Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 10

Raven told me they were only discussing urgent matters. He said I was making too much of nothing. Vera was someone he had brought in from the border. He could not let her feel isolated or unsupported after making the journey.Then, under the pretense of helping her learn the clan's operations, he gave her unrestricted access to the council chamber. He added that I should help her settle in and make sure she did not feel excluded. He genuinely believed he was being reasonable.After that, the boundaries kept shifting. He brought Vera to private dinners that were traditionally for the lord and his betrothed only. He let her study the ancestral records that had always been restricted to blood relatives, explaining that a border clan would not have access to such histories and she needed to learn.When we argued, he would summon his trusted advisors to smooth things over. They would tell me Vera was a capable asset, that the lord's attention to her was practical, and that as his betrothed,

"Did you need something?" In the past, I would have been glad when Raven dropped by to talk. This time, I was different.A flicker of unease crossed his face. "Vera just wrapped up the southern treaty negotiation," he said. "She handled it well. I'm thinking of adding her family crest to the clan emblem. It would send a signal to the others that we value outside talent. What do you think?"Once, he would have made this decision without consulting me. That he asked now did not reassure me. It only struck me as odd, as though he needed something to validate a choice he already knew was borderline."I have no objection."He nodded, a hint of relief in his shoulders. But he did not get up. "There's something else. The emblem has limited space. To add hers, I need to temporarily remove yours. Just until the transition period is over," He softened his tone slightly. "You haven't been leading any significant projects lately, and she needs the authority to negotiate with the vassal clans. As m

"Lord, please don't be upset. Seren is only reacting this way because she cares about you," Vera said gently. She carried herself like someone who belonged in this room.She turned to me, offering a practiced smile. "Seren, don't overthink this. Everything we do is for the clan."Elin remained in the doorway, head low, trying to make herself small. She had been in the clan long enough to know when to speak and when to hold her tongue. Vera was the one Raven listened to now. Elin wanted no part of the conflict.Even if she told the truth, Raven would not hear it.Raven stood behind his desk, his tone hardening. "Rules exist for a reason. No one comes to the main building without authorization. Since you broke that rule, I'm canceling your monthly allowance and reducing your provisions by half."Elin opened her mouth, perhaps to mention that I had already left. "Lord, Seren has already—" Raven cut her off with a look."I don't want excuses. Do as I said."Elin closed her mouth and walked

Raven called her name out of habit. The words left his mouth before he realized what he was doing."Seren, I need the quarterly figures from the—"The study was empty. The door was open because he had left it open. Her desk was still there, but the chair was pushed in, exactly as she had left it before she walked out. He stopped at the threshold, his hand still reaching toward the space where she used to sit.He told himself it was fine. She would come back. She always came back.That had been the pattern for months, maybe longer. She would withdraw, he would give her space, she would return. The longest she had stayed away was six days. He remembered that time clearly, because by the seventh day she was back in the study, reading through documents at her usual pace, and he had thought to himself: She needed the break.Vera came in shortly after, a stack of papers in her hands and a plan in her voice. She had already taken over the territorial affairs Seren had left behind. She assured

The elders started asking questions in the fifth week."We have not seen Seren in some time," one of them said during a closed session. Raven said she was on leave. Another elder spoke. "She has been on leave for over a month. Do we know when she plans to return?""I expect it will be soon."No one pressed further, but the looks exchanged across the table told him everything. They did not believe him. He was not sure he believed himself anymore.He spent the next few days reviewing the files Vera had handled. He had not noticed it before, but there was a pattern. Some documents were missing attachments. Others had dates that did not match the correspondence. A few appeared to have been modified, with small but significant changes to clauses Seren had originally drafted.He called Vera in to clarify.She explained each discrepancy smoothly, as if she had expected the questions. The missing attachments had been sent separately. The dates reflected final approval, not initial drafting. Th