Page 68 of Wicked Prince of Frost

Imugi hisses. “There!” They whip their pale face toward me. “The very same. They must have followed us after the attack at the bridge.” Imugi releases two small puffs of mist from their nose. “Maybe even longer than that.

Another tap. This time, the small demon remains perched on the outer ledge. They press their long, finger-like talons against the glass, clicking the sharp tips.

“It is unusual behavior. There is something wrong with them,” Imugi mutters.

Why would a demon venture into the sun when direct light weakens even the strongest among them?

I flick my wrist and send a flash of power toward them. Frost spreads, crackling over the pane. They fall, trying to get out of the way.

“Wait!” Mingi snaps from out in the hall. His command is ignored by whoever is frantically knocking.

The second I open the door, Iseul pushes her way inside,heedless of the impropriety. She looks around the room frantically. “Is she here?”

Mingi follows, stopping right inside the threshold. He knows I wouldn’t do anything untoward, but it would cause nothing but trouble if word got out that she was in my apartments, alone with me.

“What is going on?” I demand.

Iseul rounds on me, her dark eyes wide with worry. “Violet—I was supposed to accompany her to the library today, but she wasn’t in her room when I went to get her.” She flings her arm toward the window, pointing. “And I caught a demon climbing out the window. What if it did something to her?”

Imugi and I exchange a glance.

“Was it about this size?” I spread my hands to match the one that was just here.

Iseul nods.

Violet is entirely human, so they cannot be bonded to her. There would be signs of a demon’s magic, impossible to hide. One cannot bond with a demon and remain unchanged.

“Do you have any idea where she could have gone?”

Iseul bites her lip, shaking her head. “I don’t… I am sorry.”

Unease slithers down my spine. Everything about this is off.

Without a word, I stride from the room. Turning a corner, I stop mid-step when I catch sight of the same demon peering through yet another window near the end of the hallway.

I quicken my stride. By the time I reach the window, the demon has already moved to the shade of a tree along the walking path beyond the main doors. They sit, watching me, as if waiting.

This wild demon’s presence cannot be a coincidence.

The Western courtyard is empty, but there is one place that is always teeming with activity. And where there isactivity, there will be servants spreading palace gossip like currency.

The demon scrambles to keep out of reach, pausing every few yards to look back.

My steps falter.Do they want me to follow?

They are leading me toward the central court. That suspicion is confirmed as I continue.

The demon hides beneath the shelter of plants, stopping at the edge of the Central Court’s Garden, out of the servants’ view. They gesture toward the main palace.

I reach out and stop the first guard that crosses my path. His posture lacks strength, and he moves with a lack of confidence. The young man cannot be more than a year into his service.

“Where is my wife?” My voice holds the cold threat of a winter storm.

His face pales. “She is in the throne room, with the king, Your Highness.”

I am already walking away before he’s finished. My uncle has never formally met with any of my previous wives. I lengthen my stride.

Ministers Ilseong and Molan have long wished to see me stripped of my birthright and banished. I do not know what they hope to accomplish, but this situation reeks of their influence.