Chapter : 1493

  They reached a central pavilion surrounded by rare orchids. The King sat heavily on a bench. Seraphina sat beside him, holding his hand. She was talking to him softly, pointing at the flowers. For a moment, they looked like a normal family.

  Cassius stood apart, watching them. He looked like a zookeeper watching dangerous animals.

  Lloyd approached the King.

  "Your Majesty," Lloyd bowed.

  The King looked up. His eyes were foggy. "You... you are the healer? The one who fixed my Sera?"

  "I am treating her, Majesty," Lloyd said.

  The King grabbed Lloyd’s hand. His grip was surprisingly strong, desperate.

  "Save her," the King wept. "She is all I have left. Her mother... gone. Taken by the dark. Don't let the dark take her too. Cassius says... Cassius says the dark is coming."

  Lloyd looked at Cassius. The Prince was smiling, a thin, cruel smile.

  "Father is tired," Cassius said smoothly. "His mind wanders. The dark is just a metaphor for grief."

  "Is it?" Lloyd thought. He activated his [All-Seeing Eye], focusing on the King.

  The King wasn't just grieving. He was sedated. Heavily. His blood was thick with a subtle, alchemical concoction designed to induce confusion, docility, and emotional instability.

  "You are poisoning him," Lloyd realized with a jolt of cold fury. "You are keeping him weak so you can rule."

  He deactivated the eye. He couldn't cure the King here. Not with Cassius watching. But he had confirmed the enemy. Cassius wasn't just a bad brother. He was a regicide in slow motion.

  "I will do my best, Majesty," Lloyd promised.

  "Good. Good," the King mumbled, turning back to his daughter.

  Lloyd stepped back. He needed to get away from Cassius. He needed to find a lead on the Orchid House.

  "Highness," Lloyd said to Seraphina. "The air here is good. But perhaps a walk near the medicinal herb section? There are plants there that emit soothing vapors."

  "I would like that," Seraphina said, standing up.

  "I will accompany you," Cassius said instantly.

  "Stay with Father, Cassius," Seraphina said. It was a command, not a request. "He needs you."

  Cassius hesitated. He couldn't refuse without looking unfilial in front of the guards.

  "Very well," Cassius said, his eyes narrowing. "Do not go far. The guards will be with you."

  Seraphina walked away, Lloyd and his team following. Six guards marched with them.

  They walked deeper into the gardens. The foliage grew thicker, taller.

  "You did well," Lloyd whispered to her when the guards were slightly out of earshot.

  "I am terrified," she whispered back. "He knows. He knows I am fighting the binding."

  "Let him know," Lloyd said. "It makes him cautious. Fear makes people make mistakes."

  They reached the medicinal section. It was quieter here.

  "Princess," Lloyd said loudly, for the guards' benefit. "Observe this plant. The Nightshade. Poison, yet medicine. It is all about the dosage."

  He leaned in closer, pretending to examine a leaf.

  "I need to know," Lloyd whispered. "Does Cassius have a private office? A laboratory? Somewhere he goes alone?"

  "The West Wing," Seraphina breathed. "The Tower of Silence. No one is allowed there. Not even the King."

  "Tower of Silence," Lloyd repeated. "Does he keep records there?"

  "I don't know. But... sometimes, late at night, I see carriages going there. Covered carriages. They don't go to the main gate. They go to a side entrance near the cliffs."

  Lloyd’s heart raced. Covered carriages. Secret entrance.

  "Do you know where they come from?"

  "No," she said. "But once... I heard him talking to a man. A man in a black cloak. They spoke of... of the 'harvest'. And 'specimens'."

  Harvest. Specimens. Orchid House.

  "Thank you," Lloyd said. "That is enough."

  "Doctor," she said, grabbing his arm. "Is he... is he doing something evil?"

  Lloyd looked at her. He saw the innocence she was trying so hard to keep.

  "Yes," Lloyd said honestly. "He is. But we are going to stop him."

  Suddenly, a commotion erupted near the entrance of the gardens. Shouts. The clash of steel.

  "Assassin!" someone screamed.

  The guards around them drew their swords. They circled the Princess.

  "Secure the target!" the captain yelled.

  Lloyd looked towards the noise. Smoke was rising.

  "A diversion?" Ken asked.

