-HIM-

"Did you hear about the fire?" Khazar asked me at the dinner after we were done discussing our plans.

"What fire?" I asked, intrigued. Even though I had many spies in the palace, I hadn't heard anything about any fire. Khazar looked surprised at me being, unaware of the said fire. After making sure that no one was listening to us at the dinner table, he leaned in and muttered under his breath, "Theoron's wing was on fire this evening, and it happened while he was in there,"

Instantly, my head snapped towards Theoron. He sat far down at the table, entertaining other guests and Nanda. He seemed completely normal while drinking and chatting with his guests.

"Are you sure?" I asked Khazar, cocking an eyebrow.

"Did I ever give you any reason not to trust me?" He asked me instead.

"Well, you're the reason I am sitting here," I reminded him. He smirked and took a huge gulp from his glass of wine.

"A miracle indeed," He chuckled.

"It's not doing any good for the trust," I remarked grimly, wiping away the smirk from his face. Even though it was brief, I saw a flicker of fear in his eyes— the fear of falling from grace with me.

"Why don't you look at it like this— you're getting to see what happens inside these closed walls of Somirea? After all, it's been a long time since the Somirean Royals have ever hosted outsiders and that too so many at once," He suggested darkly.

"Still, how has it benefited us so far?" I probed.

"Why? Look at her," He gently nodded at Theoron's sister, sitting a couple of guests away from us.

"Do you think she is real?" I couldn't help but ask.

"What do you think?" He asked me back. I stared at Theresa for a few seconds and breathed, "No,"

"I think so too,"

"Our mere perceptions aren't the truth,"

"Then let's find out the truth," He suggested. I gave him a long and hard look to ensure he wasn't jesting.

"And how do you suggest we do so?" I tested. He smirked.

"We can always do some digging," He suggested.

"You aren't—"

"—yes, I am suggesting that. I've talked to Nanda, and he's agreed to it," He was quick to add. I gave it a thought.

"At what cost?" I asked.

"We're about to face a long winter. We'd need to light some things on fire to survive it," He smirked before chugging down the rest of his wine.

~

When I returned from dinner, Lars was waiting for me in the study. He looked restless. As soon as he saw me, he almost jumped from his seat.

"I know about the fire," I told him the first thing.

"Do you know what caused the fire?" He asked. I froze and looked at him.

"Who?"

"One of our men saw her sneaking inside Theoron's wing before the fire happened," Lars told me grimly.

"Where is she now?" I asked instantly.

"We don't know, but so far, one dead body has been recovered from the wing. It's burned, so we don't know who it is. Some are saying that it was an unfortunate servant, but here's a catch— before she entered Theoron's wing, the Arch Mage was inside already. No one ever saw him leave, and in fact, he's been missing since the fire broke out," Lars informed me. "Theoron was found unconscious in the garden outside,"

Despite all of this, all I could think of was— where was she right now? Did she cause the fire? What did she have to do with the fire? And most important of all— what was she doing in Theoron's wing?

"I need to see her immediately," I told him.

"No!" Lars shot, "I think it would be best for us if we lay low tonight. There's a lot of commotion in the palace this evening since the fire broke out. Things could be easily twisted if someone ever found out that we might have to do something with the fire,"

Though Lars' reasoning was right, I found it hard to contain myself. It was harder for me because she was somehow involved in this. The more I thought about it, the more complicated it got. At first, I doubted her to be a spy from Theoron's side, but as the days passed, things started to get muddier.

The only way for me to find out about her was through her. However, this time, I wasn't sure how she would react to me, especially since she now knew that I was the person she hated the most.

But maybe, I could change her mind?

I don't know. The only thing that I could do was wait for the morning, and that felt like the hardest thing to do for me.

By the next morning, the news of the fire had spread all over the palace, sprouting all kinds of speculations from everyone. To take care of this, the Royal Advisor clarified in the court that the fire was an accident caused by uncontrollable fire from a hearth, but that didn't explain why the security of Theoron's wing suddenly increased.

It wasn't much of my concern. My mind was only focused on one person— Theora.

What happened to her? Where was she?

I saw Theresa in the court in the morning. She showed no signs of losing one of her ladies in waiting. It helped me calm down a bit but still, I needed to see her to ensure that she was alright. It was the time that we met again and came clean to each other.

She knew my truth. I needed to know hers.

After dinner, I was led to Theresa's wing by one of my men. I entered her wing secretly. At first, I was confused about my surrounding, but since this wing had some similarities to the wing that I was living in, it was easier for me to navigate. I didn't know where to look for her, but that wouldn't make me give up on finding her.

It took me a bit to go around the place, lurking in the shadows, looking for her until my luck finally struck. I turned around the corner that led to a dimly lit corridor and instantly ran into someone. I knew it was her even before I heard her hiss in pain. She stumbled back a few steps before recognising me.

"I will kill you," She growled.

_