Shadow
Chapter 14
Split of the Crown (5)
Betrayal
ـــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ

Asma finally lay down in her wide bed after a long, exhausting day.
She kept turning restlessly, her eyes wide open...
Something was gnawing at her heart — sadness? Anger? Who could tell?

She muttered to herself with childish irritation,
“Damn it… why does he always look at that portrait? …That stupid Deismond!”
She sighed, “If only I were like her... maybe... maybe he would stop treating me like a child! Maybe the Duchess and the nobles would finally respect me!”
She bit her tongue and growled, pulling the blankets over her head and turning to the other side.

...

Morning came.
Asma hadn’t slept a wink, her eyes swollen from fatigue.

A knock came at the door. Lady Litchi entered with the breakfast tray.
Asma was sitting on the floor beside her bed, still in her nightgown, her eyes red and tired.

When Ivanka entered, Asma jumped up, ran to her, and hastily wrapped her head with a strangely shaped scarf, as if she didn’t care at all about her appearance!

She suddenly grabbed Ivanka’s hand without greeting or warning.
Ivanka couldn’t even speak — she was too shocked by Asma’s expression and her eerie smile that sent chills down her spine; it was a wide grin paired with puffy eyes — she looked like a ghostly mummy!

Asma pulled Ivanka along down the hall toward the King’s corridor until they stood before the portrait.

Finally, Asma spoke with determination:
“Ivanka! Help me… I want to become… like the woman in that picture.”

Ivanka froze, eyes wide in disbelief.
She immediately understood what Asma meant — her heart trembled, but she tried to keep her composure.

“...Isolde? Have you lost your mind, Your Majesty?!”

“What’s with the ‘Your Majesty’ part now?” Asma snapped back with childish stubbornness.
“I told you! Deismond, or whatever her name is! I must look like her! Help me!”

Ivanka facepalmed and let out a long sigh.

...

With quick steps, Ivanka headed to the royal training hall, hoping to find Ivan — and luckily, he was there.

“Psst! We need to talk,” Ivanka whispered sharply. “Asma... wants to turn herself into a copy of Isolde!”

Ivan collapsed on the bench, laughing uncontrollably, clutching his stomach.
“Hahahaha! Oh, what a disaster! Is she going to dye her hair black and talk like a baroness? No, no… this is going to be the worst catastrophe in Norton’s history!”

“Listen! This isn’t funny... not at all!” Ivanka growled.

Ivan calmed himself, wiping away tears of laughter — but there was suddenly a spark of seriousness in his eyes.

“Or maybe… it’s the first time… she’s fallen in love.”

...

In the grand royal library, between tall shelves overflowing with ancient tomes, Ivanka was searching for a suitably heavy book while Asma bounced around her in excitement.

Finally, Ivanka found the right one and approached Asma, who stood ready beneath the soft sunlight filtering through the stained glass of blue and green.

Asma stood tall, head held high. Ivanka placed the book on her head.
“Lower a bit, Your Majesty!”

“Oh—okay!” Asma adjusted her posture.

She tried walking with the book but kept stumbling, dropping it over and over until she finally learned how to balance it.

Her walk resembled a proud goose — head and hips raised — stepping sideways with each exaggerated stride, believing with full conviction that this was elegance itself!

Ivanka struggled to hold back her laughter.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty!... not like that…”

“What?! I just saw you walking this gracefully!”

“Well... perhaps just lower your head a little… and your hips too, Your Majesty… and don’t lift your legs that high when walking…”

“Hmmm…” Asma kept staring at the book foolishly until she noticed footsteps approaching and a shadow falling over her.
Ivan had arrived.

Ivanka whispered, “He’s here... maybe to put an end to this disaster... I hope.”

“Your Majesty! I see you’re trying very hard! Haha!”

“Shut up, Ivan! I’m going to master this!”

“Of course! You’re the greatest queen! You must succeed!... Now, Would you mind taking a walk in the royal garden? I’ll tell you more about etiquette along the way, Your Majesty.”

“...Alright! Let’s go!”

Asma walked toward the garden path, still balancing the book on her head, eyes fixed on it so it wouldn’t fall.

In the royal garden, she walked between Ivanka and Ivan, dressed in an overly elegant gown, trying to maintain her balance. Ivan mocked her the whole way.

“Ah, look at her… little Lady Deismond, walking as if she’s swallowed a stick!”

Asma gritted her teeth, fists tightening.
“Shut up, you frog… I’m trying to look graceful!”

Ivanka facepalmed in despair.

As Asma continued her clumsy walk, something caught her eye — the royal training field.

There… stood Shadow, tall and composed, loosing arrows with deadly precision.
Each one hit its mark without fail.

Asma stopped, and the book slipped off her head.

“Oh! Your Majesty! —” Ivanka bent to pick it up.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine!” Asma bent too, but froze when Ivanka beat her to it.
Her gaze lingered on the king, who was drenched in sweat... and suddenly, he removed his heavy jacket and his shirt, revealing his scarred and muscular torso.

Asma froze — her eyes widened like saucers, cheeks burning bright red — and then she screamed,
“YAAAAA—”

She collapsed to the ground, fainting on the spot. Ivanka rushed to catch her.

