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Knots formed in Kallie’s stomach as a wretched noise escaped Trina’s lips.

“Are you sure there was no foul play?” Rian asked the healer.

Kallie tried to avoid looking at the servant who lay supine on the floor, but her attention kept wandering down, the guilt dragging her attention to the body. The little dinner Kallie had managed to eat threatened to come up.

“Yes, My King. The vial in the servant’s hand is without a doubt poison, and there was a note.” The healer held out a piece of wrinkled parchment.

Rian reached for it, but Laurince grabbed it first, crinkling the paper in his hand. He sniffed the piece of parchment, held it toward the candle, and inspected it. When he unfolded the paper, Laurince’s face paled.

“Laurince,” Rian demanded, with his hand outstretched.

Laurince brows quivered. “But we should have this—”

“Hand it over,” Rian ordered.

Lips in a flat line, Laurince held out the paper.

As Rian read, his shoulders sank, and he gripped the paper tighter.

“What is it?” Kallie whispered.

Shaking his head, Rian turned the paper in her direction. Kallie scanned the note but couldn’t read it as her vision blurred, making the words swim across the page. Kallie, however, didn’t need to read the words to know what the note said, not when she was the one who had commanded them to be written.

I cannot live with this weight any longer. I am a traitor to my family and my kingdom. My family had suffered for so long. We were barely making ends meet each month. I had asked for a raise, and he said no. In my anger, I poisoned King Lothian. But now my guilt eats away at me. My family deserves better.

Rian shook his head again. “I had vetted them all, I thought that I had already—”

Kallie stumbled, her body going limp.

“Kallie!” Rian shouted. He shoved the note back at the healer as he pulled Kallie up. “I think we’ve seen enough.” With a gentle hand, Rian led Kallie by the elbow, and she leaned into his side.

“Wait, My King!” the healer shouted as they turned away from the servant’s cold body.

Rian glared at the healer, who grew silent beneath the king’s stare.

The back of Kallie’s neck grew damp, and her body shook. The faux concern becoming all too real.

“What is it, Winston?” Rian snapped.

Winston cleared his throat. “Would you mind if I studied the body?” The healer’s gaze flicked to Kallie before landing back on Rian. “For scientific purposes, of course.”

“He has confessed to being a traitor. Do with him what you will,” Rian said in a rush.

Winston bowed. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Rian led them forward and called for his guard over his shoulder.

Armor rattled behind them. “Yes, My King?”

“Send reparations to the family. He may be a traitor, but his family should not suffer because of his wrongdoings.”

“But what if they’re—”

Rian interrupted, shaking his head. “It does not matter. Let this kindness show them that I am not my father.”

Laurince nodded.

Rian pulled Kallie closer to his side, but even with his warmth, Kallie’s skin grew cold as if a layer of ice coated her flesh. She stumbled, her ankles weak. Reaching out, she tried to grab onto something. Her hand wrapped around someone’s wrist as she fell.