The forest around us seemed heavier than before, or maybe it was just me. Every step I took felt like wading through thick air, my thoughts sticky, tangled with questions that refused to be untangled.

I broke the silence first, though it wasn't really meant as an attempt at conversation.

"How… how did that thing from the Order get into Darge?" I muttered aloud, mostly to myself, but loud enough for Nora to hear.

Her pace faltered. I didn't look back. I had too many other things to consider.

"And more importantly," I continued, voice low, "how the hell did it escape the Academy's security?"

Nora's footsteps beside me slowed even further, and I could feel the shift in her posture. Her body language stiffened, subtle, taut, defensive. She didn't speak. She rarely did when I was in one of these spiraling thought loops.

"Even more importantly," I added, forcing the words out, my voice becoming almost a whisper, "how did it hide itself from Belle? From her ever-seeing, never-blinking blind gaze?"

I imagined her, Belle, flicking through the layers of magic and knowledge, detecting anomalies in the academy, the city, the very air, and yet this thing… this infection or parasite had moved under her nose like a shadow slipping between moonbeams.

I took a deep breath, letting the words roll over my tongue as I walked. "And why Darge? Why now? Why him?"

Nora didn't answer. But she didn't need to. I could feel her attention, the faint pulse of her perception, tracking every vibration in my voice. Even quiet, she caught everything.

I thought back, as I always did, to the only time I'd interacted directly with the Order. That reckless, stupid display during her birthday—the chaos they had caused in the castle. The memory pressed itself into my skull like a cold, sharp stone.

I remembered the utterly blank look on the members of the Order, the way Belle crushed S-ranks without so much a gesture.

And then I remembered their targets. Or rather, the non-targets. At the time, it had seemed that the Order had barged in uninvited just to make a statement, to show the world that they still existed, but what if their real motive had been different, unseen to every eye?

Nora, walking beside me, finally stopped. Her hand lifted to her mouth, fingers trembling slightly as a look of horror spread across her face.

I didn't need words. Her expression said everything.

I let the silence stretch a moment longer, then spoke again, letting the thought form slowly, deliberately, so it would pierce through the fog in both our minds.

"What if," I whispered, dragging the words out, "they had been planning this all along?"

Her eyes darted to me, wide and calculating.

"What?" she asked, her voice sharper now, like a whip cracking through the trees.

I met her gaze, keeping my pace steady, though the weight of Kent on my shoulders reminded me how fragile we all were.

"They planted that thing in Darge," I said slowly, letting each word land like a stone. "During the chaos. During your birthday."

Her hand froze mid-motion. She hadn't even realized she was moving it. Her eyes were sharp now, focused. Her entire body tensed, as if bracing for the implications.

"How…" she breathed, voice tight, "how did they escape Belle's gaze?"

I exhaled, letting the tension roll off me in one long, slow breath. That was the million-dollar question. And I didn't have a simple answer. Not really.

But I had to say something. Anything.

"They—" I began, pausing to organize the truth with the only explanation that made sense, "they used distraction. Clever… reckless distraction. Belle was monitoring everything else the castle, the guests, the chaos, the explosions, the magical distortions and the knights themselves. They slipped between the cracks. You know the way light bends when it passes through glass?"

Nora's eyes narrowed. She didn't interrupt.

"They weren't moving through security," I said, my voice low, controlled, but carrying the weight of conviction. "They were hidden inside it. Inside Darge. They were already inside him. Already in position. The chaos didn't just distract, they provided cover for the final stage. The planting. The insertion. Everything else was noise."

Her lips pressed into a thin line. She didn't speak. She didn't need to. I could feel her mind working in real time, untangling possibilities, calculating probabilities, layering what I said over what she already knew.

"And if I'm right," I added, voice dropping further, "then this… this wasn't random. This wasn't a freak accident. This was planned. Long before the attack ever happened. Long before Darge ever became a target. They have been moving silently, waiting, calculating."

