The lights in the neighboring houses dimmed one by one. After a hearty dinner, Alia and her companions rose to leave. Elias watched them from the doorway, his eyes filled with reluctant longing, especially when his gaze lingered on Elise. His lips held a faint, bittersweet smile as he waved them off.“Go back inside; it’s already dark,” Alia called back, urging him gently, though she sighed inwardly. Young love… it’s always so complicated.Back at home, Marcellus wasted no time heading straight to the study.Alia lingered by the staircase, watching his familiar figure disappear behind the study door. Her lips curled into a self-deprecating smile. Of course, his mind is still preoccupied with the secrets buried in that room.In the study, Marcellus switched on the desk lamp, his gaze sweeping across the rows of books on the shelves. A vague unease prickled at him tonight, prompting his attention to shift to a concealed mechanism at the corner of the desk. He activated it with a soft to
The morning sunlight poured over the windowsill, the air still carrying the faint warmth of last night’s intimacy. Alia leaned against the bedroom doorframe, watching Marcellus adjust his coat, preparing to leave. His handsome face remained as striking as ever, his eyes filled with the same deep affection, as if their closeness the night before had brought them even nearer.“Will you be busy today?” Alia asked casually, her tone indifferent as though it was a routine inquiry. Yet only she knew the storm of emotions concealed within those words.“Yes, there’s still work to be done on the city expansion, and I need to keep collaborating with Edgar,” Marcellus replied, stepping closer. He bent down to press a gentle kiss on her forehead, his gaze profound yet tinged with a faint tenderness. “Rest well and don’t overthink. I’ll try to come back more often.”Alia said nothing as she watched him turn and leave. She didn’t call him back or say anything else. She stood there until his footste
Days passed, and Marcellus remained busy, never returning home. This gave Alia more time to solidify her resolve.During these days, she carefully reviewed all the clues in her mind, organizing her goals and plans. If answers wouldn’t come to her, she would have to uncover them herself.On a new morning, Alia sat in her bedroom with a map spread out before her. It marked the location Adrian had mentioned. Her fingers traced the marks on the map, a determined flame igniting in her eyes.“No more delays. It’s time to act.”Standing before the mirror, Alia deftly disguised herself. Taking advantage of the servants’ busy routines, she slipped out of the manor unnoticed. Familiar with every path in the estate, she climbed over the back wall, evaded the patrolling guards, and made her escape.Following the map’s directions, Alia eventually reached the place Adrian had mentioned. As she stood there, an inexplicable sensation stirred in her chest.She froze, instinctively placing a hand over
After listening to Red’s explanation, Alia gave a faint smile, a trace of sentiment rising in her heart.“No matter whether Elias belongs to the Marcellus family or not, his leadership is truly admirable. Perhaps he was born to be a leader,” she said, her gaze complex yet quickly masking her inner emotions. Her tone became calm again as she continued,“Indeed, he’s my friend.”Red nodded, his eyes showing a touch of curiosity as he looked at her. Alia seized the opportunity to add,“And I do have a new task for you all.”Red straightened up immediately, excitement flashing across his face.“Join the city expansion construction team and dig at the locations I’ve marked.”Red frowned, clearly puzzled by the task. Scratching his head, he asked,“The expansion team has high entry standards, doesn’t it? How could street folks like us possibly join, let alone dig wherever we want once we’re in?”Alia was prepared. She pulled out a letter from her coat and handed it to Red. The fine paper bo
“The Holy Grail?!” The thought flashed through Alia’s mind in an instant, but her hands didn’t pause. She kept digging, her heart racing with uncontrollable excitement and curiosity.As the soil was gradually cleared away, a piece of metal came into view. Her breath hitched as she carefully pulled it out. To her disappointment, it wasn’t the legendary Holy Grail but a rusty, ordinary-looking iron plate.“Is this the source of the light?” she murmured, frowning but still remaining cautious.However, there seemed to be something hidden beneath the plate. Alia gently flipped it over, and her surroundings were suddenly illuminated by a dazzling glow. The light wasn’t like any ordinary flame; it radiated a sacred warmth, piercingly bright even in daylight.As Alia reached out to touch it, something strange happened—the light vanished instantly, as if absorbed by her touch.“What’s going on?” she wondered, her thoughts swirling. “Why did it react to me?”With no time to waste, she continued
One late afternoon, Alia disguised herself once again and discreetly left home, boarding a car heading toward Elias’s secret hideout. Earlier that morning, she had called Elias, informing him of an urgent matter. Elias provided her with this address. Before departing, she summoned Elise and whispered instructions, “If anything happens, call me immediately. If anyone asks, just say I went shopping.” Though puzzled, Elise nodded her agreement.When Alia arrived at the hideout, she cautiously scanned her surroundings to ensure she wasn’t being followed before pushing open the door. Elias was already waiting for her, his eyes filled with a hint of urgency, as if he sensed the significance of the news she bore.“What happened?” he asked first, his voice low and steady.Alia took a deep breath, calming her nerves before speaking. “I found the diary you mentioned, but there’s new danger involved.” She recounted the entire sequence of events, starting from Adrian sensing the calling, to Red l
