The next day storm had gotten stronger, almost a blizzard now.

The white sky had darkened into grey, and soon it would be time for supper. The dorms were empty and eerie. No more laughter flowed through the halls and there were no more colorful dresses swirling.

When I went down the stairs, I saw Oriana, wearing a black dress like everyone else a few steps below me. When she heard my footsteps, she turned around and gave me a tired smile as I descended to stand next to her.

"Are you staying?" I asked. While half the girls had asked to leave, the weather wasn't safe enough for horses and carriages to work.

She nodded before tugging at her hair.

"The truth is I don't want to. I'm scared," she confessed. "But my father wants me to continue; he went through so much for this."

Although I never met her father, I already harbored hatred for him. He manipulated the system so Oriana became a contestant, got people to look for the dandelion seeds, and now he was making Originia risk her life just so he could get a higher position. Throughout all of this, not once did he listen to what his daughter wanted.

"What about you, Karina? Are you staying for Prince Otto?" I gave an absent nod, but when I picture Otto, he's wearing Oscar's solemn expression and Oscar's voice rings through my mind.

When we entered the dining room in the Grey Castle this time, as the blizzard made it inconvenient to walk back and forth for food, and there were less girls. Garnett stayed in her room with the doctors. I look at the other girls wearing black. They were scattered around the long table, and instead of the usually bustling feast, it felt like a funeral procession.

Oriana and I sat down next to Annabelle.

"You can't leave, can you?" I asked her.

"Yes." She fidgeted in her seat, obviously uncomfortable with being stranded. Being stranded at Taraxac, being stranded without a home, and being stranded in the Dandelion System and possibly the next victim.

I look around the table and I find myself missing Lorna and Garnett.

They said that Lorna was stabbed in the chest in her bedroom at night. She was still tucked in bed, hinting that she was killed while she was sleeping. Whoever the murderer was, they were as cowardly as well as sneaky. That morning, Garnett discovered her bloody body under bloodstained covers.

I took a peek at Priscilla, who sat alone now, without Lorna and Garnett. She ate absently and her eyes are unfocused. Was it possible that it was only an act and that she was the one behind the scenes? Or was it the Queen and Priscilla was simply a pawn, like me?

I wondered the girls sitting at the table with me had chose to stay of their free will or, like Oriana and Annabelle, were tied down by an invisible string.

They clearly didn't look like they were sitting here, risking their lives, to collect Dandelion Seeds. Their faces were nonchalant with an eery calmness but the corners of their lips drooped and their eyes were rim-rimmed or swollen. How did I look?

Like a murderer?

Dinner ended quickly and almost no one had cleared their plates, not to mention the dishes that were completely touched. We shuffled outside the dining room and I am surprised to see a girl step out in front me. Blithe.

"Lady Karina." Blithe's voice was urgent. "I need to talk to you, do you have time?" I narrowed my eyes. I turned to Oriana and Annabelle and smiled, telling them to go ahead. They left, and I turned back to Blithe.

"What's wrong?"

"If you don't mind, I'd rather go somewhere more—well, private."

I hardly knew her, she acted strange when I mentioned Aideen, and recently there was a string of murders—should I really trust her? What exactly was so secretive that she had to go so far to to tell me? Or was she going to lure me away?

No, that couldn't be. There were witnesses that saw her with me. But she might know some key information that would provide to be a clue in all of this.

No sane person would, but I followed her down the empty hallway. There was a change in her I couldn't explain. She was no longer cheery and wore that sly but pretentious smile.

When we reached the end of the corridor where the lights barely reached, she looked around with her shoulders hunched up before sighing in relief.

"I need to talk to you about Aideen," she finally said.

"Do you want to talk to Aideen? Should I tell her?"

"No, no, that's not what I meant. I have to talk to you about her." She inhaled deeply before continuing. "I know that Princess Oda and you are working together."

My breathing stopped momentarily as I look at her dimly-lit and solemn face. She knew.

"Since when?"

"After we met. I saw the two of you in the garden at night."

"What do you want?" My voice came out shakier than I had intended. My hands were also clamped into defensive fists without my knowing.

"I want to help you and the princess," she said softly. I narrowed my eyes, but she didn't change her expression. She was serious. "Queen Sonota is also working with someone."

I felt my nails dig into my palm at the realization that someone other than Oda and I know about it. There was no longer any doubt. Like the princess, the Queen is also participating in the Dandelion System.

"Who is it?" I asked, afraid to hear it.

"Aideen."

"What?"

The Queen's favored contestant is Aideen, with her small face, large eyes, soft voice, and innocent smiles? Aideen, who is always by my side, Oda's side—our side?

"That's not possible, she's a lady in waiting!" I declared. Blithe shook her head.

"No, that is exactly why."

"Is this why were you always asking me about Aideen? You think she's working with the Queen?" She looked taken aback by my accusation, but didn't back down.

"At the beginning I wanted to get close to Aideen and maybe gain some advantage with her and the Queen, but with the girls getting—" she grimaced, "murdered each day, I don't know what to do. I just want to tell you."

I wanted to turn and walk away, pretend I never heard anything, but I motioned for her to continue.

"Before the Dandelion System was made, I often eavesdropped on the King and Queen. The Dandelion System was actually the King's idea. He wanted a system in which twenty ladies were able to compete without violence, but by luck, determination, and skill. By finding the most number of Dandelion Seeds.

"However, both Princess Oda and Queen Sonota were against it. Princess Oda didn't want her brother to get married. Queen Sonota was upset about one thing." She closed her eyes before opening them again. "Maids, who did not belong in any social class, were not able to join the Dandelion System. Aideen couldn't join."

I shook my head at the sudden surplus of information. The Dandelion System was the King's idea? Queen Sonota was upset about maids being unable to join? And Aideen might be the rival Oda and I were looking for?

"Are these murders committed by her?" I'm afraid to say it, but I do. Blithe didn't deny it. She looked at the floor in silence.

"If," she murmured, "if all Dandelion System contestants die or forfeit and the King doesn't have much time left, why would he refuse Aideen? The Queen loves her because she took care of her since she was small and I'm sure Aideen would never betray them."

Aideens's words echo in my mind.

"I don't need friends, I live solely for the purpose of serving the royal family!"

I'm also reminded of her admitting that she was the royal family's dog. However, she was in hysterics when we heard about Tristesse's murder. Most importantly, she's my friend. She's Oda's friend. Did our relationship hold no value when compared to the Queen's?

"I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry," Blithe said. "But please, for your safety, be careful." She looked at me but I wouldn't speak. She swallowed and then walked away.

I watched her back as she walked away. This was the girl who I had distrusted and feared at first, but now it was the opposite: I was suspecting my own lady in waiting and friend.

Aideen, whose side are you really on?