INICIAR SESIÓNMira's words seemed to hang in the hallway long after she had spoken them."Are you on Desmond's side again?”The moment the question left her mouth, she wished she could take it back.Jack didn't answer immediately, he simply stared at her as the hallway suddenly felt colder.Seraphina stood beside him with her arms folded, watching the exchange with an unreadable expression. Mira could see something change in Jack's face.It wasn't anger. At least, not the kind she had expected. It was hurt.A deep, unmistakable hurt.Mira's heart sank."Jack..." she started but he looked away.For a brief moment, Desmond's voice echoed in his mind and Jack clenched his jaw.“You actually thought they would trust you? You stood by us once. You think they'll ever forget that? Everyone will always wonder which side you're truly on.”He remembered the cold amusement in Desmond's eyes. He had told himself those words meant nothing, he had refused to believe them but now Mira was standing in front of hi
Becca slowly opened her eyes. For a few seconds, she simply stared at the ceiling above her.The room was quiet. Soft morning light filtered through the curtains, painting pale golden lines across the walls. The scent of herbs lingered in the air, but unlike the previous morning, it no longer made her feel like she was trapped inside a healer's chamber.She took a slow breath then another. Something felt different. She felt much better.Becca moved her fingers beneath the blanket and flexed them. There was still some weakness in her muscles, but the horrible heaviness that had consumed her body yesterday was almost gone.She carefully pushed herself upright then a small smile appeared on her lips."I can actually sit up without feeling like I'm dying” she said.The healer, who had been arranging several bottles on a nearby table, immediately turned around."Please don't say things like that."Becca chuckled."I'm sorry."The healer walked toward her and placed the back of her hand ag
Jack walked beside Seraphina through the quiet hallway, his expression still tense from everything that had happened.Neither of them spoke for several moments. The events of the past few days had left the mansion feeling different.There was suspicion everywhere. Whispers followed people through the corridors, guards were watching everyone more closely, and even ordinary conversations seemed to carry hidden meanings.Jack finally broke the silence."I still can't believe Desmond did that” he said.Seraphina glanced at him."Why are you surprised?" She asked."I expected him to be angry with me but he practically handed me over to Eugene."Seraphina shrugged."You betrayed him."Jack stopped walking."That doesn't mean he gets to accuse me of murder” he said.Seraphina turned toward him."But it means you should have expected consequences” she replied.Jack stared at her."You really think I deserved that?" He asked."I think you knew what you were doing when you turned against him” s
Kaelyn continued walking through the forest, her steps deliberately slow. She could hear Eugene behind her.His footsteps were heavier than hers, occasionally crunching against fallen leaves and small branches scattered across the forest floor.She tried not to smile.She had wanted him to follow her, she had hoped he would become concerned enough to leave the mansion and come looking for her and now he was here, right behind her.But Kaelyn refused to let him know how pleased she was.She kept her face composed and continued walking as though his presence meant absolutely nothing to her. After several moments of silence, she finally spoke."So…how is Becca?" She asked.His expression immediately softened."She's stable” he answered.Kaelyn nodded."And the baby?""He's fine."There was something warm in Eugene's voice when he spoke about the child. Kaelyn noticed it immediately."He must be doing well” she said."He is” Eugene's replied then his lips curved into a faint smile. "He's
Mira's heart was pounding. She could feel it against her ribs as she stared at Max, desperately searching for something, anything, that could undo the words that had already left her mouth.“Jack didn't kill the maid.”Why had she said that? Why hadn't she simply kept quiet?She had been so focused on defending Jack that she hadn't thought about what Max would notice and now he was looking at her differently, not as the woman he had been arguing with moments ago, not as the woman who was angry because he had arrested Jack.He was looking at her like a suspect, like she was part of the people he needed to be careful of.Mira swallowed."I didn't mean it like that. I was only saying that Jack didn't kill her” she said.""But you said the maid was dead” Max said.Mira forced herself to remain calm."I assumed” she replied.Max's eyes narrowed."You assumed? Based on what?"Mira crossed her arms, trying to make herself look irritated rather than nervous."Because she still hasn't been fou
Mira had been looking for Max for nearly twenty minutes. She had checked the courtyard, the training grounds, the main hallway, even the servants' quarters but he was nowhere to be found.Her frustration only continued to grow. She was still angry with him.Very angry actually and she felt that still wasn’t enough to properly describe the kind of rage she felt.Ever since he had arrested Jack, she had been unable to stop thinking about it. She knew Jack had been released, but that didn't erase the fact that Max had been willing to put him in the dungeon based on nothing more than suspicion.At least, that was what Mira wanted everyone to believe. Because deep down, she knew the truth that Jack had been involved.He had been there, he knew about the missing maid and she knew Greta had something to do with it too.But she couldn't tell Max. She couldn't betray Jack and perhaps that was exactly why she was so nervous around him.Finally, she spotted him and her calm face immediately hard
Eugene stood over the table, his hands braced flat against the wood, his shoulders rigid beneath his coat. His eyes moved slowly, deliberately, committing every detail on the map to memory even though he already knew them by heart. He had walked these plans in his mind so many times they haunted h
The throne room of Blackwood Mansion felt colder than any dungeon.Becca could feel it in her bones as she stood in the center of the vast hall, her back straight despite the ache running through her body after the slap from Desmond.Mira stood beside her now, her shoulders tense, jaw clenched, her
Eugene pulled his cloak tighter around himself as he and Max stared at the woman standing in front of them, her position frozen mid-motion.He had no idea who she was but judging from the look she gave max and the one he returned back, there was something he was not being told and that alone wasn't
Morning light spilled gently into the large garden, filtering through veils of white silk and moving up to flowers that wrapped themselves lovingly around marble columns. Dew still clung to the beautiful petals of moonlilies, their soft glow reduced now by the rising sun, although they still looke