Marcellus stood at the door, his gaze icy and his tone laced with deliberate mockery. “Elias, I’ve always known about this little hideout of yours, but I never pursued it. As your elder brother, I respected your privacy and let you keep your secrets. But today, it seems I was wrong.”He stepped forward slowly, his piercing eyes sweeping over Elias before his voice shifted, sharp with sarcasm. “I didn’t expect you to use this place for secret rendezvous. And with someone like this,” he said, his gaze falling on Livia. A cold smirk tugged at his lips. “A young man, no less. It seems, as your brother, this is the first time I’ve learned about your… preferences.”Elias’s face darkened instantly. He fought back his unease and was about to explain, but Marcellus raised a hand, silencing him.“Don’t rush to speak.” Marcellus’s gaze locked onto Livia, his smile chilling as it faded. “Let me get a better look at this… ‘young man.’”His eyes traveled over Livia with deliberate slowness, his voi
“Don’t listen to him! How could that be true? I loved you so much!” Marcellus’s voice trembled as if someone had struck the deepest wound in his heart. His body lurched forward before collapsing weakly to the ground. Pain and regret filled his eyes. “There was… a reason for it all.”Alia watched his disheveled state, her emotions in turmoil. She didn’t know what to believe. The man before her had once brought her boundless sweetness but also endless pain. Her mind swirled with questions, yet she didn’t know where to begin.“A reason?” Elias sneered, a trace of disdain flashing in his eyes. “Your so-called reason is treating her with cold indifference, trampling on her feelings, and even using the cruelest words to humiliate her?”“Enough, Elias!” Marcellus clenched his teeth, his hands tightening into fists as though struggling to control himself. “It wasn’t like that…”“Wasn’t it?” Elias refused to back down, his voice sharp with anger. “Then let me tell her what really happened.”El
Livia’s eyes lingered on Marcellus’s hand—still gently wrapped around hers, firm yet reassuring. Her heart skipped a beat. In the soft light, their shadows stretched along the wall beside the bed, wavering slightly as if echoing the tremble in her chest. She exhaled slowly, almost soundlessly, and stepped closer. Every movement she made was featherlight, like she feared even the quietest sound might shatter the fragile stillness between them.She loosened the outer robe draped over her shoulders and let it slide down, the fabric rustling faintly against her skin. One hand unfastened her sash with quiet precision. She moved slowly, with the care of someone unsure if they were allowed this moment. Her every motion—removing each layer, folding her clothes, placing them neatly on the bench beside the bed—carried a sense of reverence, as though this small act of undressing held weight beyond its simplicity.With a breath held, she lifted the blanket’s edge and eased herself into the bed. T
Time slipped by quietly, unnoticed. As the conversation between the two deepened, they grew more engrossed, the warm golden light in the hospital room spreading between them like a soft, tranquil embrace.Livia was leaning over the final map, her voice low and focused: “If we reroute through the East Corridor, would that—”She stopped mid-sentence.It suddenly dawned on her that Marcellus, propped against the headboard beside her, looked pale and exhausted. A sheen of sweat clung to his forehead. Though he was clearly forcing himself to stay alert for their discussion, his body had long reached its limit.She frowned slightly, frustrated with herself. Closing the file folder, she murmured, “…Sorry, I got too carried away. I forgot you’re still recovering. I should’ve let you rest earlier.”With that, she stood up and quietly walked over to the simple spare cot on the side of the room, ready to let the night pass in silence and pick up their unfinished plans tomorrow.But just as she l
Elias was just about to stand up, brushing down his cloak as he prepared to leave the room with Livia. But just as he moved, Livia’s voice rang out—soft, even-paced, but carrying a quiet firmness that left no room for doubt:“Tonight, I’ll stay with you.”The air seemed to freeze for a moment the instant those words left her lips. Elias and Marcellus turned to look at her almost simultaneously. Marcellus frowned, a flicker of surprise and instinctive concern in his eyes. Elias, meanwhile, froze in place, a look of stunned disbelief flashing across his face.Livia didn’t shy away from their gazes. She looked directly at Marcellus, her tone as calm and rational as ever. “There are still things I haven’t figured out. No matter how quickly you try to explain them verbally, it’s better for me to ask directly and clear everything up. Let’s settle the rest tonight—so there won’t be any loose ends in the handover.”“No,” Marcellus said at once, shaking his head, his expression unusually urgen
