Page 100 of A Kingdom's Heart
to live instead.
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
IRIS
Two days had passed since that night, yet the memory of it still lingered in my mind. The tension, the truth, the way Raven’s voice broke when she cried. It haunted me quietly, sitting just behind every thought.
Now I sat at the long dining table, the silver plates reflecting the soft glow of the candles. The room was quieter than usual. Lorenzo sat across from me, focused on his meal, his expression calm but distant.
I cut a small piece of bread, trying to keep my tone light. “Will we be doing anything tomorrow?”
He looked up briefly, then back at his plate. “No. I will be helping my father with the wedding preparations.”
The word hit me harder than I expected.Wedding.It was only a few days away now. Every corner of the castle buzzed with excitement and movement. Servants hurried through the halls, florists carried armfuls of white lilies, and tailors rushed to finish my gown. Everyone seemed thrilled. Everyone except me.
My chest tightened as I nodded slowly. “Of course.”
He gave no reply, only took another bite of his food. His voice,
his eyes, even his posture had grown colder in the past two days. Perhaps guilt, or duty, or something else entirely. I wasn’t sure.
But I didn’t mind it. His distance felt like a strange kind of comfort.
The meal passed quietly. My thoughts were louder than the silence between us. When I finally finished, I placed my fork down and stood. Lorenzo remained seated, his gaze fixed somewhere past me.
He didn’t offer to walk me to my chamber. Didn’t even look up.
I waited for a moment, expecting he might look up or at least say goodnight. But he didn’t. So I finally turned and walked out of the hall.
The corridors were quiet as I made my way back to my chamber. When I opened the door, the room felt colder than usual. Empty. William wasn’t there. The chair he slept on stood by the balcony, but there was no sign of him. I assumed he had been called to stand guard elsewhere.
I let out a slow breath and began to move toward my vanity. I was reaching for my brush when something on the floor caught my eye.
A single white rose.
It just lay inside the balcony door, the petals pale as snow beneath the dim light. My brows drew together as I stepped closer.
Then I saw another one. A pink one, lying a little farther ahead. And another white one beyond that. A trail.
My pulse quicked. I opened the balcony doors. The night air was
sharp and cool, brushing against my skin as I stepped outside. The roses continued, one white, one pink, one white again, forming a path across the stone floor over the balcony’s edge.
I leaned forward and looked down. The drop was steep, but below I could see the same pattern of roses leading toward the garden, winding down a narrow ledge that looked just stable enough to climb.
A chill ran down my spine.
Lorenzo. It had to be him. He was the only one who ever gave me white roses.
I hesitated, staring at the roses. Should I follow them? Every rule I had ever been taught said no. I wasn’t allowed to leave my chamber alone, especially not at night. The castle walls were supposed to be my safety.
But the trail looked so deliberate, so tempting, almost calling to me.
I glanced toward the door, half-expecting William to appear and stop me. He didn’t. The room was still. The only sound was the wind brushing through the balcony curtains.
I took a deep breath. Then another.
Before I could change my mind, I fastened two white clips on
