Ivy’s Point of View
"Lady Ivy... please, I beg of you to come," Delia’s voice was barely a whisper as she blocked my path.
Seraphina’s maid, in a rare, completely uncharacteristic low posture, approached me with her head bowed so deeply.
"My mistress... she has something highly urgent to discuss with you. She specifically requested your presence in her private chambers. Please, do not refuse her."
I looked down at her. Although I was deeply wary of any invitation coming from the eastern wing after the brutal chaos of the past months, a curiosity sharpened my mind. But, I wanted to find out Seraphina’s true purpose.
"Lead the way, Delia," I said.
When I entered the bedroom, the woman lying beneath the heavy quilts was entirely unrecognizable. I saw Seraphina, who looked exceptionally weak, fragile, and pale, her eyes hollow as she stared blankly at the room. The moment her gaze locked onto me, I found that her haughty, arrogant attitude from our past encounters was completely, utterly different.
"Leave us," Seraphina commanded hoarsely, gesturing weakly toward the bedside. She took the immediate, fierce initiative to reject the surrounding maids, waving her hand until even Delia evacuated the room and clicked the doors shut.
Once we were entirely alone in the quiet twilight of the room, Seraphina turned her face away, a bitter, silent tear slipping down her cheek before she looked back at me and solemnly apologized to my face.
"I am sorry, Ivy... for everything," she whispered, her voice filled with an unexpected vulnerability.
She continued. "I used to hate you so much, Ivy," she said, pausing and crying. "I was completely blinded by nothing but my own petty jealousy. I spent every single day trying to find new ways to suppress you, isolate you, and calculate against your standing in this palace, simply because I couldn’t bear to see you succeed."
I sat frozen by the edge of the mattress, remaining entirely silent as she deeply, thoroughly reflected on the malice of her past behavior.
"I thought I was the clever one on our wedding night, Ivy," Seraphina murmured, a ghost-like, hollow chuckle escaping her lips. "I genuinely believed I was stealing a crown when I exchanged marriages with you. But I was a fool."
She paused, her breathing shallow. "Sarina is a monster, Ivy. She doesn’t just scheme, she executes her plots with a terrifying precision. I am deeply regretting my choice to marry Bastian and making catastrophic mistakes step by step until the heavens stripped my child away from me. I am broken. I am solemnly promising you right now that I will never compete with you for the pack status in the future. I just want to survive." She admitted.
Although I heavily suspected her sudden, drastic intention to win me over to her side to act as a defensive shield against the new concubine, I accepted the apology for now to keep the peace.
"Your apology is noted, Seraphina," I responded lightly. "But what is it you truly want from me?"
More importantly, Seraphina’s expression turned into a mask of paranoia. She leaned her upper body forward, lowering her voice to a chillingly whisper so anybody outside won’t hear.
"Listen to me very carefully, Ivy," Seraphina hissed, her eyes wide with a sudden vigilance. "The first piece of truth is a direct warning to you and Dominic—do not oppose Mrs. Margot as much as possible. If you push her into a corner, she will destroy you both without a second thought."
I arched a brow. "And the second piece?"

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