CHAPTER 71: _BEFORE THE NEXT FULL GLOW

Elian’s POV

*****

"Elian? Did you want to tell me something?" Axel asked from the shower but little did he know that Elian was already dressing up as fast as he could.

"Uh... Nothing really." Elian said with a slight tremble in his voice, adjusting the strap of his underwear before sliding into a plain white shirt. "Just wanted to tell you I’m heading out."

There was a long, nerve-wrecking pause after he said that.

Elian swallowed hard, buckling his pants and adjusting his hair.

[Wow, he has the time to adjust his hair when Estella is seconds away from leaving.]

Elian breathed out with frustration. ’Aren’t you the one who said I have two days for this mission?’

[Yes. But that was last night. Here’s the current countdown now:]

Elian squinted his eyes when he saw the timer on the translucent screen in front of his face.

40:05:12...

That’s about forty hours.

"That’s still enough—"

"Oh, you’re heading out?" Axel finally responded, his tone unreadable. "That’s no problem. But are you sure you don’t want to join me for a bath?"

Elian glanced at the bathroom door, clenching his fists as he tried to fight the temptation.

[You forgot something close to your pillow by the way.]

Elian swerved his head to the pillow, his eyes narrowing on what he had forgotten.

The heat suppression pill!

He rushed to the pillow, grabbing it before answering Axel. "Uh, I’ll just bathe when I’m back from my little walk."

A snigger came from the bathroom before Axel spoke. "So, you want to go outside with my scent lingering on you, eh?"

Elian’s face heated up with a violent blush. "I’ll... Wear one of my Colognes."

"You’re in an empire filled with wolves, Elian. That doesn’t mean much."

Fair point...

"And so what if people sniff you on me?" Elian asked with a mischievous tone, staring at the pill in his hand. "Maybe that’ll keep the pervs away."

"My fists will do a good job keeping them away." Axel retorted as Elian hopped to the door, putting on his boots as he did.

"Stay safe, Elian."

"Yeah, yeah," Elian muttered, slipping out of the room before Axel could sweet-talk him into staying for more bond-deepening activities.

The palace halls were quieter than usual—probably because half the court was still sleeping off last night’s dinner, and the other half were too busy gossiping to be out in the open.

Elian kept his head down, moving fast but not too fast. The last thing he needed was to look like a suspicious stalker.

[Correction: you are a suspicious stalker. You’re just trying to look hot while doing it.]

’Thanks for the vote of confidence,’ Elian thought dryly.

[Always here for emotional support. And by "emotional support," I mean narrating your terrible life choices like it’s a reality show.]

He made his way toward the palace courtyard where the system had pinged Estella’s location earlier. It wasn’t hard to find her.

Even from a distance, Estella had that "I-own-this-place-and-your-pockets-too" kind of walk.

Today she was dressed in a deep sapphire gown, her blonde hair styled to perfection, except Elian noticed something new.

Her earrings.

They weren’t the delicate gemstones she normally flaunted. These were sleek, metallic, almost too modern for Lunaria’s court fashion.

[Oh look. Jewellery that says "I have secrets" louder than the moans from your bedroom this morning.]

’Subtlety is clearly not her strong suit.’

[Neither is loyalty, I’m guessing.]

Elian trailed her from a safe distance, weaving between columns and ducking behind decorative trees like some bad soap opera spy.

Estella’s heels clicked against the marble floor until she turned into one of the palace’s lesser-used hallways, the kind that servants used to move without disturbing the nobles.

Suspicious.

She stopped just before the servant’s side door, glancing around quickly. Then she lifted her hand to her ear, pressing her fingers lightly to the metallic earring.

And then she started talking.

"I told you... no, listen to me..." she hissed, her voice low but sharp. "You assured me it would be taken care of."

Elian froze mid-step, his heart hammering.

His first instinct was to get closer, but his second instinct reminded him she’d probably smell him before he got too near.

[You could just, I don’t know, not breathe so loud?]

’I’m literally not breathing right now.’

[Wow. Finally doing something right.]

"I don’t care what obstacles you’ve run into," Estella continued, her tone laced with venom. "The longer this drags on, the riskier it becomes for me. And I refuse to be the one holding the dagger when it’s all over."

She paused, clearly listening to whoever—or whatever—was on the other end of that device.

Elian’s pulse quickened.

This wasn’t some casual conversation. This was a plot. The dangerous kind.

Her fingers tapped the earring twice before she muttered, "Good. Make sure it’s done before the next full glow. We can’t afford another delay."

The next full glow... She was talking about sunset today!

[And by "we," she probably means "her and whatever villain-of-the-week she’s whispering to."]

Elian gritted his teeth. ’This could be about the Alpha-class intruder.’

[Or your love life. Honestly, both seem equally chaotic right now.]

Before he could decide whether to step closer, Estella straightened, adjusted her dress, and smoothed her expression into that perfect noble smile.

Then she turned, walking right toward him, causing his heart to fall to his stomach.

Shit!

[If you’re going to hide, now’s the time, fruitcake.]

Elian slipped behind one of the tall stone pillars just as she passed, the scent of her expensive perfume lingering in the air. His muscles stayed tense until her footsteps faded into the distance.

Only then did he release the breath he’d been holding.

[Congratulations. You’ve successfully eavesdropped without getting caught. That’s... what, your second win this week?]

’Don’t start. I need to figure out who she was talking to.’

[Or—and hear me out—you could go back, tell Axel, and let the trained warriors handle it instead of running headfirst into "mysterious villain’s plot number 312."]

’And how does that help me get evidence on her?’ Elian sneered mentally, his mind reeling. "I’m going to bring her down alone. For the mission, at least."

[Well, smart move. But one question...]

Elian’s jaw tightened.

[How do you intend to do that?]