My confrontation with Aurora… ended far too quietly.
So quietly, in fact, that I hadn't even fully processed what had just happened.
She vanished.
No trace left behind.
No one remembered a maid named Aurora ever existing in the palace.
Even Dylan and Cassian couldn't explain why they'd clashed so violently, almost to the point of death.
All they remembered was a lowly maid who had conspired from the shadows — poisoning the crown prince and framing the princess — before vanishing into the night as guards gave chase.
And just like that, everything ended.
Swiftly. Cleanly.
No uproar, no earth-shattering battle.
As if… the system itself had forced things to conclude in that exact way.
I had cleared my name. The male leads had returned to normal.
Mission complete. Rewards had been granted.
And yet… it felt like I'd just been cornered into a dead end.
I hadn't truly defeated Aurora.
Killian remained comatose, the poison slowly eroding him from the inside
