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, idle

Valken, but Stonebridge County was Eleanor's territory, and she hadn't even

wonder Eleanor was so

Avis lost strength and drifted into a deep,

day of December, Avis seemed slightly better, eating half a bowl of oatmeal for lunch and another half for dinner. She even asked if there was more,

She urged Avis to rest well, hoping

shone as

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

night, Carissa and Violet heard Jasmine's frantic knocking at the door and

shot up, gasping for breath as if she had just emerged from drowning.

been keeping watch through the night, discovered that Avis

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

of Avis' death, he held Carissa tightly.

in his arms, her voice was faint, "She's

withered trees of Verdant Monastery. The desolation they

had died in

when Avis passed, she would

all the