The dining hall was quiet that morning, perhaps because of the storm that had raged through the night and still left the skies grey outside and heavy while droplets of rain slid down the tall windows.

Servants moved quietly around the long table, placing down trays of freshly baked bread, roasted potatoes glazed lightly with butter, soft eggs, bowls of fruit and warm stew that filled the air with its rich scent.

Thalia was already seated with a cup in her hand when Rosalind entered and immediately looked up at her. "There she is," she announced dramatically. "I was beginning to think the storm swallowed you whole."

Rosalind let out a small laugh under her breath as she pulled out a chair. "You’d miss me if that happens."

"Absolutely not," Thalia scoffed, though a grin tugged at her lips.

Across from them, Verity studied Rosalind quietly before speaking. "You look tired." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Rosalind paused briefly before sitting down fully. She sucked in the pain she felt between her thighs as she responded,"I couldn’t sleep properly because of the storm."

"That storm was horrible," Thalia added instantly. "The thunder alone nearly stopped my heart." She then tore a piece of bread apart with her fingers before continuing, "The servants have been whispering nonsense since morning because of it. Apparently storms now predict war outcomes."

Rosalind reached for her cup slowly. "And what outcome are they predicting?"

"That Eryndor is winning," Thalia said with a shrug. "Or losing. Honestly, they change the story every few minutes." She rolled her eyes. "But they keep saying his majesty may return soon if the battle ends quickly."

Rosalind lowered her gaze to her tea at that while a faint tightness settled in her chest...

The conversation drifted naturally after that. Thalia continued rambling about palace gossip,while Verity occasionally corrected her exaggerated stories. Rosalind listened more than she spoke, but this time it was different. Her eyes lingered on them longer than usual, quietly taking in the sound of their voices, the familiar arguing between them and the comfort of such an ordinary morning.

For once, she wished the moment would slow down.

"You’re staring," Verity pointed out suddenly, though there was amusement in her voice.

Rosalind blinked before smiling lightly. "I was just thinking."

"That sounds dangerous," Thalia said immediately.

Rosalind shook her head with a quiet laugh and finally reached for a piece of bread, though she still barely ate. Every now and then her mind drifted elsewhere entirely, toward tonight, toward what she was about to do and toward the fact that after today, she might never sit here with them again.

The thought alone made her chest ache faintly. Eventually she pushed her plate away gently and stood from her seat.

"You’re leaving already?" Verity asked in surprise.

Rosalind hesitated before nodding. "I want to rest a little."

Thalia narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You seem a little bit strange today" as she observed Rosalind.

Rosalind only smiled at that, and gave a playful shrug to erase any building suspicions. "Maybe I am."

Rosalind then spent the rest of the day alone in her room and did not involve herself in anything outside. Instead, she sat by the window where the storm from the night before was slowly beginning to clear, watching the sky shift from heavy grey to something lighter. The palace below continued its usual movement, servants passing through corridors and distant voices echoing faintly, but she felt detached from all of it as her thoughts kept drifting to what awaited her later.

She told herself it would be simple if she followed through with it, yet the more she thought about it, the more real it became. She wondered if anything would go wrong, if she would be caught before she even reached the water, or if she would truly be able to leave everything behind without turning back.

****

"Do you have anything for me?" Sabine asked sharply, her eyes fixed on the maid she had planted to keep watch over Rosalind and report everything without missing a detail.

Jae nodded immediately before stepping forward and presenting the stained sheet she had carefully preserved. "It happened, my lady, and this is concrete evidence," she said with certainty.

Sabine’s expression hardened the moment her eyes landed on the faint red stain on the fabric. She leaned back slightly as if repulsed, though her gaze never left it, while Jae continued speaking.

"With this, you can bring the lady down. She won’t be able to defend herself against it," Jae added.

Sabine exhaled slowly, though irritation still lingered in her eyes. "Good," she muttered at last. "Just make sure she doesn’t suspect anything. If she does, things will get unnecessarily complicated." Her tone lowered slightly as a calculated smile formed on her lips. "We will wait for his majesty’s return before we reveal anything."

Because this was not a small matter. It was something that would not stay hidden for long, and Sabine intended to make sure it spread in the most damaging way possible.

Her gaze sharpened again as she continued. "For now, keep that... evidence somewhere safe. We cannot afford to lose it," she said.

Jae nodded quickly and retreated from the hidden meeting point without another word.

Once she was alone, Sabine’s smile widened with satisfaction. This time, there would be no escape for Rosalind. She would be exposed completely, disgraced for fornication, or if the king chose harsher punishment, he would behead her along with that lowly footman. Either way, Rosalind would be removed from the picture completely.

****

It was sometime deep into the evening when Calder left the house for his usual gambling rounds, completely unaware that eyes were following his every movement from the shadows across the street.

"Finally," one of the masked men muttered under his breath as Calder disappeared farther down the road. "I thought he would never leave the house."

"Come on," the other replied quietly. "Let’s move before someone sees us."

They slipped out from the darkness and approached the front of the house. One of them knocked on the door once, then again. A few moments later, the door opened to reveal Mallory, who had been preparing to leave after finishing her work for the day. The moment her eyes landed on the two masked figures standing there, her expression faltered as shock overtook her. Her fingers tightened around the door handle while fear rushed into her face.

"What... what are you doing here?" she asked shakily.

"We’re not going to hurt you," one of them said calmly.

It was the last thing she heard before a sack was thrown over her head and she was shoved toward the second man. Mallory tried to scream, but the sound barely escaped before he struck her hard enough to knock her unconscious.

Inside the sitting room, Beth had heard the commotion. Though she could not speak properly, panic consumed her instantly. Her body jerked frantically in the chair as she tried to move, tried to do something, anything at all. A weak sound struggled from her throat, but it was nowhere near loud enough to call for help. Fear overtook her when one of the men approached from behind and grabbed hold of her chair. She struggled against him desperately just as another sack was forced over her head.

The men quickly moved both women outside toward the carriage waiting nearby. They were about to leave when one of them suddenly stopped. "Wait," he said sharply. "We almost forgot the money."

The other frowned beneath his mask. "Go get it quickly. I’ll handle these two."

The man nodded and hurried back into the house, searching through the rooms with growing impatience. He opened cupboards, checked drawers, and even searched beneath loose floorboards but found nothing.

He almost gave up until finally he noticed something hidden carefully beneath part of the floor. His eyes lit up immediately. "There you are."

He dragged out the concealed safe and forced it open. Gold coins gleamed inside, causing a grin to spread across his face before he emptied everything into a sack. Without wasting another second, he ran back outside and climbed into the carriage just as it lurched forward.

The horses sped through the neighborhood recklessly, nearly colliding with people in the road as they disappeared into the darkness. Even without knowing what had happened, anyone watching could tell something was terribly wrong.