Ivan returned to his office at Anomalies Bureau headquarters in a daze. The final card Covens had played had shaken him badly.
Marquis Carpson! The man was not only a marquis from an old noble family but also the Kingdom's current Prime Minister. Highborn and powerful—the words could have been written for him.
But why did Marquis Carpson want to see him? Was he trying to recruit him? Ivan knew his own worth. Neither his position nor his abilities were enough to warrant a personal summons from the Prime Minister.
Yet Covens had chosen this moment to pass along the message. Why?
A cold sweat broke out across Ivan's body. Marquis Carpson probably wanted him to do something extraordinary. Ivan could not be sure what it was, but it was not hard to guess that it involved Green. Why else would Carpson wait until Ivan became Green's secretary before sending Covens to contact him?
What should I do? Ivan wavered. Should he stake everything on an up-and-comer like Green, or seize the chance to climb aboard Marquis Carpson's old warhorse? He knew he had to choose one side. Trying to play both would end badly. And he had to consider Cyrabelle's reaction. He was her subordinate, after all. If he angered her, he would not survive either...
Not far away, in Green's office, a lieutenant stood before his desk, expressionless.
"Oh? He's back already? Do you know what they discussed?" Green leaned back in his chair, reading without looking up.
"Sorry, sir. That restaurant belongs to Marquis Lancelot. We couldn't get inside to listen in," the lieutenant reported. As an elite assassin of the Assassination Unit, he could sense how powerful Green was—a Transcendent no weaker than Cyrabelle. Even now, the memory of the enormous Great Dragon circling above Stinnard