The night was quiet, but my mind was loud.
I sat in my room, the heavy velvet curtains drawn against the moon. The key to the Winter Vault sat on my desk, glinting in the candlelight like a promise—or a threat.
Knock. Knock.
The sound was soft, respectful, but it shattered the silence.
"Enter," I commanded, not looking up from the key.
The door creaked open. Adel stepped inside.
"My Lady," she whispered. "It is late, but… Cassius requests a moment of your time."
I frowned, finally turning to face her. "Cassius? He should be in the guest quarters with Valerie. Or sleeping. We have a war to plan tomorrow."
"He insists, My Lady," Adel said, her face unreadable. "He is waiting for you at the Courtyard."
I looked at the clock on the mantle. It was past midnight. A mercenary demanding an audience with a noble daughter at this hour was improper. But Cassius was not just a mercenary. He was one of the Twelve Figures.
"Very well," I said, standing up. I grabbed a heavy shawl to cover my nightgown. "Lead the way."
We walked through the silent corridors of the manor. The servants had long since retired; the only sound was the rustle of my skirts and our soft footsteps.
"Why the Courtyard, Adel?" I asked as we descended the stairs. "And what does he want that cannot wait until morning?"
"He did not say, My Lady," Adel replied, keeping her gaze forward. "He only said that before you march North… he needs to ask you something."
I narrowed my eyes. Ask me something?
We reached the heavy oak doors leading to the gardens. Adel opened them, and the cool night air washed over me, smelling of damp earth and jasmine.
We walked down the stone path. The moon was full, bathing the garden in a pale, ghostly light.
Ahead, I saw him.
Cassius stood near a stone bench beneath the weeping willow.
I stopped. I knew this bench.
It was the same place where I had sat months ago, weeping over the children of the Orphanage. It was where I had told him, through tears, that I had killed them by waiting too long. It was where he had scooped me up because I was too broken to walk.
Adel stopped walking.
"I will remain here, My Lady," she said softly, stepping into the shadows of the archway. "He asked to speak with you alone."
I nodded once and walked forward.
Cassius turned as I approached. He wasn't wearing his armor. He wore a simple tunic and trousers, his greatsword absent for the first time since I had met him. Without the steel, he looked older. Wearier.
"Cassius," I said, my voice calm. "You summoned me."
He didn't bow. He just looked at me.
He looked at my face, searching. He looked at my eyes, deep into the blue irises that used to hold so much fear.
"I did," he said. His voice was deep, rumbling like distant thunder.
"Adel said you had a question," I said, stepping into the moonlight so he could see me clearly. "Well? Here I am."
Cassius let out a long, slow breath. He ran a hand through his rough hair.
"When I found you here that night," he said quietly, gesturing to the spot where I had collapsed months ago. "You were crying. You were broken because you believed you had killed those children."
"I remember," I said stiffly.
"I told you then," Cassius continued, his voice soft, "that your eyes were usually filled with innocence, kindness, and determination."
He took a step closer.
"I pledged my sword to that girl. Because in a world of nobles who treat us like dogs, I saw someone who actually felt the weight of a life."
He shook his head slowly.
"But yesterday… in that carriage… at that dinner table…"
He looked at me with a profound sadness.
"I looked for that girl, My Lady. And I couldn't find her."
He locked eyes with me.
"Your eyes are cold, Aurelia. There is no kindness left in them. Only calculation."
I felt a flicker of annoyance. First Aurelio, now him.
"You sound like my brother," I said. "Are you going to call me a monster, too?"
"No," Cassius said gently. "A monster enjoys the cruelty. You… you just accepted it."
He looked at the moon.
"I need to ask you, before we go into the hell that is the North… Is this really necessary? To become this?"
I looked at the bench. I remembered the tears. I remembered the helplessness. I remembered promising myself I would never feel that weak again.
"Happiness is for children, Cassius," I said, repeating the mantra that had kept me standing.
I met his gaze, my face a mask of stone.
"Yes. It is necessary."
Cassius stared at me for a long moment. Then, his shoulders slumped slightly. He wasn't disappointed in me; he was mourning for me.
"I see," he whispered. "Then the girl I swore to protect is truly gone."
"She died in the fever," I lied. "The woman standing before you is the one who will win."
Cassius nodded slowly. "Winning comes with a cost, My Lady. I just hope you can afford it."
He turned away from me, looking toward the North star.
"But that is not the only reason I called you here," he said, his tone shifting. The sadness vanished, replaced by the sharp edge of a veteran soldier. "If you are going to play games with Duchess Valerie, you need to know the truth."
"The truth about what?"
"About why Valerie ran away," Cassius said.
"She told me she didn't want the Throne," I said. "She said she didn't want the responsibility."
"That is the lie she tells herself," Cassius corrected. "She didn't run from responsibility. She ran from the Ritual."
"The Ritual?"
Cassius turned back to face me.
"The North isn't like the South, Aurelia. Succession isn't just about birth order. It's about… culling."
He leaned against the willow tree, his face shadowed.
"The Third Sister, Katerina, she was born ambitious. The Second Sister, Elara, she was born gentle. And Valerie… she was born strong."
"The Duchess—the Iron Maiden—she saw that Valerie was the perfect Heir. But she taught Valerie that a ruler cannot have weaknesses. And to the Duchess, 'weakness' means 'attachment'."
I felt a chill that had nothing to do with the night air.
"What did the Duchess ask her to do?" I whispered.
"Two years ago," Cassius said grimly, "The Duchess gave Valerie a choice. To claim the title of Heir officially… she had to prove she could make the 'hardest choice'."
He looked me dead in the eye.
"She ordered Valerie to execute Elara."
My breath hitched. "Her own sister?"
"The Second Sister is weak," Cassius recited, mimicking the Duchess's cold tone. "She is a liability. If Valerie wanted the throne, she had to prune the weak branch herself. To prove she had the ice in her veins."
"That is… madness," I whispered. Even with my new resolve, the idea of killing Aurelio to prove my worth made me sick.
"That is the North," Cassius spat. "Valerie refused. She took her blades and she ran. She became a mercenary, a nobody, anything to avoid killing the sister she loved."
He took a step toward me, his voice intense.
"You told her last night that if she stays away, the Third Sister will kill Elara. That is why Valerie broke. That is why she agreed to your plan. Not for the throne. But to save Elara."
Cassius gripped the back of the stone bench.
"But you need to understand, My Lady. By taking her back… you aren't just walking into a political dispute. You are walking into a family that demands blood for breakfast."
"Valerie isn't just a 'Wolf lost from her pack'," Cassius finished, his voice low. "She is a Wolf who refused to eat her own kin. And the Duchess despises her for it."
He looked at me, his eyes hard.
"You say you have become cold, Aurelia. You say you are ready to be a 'Wicked Witch'. But are you ready for that kind of cold? Because if you march North thinking this is just a game of leverage… the Iron Maiden will eat you alive."
I stood there in the silence of the courtyard.
The Book had mentioned the "Cold War" and the "Stolen Iron." It hadn't mentioned this. It hadn't mentioned that the cost of the Northern Throne was fratricide.
"I understand," I said finally. My voice was steady, though my heart was pounding.
"Do you?" Cassius asked.
"I do," I said. "Thank you, Cassius. For the warning."
I turned to leave.
"My Lady," Cassius called out one last time.
I stopped.
"Valerie trusts you," he said. "Don't make her regret it. She has lost enough family."
I didn't answer. I couldn't.
I walked back toward the manor, toward Adel waiting in the shadows. The key to the Winter Vault felt heavier.
I had thought I was bringing a solution to the North. Instead, I was walking into a slaughterhouse.