The man remained silent and continued to press himself against the wall.

On closer inspection, Yeren could see that the man clutched a fabric behind him.

"What do you have there?" He asked, stepping forward.

The man only squeezed his eyes shut and pressed himself harder against the wall. For a thief, he seemed very inexperienced.

Yeren reached out and snatched the garment from his hand.

The garment was so tender than it ripped at the seams.

When he unfolded it, he discovered that it was a woman’s silk night dress.

And from the scent, it was clear who it belonged to.

Claire.

He looked up from the garment, fixing the man with his most deadly glare.

"What do you want with this?"

The man burst into tears, shuddering as he leaned hopelessly against the wall.

"I... I was told to bring it down to a man in the village. I overheard him saying that he needed it to trace a woman’s scent. I’m innocent, I swear. If I don’t give it to him, he is going to set me and my entire family aflame."

What in the world was he hearing? Someone was after Claire? But for what? She was leaving, wasn’t she?

Except the person was well aware that the easiest way to hurt him was to hurt her.

How interesting.

"Who was this man?"

The man began to shudder more violently. "He covered his face, but he was tall in stature and spoke fluently."

The man burst into more tears.

Yeren looked him over and realized he worked on the grounds of the castle from his clothing, even though they were smudged on dirt.

The situation had Redmare’s name written all over it.

He ground his jaws, grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him out of the room.

When he reached the stairway, he told a passing maid to have all of Claire and her sister’s things packed and boxed.

Then he would decide what would happen to it later.

"Take this man back to his home and have his family escorted to one of the refugee homes in the barracks."

Just as the guard left, one of his attendants rushed forward with a letter.

"Your Grace, there is a letter for you from your house in Glenwood."

He raised a brow but took the letter nonetheless.

When he was done reading the letter, he fisted it in his clenched hands without realising it.

A band of Rogues attacked Glenwood and his study was broken into again. Only this time, his steward died in the process.

Why was all this happening? All because he didn’t catch one man in time.

Maybe if he wasn’t so busy letting himself be mesmerised by a woman, he might have noticed the signs that loomed clearly in front of him.

He had to go to Glenwood at the break of dawn. The letter said that a few scrolls were stolen, but other than that, nothing else was taken.

But why would Rogues steal from him?

Except... they were being sent to do so by someone. He knew that money meant little to them, so what could someone possibly promise them to have them at their beck and call.

Even Redmare seemed too small a personality to wield such a power. Yet, he couldn’t rule the man out after everything he had managed to accomplish.

All through the night, he was unable to sleep.

The guards with Claire and her sister had to be doubled and he had to be more careful himself. He had locked her and her sister’s rooms and had the key brought to him after their things had been removed.

He dragged her into the whole mess, he realized. But it also seems that Redmare and his cohorts harboured a particular malice against her because of how much they had hated her father.

He was certain that they would permit marriage between him and any other woman except Claire.

Marriage? What made him think of marriage?

Before dawn, he was already dressed and descending the steps to meet his awaiting Carriage. The ride to Glenwood was a long one and he hoped to be there before nightfall.

But his plans would have to wait while he paid someone an unexpected visit to drop off her things. After all, her inn was along his path.

His carriage stopped by the inn just as the sun was beginning to rise. The view from the rise was ecstatic. But even more so was the woman that was walking along the path.

He followed her movements through the window of his carriage and saw that she was headed towards her ruined carriage.

It was very typical of her to want to run away again. He was very certain she had a difficult time accepting his generosity and was planning to pay him back.

She stopped by her guard and began to speak to him. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

He heard her very clearly and realized he had been right.

The man kept his mouth sealed, not wanting to argue with her, yet Yeren felt a sense of pride at his words.

Grinning, he came down from the carriage and nodded at the guard who held the door open for him.

"Says who?" He heard her ask.

He almost forgot why he should be angry with her as he watched her glare at her guard, hands on hips.

Yeren felt a certain pity for the man. She was his burden whether he wanted it or not.

"I am leaving this place this morning. If he isn’t satisfied with that, then he can come here himself."

The irony of her words wasn’t lost in him.

"Be careful what you ask for." He said, a smirk on his face.

He revelled in the brief moment when she spun around and saw him. Her eyes widened and colour flooded her cheeks.

Then she cleared her throat abruptly and folded her arms across her chest.

"Your Grace." She mumbled.

"Lady Stenly." He said in response.

Then they both stood there, staring at each other.

"You seem so intent on leaving, is the services of the inn that bad?"

More colour flooded her already rosy cheeks.

"Why wouldn’t you just leave me alone?" She asked instead.

His smirk faded instantly. "It’s one thing to kill my child, but it’s another thing to try to kill yourself as well."