Chapter 307: Aftermath of the Audience with Queen Nerezza
Samuel's POV
The obsidian gates shut behind us with a dull boom, like the final word in a sentence written in blood.
Roselle walked ahead of me, her posture straight, silent as a blade drawn but not yet swung. The corridors of the palace twisted like living veins — pulsing with twilight energy, walls breathing softly like some ancient beast slumbered beneath the stone.
Neither of us spoke for a while.
But silence? It's never just silence between Roselle and me. It's a battlefield of unsaid words, of past lives and bruised pride echoing off the stone.
Finally, I broke it.
"So," I muttered, "Nerezza doesn't want loyalty, just utility. That make her wise... or desperate?"
Roselle's voice was calm, precise. "Both. She rules a kingdom of ghosts, memories, and regrets. But the Pale Queen knows the value of a weapon she didn't forge."
"She called me a monster."
"You are."
I paused, glanced at her. "You say that like it's a compliment."