Chapter 7.The truth about Adrian

I couldn't stop thinking about what my father had said.

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

There was something about the way he asked that question that bothered me. He hadn't looked surprised. He hadn't questioned what I meant by a previous life. It was almost as if he had been expecting me to remember.

And now, after everything I had seen, I needed answers.

“Father,” I said, “who is Adrian really?”

He didn't answer immediately.

Instead, he walked toward his desk and sat down. His fingers rested on the edge of the table while he looked at me.

“Why are you asking me that?”

“Because someone warned me not to trust him.”

His expression changed.

I told him about the woman from the vision. I told him how she had looked exactly like me and how she had warned me about Adrian.

My father listened without interrupting.

When I finished, he sighed.

“Adrian is not the man you think he is.”

I frowned. “What does that mean?”

“He isn't responsible for everything that has happened to you.”

“Then who is?”

My father looked away.

“But that doesn't mean you should trust him completely.”

His answer left me even more confused.

Since I woke up in this body, everyone had given me pieces of the truth, but nobody had given me the whole thing. The Order was after me. Someone inside the palace was helping them. My mother had known something. My father knew about souls returning and somehow believed I was one of the people they called keys.

And now there was Adrian.

“What do you know about him?” I asked.

My father was quiet for a moment before saying, “Adrian has been investigating the Order of the Veiled Moon for years.”

I hadn't expected that.

“He knows about the Order?”

“Yes. He discovered that someone connected to the royal family has been helping them.”

“Who?”

“I don't know.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

“You don't know?”

“No.”

“Then how can you expect me to trust anything you're telling me?”

His expression softened.

“I know how this looks, Seraphina. But there are things I cannot prove yet.”

I wanted to argue, but he opened one of the drawers in his desk and took out an old piece of parchment.

“This belonged to your mother.”

I took it from him carefully.

My mother's handwriting was on the page.

I had never seen it before.

“What is this?”

“A letter she left for me.”

I unfolded it and began to read.

Richard,

If Seraphina ever remembers, do not let her go to the palace alone.

I read it again, wondering what my mother could have known about the palace that made her leave such a warning.

“What happened to her?”

“She was investigating the Order,” my father said. “She believed someone close to Adrian was working with them.”

My grip tightened around the letter.

“Did she know who it was?”

“She was trying to find out.”

“And then she died.”

My father didn't say anything.

I looked down at the letter again.

In the original story, Seraphina's mother had barely been mentioned. She had died years before the main events and had never been connected to the Order.

But now I was beginning to understand that the story I had read wasn't telling me everything.

Maybe it never had.

A knock came from outside the room.

My father quickly took the letter from me.

“Who is it?”

A servant answered.

“My lord, the Crown Prince has arrived.”

Adrian.

My father's eyes met mine.

“Don't tell him about the vision.”

“Why?”

“Because we still don't know who inside the palace is working with the Order.”

Before I could ask anything else, the door opened.

Adrian walked into the room.

His clothes were slightly wet from the rain, and there was a serious expression on his face. He looked at my father first and then at me.

“What happened?” my father asked.

“There has been another incident at the palace.”

I moved closer.

“Another attack?”

“No.”

Adrian looked at me.

“Someone broke into the royal archives.”

My father immediately became tense.

“What did they take?”

“Your wife's investigation records.”

My mother's records.

I felt uneasy.

“Why would someone steal them now?”

“That is what I'm trying to find out.”

Adrian reached into his coat and pulled out a small piece of black paper.

“There was a message left behind.”

He handed it to me.

I opened it.

The words were simple.

The next person they kill will be someone you love.

I read the message slowly.

Someone was trying to frighten me.

But the worst part was that I didn't know whether the threat was meant for me or for someone close to me.

Adrian's voice broke through my thoughts.

“There was something else.”

He lifted his hand.

A small black crescent was marked near the edge of his glove.

I recognized it immediately.

The Order of the Veiled Moon.

My eyes went straight to his face.

“Why do you have that symbol?”

Adrian looked at the mark.

“This?”

“Yes.”

“It was found on the person who attacked me.”

I didn't understand.

“You mean the person who used the dagger?”

“Yes.”

My father stepped forward. “Then why is it on you?”

“Because I took it from him.”

Adrian pulled off his glove and placed it on the desk.

“The attacker was wearing it. I managed to tear part of his sleeve before he escaped.”

I looked at the symbol again.

So Adrian wasn't wearing it because he belonged to the Order.

At least, that was what he wanted me to believe.

Then he looked directly at me.

“There is something else you need to know.”

“What?”

His expression became more serious.

“I know someone who was there the night Seraphina Vale died.”

The room went quiet.

My own death.

The death I had only known because I had read the story.

I had always believed Adrian was the person who ordered it.

But now he was telling me that he knew someone who had been there.

“Who?” I asked.

Adrian didn't answer immediately.

He looked at my father first.

Then back at me.

“I can't tell you here.”

“Why not?”

“Because if I'm right, the person who knows the truth is still inside this kingdom.”

His words made me uneasy.

I had spent days trying to understand why my fate had changed, why the Order wanted me, and why everyone seemed to know somet

hing about me that I didn't know about myself.

Now Adrian was telling me that someone had witnessed my death before I had even lived this life.

And for the first time, I wondered if my death had really been the end of my story.

Maybe it had only been the beginnin