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Chapter 54- The Fractures Beneath the Flame
The night air around the east wing of the estate felt unusually heavy. Celeste's footsteps slowed as she walked beside Kairo, their shoulders brushing.
"Are you ever going to tell me why you keep me so close, Kairo Seo?" she asked, a teasing lilt masking something deeper.
Kairo didn't answer right away. His gaze lingered on the moonlit gardens, sharp and unreadable. "You already know the answer," he murmured.
Celeste tilted her head. "Do I?"
Something about her tone — defiant yet vulnerable — pulled him closer. He stopped abruptly, turning toward her. His hand rose, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face. "Stop testing me, Celeste," he said quietly.
Her breath caught. "Then show me I'm wrong."
The space between them collapsed in an instant. His lips pressed against hers — not rushed, but deliberate, as if both were daring the other to pull away first. The kiss deepened, heat surging through the cool night air. For a moment, the world narrowed to just the two of them — unspoken tension breaking into something far more dangerous.
Neither of them noticed the distant flicker of a lantern by the west hall.
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Meanwhile, Elira was nowhere near the east wing.
She had slipped out of her chambers hours earlier, following the faint trail of a coded message she intercepted from the servants' network — a name she recognized, one that shouldn't have resurfaced: Darius Vale.
The path led her to the old armory beneath the northern wall. The door was ajar, its iron hinges rusted but recently disturbed. She pushed inside, every step careful, her senses sharp.
The place smelled of dust and oil — and something else, faint but unmistakable: gunpowder.
A shadow moved. "You're late," a low voice rasped.
Elira froze. A man in a hood stepped forward, placing a bundle of parchments into her hands. "Your enemies aren't waiting anymore," he whispered. "Vale is moving shipments through the south docks — and someone inside your estate is helping him."
Before she could press for answers, the man melted back into the darkness, leaving only his words and the sound of retreating boots.
Elira clutched the documents tightly, heart pounding. If what he said was true, then betrayal was closer than she'd feared — and Kairo was in more danger than he realized.
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Back at the gardens, Kairo and Celeste finally broke apart, breathing hard, the moment suspended in the hush of the night.
Neither of them had any idea what Elira had just uncovered.
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Elira pressed her back against the cold stone wall as the man's footsteps faded into the night. She unfolded the bundle of parchments, the moonlight barely strong enough to illuminate the ink. The handwriting was precise, military, and chillingly familiar.
Shipment schedule. Dock numbers. Names...
Her heart stuttered. One name was scrawled across the top — someone she knew, someone trusted inside the estate. But before she could focus, the faint creak of movement echoed from deeper inside the armory.
"Elira?" a voice called softly. Not Kairo's. Not friendly.
She shoved the documents into her cloak and slipped behind an old weapons rack. A man entered — broad shoulders, face half-covered by a mask. He carried a lantern, its light sweeping the dusty floor.
"She took it," he muttered to himself. "Lord Vale won't be pleased."
Her blood went cold. So it's true. He's working for Vale.
The man lingered, scanning the room, then left through the northern exit. Elira stayed perfectly still until the last echo of his boots vanished. Only then did she breathe.
She didn't return to her chambers immediately. Instead, she circled the far perimeter of the estate, using the old servant paths to avoid detection. The weight of what she carried felt heavier than steel.
If I show this to Kairo now, he'll confront Vale head-on...and walk straight into a trap.
I have to confirm it first. Alone.
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At the same time, in the moonlit gardens of the east wing, Kairo brushed a thumb against Celeste's cheek. The sharpness in his eyes softened briefly — a side of him few ever saw.
"This changes nothing," he said, voice low, as if convincing himself as much as her.
"Doesn't it?" Celeste whispered.
Their words hung in the night air. The tension between them was dangerous, electric — but neither stepped away.
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Far across the estate, Elira finally slipped back into her chambers just before dawn. No one had seen her leave, and no one would know where she'd been. The bundle of parchments went beneath the false floorboard under her bed.
She stared out the window, the first hint of sunrise painting the sky gold.
Who can I trust now?
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