The man moved.
One blink and he slipped into the crowd, vanishing between stalls.
"After him!" Li Wei barked, his voice sharp as steel.
Chen Yu yelped but sprinted after them.
Leena's veil fluttered behind her as she ran,
surprisingly fast for her small steps.
"Wait—! I'm not built for this!" Chen Yu wheezed after just a few meters.
Leena barely heard him.
Her eyes stayed locked on the dark figure weaving through the streets.
Her heart hammered, part fear, part adrenaline.
Li Wei didn't follow the same path.
He knew the city like his own palm.
With a sharp turn, he cut into a side alley, boots splashing through a shallow puddle.
I'll cut him off.
Leena kept chasing the shadow, her lungs burning.
Her legs shouldn't keep up, yet she refused to stop.
I can't let him disappear… Not after everything.
"Leena! Slow down!" Chen Yu called, hands on his knees.
But she didn't.
Then—
A flash of movement.
The man burst from the narrow street, right into Li Wei's path.
"Got you."
Li Wei's hand shot out, grabbing the back of his collar.
The man struggled, but the prince twisted his arm behind his back, forcing him to the wall.
Leena arrived seconds later, panting, cheeks flushed.
They were all breathless—Li Wei from the fight, Leena from the run, and the captive from sheer panic.
Chen Yu stumbled in, red-faced and sweaty.
"I… I almost… had him…"
Li Wei didn't even look at him.
His dark gaze locked on the man.
"Who sent you?"
The spy only gritted his teeth.
A bead of sweat rolled down his temple.
Leena, still catching her breath, met Li Wei's eyes.
For a heartbeat, the world stilled.
He was so close.
His hair was slightly messy from the chase, his chest rising and falling.
A single drop of sweat slid along his jaw.
Her own heart thumped wildly—not only from the run.
The prince noticed her gaze and looked away quickly, tightening his grip on the spy instead.
"Speak… before I make you regret staying silent."
The spy finally opens his mouth—
but the first name he whispers is someone Leena never expected…