Kanha staggered to her feet, legs trembling beneath her. Tears still poured down her face, hot and endless. Her mind was a whirlwind of panic and desperation. "If I just tell him everything… if I confess before anyone else does… maybe he'll forgive me. He has to."
She rushed through the palace corridors, barely seeing the servants who stared at her tear-streaked face and crumpled rose-pink silk. By the time she reached Lord Kaisen's chambers, she was gasping for air, chest tight with fear and hope.
The doors stood open. Kaisen was sitting by the large window, morning light falling across his shoulders as he read a scroll. He looked up the moment he heard her frantic footsteps.
"Kanha?"
The sound of his voice broke the last thread of her control.
She collapsed right there in the doorway, knees hitting the marble with a dull thud. A raw, choking sob tore out of her as she curled in on herself, hands clutching her belly and the damp silk at her chest.
"I'm sorry…" she wept, voice cracking. "I'm so sorry… Kaisen… I'm sorry…"
Kaisen dropped the scroll and rushed to her instantly, dropping to one knee and pulling her into his arms.
"What's wrong?" he asked, voice tight with alarm. "Kanha, look at me. What happened? Are you hurt? Tell me."
But she couldn't form the words. Every time she tried to speak the truth, the panic surged higher. Her chest heaved, breath coming in short, frantic bursts. The room spun. Her vision blurred with fresh tears.
"I'm sorry… I lied… I… I drugged—" The rest dissolved into helpless sobs. "I'm sorry… I never meant… Mirha… I—"
She never managed to finish.
The overwhelming guilt and fear finally crashed over her completely. Her body went slack in his arms, eyes rolling back as she passed out cold, tears still glistening on her lashes.
"Kanha? Kanha!"
Kaisen's face drained of color. He shook her gently at first, then more urgently, cradling her limp form against his chest.
"CALL YADID NOW!!" he roared toward the corridor, voice booming with raw fear. "GET THE PHYSICIAN! HURRY! SHE'S NOT BREATHING RIGHT!"
Servants came running at once, footsteps thundering down the hall. Someone shouted for the royal healer.
Kaisen held her tighter, one hand frantically feeling for her pulse at her throat while the other brushed sweat-damp hair from her pale face.
"Stay with me," he whispered, voice cracking. "Kanha, please… stay with me."
He never heard the full confession.
She had passed out before she could tell him the truth.
And now, as the physician's hurried footsteps approached, Kaisen was left holding his unconscious wife, terrified, confused, and completely unaware of the storm of lies and schemes that had just begun to unravel around them.
Kanha's eyelids fluttered open slowly. The first thing she saw was Nailah sitting beside the bed, perfectly still, watching her with that same calm, unreadable expression. The room was quiet — no maids, no physicians, no Kaisen. Just the two of them.
Kanha pushed herself up with trembling arms, wincing as the world tilted for a moment. Nailah silently handed her a cup of water. Kanha drank it in small, shaky sips, then took a deep, shuddering breath.
"I wanted to tell him everything…" Kanha's voice cracked as fresh tears welled up. "I swear I wasn't trying to cause any more trouble. I went to his chambers… I was going to confess it all — the lies, the drug, Mirha… everything. But I couldn't… I just kept saying I'm sorry and then… I passed out."
Nailah sat there, silent, letting her speak.
Kanha sobbed harder, wiping at her wet cheeks with the back of her hand. "I thought if I told him myself, maybe he would forgive me… maybe he would understand…"
"And gain what?" Nailah finally spoke, her voice low and even. "Do you know how Kaisen would react? You risked the life of your child with that panic. What if something had happened to the baby because of your hysteria?"
Kanha could only keep wiping her tears, shoulders shaking.
Nailah continued, tone flat but heavy with disappointment. "You are always like this, Kanha. So quick to act without thinking of anyone else… or the consequences."
Kanha's voice came out small and broken. "Then… what should I do?"
Nailah exhaled slowly. "You should learn how to think things through before you act on them."
A heavy silence stretched between them.
After a long moment, Kanha whispered, barely audible, "I think… I will get rid of this child."
Nailah's eyes widened in disbelief. She rose to her feet in one sharp motion and slapped Kanha hard across the face — the sound cracked through the quiet room like a whip.
Kanha gasped, hand flying to her stinging cheek, eyes wide with shock.
"I did not know you would be this stupid," Nailah said, voice trembling with anger for the first time. "That child, even if you don't want it, carries royal blood. Killing it would be the highest form of treason. You would be executed, Kanha. Without question."
Kanha lowered her gaze, still holding her reddened cheek, fresh tears slipping down.
