The next morning, before leaving the Queen’s Palace, Alicia wanted to check the contents of her mailbox, which she hadn’t done in a long time. The outside exterior of the mailbox was adorned with gold and intricate patterns; quite pleasing to the eye, but upon suddenly remembering that she’d been locked in prison for the mails found within this very box, her expression turned sour.

Ivan would answer all her questions if she asked, but he could lie. It would be useless to ask him what had happened after her death. She’d only end up thrusting one more nail into her broken heart.

Alicia realized the reason why she was...