  "Or a real attack," Lloyd said. "Either way, it's chaos. And chaos is a ladder."

  He looked at the guards. They were focused outward.

  "Jia," Lloyd hissed. "Faint again."

  "Really?" Jasmin whispered. "Again?"

  "Yes. Now."

  Jasmin let out a wail and collapsed. "The vapors! Too strong!"

  The guards turned, distracted for a split second.

  Chapter : 1494

  In that second, Lloyd slipped something into Seraphina's hand. A small, round stone. A communication stone, linked to one in his pocket.

  "Hide this," he whispered. "If you are in danger... squeeze it. I will come."

  She clutched the stone. She nodded.

  The commotion died down. It was a false alarm. A magical beast had broken loose from the menagerie.

  ----

  The "attack" turned out to be a panicked wyvern that had escaped its handlers. The Royal Guards put it down efficiently, but the mood was ruined. Cassius ordered the return to the palace immediately.

  As they walked back to the carriages, Lloyd felt Cassius's gaze on his back. It was heavy, probing. The Prince suspected something. He knew the Doctor was more than he appeared.

  "Doctor Zayn," Cassius called out.

  Lloyd stopped. He turned. "Highness?"

  Cassius walked up to him. He stopped inches from Lloyd's face.

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  "You are very... lucky," Cassius said. "Trouble seems to happen around you, but you are never touched by it."

  "I have a guardian angel," Lloyd said blandly.

  "Or a devil," Cassius countered. "My sister is fond of you. That is the only reason you are still breathing. But be warned, Doctor. If you are playing a game... I will find out. And I will peel the skin from your bones to see what you are hiding underneath."

  "I am hiding nothing but a love for herbs, Highness," Lloyd lied.

  Cassius stared at him for a long moment. Then he smiled. "We shall see."

  He turned and walked away.

  Lloyd got into his carriage. As soon as they were moving, he let out a breath.

  "He knows," Ken said.

  "He suspects," Lloyd corrected. "He doesn't know what we are. Just that we are dangerous."

  The morning sun streamed through the high arched windows of Princess Seraphina’s private solar, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air. The room was a sanctuary of soft silks, velvet cushions, and the scent of lavender, designed to be a calming retreat for a fragile royal. However, for Lloyd Ferrum, currently playing the role of the humble Doctor Zayn, it was a battlefield of the mind.

  Lloyd sat on a low stool beside the Princess’s chaise lounge. He adjusted his round spectacles, peering at her with an expression of deep, professional concern. Inside, he was fighting the urge to yawn. Being a therapist to royalty was exhausting work, mostly because it involved nodding sagely at problems that could be solved with a simple conversation or, in this case, a swift kick to her brother’s shins.

  "Breathe, Highness," Lloyd said, his voice a soothing baritone he had practiced in front of a mirror for an hour. "In through the nose... hold the chaos... out through the mouth. Let the river flow."

  Seraphina obeyed, her chest rising and falling. She looked less like a drowning victim today and more like someone who had just learned how to tread water. It was progress.

  In his hand, Lloyd held a smooth, dark stone. To the uninitiated, it looked like a simple river rock, perhaps a polished piece of obsidian used for meditation. In reality, it was a B-minus grade Lilith Stone, discreetly programmed with a siphon protocol.

  "I am going to place the harmonic resonator on your forehead again," Lloyd explained gently. "It will sing a song of silence to your spirit. It will ask the storm inside you to quiet down."

  "It feels... cold," Seraphina whispered, closing her eyes. "But a good cold. Like snow on a fever."

  Lloyd placed the stone against her skin. He didn't need to close his eyes to activate it, but he did anyway, for the dramatic effect. He channeled a tiny thread of his own spiritual energy into the stone, activating the program.

  Hummmmm.

  The stone didn't make a sound audible to the ear, but to the spirit, it was a vacuum cleaner. It latched onto the chaotic, pressurized mana building up behind Seraphina’s binding and gently, carefully siphoned it off. It was a pressure release valve. It didn't break the curse—that would alert Cassius instantly—but it vented the excess energy that caused her migraines and anxiety.

  "Better?" Lloyd asked.

  "Yes," she breathed, her shoulders dropping three inches. "The pounding... it’s gone. It’s quiet."

  She opened her eyes and looked at him with something bordering on religious adoration. "You are a wizard, Doctor."

