[TELEPORTATION USING MANA SPRING AS CONDUIT. MANA BACKLASH: 10% HP. WARD DETECTION PROBABILITY: 22%.]
Sera used the teleportation spell as soon as the system deployed the decoy in her quarters. Since the Tower of Penance was temporarily closed because of her attempted escape, the maid was surely being detained in the dungeon of the royal palace. She could hear the prison guards murmuring in low voices outside, but she heightened her senses just in case other guards were roaming inside.
The place was dark and forbidding. The heavy stone walls felt damp and cold and were only illuminated by a few flickering torches, casting eerie shadows around the area. The air was thick with the scent of must and decay. Sera could smell death everywhere.
Not relying on the system for the item this time, Sera conjured an invisibility cloak from the thin air. She immediately donned the item and asked the system for a quick scan of the area.
[LOCATION: ROYAL PALACE, SUB-LEVEL 3]
[WARNING: MANA SIGNATURE FROM TELEPORTATION MAY TRIGGER PASSIVE SENTRY WARDS. ALERT STATUS: LOW.]
[SCANNING ENVIRONMENT...]
[PATH TO MAIN DUNGEON DETECTED. VENTILATION SHAFT OR HIDDEN PASSAGE IN THE WALL AVAILABLE.]
Sera sighed upon hearing her options. However, between the two, she would rather squeeze herself into a hidden passage within the wall, rather than sneak in on the ventilation shaft like a rat.
Sera squeezed through a tight, dark space, relying on the system's map. She was careful not to make any sound. The cloak made her invisible, but not invincible; she must avoid making noise so as not to attract unnecessary attention.
As she reached the main corridor of the dungeon, the system warned her.
[ENTERING HIGH-SECURITY ZONE]
[GUARD PATROL ROUTES UPLOADED. 3 PATROLS DETECTED. ROUTINE: PREDICTABLE.]
[SCANNING FOR TARGET'S MANA SIGNATURE...]
[SIGNATURE DETECTED. CELL B-14. STATUS: TERRIFIED, WEAKENED.]
Sera took her sweet time walking towards the cell. It didn't matter whether this maid was innocent. Collateral damage is an unfortunate consequence that cannot be avoided in war. Slipping inside the cell was trivial with her magic.
The maid was inside, alone, her face streaked with tears. She looked up, her eyes widening in terror at the noblewoman whose cold expression was illuminated by the sole torch outside her cell. Sera lifted her hood to reveal her face.
"P-please, I didn't—" the maid stammered. She forced herself to kneel before Sera, but she was too weak to move.
"I know," Sera said, her voice devoid of any sympathy. "But you played your role so well. The curtains are falling. You are a tool that has outlived its use."
There was no time to waste. Giving her an easy death was the kindness Sera could spare.
She placed a single finger on the maid's forehead. The effect of Crimson Cauterization worked in reverse, cutting off her life force from within. The maid's eyes glazed over, and she slumped forward silently. It was a clean, internal kill that would look like a sudden failure of the heart.
[TARGET NEUTRALIZED. VP +300. TOTAL VP: 1500.]
Now, to frame the Argenthals.
Sera held the Crow's Feathered Quill. She took the maid's limp hand, pricked a finger, and dipped the quill in the blood that came out. Then she brought it to a piece of parchment on the table. The quill moved her hand, guiding the strokes with its magic.
Sera watched in awe at how efficient the quill was. The message was short, damning, and in the maid's own perfect handwriting. Even if someone tries to verify its authenticity, they would find no trace of fraud on the parchment.
"I cannot live with the guilt. The Argenthal gold weighs too heavily on my soul. Forgive me."
[EVIDENCE PLANTED. BONUS OBJECTIVE COMPLETE. VP +200. TOTAL VP: 1700.]
[NARRATIVE ACCEPTABLE. EVIDENCE PLANTED. INVESTIGATION WILL DIVERT.]
[TIER 2: "SCORCHED EARTH" - UNLOCKED. NEW ABILITY: HATE RESONANCE - AVAILABLE.]
Sera didn't dare to stay for another minute, lest someone might discover her. She used her teleportation spell again and appeared back at the mana pool under the de Lys estate.
Sera retreated the way she came, back through the tunnels. She emerged in her study, the bookcase sealing shut behind her. The mana started to fade from her body as the cuffs reasserted their suppression. She was left breathless, the black veins receding as the effects of the mana pool started to dwindle.
