Darius and Elarion stood in Draven's study, their faces reflecting a mixture of exhaustion and pity. The reports of the Saintess's behavior were no longer just whispers; they were becoming a liability to the Crown's image.
"She has replaced half the furniture in her wing twice this week, Highness," Darius noted dryly. "The staff is terrified. She isn't praying; she is screaming."
Draven rubbed his temples, the Cinderwisp Ring glowing dimly with his mounting frustration.
"She is acting like a child denied a toy," he muttered. "I warned her to maintain her dignity for the sake of the Empire's reputation, but she has lost the ability to hear reason. Her jealousy has become a sickness."
But while Draven saw a tantrum, Eliosa saw a war.
She knew she could no longer win Draven's heart with smiles, and she couldn't defeat Regina's logic. Her only hope was to prove that the "Sovereign of Night" and her "Shadow Child" were a fundamental threat to the very fabric of existence.
Eliosa slipped into the Restricted Section of the Church Library—a place where the air felt thick and smelled of rotting parchment.
In the distance, a group of new, hooded devotees were skimming through the shelves, their movements silent and ghost-like. Eliosa ignored them, her eyes frantically searching for anything that smelled of a curse.
Her fingers stopped on a spine bound in what felt like cold, preserved skin. The Necrofell Folio.
She tucked the heavy book under her cloak and hurried back to her chambers. She locked the doors, her heart hammering against her ribs. She threw the book onto her bed and began flipping through its pages.
Ancient rituals... blood sacrifices... the origin of the void...
None of it helped. It spoke of the Obsidian Bloodline as a necessary balance, a guardian of the gate between life and death. To the Folio, Regina wasn't a monster; she was a lock.
Frustrated, Eliosa was about to hurl the book across the room when a single, thin page caught the candlelight. It was titled: "Where Light Can Collide with Darkness."
Her eyes scanned the text, and her breath hitched.