The rapid patter of Len's feet sliced through the corridor's silence. He advanced with such agility that within moments, he reached the side of the handmaids just as they were about to turn toward the kitchen. Hearing the sudden crescendo of footsteps, the head handmaid's steps faltered. She turned in surprise and clasped her hands.
"Young Master?" she asked with a slight bow, gentle wonder in her voice. "I was just on my way to collect the orders... do you wish to add something else? Is there anything else special you require?"
Len's breath was slightly quick, but the mischievous spark had returned to his eyes. He shook his head 'no' without delay.
"No, I don't need anything else," he said, keeping his voice low, "but I want you to..." Len paused for a second and leaned closer to the handmaid, whispering something as if sharing a secret plan far from Eric's ears.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the palace, the heavy ornate doors of Queen Astria's private chambers opened with a dim groan.
Grand Duke Ethos, who always appeared as tough as steel, emerged looking somewhat bowed. His eyes held the same deep thoughts and turmoil that had begun with the cup of tea.
After crossing the threshold, Ethos paused for a moment. He turned and offered a deep, slow bow to the invisible power seated within the room. "Then I shall depart now,"
Ethos said in his heavy voice, infused with a strange weariness and guilt. "What am I even doing... please forgive me for troubling you with such questions so early in the morning."
Ethos lowered his head even further with respect and deep guilt. His eyes were fixed on the marble floor, as if he were unable to bear the heat of the Queen's blue and piercing gaze.
"Very well then... I shall depart now," there was a tremor in his heavy voice. He stepped back and began to vanish into the shadows of the corridor, the sound of his heavy boots gradually fading away.
Astria stood still at the threshold for a few moments. Her silken gown swayed slightly in the corridor's draft. She watched Ethos's retreating shadow, yet there wasn't a single trace of emotion on her face. Without a word, she turned back into her chamber with a measured grace.
The heavy, ornate doors closed with a resonant thud that echoed through the hallway for a long time.
The guards stationed on either side of the door stood as firm as stone statues. Their eyes were fixed on the end of the corridor where the Grand Duke had just passed.
The rigidity of their expressions clearly showed that they had just sensed an unspoken and heavy tension between the two most powerful pillars of the court. The air in the palace had grown heavy once more, and the secrets behind the closed doors had become even deeper.
The silence within the chamber was so profound that only the faint rustle of Astria's silken gown whispered against the floor. With measured, slow steps, she approached the massive, silver-framed mirror and stood still.
The reflection staring back was one of absolute power—her vibrant blue hair cascaded over her shoulders like a frozen waterfall, and her deep blue eyes remained as calm yet impenetrable as a cold, vast ocean. The image was regal, chilling, and undeniably sovereign.
Astria slowly raised her right hand. Her long, delicate fingers reached toward the cold surface of the glass, finally coming to rest upon it. As her palm made contact with the mirror, the scene within the silvered depths began to shift and dissolve.
Gradually, a blurred figure emerged from behind that cold, royal reflection. It was a little girl, barely six or seven years old, whose features were a hauntingly perfect match to Astria's.
The child possessed the same soft blue tresses, yet her face held an innocent, carefree smile—a light that had vanished from Astria's own expression centuries ago. The little girl mirrored the movement, placing her tiny hand exactly where Astria's palm was pressed.
On either side of the glass, two worlds collided—the hand of a formidable Queen, draped in a shimmering white gown and crowned in gold, met the hand of a beaming, tiny child. The girl watched Astria from within the mirror, her smile so profound and pure it could melt a heart of stone.
Upon seeing that vision, Astria's piercing blue eyes, which usually commanded terror and in which the faint, predatory crimson of her vampire nature often lurked, suddenly softened.
A human spark and a trace of moisture filled her pupils—a sight the cold palace walls had not witnessed for decades. For a few fleeting moments, she was no longer the world's most dangerous vampire Queen; she was simply that little girl again, whose memories remained locked within the depths of the cold glass.
That innocent smile within the mirror blurred in an instant. The scene now emerging on the cold glass surface made the room's silence feel even more suffocating. The tiny, smiling child had shifted into the silhouette of a girl a few years older—perhaps eight or nine.
But the radiance from before was gone. The girl in the reflection was now collapsed on the floor on her knees, her body trembling uncontrollably. The former softness of her face had been swallowed by deep lines of agony.
Her silken blue hair was now a tangled mess of dust and sweat. Yet, the most terrifying transformation lay in her eyes; those orbs, once as blue and calm as the sky, had lost all restraint—they were now a vivid, blood-red, a testament to the uncontrollable power awakening within her.
From within the glass, tears streamed from the girl's eyes, leaving damp trails down her cheeks. The hand that had previously met Astria's palm had fallen lifelessly to her side.
The reflection was no longer smiling; instead, it echoed a silent scream and a pain that ripped open the old scars in Astria's heart.
Astria's fingers remained pressed against the mirror, but a shiver now raced through her body. Across the glass, the weeping girl with the crimson eyes sat on her knees like a recurring nightmare.
This was the exact moment she had lost her innocence and embarked on the path to becoming a 'Cruel Queen.' The reflection served as a haunting reminder of just how agonizing the end of her childhood had been.