Late that night, in the lord's bedroom at Oak Town's baronial manor.
Crash!
The bedroom door shattered under a dark figure's charge, jolting Baron Fermont awake.
Still groggy, he pushed aside his mistress and stared at the intruder in shock and anger.
He was about to curse, but then he saw the figure standing beneath the moonlight, her armor covered in blood. Her unmistakable violet eyes were filled with murderous intent.
His anger at being woken vanished. In its place came a tension and unease unlike anything he had felt before—and fear he did not want to admit even to himself.
Why had this woman forced her way into his bedroom in the middle of the night?
And why was she looking at him as though she wanted to kill him?
Could she have learned what the higher-ups had ordered him to do?
Countless thoughts flashed through Fermont's mind.
He forced down his unease and tried to sound composed. "General Speyer, what happened? Is there anything I can help you with? Besides, forcing your way into my manor is a little—"
Samantha cut him off. "Fermont, hand over every original letter from the Speyer family and your account books from all these years!"
"Now!"
"!"
Fermont's smile froze, and panic flashed in his eyes, though he still tried to appear calm. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean."
"Original letters? Account books? I've never heard of any such things. General Speyer, could there be some misunderstanding?"
"A misunderstanding? Do you mean how you and the Allied Forces' higher-ups kept up the illusion that my family was alive, pocketed the living expenses I sent them, and made a fool of me for nineteen years?"
Fermont's pupils contracted. Before he could speak, Samantha tapped a fingertip, her face expressionless.
Whoosh!
Violet