The rumors began to spread.
At first they were whispers among the maids.
Low-voiced comments while they cleaned the hallways.
Complicit glances as they prepared the bedrooms.
"Did you hear what happened?"
"They say the queen left her room."
"Really? All by herself?"
"Yes, without anyone's help."
"No way…"
The whispers multiplied quickly.
From maid to maid.
From servant to servant.
From guard to guard.
Within hours, the entire castle was talking about the same thing.
The queen was recovering.
◇◆◇
Queen Iris Ashford walked down the hallway.
Alone.
Without support.
Without a cane.
The maids froze in place.
"G-good morning, Your Majesty," one of them stammered, dropping into a hasty curtsy.
The queen glanced at them sidelong.
"Why is there dust in that corner?" she asked in a cold voice, pointing to a spot in the hall.
The maids looked where she indicated.
Sure enough, there was a small buildup of dust.
"We'll clean it immediately, Your Majesty," one replied nervously.
The queen nodded.
"You'd better," she said, and continued walking.
The maids stared at each other with wide eyes.
"Did you see that?" one whispered.
"Yes," the other answered. "She was walking like it was nothing."
"And her eyes… they were wide open."
"She didn't shy away from the window light."
"What's going on?"
◇◆◇
As the hours passed, more people confirmed the rumors.
The queen had been seen in multiple places around the castle.
In the kitchens, overseeing food preparation.
In the gardens, inspecting the state of the plants.
In the administrative offices, reviewing documents.
And in every place, she left her mark.
She reprimanded those who failed to meet her expectations.
She fired those who had repeatedly fallen short.
She gave direct orders and expected immediate results.
She was the queen everyone remembered from before.
Firm.
Authoritative.
Merciless.
For many in the castle, this was a relief.
For months they had lived in uncertainty.
The queen's health had been an open secret.
Everyone knew she was ill.
Everyone knew she was getting worse every day.
And everyone feared what would happen if she died.
A power vacuum.
Internal struggles.
Chaos.
But now, those fears were beginning to fade.
The queen was back.
◇◆◇
In a private room in the west wing of the castle, a woman sat alone.
The room was elegant.
Red velvet curtains.
Dark wood furniture.
A lit fireplace providing warmth.
The woman was seated in a comfortable armchair.
In her hand she held a glass of wine; she sipped it calmly, enjoying the silence.
Her hair was long and black.
Her eyes were a deep blue.
Her face was beautiful, but cold.
The atmosphere in the room was calm.
Relaxed.
Completely different from the growing chaos in the rest of the palace.
And then the door burst open.
A maid rushed in.
Her breathing was ragged.
Her face showed nervousness.
"My lady!" the maid exclaimed. "The rumors are true!"
The woman stopped drinking.
She looked at the maid with a neutral expression.
"What rumors are you talking about?" she asked in a cold voice.
"The queen!" the maid replied, trying to catch her breath. "The queen has recovered!"
The woman remained silent for a few seconds.
Then she set her glass aside.
"Are you absolutely certain of what you saw?" she asked, staring fixedly at the maid.
The maid nodded several times.
"Yes, my lady!" she confirmed. "I didn't just see her walking through the castle. I saw her personally supervising the work of several staff members."
The woman frowned.
"Go on," she ordered.
"She was reprimanding some of them," the maid continued. "And she dismissed several who hadn't delivered the expected results."
The woman leaned back in her armchair.
Her expression grew more serious.
"Did she show any signs of fatigue?" she asked.
The maid shook her head.
"No, my lady. She seemed in perfect condition."
"Did she avoid the light?"
"No. She walked through hallways with open windows without any problem."
"Were her eyes closed or half-closed?"
"No. Her eyes were completely open."
"And her hair?" the woman asked finally.
"Her red hair had fully regained its color. It shone just like before."
Silence.
The woman remained motionless.
Her blue eyes stared into nothing.
Processing the information.
And then she began to laugh.
"Hehehe…" she laughed softly, shaking her head.
"My lady?" the maid asked, confused.
"It can't be possible," the woman said, still laughing. "It simply can't be possible."
'The poison,' the woman thought, recalling all the work they had put in.
It had been administered for years.
In extremely small doses.
So small they were undetectable.
It had been an expensive job.
Meticulous.
It had involved several people.
A large amount of money.
All with a single goal.
To slowly weaken the queen without raising suspicion.
'That poison was specifically designed to prevent a sudden recovery,' the woman thought, frowning.
The queen's vampiric regeneration was powerful.
Everyone knew that.
But the poison had been created precisely to counter it.
To neutralize it.
To make her body deteriorate no matter how much she tried to regenerate.
'She shouldn't have been able to recover,' the woman thought, feeling the unease grow. 'Not this fast. Not this completely.'
This put everything at risk.
All the plans.
All the preparations.
Years of work.
If the queen had truly recovered…
'We're in danger,' the woman thought, clenching her fists.
"My lady," the maid said timidly. "Do you think the others have already heard the news?"
The woman looked at her.
"What else have you heard?" she asked.
The maid swallowed.
"I heard other maids saying the queen is preparing to make an important announcement," she replied. "To the entire population of the kingdom."
The woman rose abruptly from her armchair.
"An announcement?" she repeated, visibly annoyed.
"Y-yes, my lady," the maid confirmed, taking a step back at the reaction.
The woman walked to the window.
She looked outside for a few seconds.
"This can't be anything but a bad joke," she muttered through her teeth.
She turned to the maid.
"I'm going to speak to the queen personally," she declared.
The maid's eyes widened in surprise.
"My lady?"
The woman walked toward the door.
But before leaving, she stopped.
"You," she said, glancing over her shoulder at the maid. "Investigate everything you can. Gather any rumor or information related to how the queen managed to recover."
The maid nodded quickly.
"Y-yes, my lady."
"I want to know if anyone outside was involved in this," the woman added in a cold voice. "Understood?"
"Understood, my lady."
The woman left the room without another word.