The palace did not speak of the hanging.
It did not need to.
By midday, the servants' corridors were unnaturally silent. One bed in the lower quarters lay stripped bare. One name went unanswered during roll call. No announcement was made, no body displayed—yet everyone knew.
Justice had been carried out before the sun fully rose.
Vanella felt it in the way eyes followed her now.
She walked the corridors alone, escorted not by guards, but by space itself. Servants stepped aside instinctively. Some bowed too deeply. Others refused to look at her at all. Fear and resentment mingled freely where respect had not yet found a shape.
She had been given new garments—still simple, still servant's cloth, but finer. Cleaner. Marked subtly with the King's sigil.
A royal servant.
Privilege without protection.
"She's the one," a whisper slipped behind her.
"The King spared her."
"No—he chose her."
Vanella kept her head down, jaw tight. She had not slept. The image of Halvra's body collapsing still burned behind her eyes. She had not wanted mercy for the woman—but neither had she asked for blood.
And yet, blood had been spilled all the same.
A quiet voice stopped her.
"You walk like someone carrying too many thoughts."
Kallen leaned against a column, arms crossed, expression unreadable. He studied her carefully—not as a servant, but as something else.
Vanella bowed. "My lord."
"No," he corrected gently. "Not me."
She straightened, confused.
"The King wishes to see you," Kallen said. "Immediately."
Her pulse spiked—but she nodded.
As they walked, Kallen spoke again, almost casually. "You should know—your accuser will not trouble you again."
Vanella did not ask how he meant it.
She already knew.
They stopped before the King's private corridor. Guards stepped aside without question.
Before entering, Kallen added quietly, "Favor is a dangerous thing in this palace."
Vanella met his gaze at last. "So is silence."
A flicker of approval crossed his face.
Inside, Raven stood by the window, hands clasped behind his back. He did not turn when she entered.
"Do you know why I spared you?" he asked.
Vanella lowered herself to one knee. "Because I did not steal the seal."
Raven turned then, eyes sharp. "That alone would not have saved you."
She swallowed.
"You stood before my court without begging," he continued. "Without trembling. You watched death and did not break."
He stepped closer.
"That is not common."
Vanella kept her gaze lowered. "I had nothing left to lose, Your Majesty."
Raven studied her for a long moment.
"From today," he said at last, "you will work within my sight. You will hear what others do not. And you will learn when to speak—and when to remain silent."
She bowed deeply. "I will serve as commanded."
Raven's gaze lingered on her a second longer than necessary.
Outside, the palace resumed its rhythm.
But beneath the stone and silk, something had shifted.
A servant had been hanged without a name spoken aloud.
A girl from a fallen kingdom had risen too quickly.
And the Tiger Clan, though defeated, watched patiently—waiting for the next fracture.