She quickly changed into new clothing. The decoy in the armchair flickered once and dissolved, its purpose served. The room was silent. She was back with minutes to spare and resumed her seat with a book, her expression one of bored indifference.
The entire mission only took her 68 minutes, enough for her to allow the residual mana to dissipate quickly before Rowan's return. The sole witness the royal family had had died in the middle of the night. Surely, the maid's death would cause chaos within the palace, and with Sera a hundred kilometers away from it, no one would dare to say she was the one responsible for it.
A knock on the door startled her, but when it creaked open and she saw Alec, Sera released a sigh of relief. She was too exhausted to sense her cousin's arrival. The mana backlash had left some annoying side effects on her. Alec's timing was either impeccably bad or suspiciously good.
"Alec," she greeted as she gestured for him to take a seat across from her. "What brings you here?"
"Just thinking you might need some company tonight since Sir Rowan left for the magic tower."
When Sera arched a brow at him, Alec let out an amused laugh.
"I just thought that you and Sir Rowan are quite close," he commented. "If you don't mind, I asked Charlotte to bring us some late-night snacks. I'm having a hard time falling asleep tonight."
"Rowan Ashgrave and I are close?" Sera asked with annoyance. It was the only thing that stuck to her from what Alec had just said. "What made you say that?"
Alec flopped into the armchair opposite her, the one that had so recently held her decoy. A smirk played on his lips as he regarded her.
"Oh, come now, cousin. The tension between you two is so thick you could cut it with a knife. It's not the friendly kind of tension, mind you. Everyone within this estate could tell."
Sera viciously glared at his audacity for saying such foolish words.
"Besides, he only left a few hours ago, and you're already in such a bad mood." He added.
She let out a dry, unamused laugh.
"Your imagination is as vivid as ever, Alec. I am simply exhausted from boredom. Do you have any idea how annoying it is for me not to use magic at all?"
Sera decided to turn the tables. It was now her turn to question. If Rowan wouldn't answer her question, she could extract them from others.
"Why the sudden interest in my warden? Shouldn't you be more concerned with why the Master of the Magic Tower's son and heir is playing guard dog to the disgraced de Lys daughter? What does your father make of that?"
Alec was the son of the Duke's younger brother. His father's opinion within the family hierarchy mattered. Having a mage from the magic tower getting involved with the de Lys was a big deal.
"You don't need to worry about that, Sera." Alec paused as Charlotte arrived, pushed the trolley with the newly brewed tea and snacks, and served them on the table between the two cousins. She left without a word.
"What do you mean? Is there something I should know, Alec?" Sera pressed.
Alec's smirk didn't falter; instead, his expression turned into teasing.
"Sir Rowan had been transparent to our family since the beginning, Sera. I think both of you complemented each other well. I don't know any man who can deal with your fiery outburst."
Sera furrowed her brows in confusion. Alec's words didn't make sense to her at all.
"Sir Rowan was the golden boy, all rules and light. You were…" he trailed off, searching for the right word.
"A heretic? A rulebreaker?" Sera suggested coldly. She was aware of how others perceived her, but she cared not one bit.
"I was going to say 'a force of nature, '" Alec corrected gently. "Uncontrollable. Brilliant. Dangerous. And now he's here, watching you. The truth is, no one forced Sir Rowan to be here as your warden, as you call it. It doesn't look like punishment for him. It's an assignment he requested from your father."
"And why would he do that?" She thought Alec would give her answers, not add more questions she needed to deal with.
"Are you sure you don't know?"
The system remained silent, offering no analysis at all. This was a battlefield, and she was on her own.
"Would I be questioning you if I do?"
Sera took a slow sip of tea from her cup, buying time. Alec was more perceptive than she'd given him credit for.
"Perhaps the Tower Master simply wants to keep the de Lys' greatest embarrassment on a short leash," Sera said, her voice laced with a self-deprecating tone. "And who better to hold it than the one person who never failed to remind me of my… failures?"
Before Alec could reply, a commotion erupted elsewhere in the estate. She and Alec could hear shouted orders and the sound of boots on marble. A distant alarm bell began to clang.
Alec's head snapped towards the door, all amusement gone.
"What in the world?"
