The investigation began with a corpse.
Not a new one.
An old one.
Lucien took Evelyn to a small cemetery outside the capital.
The grave was unmarked.
There was no family crest.
No title.
Only a name carved into gray stone.
Marian Voss.
Evelyn stared at it.
“Who was she?”
“My father’s secretary.”
“What happened to her?”
“She disappeared the week before he died.”
“Was she murdered?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why are we here?”
Lucien crouched beside the grave.
“Because someone buried her.”
Evelyn frowned.
“That doesn’t answer anything.”
“It tells us someone cared enough to give her a grave.”
He brushed dirt from the stone.
“There is a record of her death.”
“Where?”
“Nowhere.”
Evelyn’s expression changed.
“Then how did you find this?”
“I followed a ledger.”
They returned to the carriage.
Lucien handed her a folder.
Inside were several documents.
Marian Voss had worked for the Valemont family for seventeen years.
She had managed correspondence.
Financial records.
Political reports.
And, shortly before her disappearance, she had begun investigating the imperial treasury.
Evelyn looked at the last page.
There was a list of payments.
Large sums.
Transferred to northern officials.
But the money never reached the territory.
“It was stolen.”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
“That’s what she was trying to find.”
Evelyn looked at Lucien.
“Did she find out?”
“I think so.”
“What happened?”
“She disappeared.”
“And your father?”
“Died three days later.”
Evelyn leaned back.
“Someone killed both of them.”
“Probably.”
She looked at the list again.
There were several names.
One appeared repeatedly.
Lord Cassian Ardent.
Evelyn’s eyes widened.
“That’s…”
“Yes.”
“The emperor’s uncle.”
Lucien nodded.
“He was one of my father’s closest political allies.”
“He’s dead.”
“Officially.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“You don’t trust the death record.”
“No.”
She remembered the novel.
Cassian Ardent was never mentioned.
That was strange.
An imperial uncle with influence over the treasury should have been important.
Yet he didn’t exist in the story.
Unless…
Evelyn opened the book.
She searched.
Nothing.
No Cassian.
Not once.
“Maybe he was erased.”
Lucien looked at her.
“From the book?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because someone didn’t want the story to remember him.”
Lucien was silent.
The idea was absurd.
Yet neither of them dismissed it.
That evening, they returned to the capital.
A royal invitation waited for them.
Another reception.
Evelyn almost laughed.
“Does the imperial court do anything besides hold parties?”
“Apparently.”
She looked at Lucien.
“Do you want to go?”
“No.”
“Then we won’t.”
He looked at her.
“You don’t have to agree with me.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you?”
“Because I don’t want to go either.”
Lucien smiled.
It was small.
But real.
They didn’t attend.
Instead, Evelyn spent the evening in the library.
She was reading when Lucien entered.
He placed a cup of tea beside her.
“What’s that?”
“Tea.”
“I know.”
“You looked confused.”
“Because you brought it.”
He sat opposite her.
“You’ve been reading for four hours.”
“Five.”
“That’s worse.”
Evelyn smiled.
“Are you worried?”
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
“Yes.”
She closed the book.
“Lucien.”
It was the first time she had used his name.
He noticed.
“What?”
“Why do you care about what happens to me?”
He looked at her.
“You’re my wife.”
“That’s not enough.”
“No.”
He was quiet.
Then he said:
“You’re the only person who knows how my story ends.”
Evelyn’s heart tightened.
“And?”
“And I don’t want to die.”
She smiled faintly.
“That’s a reasonable goal.”
“Is it?”
“Very.”
They sat in silence.
The atmosphere felt different.
Less formal.
Less distant.
Evelyn realized something dangerous.
She was beginning to like him.
Not love.
Not yet.
But like.
She liked his dry humor.
His patience.
The way he remembered servants’ names.
The way he refused to abandon the northern villages.
The way he listened when she spoke.
The way he never forced her to reveal more than she wanted.
That was dangerous.
Because liking him made the future harder.
If he died, she would care.
If he became a monster, she would have to decide whether to stop him.
And if the story was wrong…
She didn’t know what to believe anymore.
Lucien broke the silence.
“You should sleep.”
“I will.”
“You said that yesterday.”
“I meant it yesterday.”
He stood.
At the door, he stopped.
“Evelyn.”
She looked up.
“Yes?”
“If someone comes to you claiming to know your future…”
He paused.
“Don’t trust them.”
Her blood went cold.
“Why?”
“Because whoever knows that much has been watching you.”
Then he left.
Evelyn remained alone.
She looked at the book.
A new sentence had appeared on the page.
She hadn’t written it.
Neither had Lucien.
He is not the villain.
Evelyn’s breath caught.
Below it, another sentence slowly became visible.
But he will become one if you fail.