“Your Majesty! Wake up! Oh, God, what happened to you?!”

Ivan stood still for a moment — then burst into uncontrollable laughter.

“HAHAHAHA!! She couldn’t handle seeing Shadow without a shirt!! This is the best day of my life!!!”

Shadow turned at the sound of Ivan’s laughter, his cold gaze meeting the absurd scene.

He sighed, wiping sweat from his forehead.
“What kind of creatures are you people?”

Ivanka tensed, Ivan kept laughing, and Asma lay unconscious on the ground, mumbling incoherently...

“...That stupid Deismond!... you don’t have this kind of beauty…”

Ivan laughed even harder upon hearing that. Shadow grew tired of them and left.

...

By evening, Asma returned to her room after spending the day trying to balance properly.

She asked Ivan, “When can I go back to Aletheia Tower again?”

“Anytime!... as long as the king doesn’t find out. But you’d better hurry — there’s only a week left before we travel to Fristov and Glasin!”

“Oh! So little time!... Fine, what’s next week’s schedule?”

“Let’s see…” Ivan opened a hovering display, like a floating smartphone.
“We have a single meeting, and a royal banquet to welcome the Silvaris delegation — they want to negotiate something. So… there’s time for a visit to Aletheia Tower... tomorrow!”

Asma went silent for a moment, clenching the armrest.
“Alright, let’s do it again!”

...

On his way to his chambers, Ivan was stopped by Lady Litchi.
“The King requests your presence immediately, Your Highness. It’s urgent.”

Ivan frowned, thinking as he hurried down the corridor.
“To summon me at such a late hour… strange! But stranger still… what’s with this sudden turn of events? I recall he went to meet Sir Albert about the southern relocation project… is this related to that?”

He reached the King’s quarters and knocked — no reply.
That was the signal to enter immediately.

Inside, Shadow stood in his military uniform beside his grand marble desk, its edges glinting under the faint orange torchlight.

He turned to face Ivan with a sly smile — one that made Ivan uneasy.
Shadow was holding a report — Sir Albert’s report.

He adjusted his military cap, lowering his gaze in calm, lethal silence before speaking.
“The famine continues, Ivan… Do you know what that means?”

“Sir Albert… is a traitor!”

Shadow gave a short, muffled laugh, covering his face with one hand.
“May I ask a favor… one I will never forget?”

“Your command, Your Majesty! Just give the order!”

“I’m borrowing Ivanka for a while — she’ll handle a task in Valembra.
In return, you’ll accompany the Queen on her journey to Fristov and Glasin… meaning you’ll also be her personal guard.”

Ivan hesitated — his expression suddenly filled with horror.
“Did Ivanka… do something wrong?!”

Shadow stepped forward and sat on the padded chair, fingers interlaced over the desk, smiling faintly.
“Quite the opposite. I’ll be relying on her completely in the days ahead.”

Ivan leaned closer over the desk, his shadow falling over the King’s papers.
“Then tell me — what’s your plan? How do you intend to use her?”

Shadow’s cold eyes scanned him up and down.
“She’ll lead the Field Audit Corps in Valembra. You know well that Norton’s military capital hides many secrets… but lately, it’s been hiding more than it should.”

“You mean… Albert has been embezzling the kingdom’s funds? For six months?!”

“Who knows?... Perhaps.”

Ivan knew Shadow already suspected something — but that man never acted rashly.
He had followed him for years, and every decision had proven right. This time would be no different.

Ivan straightened up confidently.
“If your doubts about Sir Albert point toward Valembra, and the issue involves the military arsenal, then this could mean internal corruption — or worse, a coup.”

Shadow smirked slightly, like a teacher proud of his student.
“Both.”

Ivan’s eyes widened in shock.
“But he was one of the conservatives! Not even part of the opposition like me!”

Shadow gave a quiet laugh.
“Not everyone on your side truly is, Ivan.
Betrayal is easy… uncovering it is the hard part.”

Ivan nodded respectfully. Shadow gestured toward the door.
“Thank you, Prince Ivan. Get some rest.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Good night.” Ivan bowed and left to rest before the Silvaris reception the next day — and to cover for Asma’s secret visit to Aletheia Tower.

Once Ivan was gone, Shadow was left alone in his vast chamber, its ceiling high and ornate.
He removed his cap and jacket, placing them over the chair’s back.

He summoned a cloud of darkness before him — inside it, a reflection of Asma’s real-world body appeared: a fragile human woman lying in a hospital bed on Earth.

“...Your condition is stable now, isn’t it?”

His cold eyes softened, tinted with an emotion he could no longer name — guilt? sorrow? helplessness?

“...I’m sorry. I hold no grudge against you, and you mean nothing to me — just as I mean nothing to you.
But I won’t allow anyone else to kill you. I’ll make sure of that, Asma.
You won’t die unjustly — you’ll die for justice, for saving your people.
You’ll bear the sins of your grandfather and of Isolde.
That is your fate.”

 🔥 Tell me what you think in the comments!

Updates every Friday & Saturday — 9:00 PM Cairo Time (GMT+2) / 11:00 AM PST