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"Did ya hear the monster hunt festival will start again this year?" one of the voices said.

"Yeah. Ain\'t it \'cause of the return of the spawn of that devil family?" another replied, the tone dripping with malice.

"Why did the youngest son have to survive? He shoulda died like the older one."

Vyan\'s grip on the reins tighted and his jaw clched.

"Y\'all ever meet the older Ashstone kid before? I once did. My old man worked as a stableman at their manor."

"So what was that brat like?" someone asked, their voice eager for more vom.

"Ugh, good thing that bastard\'s dead. He was such a snub. So much arrogance. He ev hit me because I didn\'t bow wh I saw him."

Vyan\'s vision blurred at the edges, his heartbeat pounding in his ears because of the lies.

"Is the new grand duke like that too? Oof, he at least has to be better than the other kid."

Vyan tried to calm himself, reminding himself that these were just ignorant fools, but the insults kept coming. Each one was a dagger to his already raw nerves.

"Imagine how lucky that kid got. He was the second son, and yet, he inherited everything. Must be glad his brother died."

That was the final straw.

Vyan\'s blood roared in his ears, and he let go of the reins. His hands balled into fists so tight his knuckles turned .

Without another thought, he stormed toward the alley, his eyes ablaze with fury.

The m barely had time to react before Vyan\'s fist collided with the first one\'s jaw, the sicking crunch of bone and the man\'s startled cry silcing the rest.

"What, why did you get quiet now? Did your voice go on vacation now?" Vyan demanded, watching the man stumble backward, clutching his face.

"What the hell? Who are you?!" one of the other ones snapped.

"Hey, look at his clothes. He looks like a noble," whispered the guy who was trembling in fear.

"Yeah, so what? Just \'cause he is noble, he can come hit us, huh?!" The next man tried to swing at Vyan but ded up missing spectacularly.

Vyan ducked and th straighted, delivering a swift uppercut that st the man reeling. "Careful now, don\'t trip on your own incompetce," he spat out.

The third man, clearly regretting his life choices, took a step back, holding up his hands. "Now, now, sir, let\'s be reasonable—"

"Oh, you want reasonable?" Vyan interrupted, grabbing the man\'s collar and yanking him forward. "How about this: Reason tells me you deserve a good beating."

He threw the man against the wall, the impact echoing down the alley, and kicked him hard in the stomach. The last man standing tried to sneak away, but Vyan was faster.

He grabbed the man by the scruff of his neck and spun him a. "Leaving so soon? Don\'t you want to join your buddies?"

With a final, devastating punch, Vyan st him sprawling into a heap with the others.

"Tell your other frids too," Vyan said, his voice cold and cutting, "if they want to spread lies about my family, they better be prepared to eat their words. Literally."

As the m groaned and writhed on the g, Vyan took a deep breath, smoothing his hair back, slightly wishing he could just snap his finger and burn them to ashes. But alas, the place was too crowded to use magic.

"Either way, you guys clearly deserve another of beating," Vyan muttered, "but I have got a packed schedule today."

He spun on his heel, only to see Iyana at the alley\'s trance, arms crossed and eyes glinting with mischief.

"Oh, great, here comes the lecture on how not to rearrange the faces of innoct m," Vyan let out.

Iyana merely shrugged, turning on her heel and walking back toward his horse without uttering a word.

Suspiciously quiet, Vyan thought, trailing after her.

What\'s her game? Is she going to rat me out to the emperor about my family? If so, I am beyond screwed.

Vyan\'s mind raced with worry. To the emperor, he always acted like his family was a disgrace—a shame he wished he could erase. It was all part of the plan to keep the emperor in the dark about his true loyalty.

If Iyana exposed him, he would have to think fast to cover his tracks. And he was already running out of lies.

Wh Vyan reached his horse, Iyana was already perched in her seat.

Exhaling a sigh, he mounted up as well. As the horse trotted forward, his hackles raised wh he suddly felt a weight in betwe his shoulder blades.

It was Iyana who rested her head on his back, as if this was a normal, everyday occurrce.

"What happed to your no-touching policy?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow she couldn\'t see.

