Nobody spoke for several seconds.
The servant stood frozen in the doorway.
Marcus was gone.
The words echoed through my mind.
Gone.
Not arrested.
Not questioned.
Not confronted.
Gone.
Which meant he had planned this.
Prepared for it.
Expected it.
The realization left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Kairo's expression remained unreadable.
"Where is the message?"
The servant stepped forward immediately and handed over a sealed envelope.
White.
Simple.
Ordinary.
It looked harmless.
I hated it.
Because the most dangerous things lately seemed to arrive in envelopes.
The servant stepped back.
The room became silent.
Kairo looked at the letter for a moment.
Then opened it.
His eyes moved across the page.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The silence stretched.
Long enough for my anxiety to become unbearable.
"Kairo."
No response.
"Kairo."
This time, he handed the letter to Selene.
She read it.
Then closed her eyes.
Slowly.
Like someone trying very hard not to throw something through a window.
That wasn't encouraging.
I stood.
"Give me the letter."
Selene hesitated.
Which immediately made me want it more.
Eventually, she handed it over.
I looked down.
The message was surprisingly short.
---
Young Master,
By the time you read this, I will already be gone.
I know what this looks like. I know what you will think.
But if there is one thing I ask of you after twenty-eight years of service, it is this:
Do not trust appearances.
I have betrayed many things.
You are not one of them.
When the truth arrives, you will understand why I had no choice.
Forgive me.
—Marcus
---
I read it twice.
Then a third time.
The confusion only grew.
"What does that even mean?"
Nobody answered.
Because nobody knew.
The letter raised more questions than it answered.
If Marcus was innocent, why run?
If he was guilty, why leave a warning?
Nothing made sense.
And somehow that bothered me more than outright betrayal.
I lowered the paper.
"He says he didn't betray Kairo."
Selene frowned.
"That's exactly what he says."
"But he still disappeared."
"Yes."
"And he admits betraying other things."
"Yes."
I looked between them.
"This is the most unhelpful confession I've ever seen."
For once, neither argued.
Because it was true.
Marcus had somehow managed to explain absolutely nothing.
The office fell quiet.
Then Kairo stood.
The movement immediately drew everyone's attention.
"What are you thinking?" Selene asked.
"Marcus didn't write this for us."
I blinked.
"What?"
Kairo took the letter from my hands.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"This wasn't intended to explain his actions."
The room became silent.
Then understanding slowly began forming.
The letter wasn't a confession.
It wasn't an apology.
It was a message.
A warning.
My stomach tightened.
"Do not trust appearances."
The words suddenly felt important.
Very important.
Selene noticed too.
"You think that's the key."
"Yes."
A pause.
Then she frowned.
"Meaning what?"
Kairo looked down at the paper.
"The answer is hidden in what appears obvious."
The room went quiet again.
I hated riddles.
Especially life-threatening riddles.
Unfortunately, everyone in this world seemed obsessed with them.
A knock interrupted the discussion.
Sharp.
Urgent.
A security officer entered immediately.
His face looked grim.
Another bad sign.
We were collecting those lately.
"Kairo."
"What happened?"
The officer swallowed.
"We found Marcus's vehicle."
The room froze.
My heart immediately dropped.
"Where?"
"Outside the western border."
I stared.
That was far.
Very far.
Which meant Marcus hadn't simply left the estate.
He had fled.
The officer continued.
"The vehicle was abandoned."
Silence.
Then—
"There was blood."
The room went completely still.
Selene stood immediately.
"What?"
"We found signs of a struggle."
My stomach twisted.
The officer lowered his gaze.
"No body."
That should have been reassuring.
Instead, it wasn't.
Because it meant uncertainty.
And uncertainty had become our greatest enemy.
The officer handed over several photographs.
Then left.
The moment the door closed, Selene began examining them.
I moved beside her.
The images showed a damaged vehicle.
Broken glass.
Destroyed tires.
Blood.
A lot more blood than I wanted to see.
No graphic details, but enough to know something bad had happened.
"This wasn't staged."
Selene's voice was quiet.
Kairo studied the photographs.
His expression remained calm.
Too calm.
Dangerously calm.
Then he pointed at one image.
"What is that?"
I leaned closer.
At first, I didn't see it.
Then—
A symbol.
Small.
Scratched into the side of the vehicle.
A strange design.
Like a circle broken by three intersecting lines.
Selene's eyes widened.
Immediately.
"Kairo."
Her voice changed.
I looked up.
"What?"
Neither answered right away.
Never a good sign.
Finally, Selene spoke.
"I've seen this before."
The room became silent.
"Where?"
A pause.
Then—
"Father's archives."
My heart skipped.
Kairo's gaze sharpened instantly.
The symbol suddenly felt much more important.
"What is it?" I asked.
Selene looked unsettled.
Actually unsettled.
Which was rare.
Very rare.
"I don't know."
The answer surprised me.
"You've seen it before but don't know what it means?"
"Father never explained."
Her voice remained quiet.
"He only said one thing."
The room held its breath.
"What?"
Selene looked at Kairo.
Then at the symbol again.
Finally—
"He said if this symbol ever appeared again..."
The silence stretched.
Then she finished the sentence.
"...it meant the family was in danger."
The office became completely silent.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
Because suddenly this conflict felt larger.
Much larger.
Not just Cassian.
Not just traitors.
Not just politics.
Something older.
Something hidden.
Something connected to Kairo's father.
The realization settled heavily over the room.
Then Kairo made a decision.
I saw it happen.
The exact moment.
The shift in his eyes.
The certainty.
The focus.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm going to the archives."
Of course he was.
Because apparently every answer in this family came hidden inside secret records and cryptic warnings.
Selene immediately nodded.
"I'll come."
I stood too.
"So will I."
Both siblings looked at me.
I crossed my arms.
"What?"
"This may be dangerous," Selene said.
I pointed toward the photographs.
"We're way past may."
Neither argued.
Because they couldn't.
For the first time since Marcus disappeared, we finally had something.
A clue.
A lead.
A direction.
And somehow—
I had a feeling that whatever waited inside those archives would reveal a truth none of us were prepared for.
Because Marcus's letter hadn't felt like a goodbye.
It had felt like a countdown.
And something told me that countdown was almost over.