Sera inwardly smiled. The dead body of the maid had just been discovered, and everyone in the estate, including her father, was notified.
[ESTATE-WIDE ALERT DETECTED. SOURCE: ROYAL GUARD. PROBABLE CAUSE: SECURITY BREACH/ASSASSINATION IN THE ROYAL PALACE.]
[RECOMMENDATION: MAINTAIN COVER. EXPRESS APPROPRIATE CONFUSION.]
"What is that? What's happening, Alec? Did they find an assassin targeting me?" She said. With the remnants of the Argenthal tools discovered within her quarters upon her arrival, Duke Lysander heightened the security of the estate.
Alec stood up, his posture now that of an experienced soldier.
"I don't know, Sera, but you must stay here. Lock the door."
He moved to the door, but before he could step outside to see what was causing the commotion, Rowan strode inside the room in a hurry as if he was looking for something- or someone.
"Sir Rowan, what's going on?" Alec asked, voicing Sera's curiosity.
"The maid who was implicated in serving the poisoned wine to the saintess was just assassinated," Rowan replied, his eyes never leaving Sera once he found her. "The king ordered to protect the estate in fear that someone might come after Lady Sera, too."
Alec cursed silently before rushing outside to see the duke, leaving Sera in Rowan's company.
Sera remained calm as she sipped her lavender tea. She hadn't expected that Rowan would come back even before the ninety-seven-minute window the system estimated for her.
"Why are you still here, Sir Ashgrave?" She asked, feigning concern.
Rowan didn't answer. Instead, he strode towards her, his eyes sweeping around the room as if looking for any trace or clue of what she was up to during his absence. He took in an almost imperceptible shimmer of residual mana in the air that only someone of his sensitivity could detect.
"Why am I still here?" he repeated her question, his voice low and stern. "A better question, Lady de Lys, is how a maid in the highest security cell block of the royal palace could commit suicide with a note penned in perfectly authentic handwriting, implicating the Argenthals, mere hours after I was conveniently summoned away."
He took another step, closing the distance between them.
"The palace is in an uproar. The king is furious. The Argenthal family is scrambling to deny allegations that, I must admit, are almost damning. I couldn't think of anyone who could do that except for you."
Sera crossed her leg and brought down her cup, showing an amused smile to her warden.
"How fascinating. And what does that have to do with me, Sir Ashgrave? As you can see, I've been here all evening, reading. My cousin can attest to that. As for the tragedy that fell on the Argenthals, why are you accusing me yet again?"
Rowan's lip twitched. Sera could tell he wasn't amused, and she might have pushed his patience too hard. He leaned down, bracing his hands on the arms of her chair, effectively caging her in. He was so close she could feel the warmth of his breath against her face.
Sera froze, but she glared at Rowan with defiance. Her mind raced with viable options and calculations on how to kill him if necessary.
"Let us be perfectly clear, de Lys," he said, in a low, dangerous voice. "I am not the palace guard. I am not your father. I do not need proof."
He then held up his hand, and a tiny amount of mana coming from Sera's body danced on his fingertips for a split second before vanishing into the thin air. It was a reminder of the terrifying power he possessed.
"I can find the truth whether you confess or not. Do not make the mistake of thinking your cleverness is a match for what I am."
He straightened up, his stern expression turning into annoyance. Sera shot him a glare. How dare this man threaten her in her own home?
"The official story is that the maid, consumed by guilt, took her own life and named the masterminds behind the plan," he stated flatly. "That is the narrative that will hold. Because the alternative, that a mage in mana cuffs under house arrest teleported into the royal palace, assassinated a prisoner, and framed a ducal family, would start a war. A war, I suspect, you are all too eager to start, de Lys."
He turned to leave, but paused at the door, giving her a disapproving look.
"Oh, and de Lys?" he said ."The next time you decide to pay a visit to the palace dungeons, ensure your teleportation is a little cleaner. The wards detected a minor spike. A lesser mage would have missed it. I did not."
The door clicked shut behind him, leaving Sera alone.
The sweet victory of her successful mission turned bitter in her mouth. She had won. She had gotten her vengeance points and had framed her enemies.
But Rowan Ashgrave knew. He knew, and he was letting her know.
He knew everything. And he had just drawn a line, not as her warden, but as something far more dangerous: an unpredictable, all-knowing wildcard who had chosen, for now, to play along with her.