EMILIA’S POV

They lowered the body into the ground.

The hollow thud of the casket against the waiting earth sent a shiver crawling up my spine. The air itself felt heavier here—thick with grief, with the damp scent of turned soil and dying roses. People around me sniffled into their sleeves, some weeping openly, others standing stiff and silent as if holding themselves upright was all they could manage.

I didn’t know the man they were burying.

All I knew was that he’d been the King’s personal doctor.

And now he was dead.

From what little I’d overheard, it had been sudden. An accident, someone whispered. Illness, someone else muttered....