Chapter 101: Tell Me the Truth
Lorelai’s gaze drifted to the bowl of soup resting on her nightstand. Its faint, savory aroma wafted under her nose, tempting her to reach for it. Yet, despite her empty stomach, she felt no appetite, no inclination to eat. Her body ached, and her thoughts were too heavy to allow her even the smallest comfort.
It had been hours since she returned from Althea’s chambers, her body weak and her spirit drained.
The memory of what happened there lingered, unsettling her. For the first time, the queen had taken it upon herself to perform the bloodletting, a task typically left to her attendants. Lorelai still couldn’t forget the chilling precision with which Althea had made the incision.
The cut on her left arm was deep and wide, and the blood extracted from her seemed endless, leaving her pale and fragile, as if she’d been completely emptied of life.
The princess shifted her gaze to the window, her emerald eyes catching the glow of the fire burning in the distant queen’s bedroom. The warm, flickering light seemed almost mocking against the cold darkness of the palace halls. Her thoughts returned to what she’d seen during her visit—Kai, the crown prince, lying unconscious on Althea’s bed.
The last she’d heard, the queen had forbidden any doctors from tending to his wound, insisting on handling everything herself. Althea’s obsessive protectiveness had always been troubling, but now it had reached new, dangerous heights. It was painfully clear to Lorelai that the queen’s mind was unraveling.
Lorelai had anticipated some level of conflict during the hunt, but she hadn’t imagined the crown prince would end up seriously wounded. The circumstances surrounding his injury were stranger still. Unlike the others, who bore injuries from the wild beasts of the forest, Kai’s wound was inflicted by a weapon—a deliberate, targeted attack.
As she lay back against her pillows, a heavy sigh escaped her lips. Whatever Althea was planning, Lorelai knew it was far from over.
Her mind kept drifting back to that day in the forest—the chaos of it all still haunted her at night. But more than anything, she found the entire ordeal strange. It was the first time something so unprecedented had happened, and it unsettled her in a way she couldn’t explain.