She took a sharp breath, audible. A slight shiver ran through her spine, but she didn't let it show in her posture. Her hand went to her sword hilt reflexively, though she didn't draw it. She wasn't sure what she'd fight. Or who.

I glanced at her. The faint blue glow from her aura was starting to flare slightly, just enough for me to feel it. She was ready to tear into the forest if she had to, but she wasn't ready for what I was about to say next.

"And worse," I murmured, my voice dropping to a level that was almost swallowed by the forest around us, "they were never caught because they were always meant to be invisible. Not invisible in the sense of stealth. Not like hiding in shadows. Invisible to detection itself."

Her eyes snapped to mine.

"Detection," I said, letting the word hang. "Magic, perception, intelligence, even direct observation. They weren't just dodging it. They were impossible to see. Impossible to anticipate. And Belle… Belle was too busy reacting to chaos to notice the seeds being sown beneath her feet."

I could feel the weight of the truth settling between us like a heavy fog. The air felt colder, thicker, pressing against my lungs.

Nora didn't speak. She just turned her head, scanning the forest, calculating angles, exits, threats. My words had landed, but they hadn't yet registered fully in her strategy mind. That was fine. I didn't need her to understand immediately. I just needed her to see the possibilities.

"And," I continued, voice tighter now, sharper, "if I'm right about this…"

I paused, letting my words trail off into the oppressive stillness of the forest.

Her breathing slowed, controlled. But her eyes were wide, calculating. Every line in her face tightened with concentration.

Then I said the words that had been clawing at the back of my mind since the portal swallowed us:

"…then everything we've done, everything we've fought, was leading us here."

Her lips parted slightly. Her hand flexed again at her side. The aura around her surged faintly, as though the forest itself was responding to the tension in the air.

I could see it in her eyes, the thought process spinning, fast and unrelenting. She was running simulations. Considering variables. Every possibility. Every outcome. And she didn't yet have enough information to act.

"And," I whispered, almost more to myself than to her, "they already know where we are. They know everything we've done since then. Every spell, every maneuver, every small mistake. And they… waited. They waited for this moment."

Nora's hand gripped her sword hilt so tightly her knuckles whitened. She didn't speak, but I could feel her pulse in the air. That pulse, that taut, controlled tension, it was the calm before the storm, the silence before the scream.

I exhaled slowly, leaning slightly forward as Kent shifted on my shoulders, his weight reminding me that I couldn't fall into despair just yet. Not entirely.

"Do you understand what this means?" I asked finally, looking at her fully.

Her jaw tightened. She didn't answer immediately.

I could hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears, could feel the pulse of her aura brushing against mine.

"Yes," she said at last, her voice cold, clipped.

"Yes?" I asked, trying to read the nuance.

"Yes," she repeated. And this time, the word carried weight, heavy and absolute. "I understand perfectly. But first…"

She gestured to Kent, slung over my shoulders. "Lets wait for him to wake up, and then...." Her eyes, normally so calm, so imperious, now blazed. "I want the full truth, Sebastian."

I swallowed. The forest around us seemed impossibly vast. Every tree towering like a sentinel. Every leaf shimmering with unseen light.

The silence stretched. Thick. Suffocating. The unanswered question, the one we had just opened, loomed over us.

And then I asked it.

Not fully out loud. Not really expecting an answer.

"How," I murmured, mostly to myself, mostly in disbelief, "did they get into Darge… and how the hell did they escape Belle after they entered the academy?"

Nora's gaze snapped to me, sharp and unwavering, like a blade pressed to my chest.

I opened my mouth again.

But the words… the explanation…

I didn't get to finish.

Because even as the thought formed, even as I tried to piece together the answer from memories, lies, and speculation…

Something moved in the forest ahead of us.

Something shaped like a human. Something that let us see it.

Something that shouldn't exist.

And we froze.

The wind shifted.

Leaves rustled.

The ground beneath our feet seemed to vibrate.

The horror of the realization I had almost voiced hit me with a brutal clarity.

Whatever that thing planted in Darge was, it was here.

Was still watching.

Waiting.

And now… it knew we knew.

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