On the afternoon of Kaelen's departure, I was sitting by the window in the side chamber, gazing at the gray, overcast sky, when a knock sounded on the door.
I rose warily and opened it to find a familiar, anxious face.
It was Liam.
He was travel-stained and still carried the chill of the forest, clearly having rushed over the moment he returned to the castle.
"Aila," he said, striding into the room and quickly looking me over. "Are you alright? My brother… he didn't give you a hard time, did he?"
"I'm fine," I shook my head, looking behind him to see no one. "Where's Drake? Didn't he come back with you?"
"My brother was worried about the border situation and sent him with the intelligence to rendezvous with the main army at the front," Liam explained, his brow then furrowing. "What's going on in the castle? Why is the atmosphere so tense? I heard my brother went to… punish the South?"
I briefly told him everything that had happened in the council hall.
Liam's face turned exceptionally grim. "A self-inflicted wound… a classic trick of my uncle's. He sent my brother away because he wants to deal with you."
He looked at me, his eyes filled with worry and a hint of guilt. "I'm sorry, Aila. The missing persons case you asked me to investigate… I failed."
"You failed?"
"Yes," his voice was full of frustration. "I found some clues, starting with that mad girl, Nora, in the Moon Shadow Courtyard. I got some fragments from her about a 'black rune'."
He paused, his face growing even darker.
"But the very next day, Nora completely 'disappeared.' And then, everyone who had been in contact with her… was silenced."
"The former matron of the Moon Shadow Courtyard was found drowned in the well; two of the guards who had watched over Nora 'accidentally' fell from a cliff during a night patrol. All the evidence was wiped clean. Even the original list of concubines was altered."
A chill ran through me. The person behind this was faster and more ruthless than I had imagined.
"His next target must be me," I said, looking at Liam, having made a decision.
From my inner pocket, I carefully took out a handkerchief containing the black nail fragment, my mother's silver comb, and the watery-blue Moon Tear Stone.
"Liam, do me a favor."
He stared at the three items in my hand, stunned.
"I can't keep these on me anymore," I said, solemnly placing the nail fragment, the silver comb, and the Moon Tear Stone in his hand, my tone leaving no room for argument. "I suspect Barton will make his move on me soon."
I then took the key, engraved with the Alpha's crest, from my coat and placed it in his palm as well.
"This is…" Liam said, a complex emotion flickering in his eyes as he looked at the key.
"Help me hide them," I said, looking at him and enunciating each word. "Hide them in Kaelen's personal quarters."
"Why there?"
"Because that is the one place in the entire castle that Barton would not dare to search so easily," I said, looking at him and enunciating each word. "Kaelen said it was the safest place."
Just as Liam took the items and was about to nod in agreement—
BANG!
The door was thrown open.
The new matron stood in the doorway with two guards, her face expressionless. Her gaze swept between us, as empty as a deep well.
"Lord Liam, Miss Aila," she announced in a toneless voice. "The Lord Regent has an order."
She looked first at Liam. "Lord Liam, you are to report to the military intelligence office immediately to sort through all the reports from the front. You are not to have contact with anyone during this time."
Then, her gaze turned to me. "In addition, as the Lord Alpha is away on campaign and Miss Aila's identity is sensitive, it is inconvenient for you to continue residing in the main keep. Please pack your belongings and return to the Moon Shadow Courtyard immediately."
Liam's face instantly darkened. He took a step forward, about to say something, but was stopped by the matron's cold gaze.
I understood. This was a form of isolation and house arrest, and it had come so quickly.
I didn't resist, just gave Liam a calm look, signaling him to put the items away. Then, I gathered the few books Kaelen had left me.
Under the "escort" of two guards, I once again walked down the familiar corridor to the Moon Shadow Courtyard. The concubines in the courtyard looked at me, the "fallen favorite," with a mixture of expressions—some gloated, some were contemptuous, and a few were sympathetic. Clara stood in the crowd, a victorious sneer on her lips.
I was reassigned to the same small, cold room.
That evening, there was a knock on the door.
It was the Regent, Barton. He dismissed his attendants and entered alone, a disquieting smile on his face.
He looked around the simple room and sighed.
"Aila, you have been wronged. Elder Greymane and the others are too stubborn, and Kaelen is sometimes too concerned with saving face."
He walked over to me, his gaze scrutinizing my face, no longer with the affection of an elder, but with a strange intensity.
"So alike…" he murmured to himself, reaching out as if to touch my cheek.
I instinctively took a step back, avoiding his touch.
His hand hovered in mid-air. He wasn't embarrassed, just smiled and withdrew it. "Don't misunderstand, child. I was just reminded of your mother, Lina. She, like you, had a pair of eyes that could see right through a person."
A chill went down my spine.
"You are a smart child," he said, changing the subject and getting to the point. "Your bloodline possesses a great power. Morgana told me it is not a curse, but a gift from the Moon Goddess."
"If used correctly, you could even help Kaelen completely overcome the torment of his rage blood. You are his only hope."
