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CHAPTER 7 :The Mask Slip

Author: Dione Zeus
last update Last Updated: 2025-08-26 02:00:21

The Winter Solstice Ball was a glittering affair all golden candlelight, polished marble floors, and music so sweet it seemed to drip from the strings of the orchestra. The nobility came dressed as if they were the constellations themselves, shimmering with silks and jewels.

And at the center of it all was Aria.

She floated through the crowd on Damien’s arm, her gown the color of dawn light, her hair threaded with pearls. Every tilt of her head, every soft laugh, was calculated to charm.

It was a performance I had watched before, in another life.

I knew exactly where the cracks lay.

“Lady Serina,” the Duchess of Vayle greeted me as I entered. Her eyes skimmed over my silver gown modest in cut, but embroidered with patterns of black thorns climbing from hem to hip. “A bold choice.”

“Boldness is the only fashion worth keeping,” I replied, smiling faintly.

I could feel eyes following me as I crossed the floor. Cassian was there already, lounging against a pillar near the wine tables, his
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  • REVENGE AFTER REBIRTH-THE LORD'S FORSAKEN BRIBE   Chapter 105: Quiet weight

    Morning came grey and heavy, as if the sky itself had not slept. The smoke from the night’s fire still lingered, thin threads that refused to fade. From the window of what was left of my chamber, I could see the workers clearing debris from the courtyard, carrying buckets of water, stacking blackened stone into neat piles. The palace was breathing again, but it breathed through pain.Cassian entered without knocking. His armor was polished but dented in places, a reminder that he had spent most of the night in the ashes with the others. He set a small bundle on my table, a handful of letters saved from the flames.“They found these in the west corridor,” he said. “Most of the others are gone.”I unwrapped the cloth. The letters were scorched around the edges, the ink blurred, but the seal on one of them was still clear, the serpent’s mark.“They were inside the palace,” I said quietly.Cassian nodded. “Too deep to be a courier’s mistake.”I ran my thumb over the seal. Aria’

  • REVENGE AFTER REBIRTH-THE LORD'S FORSAKEN BRIBE   Chapter 104: What Remains After Fire

    Smoke still hung over the city when the sun broke the horizon. The palace was half a ruin. Stone walls blackened, banners torn, courtyards littered with ash. The east wing still hissed where buckets of water had met the flames. I walked through it slowly, boots crunching over glass and debris. Every few steps a guard bowed his head, ashamed. None of them could look at me for long. Cassian followed close behind. His armor was smeared with soot, his voice rough from shouting orders through the night. “It started in the treasury,” he said. “They poured oil through the vents. Whoever planned this knew the palace better than we did.” “Someone inside,” I answered. “Always someone inside.” I stopped at the doorway to see what had been the record hall. The shelves were gone, nothing left but metal frames and smoke. Centuries of accounts, charters, and bloodlines are all gone. Cassian touched my shoulder. “You should rest.” I shook my head. “No. Rest is what she wants.” By midday,

  • REVENGE AFTER REBIRTH-THE LORD'S FORSAKEN BRIBE   Chapter 103: Letter of Ruins

    I woke before dawn, long before the bells. I hadn’t slept much; Aria’s lies still echoed in every corner. Even silence carried her voice.Cassian stood by the window when I entered the war room. His armor was half buckled, his hair still damp from the morning rain.“She’s turned the council against itself,” he said. “Half of them believe I sold secrets to your sister.”I moved to the table and spread the newest reports across it. Letters, sightings, names. “Then we give them proof she’s lying.”He frowned. “How?”“By finding the mouths she feeds,” I said. “Every rumor starts somewhere. Find it, and we cut it off before it spreads again.”Cassian nodded. “You want spies.”“I want truth,” I said quietly. “And I don’t care how we find it.” By noon, the city was restless again. The rain had stopped, but the air felt thick, waiting for something to happen.I rode through the streets with only a small escort. People stopped to stare. Some bowed; others looked away.Rumor had teeth. You c

  • REVENGE AFTER REBIRTH-THE LORD'S FORSAKEN BRIBE   Chapter 102: Whispers in the Flame

    The rain fell hard that night. It washed the city streets clean, but it could not wash away the fear.From my balcony, I watched the drops beat against the marble rails, the sound steady, almost soothing. It was the only thing that felt calm anymore.Cassian joined me quietly. His presence was grounding, a steady warmth beside the storm.“More fires in the lower district,” he said. “Small ones. Controlled. Set to draw attention.”“Distractions,” I murmured.He nodded. “Someone’s testing your reach.”My fingers gripped the balcony edge. “Aria.”Her name left a taste like iron on my tongue.She was clever enough not to strike twice in the same place. Every move she made was meant to confuse, to pull me thin. The people were beginning to question which Valcrest they could trust; the serpent or the flame.Cassian turned to face me, his eyes searching mine. “You can’t keep defending this city alone. Let me take the northern quarter.”I shook my head. “You’re still healing.”“I’ve healed

  • REVENGE AFTER REBIRTH-THE LORD'S FORSAKEN BRIBE   Chapter 101: Ashes in the mirror

    The city hadn’t slept in days. Fear had become a living thing, moving through the streets, whispering in the markets, curling up in the corners of every home.One name carried on every breath.Aria.The woman who had once been caged beneath the palace now walked free again.And I could feel her presence in every flicker of shadow. The council hall felt colder that morning. The nobles spoke in circles, demanding executions, while others begged for peace. I didn’t answer them right away. I just watched the flame burning in the center of the table, its light steady against the gloom.“We will not chase ghosts,” I finally said. “We will find her, but not by tearing apart the city we swore to protect.”Lord Alaric scoffed. “You think to reason with a serpent?”I looked him in the eye. “No, I intend to starve it.”They fell silent. Cassian stepped closer to me, his expression calm, but his eyes told me he was tired. He hadn’t slept, not really. None of us had.“The merchant’s death

  • REVENGE AFTER REBIRTH-THE LORD'S FORSAKEN BRIBE   Chapter 100: Empty Cage

    While i trust my instinct, i went down to the dungeon, torchlight spilling across the stone. The iron doors hung open, hinges bent. Bodies laid crumpled on the ground, their blood soaking into the cracks.Captain Varrek knelt beside one of the fallen, his jaw tight, his hands clenched. “They’re dead. All of them. Slained.”I stepped forward, my heart pounding as I reached the final cell. The bars gaped wide, chains lying useless on the floor.Empty.Aria was gone.The sound of it roared in my ears, louder than battle. She was free.Cassian’s hand brushed mine, steadying me. His voice was low. “It was her. It had to be. Someone let her out… or she made them believe she was worth freeing.”My throat was dry, my chest tight. “I should have ended it when I had the chance. I let her rot in the dark, thinking it was enough. But serpents do not rot. They shed their skins.”And now she had shed hers.The council chamber seethed with fury. Nobles shouted over one another, voices shrill wi

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