Her Graceful War Song by Summer's Blaze

Avis gripped Carissa's wrist tightly, glancing anxiously outside. Her breathing was rapid, and she struggled to keep her voice steady.

"Listen to me. Prince Yuvan is not a good man. He has been conspiring with Grand Princess Eleanor."

Carissa was stunned. "What?"

She hurriedly sent everyone out, instructing Violet to stand guard at the door.

"Aunt Avis, what do you mean by that?"

Avis' head sank, her voice filled with fear and cold dread as she continued, "Over the years, he has been secretly raising troops in Valken, funded by Grand Princess Eleanor and Lady Fiona. Those soldiers are hidden in Stonebridge County."

Carissa knew Stonebridge County. It was Eleanor's fief, the dowry the late king had given her.

"Do not offend him. Do not become his enemy. He is not as simple as outsiders think," Avis said, her breath growing weaker.

Perhaps the revelation of this secret had frightened her deeply.

"Over the years, he has caused a scandal with his favoritism and abandoning his wife. Do you really think he favors Lady Fiona? It's just a ploy to create a bad reputation and deceive the current king," Avis added.

Carissa was horrified.

Yuvan to be a worthless,

was Eleanor's territory, and she hadn't even settled there.

wonder Eleanor was so

this, Avis lost strength and

for lunch and another half for dinner. She even asked if there was

rest well, hoping that after the harsh winter, everything would be better with the

as she

joy, oblivious to the silent exchange of glances between Ivy and

frantic knocking at the door and her choked voice coming through, "Lady Avis has

shot up, gasping for breath as if she had

who had been keeping watch through the night, discovered that Avis had stopped breathing when she got up to offer her

peacefully in her sleep. She had not survived the year, dying

the twenty-ninth day of December. Upon hearing the news of Avis' death, he held Carissa tightly. He expected her to cry, but she remained

arms, her voice was faint, "She's gone. Perhaps

around at the withered trees of Verdant Monastery. The desolation they exuded seemed to

had died in such

when Avis passed, she would have been entirely alone. And with

the more