In the hospital, everywhere was silent as Mr. Blackwood’s presence still lingered in the air, though the man himself had die and gone peacefully in the night. A soft hush filled the estate as news traveled through the corridors like wildfire. The empire was now vulnerable, and the balance of power had shifted irrevocably.

I clenched the folder tighter in my hands. Every document, every ledger, every detail of Catherine’s safety, our strategies, the empire future it all rested in the document.