Rosalind’s stomach twisted. She quickly pulled herself away from the opening because she now knew she had to warn Rowan somehow.

Below her, Alaric’s eyes suddenly narrowed slightly toward the ceiling.

"Haven’t I ordered the pests in this palace to be exterminated already?" he asked coldly.

Even the advisor stiffened slightly at the dark tone in his voice before their conversation slowly shifted toward complaints about rats inside the walls.

Meanwhile Rosalind continued moving quickly through the passageways and eventually she reached the area above the dungeons.

The deeper she moved into that part of the palace, the darker and colder everything became until finally she located the section where Rowan was being kept. Rosalind carefully removed the covering above the cell and immediately Rowan’s eyes snapped upward at the sound.

She slowly lowered her legs first.

Rowan was already standing, his sharp gaze remained fixed upward while he tried making out the figure climbing down from the opening and for a moment, even in the darkness, those legs looked familiar to him.

Then Rosalind dropped down fully with a soft gasp and the sight of her dark hair confirmed it immediately.

"Rosalind?" he asked in disbelief.

Rosalind hissed quietly from the impact before quickly turning toward him and the moment their eyes met again, she felt her heart skip inside her chest.

As she slowly stepped closer, his gaze moved over her appearance properly and his expression darkened slightly. "What happened to you?" he asked quietly.

"It’s nothing," Rosalind replied while trying to steady her breathing.

But Rowan continued observing her. "You look exhausted," he said. "...and pale."

Rosalind looked away briefly. She did not want to speak about the cleansing rites at all, but after a moment she finally answered quietly.

"It was the Veiled Sisters. The king ordered them to begin the rites before the marriage."

Rowan stared at her silently after hearing that, his expression unreadable.

Then after a pause, he finally spoke. "I’m sorry I dragged you into all of this. If I hadn’t come to your chambers that night..."

"I agreed to it too," she reminded him softly while looking back at him. "So it isn’t entirely your fault."

Silence settled briefly between them afterward and despite finally seeing each other again, Rosalind could feel clearly that something between them had changed.

"Rosalind," Rowan called quietly after a moment.

Her heart skipped at the sound of her name on his lips and she slowly lifted her gaze back toward him. "I’m sorry for everything" he said finally.

"I was never honest with you from the beginning. I lied about many things and I let you trust me while hiding the truth from you. You didn’t deserve that... and instead I only became another person that hurt you."

Rosalind pressed her lips together quietly while Rowan added, almost reluctantly, "I kept telling myself you wouldn’t believe me anyway, that even if I tried to explain it all, it would only put you in more danger... so I waited. I kept waiting for the right moment that never came"

His voice softened, but there was still something heavy beneath it. "I thought I was protecting you," he admitted, "but maybe I was also afraid... afraid that if you knew everything, I would lose you before I ever had the chance to make you understand."

Rosalind’s expression shifted slightly at that, her silence growing heavier between them.

While Rowan’s jaw tightened as he continued, "Also, I didn’t want you dragged into something between my brother and me. This is a conflict that has nothing to do with you, and I thought... if you stayed out of it, you would be safe."

Rosalind’s brows slowly furrowed. "Your brother?" she repeated in disbelief.

Rowan took a slow breath, as though the weight of everything he had been avoiding had finally caught up with him, and he knew there was no point holding anything back from her anymore. "Yes," he said quietly, his voice low but steady, "he’s my elder brother."

He paused for a moment, then continued with a tension in his expression that he could not fully hide. "But we are nothing more than enemies now. I used to believe we were brothers in every sense that mattered, but I was wrong. He never saw me that way and I... I didn’t see it soon enough. Now all that remains between us is blood, nothing else."

Rosalind listened in silence, her heart aching for him. Although, his words were controlled, she could hear what he was trying not to say. There was pain there, deep and buried... under something harder... anger directed at Alaric.

And suddenly she understood why Rowan looked the way he did whenever Alaric was mentioned.

But Rosalind still could not fully understand how two brothers could become this way. Alaric had hurt Rowan over and over again like he genuinely wanted to destroy him completely and yet they were family. They shared the same blood.

It felt cruel.

Worse still, she was beginning to realize this hatred between them had existed longer than she ever imagined.

Rowan’s gaze held hers before he spoke again, quietly. "Rosalind... I never lied about what I feel for you," he said, his voice tightening as though it was difficult to admit even that much.

"I meant it. I still do. I’ve felt it for a long time, and I never intended for you to get hurt because of me."

Rosalind’s heart tightened as she noticed that the words did not come easily to him at all, yet he was still trying and somehow that only made her feelings for him deepen.

"I wish I could stop all of this," Rowan continued bitterly. "... I can’t even stop my own brother from marrying the woman I love while he plans to make your life..."

His voice trailed off abruptly.

But Rosalind was no longer listening to the rest of the sentence because her heart had already started pounding loudly inside her chest.

"What did you just say?" she asked immediately.

Rowan’s eyes narrowed slightly. "I said Alaric intends to make your life miserable and there’s nothing I can do to stop it."

"No," Rosalind interrupted quickly. "Before that."

Rowan looked confused for a second. "I said I can’t stop him from marrying you?"

Rosalind exhaled quietly in disappointment and Rowan noticed it immediately but he didn’t understand what was wrong.

Then her expression suddenly turned serious again. "I overheard him speaking with someone earlier," she told him quickly. "He plans to kill you on the wedding day and present your body to me afterward as some kind of sick gift."

Her voice tightened with disgust before she shook her head. "None of that matters right now. You need to leave this place, for good."

Rowan’s expression darkened instantly as he processed it, but strangely enough, the realization itself did not shock him. Somewhere deep down, he had already expected this day would eventually come.

But if he died, then Rosalind would be left completely alone with Alaric.

And that was the one thing Rowan could not allow.

If Alaric intended to destroy him on the wedding day, then they would both fall together.

"Are you still listening to me?" Rosalind asked with frustration when he said nothing.

Rowan slowly stepped closer and wrapped his hands around the iron bars of the cell.

"You don’t need to worry about me, Rosalind," he said quietly. "I’m not leaving."

Her eyes widened immediately. "I just told you he plans to execute you!" she snapped. "He clearly doesn’t care about you anymore if you still think..."

"I know he doesn’t." Rowan said calmly.

He had already accepted that truth a very long time ago. "But there’s something I have to do."

Rosalind stared at him in disbelief before sighing heavily. "I already warned you," she told him firmly. "Now it’s your decision whether you want to leave this place or stay."

With that, she turned sharply on her heels, clearly preparing to leave.

"Rosalind," Rowan suddenly called after her.

She stopped without turning fully around. "What is it?" she asked tiredly.

Rowan looked at her quietly for a moment.

Then he said softly. "Be careful."

Rosalind lingered there briefly before finally turning away again. Rowan remained standing behind the bars while watching her climb carefully back toward the opening above the cell until eventually she disappeared into the darkness once more.