Lena could stand by no longer.

Initially, she wanted to wait until Eva was sent off before revealing her cards. Her sister was at a marriageable age, after all. It was only a matter of time. When she was gone, Lena would be free to operate and pile evidence on her even more, sealing her fate while she was away. However, she didn’t think that Eva would change her attitude so much that it became intolerable.

Lena touched her cheek where her sister hit her and ground her teeth, the dark room making her expression even darker, her white nightgown a contrast. “You will pay for this,” she said, feeling the urge to break objects.

Eva was born with everything, having the appearance that resembled the Vallou ancestor and the ability to excel at anything she did. Lena, on the other hand, lived in a shadow, having inherited almost everything from her father while her mother favored Eva. She told herself it was no matter since she would follow in her father’s footsteps in getting rid of her competition and rising to the top, and that started with her sister.

“My lady, there has been some movement from Lady Eva’s side. It seems she is planning to go outside,” said Lena’s maid.

“At this time?” Lena looked out the balcony. Moonlight was shining through the window, leaving tall shadows for both her and the maid.

Eva had been acting suspiciously recently, with her often going out without bodyguards. Lena tried to trail her with some men, but they couldn’t catch up to her even once, either with Eva blending in with the crowd or with her disappearing into a complex alleyway.

“Should we call for some men?” asked the maid.

Lena thought for a second. “No. We can’t make big movements. I will follow her myself since I know her better than anyone.”

“Understood.”

Lena grabbed a cloak and put it on.

I’ll see what secret you have, sister.

Eva considered using the secret passage her mother had built but decided against it at the last second. She wanted it to be her trump card, and using the passage, even discreetly, might expose it. Tonight, she hurried to meet Minos and took a small risk, as she didn’t think Lena would send men out this late in the night.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

It was his letter with only two sentences that made her feel this sense of dread.

Abort the plan. Meet me tonight at the town square.

Something went wrong, and time was not on her side as she already confirmed that Lena was indeed making a move.

Finally, she arrived before the fountain in the middle of the town square where Minos was sitting on the edge and looking up at the moon.

“Nikitas,” she said.

“My lady, you are here,” he said, standing up and smiling.

“What is it? What do you mean by aborting—“

Minos walked close and held a hand over her mouth, looking left and right. “This is not a place to talk about this. Please follow me.” He put his hand away and walked into an alley. Eva followed.

“Would you care to explain what you mean?” she asked.

Minos turned around but kept silent, averting his eyes. He opened and closed his mouth as if forming words alone was difficult.

“What is it?” Eva asked, feeling worried.

Finally, Minos spoke. “What happened was…” He gritted his teeth. “The duke’s son had passed away.”

Eva couldn’t understand his words for a second. “What?”

He finally looked into her eyes. “It was the other slaves that did it. They didn’t like that he was getting attention from big shots, so they beat him to death. Of course, they didn’t mean to, but they took it too far.”

“When did this happen?”

“The day you left. I was going to check on him with you, but I figured we could do that next time. The next day, he was already found dead.”

Eva bit her lip, and her whole body trembled, from what emotion she didn’t know. She offered a silent prayer for her noble peer, and Minos did the same. When they finished, Eva breathed in deeply, steeled herself, and said, “We need a new plan.”

“Yes,” Minos replied, nodding. “But I don’t think we should come up with a new one so quickly. We need time to deliberate.”

“I don’t have time. My sister is on the move.”

“Then, shall we meet tomorrow? At least give yourself one night’s worth of thinking.”

Eva doubted one night would help. She hadn’t even found the place Lena was keeping the slaves, let alone identified how many of her men had been bribed. Her sister had been planning for years, so the roots ran deep. She could barely do anything with only a handful of trustworthy men, and now this happened.

Eva sighed. “Let’s meet tomorrow, then.”

“Yes. Let’s—“

Suddenly, Minos jolted his head around and turned to the other side of the alley.

“What’s wrong?” Eva asked.

He stayed silent for a moment. “Nothing, my lady. It must have been my imagination.”

Eva noticed that his hand had already reached into his coat pocket, most definitely already gripping a knife. She knew best how astute Minos was and how his instincts were always on point, so she walked forward to the end of the alley. Minos ran in front of her and led the way.

“It is probably nothing,” he said, walking forward and peeking around the corner. “I’m pretty sure it’s just—“

Meow!

“—a cat.”

A black cat with golden eyes strolled out of the dark corner of the alley, stretching and yawning. Indeed, his instinct was on point.

The ominous feeling still didn’t go away, however. She turned the corner and inspected the ground. In the dark, there was not much she could see, but when she looked up, she noticed a piece of khaki fabric hanging on an iron rod jutting out of the wall. She pulled it out and felt it. This was something torn off from a cloak.

Eva looked up at the moon. She had a bad feeling about this.