-HIM-

I felt internally disruptive when I saw Theresa the next morning. All this time, I had been thinking her to be fake, but after last night, the possibility of her being the real Theresa had increased, which wasn't sitting well with me. I was still finding it hard to believe that she might be real.

Still, Theresa's empty grave doesn't automatically prove that the Theresa in front of us is real. Maybe, the real one is out there somewhere... hiding from her brother?

It was still very hard to arrive at any conclusion. Just one thing doesn't automatically prove the other thing is true. There is more to this than meets the eye— I was sure about this. For now, we knew that Theresa's grave is empty. This could mean two things— Theresa is either alive or buried somewhere else. The latter option seemed very unlikely.

I had an unsettling feeling that the real Theresa was somewhere out there... but in what condition? Why wasn't she coming back here? There were so many other questions regarding her. If only I could find out more about her and... convince her to be on my side... it could change Somirea forever.

As I looked at the Theresa in front of me, I reminded myself again that it was too early to draw any conclusion. Until then, I could examine her and find cracks in her facade, in case she was putting up one.

"We haven't been able to see each other lately," Theresa tried to sound pleasant. Today, she showed me the nursery where they grew all kinds of plants.

"Yes, I have been busy with some meetings with your brother," I told her, looking at a carnivore plant in the distance while she was trying to interest me in some flowers.

"I thought I did something to upset you," she commented. My head instantly snapped towards her. She was smiling but stopped abruptly after seeing the grim look on my face. She grew uncomfortable instantly.

"I wonder why you would think that," I wondered out loud.

"No, I was just saying," she tried to brush the matter off, but it was too late.

"Or is it because you have a reason that might upset me?" I pressed.

"No, I never meant that," She shook her head. "You were acting strange that evening, and it got me worried," she muttered more to herself before showing me new plants. I didn't say much for the rest of our time together. I kept quiet and studied her instead.

"Which plant is that?" I asked her, nodding at a very odd-looking plant in the distance. It had huge, dangerous-looking spikes, and from those spikes were growing flowers. She looked at the plant and fell quiet for a bit.

"That's a... that's a..." she struggled to remember the plant's name. I could see sweat starting to break out on her forehead as she tried hard to remember that name. "I-I can't quite remember its name," She spoke breathily while she stared at the plant, shuffling nervously.

"That's a Chaos Mone," A voice spoke behind us. I froze and looked over my shoulder to find my mate. I was surprised that I had failed to notice her. She didn't look at me once.

"Yes! Yes, It's a Chaos Mone. How could I have forgotten the name!" She laughed dryly. "I haven't been in the nursery for quite a while, you see," She chimed, trying to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal.

"That's odd coming from you," I commented aloud, glancing towards my mate briefly only to find her stepping away to a respectable distance to allow Theresa and I to have some privacy.

"Well, people forget things all the time," she muttered more to herself, "Have you heard about ghost roses?" She asked, turning me back to the flower section again. I was completely uninterested, but I had to put up with her for now. I looked around for my mate, but suddenly, she had disappeared as if she was never there in the first place. Her words rang in my ears as I turned back to Theresa again, wondering why she was so hellbent on keeping me away.

She was still a mystery to me, but I was determined to find out about her. However, this was proving to be the hardest task. At first, I had thought maybe she was working for Theoron but so far, the situation seemed unlikely. I had learned from one of my men that she had gone to talk to Theoron alone, who had had her thrown out. She had also been seen with the Royal Advisor.

This complicated things for me. Then, there was the Merchant with whom she seemed acquainted. I had been guessing her to be a commoner before, but judging by the people she knew, I was now entertaining the idea of her being someone of a higher status.

Maybe, she was the daughter of a nobleman? But she wouldn't be working as a lady waiting for a shady princess in that case. Maybe, she worked for the court? Again, this doesn't explain her working as a lady in waiting. It was hard to reach any conclusions with her.

She was of a peculiar kind, but still, she was my mate, and for now, I had a sinister feeling about her. From what my men had told me, she seemed to be in trouble with Theoron, and the Royal Advisor didn't seem particularly pleased with her.

Those two were the least tolerating people, especially the Royal Advisor, which worried me. This was worrying for me. My stakes were high. I needed to protect her or lose everything.

_