  "Just a man who listens to the body," Lloyd lied smoothly. "Now, Highness. While the stone does its work, we must do ours. The body reflects the mind. This pressure... it comes from somewhere. Stress. Fear. Secrets."

  Chapter : 1495

  This was the real treatment. The "Therapy of Truth." Lloyd knew that breaking the physical binding was only half the battle. He needed intel. He needed to know where the bodies were buried, metaphorically and literally.

  "Tell me about your day," Lloyd prompted. "What caused the pressure to spike this morning?"

  Seraphina sighed, picking at a loose thread on her gown. "It was... breakfast. Cassius was there."

  "The Crown Prince," Lloyd nodded. "He cares for you deeply." He cares for you like a man cares for a locked safe, Lloyd thought.

  "He does," she said, her voice sounding rehearsed. "He worries. He asks me so many questions. About my dreams. About my magic. He says he wants to protect me from myself."

  "Protection can feel like a cage," Lloyd suggested. "Does he manage everything? Even your schedule?"

  "Everything," she confirmed. "He says the King is too frail to handle the burdens of state. So Cassius handles the military. The treasury. The... projects."

  Lloyd’s internal radar pinged. "Projects?"

  "Restorations," she said vaguely. "Building new walls. Fixing the aqueducts. He is very busy. He has meetings late at night with the Ministers. He works so hard to shield Father and me from the ugly truth of ruling."

  "The ugly truth," Lloyd repeated. "War is ugly. Logistics are ugly. Is that what he protects you from?"

  "Yes," Seraphina said. "He says there are things a Princess should not see. Supply lines. requisition orders. The cost of... maintaining order."

  Lloyd moved the stone slightly, pretending to adjust the "resonance."

  "It must be hard," he said sympathetically. "Not knowing. Wondering if the things he does in your name are... things you would approve of."

  Seraphina flinched. The stone buzzed against her skin as her anxiety spiked.

  "I trust him," she said quickly. Too quickly. "He is my brother."

  "Of course," Lloyd soothed. "But trust is heavy, isn't it? When you don't verify. It sits in your stomach like a stone."

  He leaned back, removing the Lilith Stone. He slipped it into his pocket.

  "Highness," Lloyd said, changing tactics. "Stress comes from a lack of control. You feel helpless because you are kept in the dark. If you knew... even a little... about these burdens, perhaps they wouldn't feel so heavy. Knowledge is light. It dispels the shadows."

  Seraphina looked at him. She looked at the door, where the guards were standing (out of earshot, thanks to a subtle sound-dampening ward Lloyd had placed with his own Void power).

  "He keeps the ledgers," she whispered. "In the library. The Royal Ledger. He says it is too boring for me to read."

  "Ledgers are boring," Lloyd agreed with a smile. "But they are also truth. Perhaps... seeing them would prove to you that there is nothing to fear? That his 'ugly truth' is just numbers and corn shipments?"

  He was baiting her. He was suggesting that her fear was irrational, and the only way to cure it was to prove herself wrong by looking at the boring evidence. It was reverse psychology 101.

  "Maybe," she said thoughtfully. "I do have access. Technically. As the Princess, I am supposed to sign off on the household budget. Cassius usually does it for me, but..."

  "But you could do it," Lloyd finished. "As an exercise. To take back a little control. To prove to yourself that you are strong enough to handle the 'boring' truth."

  Seraphina sat up straighter. The relief from the pain gave her clarity. The relief from the pressure gave her a spark of courage.

  "I could," she said. "I could ask to see the household accounts. He couldn't refuse that. It's just... flowers and wine, right?"

  "Exactly," Lloyd beamed. "Flowers and wine. Start small. Reclaim your space."

  And while you're looking at the wine budget, Lloyd thought, I'll be looking for the black budget that pays for kidnapping children.

  "You are wise, Doctor," Seraphina said.

  "I am just a listener," Lloyd said humbly. "Same time tomorrow?"

  "Yes," she said. "Please."

  Lloyd bowed and gathered his things. He walked out of the room with the slow, shuffling gait of Doctor Zayn. But inside, his mind was racing.

  He had the hook. Now he just needed her to open the book.

