The bathroom was silent except for the faint hum of the ventilation fan. The air felt charged, heavy with suspicion. Lydia and Dominique stood across from each other, eyes locked, neither willing to flinch first.
Every subtle shift in posture, every shallow breath, was weighed and asured like moves on a chessboard.
Dominique flicked her sleeve then clasped her hands gracefully in front of her stomach, a smooth move of a predator putting away its claws only because it didn’t feel threatened. Her chin lifted, her voice cold and precise.
"Who are you?"
Lydia’s throat tightened. Words refused to co, her mind a blur of fear and calculation. She clamped her mouth shut, heart hamring.
Then, faint in her ear, Jay’s voice ca through the comm.
"It’s okay. Give your na."
Elsewhere, Jay leaned against a desk, the pale glow of his tablet reflecting off his face. His tone was calm, controlled, though urgency thrumd beneath it. With a sharp nod to his subordinate, he gave the order.
A Noxcra agent slipped out of the room and began typing quickly into his phone: ’Everyone, prepare for extraction.’
The ssage was sent. Outside the White Rose building, shadows stirred. n and won in plain clothes shifted into position. One beca a street vendor, setting up his cart a little too close to the entrance. Another slouched as a beggar near the curb.
A cluster of young people laughed loudly, but their eyes flicked toward the building with calculated sharpness. Every one of them was waiting, ready to move the instant the signal ca.
Inside, the bathroom door remained shut, the world beyond muffled.
Lydia forced air into her lungs, steadying herself. Finally, she spoke, her voice low but firm. "Lydia. I’m Lydia Boyd."
Dominique’s eyes widened in shock, and for a heartbeat, her mask slipped, and the surprise was unmistakable. "You... you’re Lydia Boyd?!"
The na hung between them like a spark about to ignite.
Lydia’s gaze sharpened, suspicion flaring. "Now tell ," she pressed, "what’s your connection to Jasmine Wu?"
Dominique hesitated, lips parting, then pressing shut. Slowly, she drew her composure back around herself like armor. "Nothing. She was just one of my students. That’s all."
Lydia didn’t blink. Her tone cut sharper than the dagger ever could.
"Really, it seems more than that..."
The silence stretched, heavy with unspoken truths. Though the blade was gone, the threat between them was sharper than ever.
At last, Dominique’s eyes flickered, and her voice cracked—barely, but enough. "It’s only because she was different... she had the chance to save herself." Emotion laced her words, raw and reluctant.
"Is it about her immunity to the drugs?" Lydia guessed.
Dominique nodded once. "Yes. I tested her blood myself, through my own private channel. The results confird that Jasmine has a natural resistance to the compounds we use. When I dug deeper, I found out that during the Dark Age War, Jasmine had been poisoned by a demon beast, a basilisk. She should have died. But sohow, she survived, and it was long enough for King Lucas and his Archknights to find her."
Lydia’s breath caught."She was saved... by King Lucas?" The truth shocked her for a mont.
Dominique gave a small, bitter smile. "Jasmine told the King gave her a phoenix elixir to save her life. That’s the only reason she lived. You understand, don’t you? Even today, a phoenix elixir is hard to co by. Moreover, during the Dark Age war, when dicine and potions were scarce, everyone held their potion and dicines like their life. But, he... King Lucas gave it away to a stranger child...Just like that," Her voice softened, a hint of awe breaking through, before curdling into a self-mocking laugh.
Lydia’s eyes lowered, her words simple, matter-of-fact. "He was a great King. Too good for the likes of us, to be honest."
"True." Dominique’s sneer returned, though it didn’t quite hide the ache in her tone.
"...Back to Jasmine. Sothing changed in her. That elixir, that survival—it left her immune to the mind-control drugs we use. That’s why her behavior grew strange compared to everyone else; she stood up like a sore thumb. Thus, People started to notice. So, when she decided to run... I turned a blind eye."
Lydia’s gaze sharpened, her voice edged with reproach. "You didn’t help her?"
Dominique’s shoulders lifted in a weary shrug. "My ’blind eye’ was the only help I could give. Besides, I knew the chance was small but... maybe, just like you, she’d find a way to save herself."
Silence lingered before her gaze fell back on Lydia. "When Jasmine returned without fuss or commotion as if she never left before, and I thought she was indeed never left, I thought she’d had second thoughts at the last mont. But I guess I’m wrong," Her eyes narrowed aningfully.
"We found Jasmine being chased by Paladins when she tried to run. We saved her, we killed all the Paladins, discarded their corpse. After that, we convinced Jasmine to return so we could find a safer way to get her out, without the organization knowing," Lydia explained.
