"Master, you feel it, don’t you?" he asked, turning me to face him. His thumb gently roamed around my lips, and I melted.

But a knock on the door came, and everything went blank. I pushed him off gently and moved for the door, but my cheeks were still rosy, tomato red.

I opened the door softly, and there was Liora, her head lowered, gently staring at the pie she had made. She looked anxious.

"Hi," she said softly. I didn’t really want to let her in, but my eyes landed on the pie and my gosh, it looked delicious. I didn’t waste a second and took it from her. "Come in," I said, staring down at the pie. It smelled so nice, blueberry. I licked my lips.

"I heard about yesterday. Are you okay?" she asked, and I stopped in my tracks.

"I am," I said softly, but I still had my guard up around her.

"You suspect me, don’t you?" she said, and I froze. How did she know that? Did I give anything away? I sighed and placed the pie on the table.

"To be honest, I do," I said softly and watched as her lashes fluttered in shock and confusion.

"But why?" she asked lowly, her voice breaking, and I stepped closer to her.

"There aren’t many reasons you would want to kill me, but so far you fit the description. You use water magic, you had a similar build to my attacker, and the incident happened right after you left. And honestly, there’s still so much I don’t know about you."

I watched as she dropped to her knees.

"I would never," she said, bowing her head to the ground, and I froze. I wasn’t expecting that. She looked like a bunny that had just been cornered by a big bad wolf. I turned to stare at Azrael, confused.

"And here is another reason to suspect you: your behaviour. You act so innocent, so timid, but your eyes... they show no actual fear. I can’t read you," I said and sat down on my chair. But really, why was I saying so much?

"If you actually suspect me, Raven, I have an alibi. My beast-man, he was there when I went back to my dorm after greeting you. He can also testify I didn’t go anywhere after that!" she pleaded, and I chuckled, my eyes going dark.

"Liora, I’ll ask once. Who. Are. You?"

"I’m the daughter of a tamer. I’m a C-ranker. I dare not harm you," she said, trembling like a lamb to the slaughter. I rolled my eyes. Now I felt like the bad person. But she was never in the original novel. It was absurd—how could a character just appear out of nowhere?

I placed my hands on my head. This was suddenly giving me a headache.

"What happened to luring out the killer?" Azrael asked, and I bit down on my lips. Yeah, if Liora was the culprit, letting her know I was onto her wasn’t the best move. I messed up real bad, but... looking at her now. Ughhh. I sighed but froze as I heard sniffing.

I turned to stare at Liora, still on the ground, her body trembling as quiet sobs escaped her. Wait—was she crying? What the hell was happening? My lips parted to say something, but nothing came out.

Suddenly, a familiar beast-man walked in, his wings curled behind him so he could enter the room. He immediately dropped to his knees.

"Please, let Liora go," he pleaded.

I just watched, still confused... but also mesmerized.

Truth be told, in this novel, most beast-men were loyal to their female masters, something humans failed at time and time again.

"She was with me all night. You can punish me, but don’t hurt her. She’s too fragile," he begged.

His words snapped me back to reality, and I could only stare. But this crying scene... anyone could pull it off. If Elowen could do that, what other characters in this novel wouldn’t?

"It’s just tears. I could pull it off too," it escaped my lips, cold and flat.

I watched as his hope died, but he still bowed. "I beg of you," he said.

Liora raised her head. Her eyes were already swollen and red from her tears.

"If you suspect me, Duke, you should punish me... but I ask that you investigate properly," her voice sounded meek and soft. Why did I feel like she didn’t blame me even after everything? It made me feel bad. I didn’t want to be like the original villainess. But if I’m too soft, I’ll die. This novel isn’t forgiving on soft characters.

"But don’t hurt my beast-man. He’s only trying to protect me," she pleaded.

"Master, don’t—" I raised my hand, silencing him.

Because I felt the air suddenly turn chilly. My gaze flickered to the balcony. It was the same aura I felt last time before Liora came into my room.

"I’m not a fan of trusting people, Liora," I said, turning my gaze back to her. "Water. How do you have that power?"

"I inherited it from my biological mother. She’s dead now," she said.

My gaze lingered on her for a moment before I looked down at the floor. "Leave," I said softly.

She froze, staring at me. "Thank you," she said.

I scoffed. "It doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. If I find out it’s you, I’ll crush you."

She nodded and stood up immediately. Her beast-man held her close and walked off with her.

"Why did you let her go?" Azrael asked. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Because she’s not the one."

I stood up and walked toward the balcony, staring into nothing. She was here—my attacker. Hiding... probably using shadow binding ability.

"I can sense you," I said. "The hide and seek is over."

Azrael didn’t understand my words, then I heard a chuckle.

"Looks like you’re not just a pretty face, you’re actually smart too. I didn’t expect that." The voice came out cold and rusty. It carried malice.

"Enjoyed the scene yesterday?" I asked.

She hummed. "The almighty mad tyrant was begging to be spared... ’help me, help me’," she mocked, bursting into dark laughter.

I felt Azrael’s eyes glow greenish-black, and I reached into the air and grabbed something.

My eyes flashed faint purple, and I caught a glimpse of her, she actually fell for the trap. My hands moved in the air and grabbed...

"Found you!"