  ----

  Leaving the Princess's solar, Lloyd walked down the expansive, echoing corridors of the palace. The black stone walls seemed to lean in, watching him. He kept his head down, clutching his medical bag to his chest, playing the part of the timid scholar perfectly.

  Chapter : 1496

  Ken Park, disguised as the mute bodyguard Kasim, fell in step behind him. They didn't speak. The palace had ears everywhere. They walked past tapestries depicting glorious battles and statues of stern-faced kings who looked like they would disapprove of laughter.

  Once they were in the relative safety of the carriage, rattling back toward the Merchant Quarter, Lloyd finally relaxed his posture. He pulled off his turban and ran a hand through his silver hair, which was currently dyed a dull brown.

  "She's taking the bait," Lloyd said, his voice dropping the Zakarian accent. "She's terrified of her brother, but she's also desperate for agency. I've convinced her that looking at the books is a form of therapy."

  "Dangerous," Ken rumbled. "If Cassius catches her..."

  "If Cassius catches her, he'll think she's just being a petulant sister trying to be helpful," Lloyd said. "He underestimates her. He sees her as a broken doll. He doesn't think she has the capacity to understand what she's looking at."

  "Does she?" Ken asked.

  "No," Lloyd admitted. "She doesn't know a debit from a credit. But I do. If I can get her to bring the ledgers to our 'session'... or better yet, if I can get her to let me 'help' her with the boring paperwork... I can find the cracks."

  He looked out the window at the passing city. Saber was bustling, unaware of the rot at its heart.

  "Cassius shields the King," Lloyd mused. "That's the key. Seraphina said Cassius handles 'special projects' to protect the King from the 'ugly truth'. That means the King isn't necessarily complicit. He might just be... absent."

  "Or broken," Ken suggested. "Like the Princess."

  "We need to know," Lloyd said. "We need to know if the King is an enemy or a potential asset. If he's just a puppet, we ignore him. If he's a prisoner... we might be able to use him."

  As if summoned by his words, the carriage suddenly lurched to a halt. Lloyd grabbed the strap to steady himself.

  "Trouble?" he asked.

  Ken peered out the window. "Royal Guard. They are blocking the road."

  Lloyd put his glasses back on. He adjusted his robes. "Showtime."

  The door opened. A captain of the Royal Guard stood there. He wasn't one of the usual gate guards. His armor was more ornate, his cape a deeper crimson. He had the hard, unsmiling face of a man who killed people for a living and slept soundly afterwards.

  "Doctor Zayn?" the Captain asked.

  "I am he," Lloyd squeaked slightly. "Is there a problem, officer? My papers are in order, I assure you!"

  "No problem," the Captain said. "A summons. His Majesty, King Aurelius, requests your presence."

  Lloyd blinked. "The King? But... I just left the palace. Does the Princess need me?"

  "Not the Princess," the Captain said. "The King. Now."

  It wasn't a request.

  Lloyd looked at Ken. Ken gave a microscopic nod. I'm ready.

  "Of course," Lloyd stammered. "An honor! A terrifying honor! I... let me just gather my wits."

  "Gather them on the way," the Captain said. He signaled his men. Two guards climbed onto the back of Lloyd's carriage. The Captain mounted his horse and waved them forward. The carriage turned around, heading back toward the black fortress on the hill.

  "Well," Lloyd whispered to Ken. "That escalated quickly."

  "Trap?" Ken asked silently.

  "Maybe," Lloyd murmured. "Or maybe the old lion woke up. Either way... we are going into the den. Keep your knives handy, Kasim. But don't use them unless I scream. Or unless they try to feed me to a dragon."

  The return journey was fast. The carriage bypassed the main gates and went to a private entrance in the East Wing—the King's personal quarters.

  They were escorted out and marched through corridors that were even more silent and oppressive than the rest of the palace. The air smelled of stale incense and old medicine. It smelled like a sickroom.

  They reached a set of double doors carved with lions. The Captain knocked.

  "Enter," a wheezing voice called.

  The doors opened.

  The King's chamber was vast, shadowy, and filled with the ticking of a dozen clocks. It was hot, stiflingly so. A fire roared in the grate despite the warm day.

  King Aurelius sat in a massive armchair by the fire. He was wrapped in blankets. He looked even smaller than he had in the garden. His skin was gray, his hands shaking as he held a cup of tea.

  Standing next to him was... no one.