Once Cassian left the Empress's chambers, Rose, with her face extremely flushed after hearing her mistress's moans, approached Caelia.
"Master…" Rose murmured, trying to regain her composure.
"Send someone to release Rosalind Varkas. If my son objects, let him know it was my direct order," the Empress declared, reclining with evident satisfaction.
"Yes!" Rose replied, visibly nervous. But just as she was about to leave the room, Caelia's voice stopped her cold.
"Also, have someone keep an eye on Cassian. I don't want what's 'mine' spending too much time with other 'distractions'."
Rose hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Your Majesty… the second son of the Count is engaged to the daughter of the Windsteels."
The Empress's gaze darkened instantly. The mere mention of another woman near what she considered her personal property completely ruined her good mood.
Her maid stood there for a second, wondering whether she should say anything more.
"What is it, Rose?" the Empress asked impatiently.
"And… what about His Majesty? If he finds out, won't he get angry?"
"Ha!" Caelia let out an ironic laugh that echoed through the luxurious room. "He amuses himself with who knows how many concubines, and I can't have someone for myself? Go do what I told you, Rose. Don't say anything else that ruins the moment."
The Empress's gaze drifted back to the memory of what had just happened, a satisfied smile on her lips—the kind Rose rarely saw.
…
When I returned from the palace, Adela was already ready to scold me, as usual.
"Was that really necessary?" she asked, a mix of indignation and disgust in her voice. "Even if you wanted to go down that path with her, you could have done it like with Elara. There was no need to do it that way."
"Wasn't it fun?" I replied indifferently. "Besides, if I do the same thing I did with Elara, it wouldn't make sense. I want the betrayal of her son to come from her own will."
"But…" Adela tried to argue, but I didn't let her continue.
"Start gathering information on the Lothe family. Even if the Empress falls, it doesn't mean her family will follow. If we get them on our side, we'll just need to hear what the Astafords say and we'll already have our next empress in the making. For now, I'm tired, Adela. Also make sure Rosalind is released as quickly as possible. If not… maybe it's time to stop going in circles."
Adela looked like she wanted to remind me of something else, but I closed the door to my room without wanting to hear anything more. Even though what happened today had been "fun," Rosalind's words had left a weight on my mind.
I still didn't know what was going to happen when I told her everything—or at least the fact that her brother is, in fact, dead.
Then I remembered Thalassa's words… "empty shell." That was exactly what I wished I could be right now: a vessel without emotions, one that didn't have to deal with the weight of bonds I had once stopped understanding.
A sigh escaped me as I closed my eyes, letting sleep cloud my mind.
…
Saturday passed without anyone bothering me, and Sunday followed the same. I could feel that someone had been watching me these past days; it seemed the impression I had left on Empress Caelia was exactly what I expected.
When I finally let Adela speak to me, I remembered I had something else to do this weekend… Well, it wasn't that important—I thought, shrugging my shoulders and downplaying it. I also remembered how I had left Professor Elena behind; that woman definitely hadn't taken it well.
The academy was quite lively. It seemed some students from Pradiles had come on exchange to the Academy to give demonstrations and exchange knowledge.
Seraphine stopped me with a worried expression on her face, something that was becoming recurrent with women who didn't know me well.
"Cassian, where have you been? I heard what happened with Rosalind. It's a relief that she's free now; Margery couldn't believe they had locked her up in the first place."
"Mmm, it was devastating," I replied with my usual indifference.
She looked at me, searching for more of a reaction, and when she saw she wasn't going to get one, she gave up.
"Either way, you should be careful these days. The new exchange students from Pradiles don't seem very friendly, and for some reason they've been seen with guards who look quite intimidating. Even the professors say they can't sense how strong they are."
Her words caught my attention. Had someone from beyond the ninth circle come? And if so, why would they be accompanying simple students?
I said goodbye to Sera, although she seemed to want to talk to me more; I suppose we haven't been very close lately…
Anyway, I wanted to go see her great-aunt; there was something we had left unfinished last time.
…
"Zarian, Zarian… the souls coming from Demor have started to decrease drastically. I thought you were in charge of them."
"Belthor, I'm not sure," the man in question replied. "I received a report from the believers I sent, and it seems the place they thought would be the easiest to attack turned out to be a waste of time. They lost a lot of people there, including one I had sent personally."
"A ninth-circle moved?" Belthor asked, puzzled.
"That's the strange part. From what they tell me, a marquise who barely reaches the sixth level of aura was the one who stopped them. At first I thought the person I sent had betrayed us, but he died too."
"Hmm… it seems attacking the humans directly is still not a good idea. Nereon seems to be doing much better with the sirens."
…
Lisbeth, with that lost look that had become usual lately, stared out her window.
"Do you think we're making a mistake? Listening to the gods… I've always believed in them blindly and I know they have a plan to save us all, but what they tried to do in Beaumont… I don't understand it."
Her closest maid looked at her with understanding; although her young lady was far from being a true saint, she could tell that even for her, the gods' methods were starting to become difficult to accept.
…
On the other hand, a very angry Cassane Windsteel was venting her frustration.
"He stood me up! Look, I understand that his stepsister was in trouble, but couldn't he at least have let me know? Just one message: 'Cassane, I'm sorry, next Saturday.'"
Valeria looked at her best friend with pity. Although she herself didn't understand what it was like to be in love with someone, she knew Cassane was on the verge of that and felt sorry for her.
At that moment, an intense cold began to envelop the room. Cassane's incredible affinity was going out of control; if it wasn't handled quickly, she could end up seriously hurt by her own power. Ice began to crystallize on the walls.