Chapter 6.5: The Silent Pact
The morning air was thick with a heavy, unnatural mist as the Astra carriages were readied.In this timeline ,Seraphina was no longer the sovereign Duchess holding the weight of the Duchy on her shoulders—she was simply the Duke's daughter, a high-born noblewoman expected to be seen as a beautiful, sheltered ornament.
Inside the manor's library, moments before departure, the four of them stood in a tense circle. The air was brittle, heavy with a decade of resentment and the fresh, jagged trauma of their shared memories.
"We cannot be seen together," Seraphine whispered, her voice low and sharp. "In the past life, you were always avoiding me. If the enemy believes that we remember. They might try catch us off guard."
She looked at each of them, assigning them to the places where they were betrayed before.
"Lord Killian," she said, her eyes meeting his crimson gaze. "The Emperor's castle is your domain. You are his highest knight. Shadow his communications and watch the Black Wing from within. That would be easy since you are their commander."
"Alaric," she turned to the Holy Knight. "The Temple had a hand in my execution and Evelina's fall. You are a Holy Knight of the order; they won't question your presence in the cathedral. Watch the elders. Find out who signed the decree of heretics."
"Evelina," Seraphine took the girl's hand. "You must go deeper. Investigate the High Priest. He was the one who claimed my 'confession' was divinely heard. Find out what he's hiding in the sanctum."
"And how do we share what we find?" Eveline asked, her voice trembling. "The Emperor's shadow-wraiths will be intercepting every scroll."
"Secret meanings," Seraphine said, pulling out a set of mundane stationery. "We will write letters that seem like the shallow, petty complaints of a bored girl and her frustrated companions. If I write about 'bitter tea,' it means the Shadow Order is near. If Lord Killian reports 'fatigued horses,' the perimeter is compromised. If Alaric mentions 'dim candles,' the Temple is moving against us."
As they stepped into the courtyard, the masquerade began. Seraphine climbed into the carriage, her expression was of an innocent girl who is pretty excited to attend a a ball . When Killian stepped forward to offer his hand, she hesitantly agreed."
"Thank you, Commander," she spoke, loud enough for Caspian and the Black Wing guards to hear."
Killian bowed low, his face a mask of cold, robotic obedience. "I will be right here if you are in need of any assistance, My Lady."
But as he pulled his hand back, he dropped a small, folded note into the seat cushion—a scrap of paper that, when held to a candle, would reveal the secret watch-shifts of the palace guards.
Alaric rode at the front, his back stiff and unyielding, refusing to look at the carriage. To any observer, he was just a stern soldier. In reality, his holy mana was vibrating, sensing the heartbeat of every rider within a mile.
Evelina sat in the second carriage with the Duke, her head bowed in "prayer," already weaving a web of light to detect if any gifts from the Emperor were being sneaked into their luggage.
The evening, at a roadside inn, Seraphine sat by the fire, pointedly ignoring the others. She handed a letter to a courier, addressed to the Holy Knight Alaric under the guise of an errand for her father.
"Alaric, the tea at this inn is far too bitter. Please tell the innkeeper the candles are too dim to read my romance novels. It is truly a dull trip for someone of my station."
Across the room, Alaric received the letter under the watchful eye of Captain Vane. He let out a weary sigh, looking annoyed at the girl's pettiness.
But his heart hammered. 'Bitter tea' was the code for the Shadow Order. 'Dim candles' meant the High Priest had already sent scouts to meet them.
Seraphine looked out the window at the dark forest. In this life, she was just a useless Duke's daughter, a girl the world thought was obsessed with dresses , tea and Love.
The Emperor thinks he's the author, she thought, tracing the gold-flecked ink of the letter in her bodice. But he's forgotten that the most dangerous piece on a chessboard is the one everyone ignores because they think she's already been defeated.