Chapter 80

Ever since Julia's bombing incident — though no one's ever proven she was behind it, I'm certain she was — Karman had started paying more attention to Cassion.

Of course, that was only by comparison to how things had been before.

The support Karman gave Cassion was nowhere near what Julia lavished on Dayson and Yumire.

Still, Karman had started having tea with Cassion on a regular basis, and he'd moved Gadrian to much nicer quarters.

Even that much was enough to noticeably improve how Cassion was perceived within the palace.

And there'd been one decisive shift on top of that. Mindful of Karman watching her, Julia had grown visibly kinder toward Cassion and me.

Knowing she was probably sharpening her knives behind the scenes made it no less convenient that, on the surface, she'd softened — at least I didn't need to stay on guard every time I saw…