Chapter 4

The Moonlight Trials made all of us retake the old succession qualifying test.

The scent of a missing pup was scattered through the forest.

Each participant had a limited time to choose a route, spot false tracks, and plan an escape.

Ryan's place in the final trials depended on this round.

No one dared treat it like a game.

Vera seemed calm at first.

She even volunteered to lead.

"I'll take the east side."

Someone nodded right away.

"Tracking was always your best event."

Vera smiled.

But once we entered the woods, she slowed more and more.

At the first fork, she said the pup had gone north.

Wrong.

At the second, the scents of wild animals and adult wolves crossed. She hesitated for a long time, then chose east.

Wrong again.

The others began to look at her differently.

"Vera, are you okay?"

She had gone pale.

"The earlier trials must have thrown me off."

Then she looked at Ryan.

Before, all she had to do was look a little unwell and Ryan would take care of her first.

This time, Ryan asked only one question.

"Can you keep going?"

Vera bit her lip.

"Yes."

"Then keep going."

He turned and walked away.

She nearly lost control of her expression.

Ryan quickly found the right direction for the rest of the test.

To make sure everyone could pass, he gave the team only the basic safe route. He didn't make anyone's individual choices for them.

Vera barely finished the course.

At the scoring, moonlight displayed two sets of results.

This time, she finished near the bottom.

But the historical record from twelve years ago showed a perfect score.

Someone stared.

"That can't be right."

"The difference is way too big."

The stone wall revealed the sealed original tracking map.

One glance was enough for me to recognize it.

Every turn, every route mark, even the small X drawn before a dead end was mine.

Someone enlarged the map.

"Aren't those the same marks Erin just used?"

They pulled up another old record.

It said that I had failed a test in another area at the very same time.

Ryan suddenly asked a question.

"How far apart are the two areas?"

The trial keeper answered at once.

"At a normal pace, at least forty minutes."

"And the times?"

"They overlap exactly."

The hall went completely silent.

No one could be in two places at once.

The answer was right in front of them.

I was the one who had earned Vera's perfect score back then.

My own so-called failure existed only to make my name look worthless.

Someone swore under their breath.

"So all these years, when we said Erin was useless..."

They couldn't finish.

I didn't feel much of anything.

Once you've died, insults don't matter as much.

Vera's eyes filled with tears.

"I admit I asked Erin for help a few times."

"But I worked hard after that. I stayed beside Ryan through all those trials and never held him back."

She turned to Ryan.

"You know that."

Ryan didn't deny it.

"What happened later is a separate matter."

His voice was calm.

"We're investigating what happened twelve years ago."

Vera stared at him.

Ryan looked back at the overlapping records.

"Keep searching."

"Every overlap. Don't miss a single one."

For the first time, Vera looked truly afraid.