Once again, she was reminded of who she used to be in her past life.Back then, she hadn’t met her master yet, didn’t even have a name. She was just a shadow slipping through alleys and street corners, someone who could vanish at any moment. Every morning she woke up shivering from the biting cold, her stomach hollow and aching. Every night, she curled up behind broken crates or next to trash heaps, falling asleep to the sounds of crying and fighting on the outer edges of the city. There was never enough food, never enough warmth—no trust, no direction.If she hadn’t met her master that night, she might’ve quietly died in some nameless alley.And now, the man before her was saying he wanted to build a new residential area—for people like she once was, people with nowhere to go.If what he said was real, if this expansion project could truly take shape, it would mean that in the future, there would be fewer people like “Alia.”In that moment, something sparked inside her—Livia… no, Ali
For a moment, the air seemed to still.Elias froze, startled, while Livia’s eyes widened slightly—she hadn’t expected such a simple, almost tender reason from him.Marcellus lowered his head a little, spreading out a planning blueprint and pointing to a corner of the map where a future residential area would be built. “There’s no real war at the moment, but unrest is everywhere. There are more and more vagrants and homeless people. They’re being pushed to the very edges of the city walls, sleeping in tents and abandoned warehouses… with nowhere to hide when it rains.”His voice was soft but carried a weight that pressed deep into the heart, each word deliberate and steady.“There just aren’t enough places for people to live. I used to think it was just a problem of resource allocation, but later I realized—it’s actually a matter of choice. Whether or not we’re willing to take one more step, spend a bit more, to give them a place where they can find shelter from the wind and rain.”His
Livia turned her head to look at Marcellus, and couldn’t help but sigh inwardly—he really was the kind of person who could never be ignored. She and Emma had come to their suspicions only after comparing their differing sources of information, cross-checking details, and reasoning things through again and again. That’s when they began to sense something strange about the whole situation, suspecting that someone else might be behind it all.But Marcellus had reached nearly the same conclusion entirely on his own, through nothing but personal observation and logical analysis—and his certainty even surpassed hers. That kind of insight and sharp instinct… truly impressive.Her gaze softened a little without her realizing it, though she quickly reined in her emotions and returned to her usual calm.At that moment, Elias spoke as well. His eyes narrowed slightly, and there was a cautious, skeptical tone in his voice. “I had my men re-examine the blast site. To be honest—if that explosion wa
“Should we consider Eryx as our primary suspect?”To Livia’s surprise, Marcellus suddenly proposed this guess. His voice was low and firm, as if he had been thinking about this possibility for a long time.Livia was momentarily stunned, almost unable to react in time. Her eyes widened slightly, her mouth parted in surprise. “Primary suspect?” she repeated, her voice tinged with astonishment. She hadn’t expected Marcellus to directly label Eryx as their primary suspect.Marcellus nodded, a determined glint flickering in his eyes. He continued, “Yes, I now strongly suspect that everything, from your kidnapping to my attack, and even the hidden conspiracies behind it all, was orchestrated by Eryx. A long time ago, I noticed that he seemed to have some sort of collaboration with Edgar, and his obsession with the ‘Holy Grail’ far exceeds what would be considered normal. This makes me more certain that he is involved.” He paused, gazing deeply at Livia. “I’m sorry, Livia, I should have told
Marcellus slowly straightened his body. His expression, usually tight and severe, had softened with a rare trace of honest fatigue. Looking at Livia, who stood by the bedside, his eyes held a hint of genuine apology.“I’m sorry, Livia. I shouldn’t have kept everything hidden from you,” he said in a low but serious voice. “I promise you—once we find the ‘Holy Grail,’ I’ll tell you everything. No more secrets. And then… I’ll give you back the freedom to choose.”As she listened, something inside Livia stirred, like a taut string gently plucked.She couldn’t tell whether this was a true apology or a calculated attempt to smooth things over. But seeing Marcellus lower his head first, dropping his usual cold and stubborn facade, something in her own resistance quietly cracked open.“Forget it…” she sighed, her tone still weary. “Let’s just focus on which tasks I need to take over. I might be your temporary replacement in name, but I can’t come running to you for every little thing. Looking
Livia looked at Emma with a gentle gaze. Though her tone was soft, it carried a subtle firmness that left no room for objection. “Thank you, Emma. Don’t worry. Right now, your safety is the most important thing. I believe in you—but not everyone in this world will be able to trust you like I do. For now, it’s best if you rest properly here in the castle.”Her voice dropped a little, laced with caution and vigilance. “We need to make sure your identity remains a secret—especially from those on Eryx’s side. Only step in when it’s absolutely necessary. Your presence will matter most when the time is right.”Emma raised an eyebrow, about to speak, but Livia continued before she could.“And there’s something more important… I need you to watch over the study for me.”Livia’s expression grew a touch more serious as her eyes flicked toward the far end of the corridor. Her voice lowered further. “Eryx once tried to sneak in. His target was that file. Now that Marcellus is injured, he might tr