In the Midnight Garden

{Date Illegible}

Hell will break loose tonight—that, I am sure of.

Everything is set for tonight’s ball down to the finer details.

After I announce my abdication, I shall end it all where it began.

All that is left is Narcisa and the council, who, under no circumstances, must discover my plan.

My power will not end up in her greedy hands or the council’s, for it always belongs to the people.

Already do they struggle too much with shadows of death lurking, with three dead just this week, as some are calling it an epidemic, a plague manifesting in the wake of her death.

The court speculation is that she cursed Amaris with her dying words.

It’s all a hoax to lay blame onto Endovier to incite further division.

Propaganda from the demands of the noble, which can’t happen if I follow through with it.

The witch promised me the elixir shall ease my soul, so I may see her again—I hope to, if not in this life, then perhaps the next. The witch offered me what I wanted most for a hefty price.

I’d pay whatever I need just to hold her.

Even if I am stripped of everything that I am, I can’t live without her.

Without her, I am nothing, and I’ve become painfully aware of it as I pen these last few words.

It’s agony to know she’ll never haunt these walls anymore.

I’ll never hear her quips or taste sweet roses from her lips.

This—this is the only way I will see her again.

The clock strikes the hour, and guests are lingering within the halls, so I must be quick.

This shall be the last show I put on.