Chapter 52: Pulled into the shadow
A thank you to readers- Astrid_Nymp, Namelesone, Aoi_hoshi_cath and shiru who have been editing and proofreading the Chapters of GOP for a smoother read <3
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When it was nighttime and everyone had retired to their rooms, hours after the moon had gone up in the sky, Anastasia woke up in her room with a soft gasp. Her body was wet with sweat. Sitting on the edge of the bed, her feet dangled in the air, and she sighed before covering her face with her hands, even though it was dark.
Every night, she dreamed of seeing her sister, ready to escape various scenarios but never making it out. And she always woke from her dreams with her sister covered in blood.
"I can’t leave without knowing what happened to you that day. I can’t," Anastasia whispered to herself.
She could never live in peace without knowing why her sister had died. She wondered how much pain Marianne had been in even when she was dying, with the wounds she had received.
Her hand reached out for the glass of water on the floor, but when she picked it up, she realised it was empty. Taking it with her, she made her way out of her room and into the kitchen. She poured herself some water from the pot, quenched her thirst and left.
Anastasia was too engrossed in her thoughts to realise that she had failed to return to her room and had walked past the servants’ quarters, only to end up near the Paradise Tower. She now stared at the stairs. She would always come here to meet and talk to her sister.
But when she got closer to the stairs, her eyes fell on the courtesan’s head hanging at the front. With three days having passed since the coronation, the head had begun to shrivel and darken. The sight caught her off guard, and she parted her lips, only for her mouth to be covered by a large hand.