-HER-

The Guild member was one of the high officials in the guild. Coincidentally, he was also linked with ship making; hence, he was well acquainted with Viscount. He welcomed us in his house warmly.

"It's definitely a special day for me to have so many guests at once," Halid, the Guild official, said to Viscount.

"Blame it on the rain, Halid," Viscount laughed, but Halid didn't seem to share the humour. Instead, he gave a forceful laugh and answered in a lower voice, "I am also hosting a King,"

"Which King?" Viscount asked. I could see that he half knew the answer.

"The Cromerian one," Halid chewed his words.

"You invited him?" Viscount raised an eyebrow.

"No, it was raining, and the Northmaker's daughter stopped by, claiming to be the dead princess for some reason. I didn't have any other choice," Halid sounded confused.

"You must have done something awfully great to have gotten such an opportunity, Halid! I envy you," Viscount joked, but I could see that Halid looked even more confused and troubled. "Just do what they say for the night," Viscount assured him soon.

Halid showed us our guestrooms and invited us to join his family for dinner after the bath. Halid's daughter provided me with some clothes, which was nice of her. I could guess they were extra nice because I was here with Viscount. After all, he had a great influence on the guilds.

I was tired due to travelling all day and decided to take a hot bath, have dinner and retired to bed as soon as possible. As I took the clothes and headed towards the common bath, a hand grabbed me out of nowhere and pulled me inside a dimly lit room.

"The fvck are you doing here!" A voice hissed at my face. I blinked several times until my eyes adjusted to the light.

"Get off my face, Arke!" I growled instantly, pushing her back.

"No, you have to answer me! How the fvck did you get here? Were you following us?" She demanded instead, digging her fingers into my arm.

"Why would I follow you? I can waste my time in better ways!" I hissed, peeling her fingers off my arm while fighting the urge to punch her in the face.

"Did you forget what I told you!" She demanded. "I told you not to leave the palace today at any cost!"

"Well, I've been out all day, and I'm still alive, so your words meant nothing,"

"My words!" She hissed loudly. "Why can't you follow what I say for a day?"

"Because your words didn't make sense to me! What do you think is going to happen to me?" I demanded. She pressed her lips and glared at me instead, looking increasingly annoyed with each second.

"Whatever happens, don't let anyone know that you're here tonight. Especially Fiona,"

"Again, may I ask why?" I asked, but she didn't offer me any reasonable explanation. Before I could ask her more questions, there was a knock on the door. It was Viscount.

"I had guessed rightly that I would find you here," He muttered to himself when he saw me in Arke's room. "I'm here just to let you know that dinner is ready, and Halid is anticipating us at the dinner table," Viscount informed. "I'm going there as well,"

"I'll be there soon," I told Viscount. He nodded before walking away.

"No, you're not going to the dinner!" Arke told me angrily.

"Or what? Are you going to fight me?" I tested her, but the look on her face was far graver than I had anticipated.

"Why can't you just follow this simple thing, Theresa?" She asked, looking annoyed yet defeated.

"Because it fvcking doesn't make any sense to me!" I shot back and left her room. I took a quick hot bath before appearing at the dinner. Everyone was there except King Alexandros. Fiona was surprised to see me there, but she didn't make it seem like a big deal, unlike Arke and Doria.

The dinner went fine, with King Alexandros missing all of it. Only his men were there. They informed us that he wasn't in the mood to eat for some reason. Apart from that, he wasn't the topic of conversation over dinner. However, it would be false to say that I wasn't curious about his absence. The rest of the dinner was uneventful, making Arke's paranoia useless.

After dinner, I went to bed straight as my eyelids grew heavier every minute. I fell asleep the moment I hit the bed. The sound of heavy rain worked like a lullaby as I descended into a dreamless sleep. Or maybe, I saw a couple of dreams. I don't remember.

In the middle of the night, I sat up with a jolt. Cold sweat was running down the side of my face. I was drenched in sweat as if I had been in the rain outside. My breaths were laboured, and my heart was beating too fast. My body felt cold, and the only emotion I felt at that moment was dread and something else.

It was hard to describe the other feeling, but it made me want to get out of bed and go somewhere... to find something... or, rather, someone. I don't remember if it was just an aftermath of a terrible nightmare or if my inner senses had been awakened due to an unprecedented change in energy.

Whatever it was, it had made my senses sharp and sensitive until I was overwhelmed by the stimulation. I paced in my room to calm myself down, but it didn't work. I stepped out of my room and wandered around the house a bit.

It was deserted; everyone had gone to bed. I expected to be completely alone until I passed the study and heard some people talking.

"What do you think it is?" A voice asked. For some reason, it sounded oddly familiar.

"I don't know, but I'm certain it isn't real," Answered another voice. My already racing heart started beating wildly upon recognising that second voice. Though, just to be sure, I peeked into the study to see who it was.

I saw a room lit by only the fire in the hearth, but I could still clearly see the two figures in the room. One was standing, and the other was sitting by the hearth. I couldn't see both faces because they were turned away from me.

"What about her?" The first voice asked again. It was the standing man. In response, the man sitting by the hearth turned, and I got a proper glimpse of his face for the first time. My blood ran cold as soon as I recognised that face.

What was he doing here?

"I don't think she is real either," Nico answered. "She's just another pawn Theoron is using to get to me,"

Hearing my brother's name from Nico's mouth suddenly hit me with a dangerous realisation. At first, I didn't want to believe it, but Alexandros' absence from dinner was suddenly making sense.

I didn't hear the rest of the conversation. All I could think of was Nico and who he really was. Suddenly, my heart swelled up with rage. It felt like I had been cheated.

I turned around to leave, but I ended up knocking a vase down. As I heard some commotion inside the study, I ran towards my room with angry tears in my eyes and vengeance in my heart.

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