Chapter 5.The truth she hide

“And I know who killed you.”

Evelina’s words left me staring at her through the open doorway. I couldn’t decide whether to let her inside or call the guards. Everything that had happened tonight was becoming harder to understand, and trusting the wrong person could lead me straight back to the fate I was trying to escape.

After a moment, I stepped aside and allowed her in.

She quickly closed the door and glanced toward the hallway before turning to me.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” I said.

“I know, but I needed to speak with you before anyone else found out.”

“Then tell me what you know.”

Evelina moved toward the window. Moonlight fell across her face, making it easy to see how nervous she was.

“I was there the night you died.”

I frowned. “You already said that.”

“This time, I’m telling you that I was there when it happened.”

I stared at her, trying to understand.

“In the story, nobody knew what happened before Seraphina was arrested. How could you have been there?”

Evelina looked confused by my choice of words, so I quickly corrected myself.

“I mean, before everything happened to you.”

She seemed satisfied with the explanation.

“The night you died, I was at the royal palace because your mother sent me.”

“My mother?”

“Lady Victoria gave me a sealed letter for the Crown Prince. She told me to deliver it personally and never open it.”

I tried to remember whether the novel had mentioned such a letter. Nothing came to mind.

“Did Adrian receive it?”

“Yes. I gave it to him before everything went wrong.”

“What happened after that?”

“He asked me to leave, but I didn’t go far. There was someone else in the room with him.”

“The person in black?”

Evelina nodded.

“I couldn’t see their face, but I remember their voice. They were arguing with Adrian, and then they mentioned your name.”

My stomach tightened.

“What did they say?”

“They said Seraphina had to disappear before the Moon Festival.”

The same festival that was approaching now.

Evelina continued before I could ask another question.

“I left the corridor because I was afraid someone would discover me. A few minutes later, I heard shouting from the room.”

“Adrian?”

“He sounded furious. I heard him say, ‘You were supposed to protect her, not use her.’ Then something crashed.”

I thought about the attack on Adrian, the dagger with my name engraved on it, and the stranger who had told me I was never supposed to wake up.

“What happened after the shouting stopped?”

“I heard you scream, and then everything became quiet.”

Evelina’s voice weakened as she spoke.

“I wanted to go back, but I was terrified. When I finally returned, guards were already outside the room, and they had taken you away.”

I turned toward the window, trying to make sense of everything she had told me.

“So you believe Adrian killed me?”

“No.”

Her answer came immediately.

“Then who did?”

Evelina hesitated.

“I saw someone enter the room after Adrian left.”

I looked at her.

“Your father.”

For a moment, I thought I had misunderstood her.

“Lord Richard?”

She nodded.

“I don’t know why he was there, but I saw him enter the room.”

That couldn’t be right.

In the novel, my father had always appeared to be a man who loved his daughter. When Seraphina was accused of treason, he had supposedly done everything he could to defend her.

“Are you certain?”

“I know what I saw.”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“Because your father saw me.”

Evelina’s fingers tightened around the fabric of her dress.

“He looked directly at me. He didn’t have to say anything. I knew from his expression that I wasn’t supposed to be there.”

“And you left.”

“I was afraid, Seraphina. I didn’t know who I could trust.”

I couldn’t completely blame her. If she was telling the truth, then my family had been hiding something long before Seraphina’s death.

“There is something else,” she said.

I waited.

“Your mother wasn’t the only person investigating the Order of the Veiled Moon.”

I already knew what she was going to say, but hearing it still made my chest tighten.

“Your father was investigating them too.”

I sat down slowly.

My parents had both known about the Order. Evelina had witnessed something at the palace, someone had used House Vale colors to enter Adrian’s chamber, and the mysterious man had appeared in my room claiming that I was never supposed to wake up.

Everything seemed connected, yet I still couldn’t see the whole picture.

“Why tell me now?”

Evelina looked at me for a long moment.

“Because you’re different.”

I frowned.

“Since you woke up, you haven’t behaved like the Seraphina I knew. You speak differently, you notice things you never used to notice, and you look at people as though you’re waiting for them to betray you.”

My heart skipped.

“Maybe surviving death changed me.”

“Maybe it did.”

Her answer wasn’t accusing, but I could tell she wasn’t convinced.

A knock came from the door before either of us could continue.

“Lady Seraphina?” a guard called. “His Highness requests your presence in the library.”

Evelina’s expression immediately changed.

“You can’t let Adrian see me here.”

“If he finds you, you may have to explain why you came.”

“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”

I opened the door slightly.

“I’ll be there shortly.”

“His Highness said it was urgent.”

“I understand.”

When the guard’s footsteps disappeared, I closed the door and turned back toward Evelina.

She was already standing beside the wardrobe.

With a quick movement, she pressed a small carving beneath one of the wooden panels. A section of the wall shifted, revealing a narrow passage.

“This leads to the old servants’ corridor.”

I stared at the hidden entrance.

“How do you know about it?”

Evelina gave me a troubled look.

“Because I used it the night you died.”

She stepped inside, then turned back.

“Seraphina, don’t trust anyone tonight. Not even Adrian.”

The hidden door closed behind her, leaving me alone with the questions she had brought with her.

A few minutes later, I made my way to the library.

Adrian was standing beside the large desk when I entered. Several documents were spread across the table, and the serious expression on his face told me he had discovered something important.

“You came.”

“You said it was urgent.”

“It is.”

He picked up one of the documents and handed it to me.

I began reading.

It was an old report from the royal investigation into the Order of the Veiled Moon. My eyes moved across the list of nobles who had been investigated until I reached the final page.

One name stood out immediately.

Richard Vale.

My father’s name.

I looked at Adrian, but before I could ask anything, he placed another document in front of me.

“This is why I came to your estate early.”

I picked it up and read the first page.

It carried a royal seal and was dated twelve years ago.

Then I saw the signature at the bottom.

Richard Vale.

My hands began to tremble as I read the statement above it.

According to the document, my father hadn’t simply been investigated for helping the Order.

He had confessed to being one of its founding members.

I looked up at Adrian.

“Tell me this isn’t real.”

His expression remained serious.

“I wish I could.”

Before I could say anything else, the library door opened.

My father stood there.

His eyes immediately went to the document in my hands, and for the first time since I had woken up in this world, I saw genuine fear on his face.

“Where did you get that?”

Adrian’s hand moved toward his sword.

I couldn’t take my eyes off my father.

He looked at me for several seconds before speaking again.

“Seraphina, if you have remembered anything from your previous life, you need to tell me now.”

The room seemed to disappear around me.

My father knew.

There was no possible explanation for how he could have known about a previous life unless he had been expecting me to return.

And suddenly, the question wasn’t whether my father had been hiding a secret.

It was whether he had known all along that I would come back.