CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

ALPHA KING EDEN

The dungeon was cold and damp, the air thick with the smell of mold and the faint metallic tang of blood.

The flickering torchlight cast long shadows on the rough stone walls as I and Aldo descended the winding staircase.

My expression was hard, my eyes sharp with purpose. Aldo, though still limping slightly from his own recent ordeal, walked beside me, the betrayal we had uncovered weighing heavily on both our minds.

As we reached the bottom, my gaze fell upon the woman who had served in the palace for so many years, now reduced to a bloodied and bruised figure chained to the wall.

The guards had done as I’d ordered, and Gloria was barely recognizable, her face swollen from the beatings.

But despite the pain etched into her features, there was no remorse in her eyes. Instead, she looked up at me with a chilling calm, a twisted satisfaction lurking beneath the surface.

I stepped closer, my presence imposing as I stood over her. Aldo remained a step behind, his own fa