The calm after the storm was a dangerous illusion.
Days passed, yet the palace felt like a cage tightening around me. Whispers grew sharper, and shadows seemed to watch from every corner. Then, just when I thought we had weathered the worst, the truth struck like lightning—someone close to me was not who they appeared to be.
One evening, a letter arrived, slipped beneath my door without a name or seal. Its words burned with betrayal: "Trust not the one who walks beside you, for their smile hides a dagger."
My heart froze. I scanned every face I had come to know—friends, allies, even Kael.
The next morning, during a council meeting, a trusted advisor openly questioned my loyalty, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. The room buzzed with murmurs, the weight of accusation pressing down on me.
Kael's gaze met mine across the hall—a silent battle waging between belief and doubt.
I clenched my fists. If deception was the game, I would learn its rules—and win.
But as the veil of trust lifted, I realized the palace was not just a place of power, but a battlefield where even love could be weaponized.