"Believe me, Aila," he said, taking a step closer. "Like you, I want Kaelen to get better. Perhaps… we could cooperate. I can clear the obstacles of the council of elders for you, and you can focus on studying your power. Together, we can create a new North, free from pain."
I remembered Kaelen's warning.
"Thank you, Lord Regent," I said, bowing my head slightly, my hands nervously twisting in front of me, my voice tinged with timidity. "It's just… I'm just a half-blood who doesn't know anything. I'm afraid… I'm not up to the task."
"Think about it, child," he said, smiling at my meek demeanor. "If you change your mind, I will be waiting for your answer."
He then turned and left.
After Barton left, my sense of unease grew stronger.
I immediately went out to find Lisa.
Most of the concubines were in their rooms, avoiding the evening chill. After searching for a while, I finally found her small figure by a secluded laundry stone near the old well.
She was hunched over, scrubbing a large basin of seemingly endless laundry.
"Lisa," I said, walking over and calling her softly.
She stiffened and looked back in terror. She only relaxed a little when she saw it was me.
Lisa's eyes immediately turned red, and her voice was choked with sobs. "Aila… you're finally back."
I grabbed her arm, trying to pull her up. "Stop washing. Come back to the room with me."
But she flinched as if burned and tried to pull her hand away.
In that instant, her sleeve slipped down, revealing a gruesome patchwork of purple and blue bruises on her arm, as if she had been repeatedly whipped, old wounds overlapping new ones.
I gasped. "Who did this?!"
She shook her head in terror, trying to pull her sleeve back down, but it was too late.
"Well, if it isn't our 'fallen' Lady Luna?"
Clara's voice came from the top of the stone steps. She and her followers looked down on us, their eyes full of mockery.
She walked over to Lisa and kicked over the wooden basin at her feet, spilling the clean laundry onto the ground.
"Useless! Can't even do this simple task! The Alpha is gone. Who do you think is going to stand up for you now?"
Lisa trembled in fear, not daring to make a sound.
Clara sneered, her gaze shifting to me. "Or perhaps you want to follow the example of your good friend Aila and use that pathetic face of yours to seduce Lord Liam?"
She raised her hand to strike Lisa.
I couldn't take it anymore. I lunged forward and grabbed Clara's wrist.
She froze.
I swung my other hand and slapped her hard across the face.
SLAP—!
The sharp sound echoed through the quiet courtyard.
Everyone was stunned.
Clara clutched her face, looking at me in disbelief. "You… you dare to hit me?!"
"Hit you?" I said, flinging her hand away and shielding the terrified Lisa behind me, my voice as cold as ice. "Next time, it won't be just a slap."
"Who are you trying to scare!" one of Clara's followers shouted. "A cast-off the Alpha doesn't even want, still trying to act tough?"
Another chimed in, "Exactly! Don't think your nonsense about curses can scare anyone! You're just a southern traitor!"
I ignored them, my gaze fixed on Clara as I asked, enunciating each word, "Your brother Gavin must have told you about the Wailing Canyon, didn't he?"
Clara's face changed.
"Then remember," I said, taking a step closer and whispering in her ear, "and consider carefully, do you think your bones are harder than a 'ghoul's'?"
My voice was soft, but it was like a blade of ice.
Clara looked at my purple-blue eyes, remembered the rumors of the Wailing Canyon, and the monster that had been instantly turned to ash by a silver dagger. A chill ran down her spine, and she actually took a step back.
I didn't look at her again. I took Lisa's hand and, under the awed and complicated gazes of the others, turned and walked towards my room.
"You… you just wait!" Clara shouted, her voice full of bluster but lacking its earlier conviction.
However, we hadn't even reached the stone steps when a cold voice sounded at the courtyard gate.
"What is all this commotion?"
It was the new matron. She had, at some point, appeared there, her lifeless eyes like two black stones, sweeping over each of us.
The moment Clara saw her, it was as if she had found her backbone. She clutched her red, swollen cheek and whined, "Matron! You have to stand up for me! Aila… she hit me for no reason!"
The matron ignored her cries and just looked at me.
"Did you strike her?" she asked, her tone flat, without a hint of emotion.
"She was bullying Lisa first," I replied calmly.
"I only asked if you struck her."
"Yes," I met her gaze without flinching.
"Very good," the matron nodded, her wooden face showing no emotion. "According to the rules of the courtyard, those who engage in private fights are to be confined for three days, without food or water."
She paused, then added, "In addition, you will be responsible for emptying all the chamber pots in the courtyard tonight."
A few suppressed snickers came from the crowd. It was the most filthy and shameful punishment in the courtyard.
"Why?!" Lisa gathered her courage, wanting to defend me.
I placed a hand on her shoulder and shook my head.
I looked at the matron, a cold smile on my lips. "Fine. I accept the punishment."
I then ignored everyone and walked straight towards the cold, dark confinement room in the northernmost corner of the courtyard.
I knew that in this castle, without Kaelen, any resistance would only lead to harsher suppression.
But what they didn't know was that confinement, for me, was never a punishment.
It was… a sanctuary, a place where I could temporarily escape all the prying eyes and quietly think of a plan.