Chapter 23: A Bargain of Shadows

Seraphina did not sleep.

She lay in the dark, staring at the canopy above her bed, her mind racing with the single name that had left Adrian's lips.

Laurent.

A name she had long associated with power, influence, and quiet cruelty.

Her father had called him a friend once. A man of reason. A trusted ally.

And yet, it was Duke Laurent who had stood by as her father fell from grace.

It was Laurent who had whispered in the king's ear, ensuring that the Everhart name was stripped of its honor.

And now, it was Laurent who Adrian believed had a hand in his mother's murder.

Seraphina's breath came slow and steady, but her pulse was anything but calm.

This was no longer a mere game of whispers and suspicion. It was a war hidden in the shadows.

And she was standing in the center of it.

—

At dawn, Seraphina left her chambers with quiet determination.

If she was going to find the truth, she needed leverage.

And she knew exactly where to start.

The Valemont archives.

The manor's library was vast, filled with records spanning generations of noble alliances, trade agreements, and land disputes. But Seraphina had no interest in politics.

She wanted names. Ledgers. Letters that had passed between her father and the Valemonts. Anything that could tie Laurent to both men.

She slipped into the library unnoticed. The morning light streamed through the tall windows, casting golden lines across the mahogany shelves. The scent of parchment and aged ink filled the air.

Seraphina moved quickly.

The records were stored in a locked study behind the main library—one she had seen Adrian enter more than once.

She had expected the lock to be difficult to pick. It wasn't.

A small click, and the door creaked open.

She stepped inside.

The room was smaller than the library but just as imposing, its walls lined with shelves of neatly bound documents. A large desk stood at the center, stacks of parchment covering its polished surface.

Seraphina moved toward it, scanning the contents with careful eyes.

Trade agreements. Land deeds. Military correspondences.

Nothing unusual.

Until—

She stilled.

A stack of letters, tied together with a thin black ribbon. The seal was broken, the wax unfamiliar.

She carefully unfolded the first letter.

The handwriting was precise, calculated.

"Duke Valemont, the matter has been handled as requested. The Everhart estate will not recover. The king has been persuaded. All debts will be called in, and the merchants have been instructed to withdraw their support."

Seraphina's fingers tightened on the parchment.

There it was.

Proof that her father's ruin had been planned.

That it had been arranged.

She reached for the next letter, but the sound of a door clicking shut made her freeze.

"You're either very bold or very foolish," a voice murmured from the shadows.

Seraphina's breath caught.

She turned slowly.

Adrian stood in the doorway, arms crossed, watching her with unreadable eyes.

—

"How long have you known?" Her voice was steady, but her heart was pounding.

Adrian didn't answer immediately. Instead, he walked to the desk, his gaze sweeping over the documents she had uncovered.

Finally, he spoke. "Long enough to know that some wounds do not heal."

"And yet you said nothing."

"Would it have changed anything?" His tone was quiet, but there was something sharp beneath it. "Would you have believed me?"

Seraphina clenched her fists. "You let me think this marriage was only about your revenge. That you despised me because of my father."

"And you let me think you were nothing more than an ambitious daughter of a fallen house."

Silence stretched between them.

Seraphina exhaled slowly. "Laurent had a hand in both our pasts."

Adrian nodded once.

"Then we have the same enemy," she said.

"Perhaps."

Her brows furrowed. "Perhaps?"

Adrian studied her carefully, his expression unreadable. "Laurent is powerful, Seraphina. More powerful than you realize. He does not move without reason."

"And what reason did he have to destroy my father?"

A pause.

"That," Adrian murmured, "is the real question."

Seraphina met his gaze, her fingers tightening around the letter.

For the first time since stepping into this marriage, she and Adrian stood on the same side of the battlefield.

The question was—

How long would it last?