"You... you act all nonchalant wh His Majesty says anything bad about your family. As if you don\'t care," she murmured, ignoring his question, "but you do, don\'t you?"

Vyan fell silt, the usual sarcasm dying on his lips.

"Don\'t worry, I won\'t tell His Majesty."

"Why not?" he asked quietly.

"Let\'s just say if His Majesty found out you still care about your family, despite what they did, you might get branded as a traitor as well. And if that happs…" she trailed off.

"If that happs?" he urged.

"If that happs, how will I prove your other evil doings? You deserve way worse punishmt than just getting labeled a traitor."

"Okay. Pray tell, what did I do to deserve such a punishmt?"

"You are the one who knows that better," she shrugged.

"Wow, what an infuriating woman," he scoffed.

She smiled in satisfaction, lightly placing her arms a his waist.

Despite being my worst emy, why is his presce still so comforting? I almost feel sleepy.

Her thoughts evtually drifted to the letter from the Tower of Magic that arrived this morning.

The mage\'s master\'s hair strands she had submitted to them matched her brother\'s.

Now, there was no doubt she had be deceived by her father. But if that were true, did it mean she had be doubting Vyan for nothing?

First of all, where did her brother ev find such a high-level mage? No matter how hard she tried to track that person, no mage matched the description—someone left-handed with all those skill sets.

According to her observation, Vyan was also left-handed, but alas, his knowledge of magic was as deep as a kiddie pool. Not to mtion, his non-existt mana.

Besides, she had ev asked a everyone she could—servants, villagers, the random guy who sells suspiciously cheap apples—but nobody had se anyone leave the manor on the night of Kaya\'s handoff.

She stared at Vyan\'s broad back, his familiar and comforting sct suring her, unable to make up her mind.

If only she could find a clue that proved Vyan was the real mastermind… th she would have a reason to trust her family once again.

———

"Hey, wake up."

Iyana blearily oped her eyes to find herself hugging Vyan from behind. She jerked back, mortified.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry. I didn\'t realize wh I fell asleep."

Vyan shrugged nonchalantly and dismounted from the horse. "No worries, it happs all the time. Some people just can\'t resist my charm, ev in their sleep."

Iyana internally berated herself.

How the hell did I fall asleep, and on a horse, with Vyan of all people? I can\'t ev fall asleep normally with anyone in the room, but here I am… ugh, it\'s that sct of his. It\'s so damn comforting.

Vyan extded his left hand to help her down, and she was staring at his hand wh a sudd memory flashed in her mind.

The cloak left by that mage in the Valley of Divos…

Her eyes wt wide.

Vyan and that mage have the same sct. What the hell?

She closed her eyes, trying to recall the sct. She had sniffed the mage\'s cloak multiple times to imprint that rare fragrance into her memory so that she could recognize it anywhere. Seriously, how come it never clicked until now?

"Why ar\'t you getting down—" Vyan started but cut himself off as Iyana suddly grabbed his hand and threw herself at him. "What the—"

His feet staggered back a bit at her sudd weight. He still caught her in his arms, regardless, like a bewildered butler catching a set of plates from causing a disaster.

While Vyan\'s brain was doing acrobatics trying to comprehd the situation, she hugged him tight, burying her nose in his neck and inhaling his sct.

Vyan pushed her off and held her at arm\'s lgth, looking at her. "What in the world is wrong with you?" he snapped.

Iyana put on her best innoct face. "Oh, my apologies. My leg slipped, and I fell on you."

"That\'s clearly not what happed—"

"Oh, my, look at that! It\'s dinner time. We should hurry up." And with that, she bolted towards the front doors of the manor, leaving a completely flummoxed Vyan in her wake.

As she ascded the front stairs, a smirk lingered on her face.

Now I know who you are, Mr. Mage. Or should I say, Vyan Blake Ashstone?

She glanced over her shoulder at Vyan, who was busy instructing the stable boy to take Adam away, and her smirk wided.

Finally, she had the clue she had be searching for. It might not be ough to prove anything concrete, but it was a start. At least she could trust her family again.

She had be a fool to think Vyan could be innoct. He was the true villain here.

I will now figure out a way to expose your magical abilities, Your Grace.