Ryuu ran a hand through his hair, making it fall over on one side and block part of his face so his expression was nearly impossible to read. “I don’t know if he figured out my parents were Inosen, but I don’t think it mattered. Nothing they did could have saved them. He’s been hiring assassins to take out prominent Steels for years, ever since before the war, regardless of their faith. I don’t know why, but Kouta figured out that it was him. And now he’s dead too.”

As he spoke, a sharp pain struck the center of Aina’s forehead. She leaned forward and tried to take steady breaths, but that only made her nauseous.

Memories of last night came back in piercing jolts, flashes of words, a sensation of the world falling away beneath her feet.

Kohl’s the one who killed my parents.

Her chest tightened and her breaths grew shallow, like she was using glue. This knowledge of what he’d done struck her with fresh force, as if she were hearing it for the first time all over again.

“Can we talk later?” she asked, trying to keep her voice steady. “I feel like a train ran me over.”

Ryuu nodded, already making his way toward the door. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Once they left, she lay back down and closed her eyes. She didn’t know what to do with any of the information she’d learned, or how it even mattered since those people were already dead. She’d probably join them soon if Kohl found her again. Her head ached when she wondered, once more, how she could have survived last night.

It hurt too much to think of it, so instead, she ran one phrase through her thoughts over and over as she fell asleep: black diamond.

37

The sun woke Aina the next morning. Her head no longer ached, but she was parched. She reached toward the desk for the pitcher of water, but it was empty.

Next to it, however, lay the newspaper. Her head had ached too much to notice anything particular about it last night, but now a headline on the front page caught her eye.

PRINCESS OF LINASH VISITS SUMERAND FOR THE FIRST TIME, TO RECEIVE RARE BLACK DIAMOND AS GIFT.

Black diamond. Kohl had mentioned something about it too, when she’d collected the money for the Kouta hit. Now the Linasian princess was to receive it as a gift to mark the new alliance between their countries.

Then there were the documents detailing General Bautix’s crimes.

She sucked in a sharp breath as she recalled the pages of names and how Bautix had arranged Ryuu’s parents’ deaths.

A new suspicion hit her. Clenching the newspaper in her hands, she reread the article a few times.

Minutes later, the door opened and Ryuu, Raurie, and Teo entered with breakfast and tea for her.

“I think I know what Bautix’s next step will be,” she said, pushing back the blankets. “I think I know why he killed your parents and your brother, Ryuu.”