The rain had been falling all night. By morning, the garden looked like a sea of silver, each flower heavy with the weight of the sky's tears. Derick sat beneath the veranda, his cloak soaked from earlier training, his fingers clenched tightly around the hilt of his blade.
He hadn't meant to hear them.
"…It'll be tonight. Make sure Liora doesn't leave her room."
Seraphina's voice, sharp and venom-laced, rang in his memory. She had been talking to someone in the shadows. Derick hadn't seen the other person—but he had a sickening guess.
Vace.
A flicker of rage danced behind his calm expression.
She's planning something. And it involves Liora.
He rose to his feet.
Meanwhile, Liora stood at her balcony, eyes drifting over the misty horizon. She had dreamt of that place again—the burning fields, a man screaming her name, and the same cold feeling pressing into her chest. When she woke, she was crying.
"Why do I keep seeing him… like that?" she whispered.
As if pulled by an invisible thread, her gaze turned toward the training grounds where Derick had been earlier. Her heart thudded unevenly.
That afternoon, Derick intercepted her in the hallway. He didn't smile, didn't speak right away. Just looked at her—eyes dark blue, bloodshot from sleepless nights.
"You shouldn't go out tonight," he said. "Stay in your room. No matter what you hear."
Liora blinked. "Why? What's happening?"
He hesitated. He couldn't tell her—not yet. But the concern in her voice nearly broke him.
"I'm just asking you to trust me."
Liora's lips parted, but before she could respond, Seraphina appeared at the end of the hallway, her smile too sweet to be genuine.
"There you are, Liora. I was just looking for you." Her eyes slid over to Derick. "And you, young Lord. Still lurking like a shadow?"
Derick didn't answer. His instincts screamed at him—tonight would change everything.
Later that night...
The mansion was quiet. Too quiet.
Liora sat curled up in bed, hugging a pillow to her chest. Derick's words haunted her.
Don't leave your room.
But something… was calling to her. A faint sound. Footsteps?
She slipped out of bed, barefoot, wrapping a shawl around her shoulders. She cracked open the door.
The hallway was empty.
Then—
Crash!
A scream—muffled—came from the garden.
Without thinking, she ran.
Derick, hidden in the shadows, watched as Seraphina stood beside the small fire pit in the garden, a bundle in her hands.
"What do you mean it's gone?" Vace hissed. "You said it would be here!"
"It was—this afternoon! Someone moved it—someone's on to us!"
Derick's eyes narrowed.
They were looking for something. But what?
Suddenly, Liora burst into the clearing.
Derick swore under his breath. No, no, no—
Seraphina turned, eyes flashing.
"Liora?! What are you doing here?!"
Before anyone could react, something exploded in the trees. Smoke flooded the clearing.
And a blade—glinting silver—slashed through the mist.
Derick rushed forward, drawing his sword. He caught Vace's strike mid-air.
"I warned you," Derick growled. "Stay away from her."