"Are you able to kill Paladin? Who is We?" Dominique’s eyes sharpened.
Lydia’s lips clamped shut, her expression making it clear she would not elaborate.
Dominique smirked. "Of course. You wouldn’t have survived this long without help. And to even dare co back..." She gave Lydia a slow, amused look.
"I ca to free the other healers from the organization, and to uncover the creature they’ve been hiding," Lydia said, her face set with determination.
Dominique froze for a beat, then scoffed. "So you know. But what can you possibly do? Do you think you can stand against the Paladins, the Constellation? And don’t forget, Luxemborough is involved in all this, as well."
"There’s little I can do alone," Lydia admitted, but a confident smile touched her lips. "But the people behind ... they can do far more than you think."
Dominique’s curiosity sharpened. "You actually believe they can face the Paladins and Dragxtarn?" she asked, her tone mocking.
Lydia’s smile only deepened. "Absolutely."
For once, Dominique faltered. Lydia’s expression showed no bluff. She was serious.
"The kind of power that can challenge Paladins and Dragxtarn...?" Dominique murmured, thinking hard. Then her eyes widened. "King Lucas?!"
Lydia didn’t answer, but the glint in her eyes was confirmation enough.
Dominique’s hands trembled. She stared at Lydia in disbelief—not with fear, but with excitent and hope. "He’s still—" She cut herself off, raised a finger to the air, and darted to the door.
She cracked it open, peeked into the hall, then shut it quickly and locked it. When she returned to Lydia, she leaned close and whispered, almost breathless, "Is he alive? Is he well?"
Lydia frowned, confused by the genuine joy in Dominique’s voice. At that mont, Jay’s voice rang in her ear: "It’s fine. Tell her the King is alive and well, but nothing more."
After receiving the order, Lydia nodded slowly. "He is."
Dominique drew in a sharp breath, pressing both hands to her chest as a radiant smile spread across her face.
"Thank the heavens... They all spoke as if the King had—" her voice broke with relief, "—I thought he was gone..."
"Why do you care so much?" Lydia asked, perplexed.
For once, Dominique’s eyes softened. "Because I hate the organization more than you can imagine."
"Why?" Lydia frown.
Her gaze darkened, brimming with resentnt. "Because they took my daughter away."
"Your daughter?" Lydia was perplexed cause she never heard Dominique have a family, let alone a daughter.
Dominique lowered her eyes, her expression shadowed with pain. "My real na is redith Warren. My daughter’s na is Aubrey Granger. She was adopted, and I never filed the proper papers, so it doesn’t appear on any official record."
"Aubrey Granger?" Lydia gasped. "I knew her. She was one of the Chosen, but... that was years ago, long before ."
"Yes. When she disappeared, I tried to ask where they had sent her, but no one gave an answer. I kept pressing, and then the pressure began. Not directly at first, but life started to unravel. I was suddenly fired from my job without reason, soone sared my reputation as a healer, I was suddenly sued for a strange thing, and suddenly I found myself unable to make a living, even sothing as simple as applying for a credit card beca impossible... and that’s when it dawned on ." Her voice shook with bitterness. "They were trying to warn , silenced ."
Lydia narrowed her eyes, studying Dominique. "So you decided to infiltrate the organization to find out for yourself. Did you change your appearance? But that should be impossible. Shapeshifter spells are unreliable, and the entire Elysium compound, every corner of the White Rose, was equipped with anti-glamour spells. Unless you used a potion..."
She stopped short, frowning. No, that would be impossible. Because Potions like that were so rare and costly, they were practically hard to find, and any attempt to get one would draw the authorities’ eyes imdiately. And a Versipell potion? Impossible, Bellerophone would not sell this type of potion to anybody.
Dominique broke into her thoughts. "I didn’t use magic or potion, both of it was too expensive. So, I had plastic surgery."
Lydia’s eyes widened. She recoiled as if struck. "Plastic surgery?!"
The words left her lips sharp. In today’s day and age, plastic surgery is considered outdated, even borderline barbaric. No one does that anymore. "Why would you put yourself through such... mutilation?"
Dominique’s gaze dropped, her sigh heavy. "I know what you’re thinking. Plastic surgery is crude, brutal. Painful. The recovery is long, and there’s no undoing it if you regret the choice. But at the ti..." Her voice faltered, then steadied.
"At the ti, it was my only option. Without money or resources, it was the only way I could hide my identity for the long term." Lydia let out a heavy sigh.
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