After thoroughly searching the teahouse, Fiona let out a frustrated sigh.
The kitchen held only supplies, the back rooms were empty, and the walls had no hidden doors.
"There’s nothing here..." she admitted, leaning against a table.
Seth remained by the window, watching the empty street.
"Then instead of thinking about escape, how about we think about why they trapped us here?"
Fiona looked up, curious.
"People don’t trap others without reason."
Seth continued.
"So what reason could there be? I assu it has sothing to do with our identities."
Fiona nodded slowly.
"From a political standpoint, my older brother’s failed upbringing is no secret. He was supposed to inherit the family business, but he lacked the temperant for it. So the responsibility fell to ..."
She paused, straightening her posture.
"I am now the next in line to lead the Amoret family’s agricultural holdings and social patronage network. If sothing happened to , the succession would beco uncertain... Rival families could also move to claim our contracts."
"The villages we support would lose their protection. In short, my disappearance would create a power vacuum."
Seth absorbed this information. "Quite valuable as a hostage then."
"Or as leverage," Fiona agreed.
"Soone could use to pressure my father into unfavorable agreents. Or they could simply remove to destabilize the region before making their own move..."
Seth leaned against the window fra, arms crossed.
"If we consider your family’s standing and the timing of us being trapped here today, can you think of any possible reasons?"
Fiona fell silent, her brow furrowed in thought.
After a mont, she shook her head slowly.
"Nothing specific cos to mind... but there is an event today. I was invited to the Coven of Solace’s headquarters to discuss noble responsibilities."
"Specifically, what families must provide to protect citizens if a disaster strikes."
Seth straightened.
"Are the attendees all important mbers of noble families?"
"I believe so, yes."
The implication settled over them like a realization.
Fiona’s eyes widened as she caught on.
"They want to enter the eting under my identity..." she breathed.
"Soone will pretend to be and do sothing there?"
Seth nodded. "That is the most logical assumption."
Fiona’s hands clenched at her sides.
"Will I be implicated afterward?"
"Likely. They probably intend to keep you alive so you can take the bla after they are done."
"Bla for what?"
The words ca out sharper than she intended.
Seth allowed himself a small, humorless smile.
After surviving several "coincidental" accidents where his smallest actions led to disastrous consequences, he had beco quite skilled at constructing logical theories from incomplete information.
"Consider what you have been doing lately," he said.
"You have been actively reaching out to supernatural groups...."
"The Black Lantern gathering. The demonology enthusiasts. And now, you possess a book called the Guide of Malum, which you touched and kept."
"Even if your mind is not yet affected, the appearance of corruption is already there."
Fiona’s face paled. "I left the book in my room. In a drawer. I did not bring it here."
Seth shook his head.
"They will find it. Or they already have. A book of evil in the Amoret heir’s private chambers. Combined with your absence from today’s eting—where soone pretending to be you does sothing terrible—the evidence will point directly at you..."
"But my bracelet says my mind is not influenced," Fiona insisted, gripping the sapphire tightly.
"I do not feel any different either..."
"Perhaps the influence has not activated yet. Perhaps it is waiting for a specific mont to trigger."
"Everything has already been arranged perfectly. The missing heir, the corrupted book, the public scandal. All happening at the right ti to destroy your reputation completely."
Fiona stared at him.
"Those are just assumptions..."
"They are assumptions based on experience," Seth replied evenly.
"I have been used before. In the supernatural world, when events align too neatly, it is rarely coincidence."
Fiona did not argue.
His words truly did feel like soone who had learned through suffering.
She took a slow breath, forcing herself to think clearly.
"If I was trapped here because of the Coven eting... then why are you here, Mr. Black? What do they gain from keeping you?"
Seth propped his hand against his chin, exaggerating a thinking pose, though his mind was already racing.
’Why ?’
If he thought about it carefully, he had no political connections.
He was not involved with any noble family except for the tentative link forming with Fiona.
If soone wanted to strengthen the narrative that Fiona was "colluding with evil," they could have simply trapped the demonology enthusiasts here with her.
They were the obvious choice— openly interested in dark arts, eting in secret, discussing grand rituals...
So why him?
Was it rely coincidence that he had happened to engage Fiona in conversation and agreed to et here?
Or had sothing pushed both of them toward this place without their awareness?
And why was Jake Williams’ organization—the School of Deceit—involved?
The woman had claid they wanted to help him fight against Fiona and her helper...
Yet here he was, trapped alongside Fiona...
Seth paused.
’Was it truly the School of Deceit that trapped them here?’
If they were responsible, why would one of their mbers bother speaking with him?
Why hand him a piece of paper and offer assistance against Fiona’s hidden protector?
The woman had known Fiona would bring soone powerful.
She had warned him about the coming danger...
But it was clear that Fiona had no malicious intentions towards him!
A new thought ford. Seth turned toward her.
"I was probably not supposed to be here..." he said slowly.
"Soone arranged for to be here to save you."
Fiona frowned.
"What do you an?"
Seth chuckled softly.
"Yesterday, if I had not approached you and started that conversation, do you think you would have visited this place anyway?"
Fiona considered the question.
"To be fair... I have been craving coffee from this teahouse lately. It has been on my mind for days."
She stopped.
Her eyes widened as the implication sank in.
"You an..." she realized.
"I was always going to end up here? With or without you?"
Seth nodded.
"Now here is another question. Why deliver here? To save you from what? From whom?"
Fiona’s hand went to her bracelet.
"From... soone inside this building?"
"But you already have your helper, do you not?"
Seth gestured toward the sapphire on her wrist.
"If anyone is qualified to protect you, it would be them. So why bring ?"
Fiona opened her mouth, then closed it.
She had no answer.
Seth pressed forward.
"I have personally verified there is nothing wrong with your fate. I have no reason to trap you here. My organization has no interest in your family’s politics."
"But your mind... that is a different matter."
He stepped closer, his voice lowering.
"Who has been telling you that everything is fine? Who knew exactly what coffee you would crave and arranged for you to co here? Who warned you about the Guide of Malum but did not stop you from taking it?"
Fiona’s face had gone pale.
Seth laughed without humor.
"I assu your helper must be powerful. Powerful enough to detect the spell on this building before you even stepped inside."
"So tell , Lady Amoret—if they knew this place was a trap, why did they let you walk in anyway?"
He spread his hands.
"Is your helper truly so incompetent that they missed all these coincidences? Or did they allow you to be trapped for reasons of their own?"
Fiona stood frozen, her fingers wrapped tightly around the bracelet.
Her breathing had quickened, and Seth could see the doubt creeping into her eyes.
She looked down at the sapphire gem, and for the first ti, there was fear in her expression—not of the trap around them, but of the one she might have been wearing all along...
Reviews
All reviews (0)