapter 40: The Phantom's Passages
Chapter 40: The Phantom's PassagesThe brazen killing of Lord Valerius in the holy Royal Family Crypts, and the shocking effectiveness of the sigil, sent a profound shiver through Sheila and Tate. The pretender was no longer simply disposing of witnesses; he was demonstrating a ghastly mastery of the palace's hidden corners, defying its defenses.In their small room, the map they had uncovered was still laid out on the table, a jarring contrast to the dark reality of the impersonator's increasing authority."How, Tate?" Sheila panted, her tone with a subtext of despairing exasperation. "How did he breach the Crypts? Thorne said the wards were activated, gates sealed. It's meant to be impassable."Tate ran his hand through his hair, his brow furrowed in thought. "Thorne's right. Royal Family Crypts are protected by some of the oldest, most powerful arcane wards in the Citadel. They only respond to certain bloodlines, to certain arcane signatures. Only an actual member of the royal fa
You may also like
Haunted
prosperrhey2.3K viewsTraces of Eve
Kei2.0K viewsDead Bitten
Kei4.7K viewsThe Death Toast
Omoleye2.0K viewsThe DE COSTAS
Fety grace 2.1K views"The “Hidden Inheritance: Secrets of a Billionaire Dynasty"
Tracy .O.Willis1.2K viewsEnigma Of The Woods
Diamondpurple869 viewsThe Triumphant Escape
Queenet1.9K views