Inside the grand hall of Hailuosen Castle, the air was thick with tension as a row of guards stood before Mo’er Jiao.
They were reporting on the situation regarding Marentia’s death.
“This evening, the body was discovered by villagers by the riverside.”
The captain of the guards’ voice echoed through the hall.
“We traced the river upstream during our investigation and found some of Marentia’s belongings on a mountain slope. I suspect she fell from there during the night and was then washed to the shore by the river.”
“What kind of belongings?” Er Yan asked.
“This,” the man replied, raising a shimmering stone necklace in his trembling hands. The necklace gleamed brightly and looked quite valuable. “There’s a name engraved on the beads. Judging by the craftsmanship, it’s something only royalty would own.”
“Would an enemy really possess something so precious?” Mo’er raised her eyebrows skeptically, staring for a while. “Could it be that Noli gave it to her?”
No one answered her question.
Behind her, in a shadowy corner, a golden-haired young girl sat curled up, completely silent.
Her hair had grown to a tangled length, her arms crossed tightly over her knees, her eyes hollow and lifeless.
“Gone… dead… she’s dead…” the girl murmured to herself over and over, “Tia is dead.”
Seeing the lost, soul-less look on the child’s face, Mo’er frowned.
“That’s enough. Even if we don’t know why Marentia went to the cliff, since it was her own doing, there’s no need to investigate further,” she said with elegant steps, approaching Noli’s side, and reached out a hand toward her.
“Let’s put this matter to rest, Noli. I’ll arrange a new maid for you.”
“Dead… she’s dead…”
“Noli.”
Suddenly, Noli slapped away the approaching hand and stood up, running out of the hall without looking back, heading toward her own room—the place she’d long shut herself away.
Mo’er, surprised by Noli’s reaction, stayed where she was, gazing at her fading figure, her brows furrowed in thought.
The guards in the hall exchanged sympathetic glances, and the atmosphere became even heavier.
“She’s a pitiable child,” Mo’er Jiao muttered, but soon her face regained its usual cold dignity. She turned to the captain and ordered, “Continue to keep an eye on anything unusual inside or outside the castle. I do not wish to see such incidents repeated.”
The captain bowed respectfully, led several subordinates, and quickly left the hall.
Night had fallen.
The castle was gently caressed by a pale moonlight, casting a mysterious, lonely blue over everything.
In the night, a shadow dressed in a maid’s uniform walked quietly, holding a lit oil lamp, moving slowly toward Noli’s room.
Opening the door, she saw Noli curled up on the bed, clutching the edge of the blanket with both hands, her eyes tightly shut, and dried oil stains still hanging on her chest.
Inside, the richly decorated room was awash in color, but couldn’t dispel the suffocating sense of oppression in the air.
“You called me here. What is it?”
Tii looked at Noli, her expression devoid of any sympathy.
Noli didn’t reply, only her body trembling faintly, as if struggling to suppress her inner turmoil.
“You want to talk about Marentia, don’t you? I’ve said before—she was just too weak—”
“Shut up!” Before Tii could finish, Noli’s eyes flashed angrily and she cut her off. “You’re just a servant; you have no right to lecture me like this!”
“Noli hates people who preach at her the most~ And Noli never cared about that maid anyway!”
As soon as she said it, the little princess’s tone changed, becoming deeper and sadder.
“It doesn’t matter. Noli can always get another maid.”
In her large red eyes, tears began to well up.
“Noli didn’t do anything wrong, nothing at all!” She gripped the front of her dress tightly, her voice trembling. “Noli just… liked that woman, that’s all…”
“Is that so? You’ve told me before,”
Tii looked down at the little girl, her heart mixed with complicated emotions.
Why are you crying, really? Is it for the dead maid, or for your own failure?
Tii narrowed her emerald eyes, scrutinizing her.
That gaze contained no sympathy or pity, but rather a touch of disdain and loathing—like looking at a crawling, unwanted creature in the sunlight.
From the very first day she met the little princess, Tii sensed a familiarity, the same aura she herself bore: both surrounded by lies and illusions, both moving through the kingdom’s shadows.
Raised in Hailuosen Castle since childhood, Noli longed for power, longed for everyone’s attention.
But because of her age and her rank among her sisters, no matter how hard she tried, she would always be just a decorative little princess.
All the glory and power belonged only to Mo’er Jiao, and whatever little praise was left went to Xita. As for Noli, she had nothing—she was just another shadow among her sisters, a pawn for Mo’er Jiao to use in the family’s political games.
Why should she have to accept such a dull, unremarkable life? Noli was unwilling.
There was only one way to change her fate: rebellion, to destroy everything that upheld Mo’er Jiao’s rule!
So, she started plotting in secret, reaching out to assassins from the neighboring country, and even making contact with the mysterious Tii.
The leaking of secrets, the murder of a noble—everything unfolded according to the little princess’s plans.
Though she was still childish at heart, Noli’s cunning and intelligence were no less than those of her two elder sisters.
Time and again, she had deceived Mo’er Jiao’s suspicions, and even the sharp-witted Sista had never noticed anything unusual.
Marentia’s death was Noli’s only failure.
Now, Noli was biting her fingernails, trying to suppress the coldness in her veins with pain. Tii met her gaze in silence.
“What happened that night can’t possibly be so simple!”
Tii paused for a moment, then sighed softly.
“What do you plan to do next?”
“I want to know the truth about Tia’s death.” Noli wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. “I can’t let her die without answers.”
“But you’ve already aroused Mo’er Jiao’s suspicion. If you take any action, you’ll only bring trouble on yourself,” Tii warned.
“I know… That’s why,” Noli slowly lifted her head.
“Can you go out and investigate for me, Tii? You don’t have any relationship with me here in the castle. If you go, it won’t raise any suspicion.”
The night wind slipped silently through the room, gently stirring Noli’s crimson hair like a flickering flame. Tii’s emerald eyes seemed to flicker with a mysterious light, unreadable and cold.
“Your Highness, I’m not a personal maid. I don’t have the authority to come and go from the castle as I please.”
Noli licked her dry lips, but she wouldn’t give up so easily.
“You’ll find a way. You can use that clumsy maid like before—just pin all the blame on her again if anything goes wrong,” she said, forcing a smile.
“You’re good at manipulating others with fake emotions for your own gain. Isn’t that your greatest skill?”
A subtle change flickered across Tii’s face. Her gaze lingered on Noli for a moment.
Then, she stood up, walking steadily toward the door with her back to the little princess.
“I can investigate for you, but one thing—don’t forget, Your Highness,” she said, glancing at Noli out of the corner of her eye.
“You and I are not the same. I won’t harm the clumsy maid.”
With those words, she left the room, slamming the door shut behind her.
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