"I don't know what to do…" she whispered.
Nailah sat back down slowly. She was quiet for a long time, staring at the floor. She didn't know either. Telling Kaisen the full truth was not something that could be brushed aside as a "stupid mistake." There was a child on the way now — living proof of the deception. No one could simply ignore or forget that.
After a heavy pause, Kanha spoke again, voice hesitant.
"What if… you tell the Emperor to tell him?"
Nailah shook her head. "How do I explain it? He would not listen to me. He would believe I am only defending you."
Kanha paused, then offered softly, "What if Mirha told him?"
Nailah froze. The memories from that morning slammed back into her — the muffled moans, Arvin's wrecked groans, Mirha's soft, surrendering sounds behind the closed doors. Her hands tightened in her lap.
She took a deep, steadying breath.
"Does she know?" Nailah asked quietly.
Kanha shook her head. "No… but I will tell her. I don't know if she will forgive me… but she is the kindest person I know. She will… she can forgive me."
Nailah stared at her cousin for a long moment, something cold and complicated flickering behind her eyes.
The silence that followed was heavier than before.
Both women sat there — one still crying quietly, the other lost in her own storm of grief, betrayal, and impossible choices — neither knowing how to untangle the web that had been spun around them.
The decision was made in Nailah's chambers with heavy silence.
"We tell Mirha," Nailah said finally. "She is the only one who can reach Kaisen without him immediately assuming defense or manipulation. And she deserves to know the truth from the source."
Kanha nodded weakly, still pressing a cool cloth to her slapped cheek. "I will go to her myself."
---
Meanwhile, out in the open fields beyond the palace walls, Mirha rode beside her mother, Launi. The wind tugged at Mirha's loose hair and the simple riding tunic she wore. She was exhausted — bone-deep tired. The night with Arvin had been merciless; he had taken her again and again until the sky lightened, leaving her thighs aching, her core sore and swollen, every movement a reminder of how thoroughly he had used her. She had barely slept.
Yet when her mother suggested a ride, Mirha had smiled softly and agreed. She wanted this — a few precious hours of normalcy, of laughter and fresh air with the only person who had ever truly protected her before the palace swallowed her whole.
They galloped across the grass, raced each other, laughed when Mirha's horse nearly threw her at a sudden turn. For a little while, the soreness and the emperor's hunger faded into the background.
When they returned to the palace, both women were flushed and smiling. They bathed quickly, changed into fresh, light silks, and Mirha felt a small spark of peace return as she walked back toward her private rooms with her mother.
The moment they stepped inside, the peace shattered.
Kanha was on her knees in the center of the room, forehead pressed to the cool marble floor, shoulders trembling.
Launi stopped short. "Lady Kanha… why are you on the ground?"
Mirha stepped closer, confusion flickering across her tired face. "Kanha? What is this?"
Kanha did not lift her head. Her voice came out muffled and raw.
"I only wish you can forgive me… for what I have done."
Mirha froze.
That phrase — those exact words — were only ever spoken when someone was about to confess a grave wrong. Her stomach tightened.
Kanha kept her face to the floor, voice shaking as the confession poured out.
"I… I degraded you every single time I saw you looking pretty. I mocked your clothes, your hair, your walk. I tripped you in the corridors when no one was looking. I pinched and slapped you when you passed me in the halls. I spread rumors that you were ambitious and trying to climb into the emperor's bed on purpose… all while I was the one pushing you toward it. I convinced Empress Nailah to send you to the emperor's chambers as a concubine. I begged her to choose you above the others. Not because I wanted to help you… but because Lord Kaisen was in love with you. He wanted to marry you. I couldn't let that happen. So I made sure you became the emperor's instead… so he could never have you."
The room grew deathly quiet.
Launi sat completely still, her face pale, hands clenched tightly in her lap as she listened to every cruel detail of how her daughter had been treated after being sent to serve these nobles.
Mirha stood frozen, eyes wide, the soreness between her legs suddenly feeling like nothing compared to the cold weight settling in her chest.
Kanha's voice cracked as she finished, still pressed to the floor.
"I did all of it… because I was jealous and scared. Because I wanted Kaisen for myself. I ruined your life to protect my own lies."
No one spoke.
The silence stretched, thick and icy. The air itself felt heavy, pressing down on all three women.
Mirha's mother stared at the kneeling figure with quiet, burning fury. Mirha herself could only stand there, heart hammering, trying to process the years of small cruelties, the bullying, the manipulation.
The confession hung in the room like smoke that refused to clear.
And still… no one said a word.