She didn't know it had been him.
She never saw the broken necklace.
All she knew was that someone had seen something they shouldn't have. Her mana had been too low. Her illusion is too thin. And the protection spell had triggered.
She'd felt the flare that night—sharp and sudden, like a silent alarm ringing in the back of her mind. It was brief but strong. A warning that someone had looked past the veil.
Now, years later, everything made sense.
She stared at her reflection in the window. Her golden eyes looked calm, but behind that calmness was something colder. Harder.
"Of course, it was him," she whispered.
Everything added up now: the strange behavior, the sudden obsession, the way he tried to use his own son to get closer, and the quiet manipulation behind the scenes.
She stood up slowly, voice low and steady.
"Next time, I won't let it slide."
Her golden eyes sharpened.