"Do you know what is going on?" a Fae asked in a whisper.

"I don’t know," another said, "but the Queen and her consort must be having one of their quarrels again."

"If that’s the case, then there’s no cause for alarm. It’s not like this is the first time we’ve seen their lovers’ spat."

"I don’t think that’s the case. Earlier, there was the Queen’s guard asking if any of us sighted a strange butterfly. I can’t help but think Consort Baron angered the Queen again by stealing something from her," another one opined.

"Then if that’s the case, we better be careful, else we get dragged into this. Who knows what happens when two powerful figures fight? It’s the innocent citizens that are often caught in it," the first Fae advised.

"You’re right! Right!"

"We’d better mind our business."

Violet stepped out of the corner where she had been eavesdropping on the conversation.

As expected, Consort Baron’s arrest had brought about commotion in the palace. The Fae were in utter confusion regarding the Queen’s actions.

What had the Queen’s consort done to deserve this?

Already, the Fae nobles and councilors had assembled, demanding an explanation for the Queen’s actions. In their defense, the Princess’s Trial of Ascension was only a few hours away, and such a drastic move was bound to stir civil unrest.

Except, for the first time, the Queen had done something entirely unexpected.

She had them all arrested and locked up.

A small, dangerous thrill stirred in Violet at the sight of it. The Queen was finally acting the way she should. But at what cost?

The Fae Queen had lost whatever filial affection remained between them, and it would be hard to recover.

Not to mention, her reluctance to act earlier had already created another problem.

Celeste was nowhere to be found.

A hunt had been put out for her, but so far there was no sign of her, as if she had vanished from the Free Fae entirely.

Thanks to all that, everyone was busy and bound to get minimal rest tonight. Alaric was already tied up with Zuru, trying to create a second device and launch it tomorrow. Asher was busy investigating the missing butterfly.

According to the report of their conversation, the culprit had created a hole through which he had snuck into the sacred grove and stolen the device.

In one word, Violet was the only one who had been left on her own.

"Get some rest. You have a long day tomorrow. Your mind and your body need to be settled so you can be at your optimum best." Those had been the words Asher had told her.

As if she could simply close her eyes and all her worries would vanish. How could she even sleep in the first place? It felt like everyone was doing something, and she was the only useless one.

So here she was, doing her own version of investigation by spying on the servants in case someone knew something and was not saying anything.

Violet was dressed in all black and had even tied her hair into a tight bun, hiding the purple tips that made her hair so unmistakable. Not that purple hair was rare in the Fae Realm. But none wore the color quite like she did.

So here she was, sneaking around the palace like a thief and coming up with absolutely nothing except petty gossip—servants caught secretly sneaking around with each other while on duty and other juicy bits that came with the job.

It wasn’t long before Violet sensed she was being watched. Of course, it wouldn’t surprise her that the Queen—that was her title from now on—had placed someone to keep an eye on her prized heir. The woman seemed to enjoy the idea of having an heir that kept the lineage running more than actually performing the role of an ideal mother.

Thanks to that, Violet headed outside to draw her follower out. One could imagine her shock when she found out—

"You." Her eyes widened at the sight of Hannah.

Hannah casually strolled up to her, saying, "If that was your idea of sneaking around, then you have to work on that, Princess Violet." Although there was a bit of sarcasm in the title, Violet could sense the teasing too.

Violet stared at her half-sister. Her gaze took her in from head to toe. This was the first time they were both alone. Violet had been so occupied with her own drama, she hadn’t even had the time to try to connect with the sister she shared with her crazy father.

Hannah looked so much plumper and healthier compared to the time she had been all skin and bones.

Even now, that light in her eyes whenever she looked at Violet had not dimmed. If anything, it had only grown stronger, and Violet knew exactly what that look meant.

Hope. Expectation. Something dangerously close to attachment. The girl wanted closeness. Something that looked like family. Sisters.

Violet’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. She did not know how to be that to someone who was already grown and had formed her own conclusions about the world.

Hannah wasn’t a child she could guide, and that made it worse. Because Violet wasn’t even sure she fully trusted her yet. There were too many things that could go wrong. Violet had learned the hard way what happened when you gave people too much trust.

She narrowed her eyes at her suspiciously. "Shouldn’t you be locked up in your room or something? What are you doing? Collecting information you could send to Angus once you return to the human realm?"

Hannah rolled her eyes dramatically. "You do know I never supported our father in the first place?"

"Your father, not mine," Violet said with disgust. "And yet you worked for him?"

"Excuse me, I didn’t have a choice. Some of us girls didn’t have the good luck of being sent away to District One where we could have a tough life and hopefully grow into our potential. I grew up knowing nothing but Angus and the many siblings surrounding me."

Violet couldn’t say anything, knowing Hannah was right. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what her life would have looked like if Angus had raised her. Clearly, it would have been hell, seeing as her beloved mother wouldn’t have come for her.

So she cleared her throat awkwardly, saying, "Sorry."

Hannah lifted a brow, clearly surprised she had apologized.

Then she too said, "I’m sorry too."

Violet looked surprised. "For what?"

"You know what it’s for," Hannah said. "I tried to set you against Ziva so the both of you would fight each other and I could have my freedom. I was being selfish."

She sighed.

"You were only trying to survive," Violet told her.

"It doesn’t change the fact that I was still being selfish."

"Yeah," Violet said. "Aren’t we all a little stupid?"

For a moment, silence stretched between the girls.

Then Violet sighed, as if this was somehow a bad idea.

She said, "Tell me what it was like growing up with Angus. On a scale of one to ten, just how bad was it?"