Chapter 170
After lunch, we returned to or search, spending hours combing through every document we’d brought. By late afternoon, we had found four files contaihing correspondence between Helena and my parents.
My hands trembled slightly as I discovered a copy of a letter from a Fireland informant to Helena. I studied it carefully, trying to determine its authenticity. The handwriting didn’t look like my mother’s, but I couldn’t be certain.
“Listen to this,” I said quietly to Juno, reading from the letter:
“I write this letter out of conscience, believing that Alpha King Nathanael has lost his mind to greed. My heart aches for the Halloway family and what they’ve endured. During my time at the palace, I became friends with Lila Halloway, and I wish to help protect her son.
While I wish to remain anonymous, I’ve discovered that Alpha King Nathanael plans to conquer Fireland. He will arrive on Monday at noon, posing as a tourist named Dorian Reid. He’ll be staying at the Oakwood Inn & Suites in Ebontide Pack territory. He’ll have warriors with him, so it’s best to intercept him at the hotel.
I wish Fireland success.”
I set the letter down, my mind racing. “This looks real,” I admitted reluctantly. “Too detailed to be fabricated entirely. My father must have told someone at the palace about his travel plans,” I muttered. “Some girl he was seeing, perhaps.
Someone who had access to his itinerary.”
Juno frowned, looking troubled. “Augustin, according to Helena’s records, Lila Halloway never entered the palace. She died
in service in Crimson.”
“What?” I looked up sharply. “That can’t be right.”
“Helena specifically wrote that Lila never entered the palace,” Juno insisted. “She never even slept with your father. There’s an entire entry where Helena lists all the women Nathanael had been with. Lila Halloway isn’t among them.”
I shook my head. “Helena must have been misinformed. My father slept with all the Lunas they brought in. It was his… privilege.” The word tasted bitter in my mouth. “Mother told me he claimed Kieran’s mother as a tribute. It’s why Kieran hates our family so much.”
“But Helena was obsessed with your father,” Juno pointed out. “She documented everything about him, what he ate, who he spoke to, when he slept. She would have known if he’d been with Kieran’s mother. She wouldn’t have missed something that significant.”
“She was also possessive and jealous,” I countered. “Maybe she couldn’t bear to write about it. Maybe it made her too angry. Maybe she destroyed those pages in a rage. You’ve seen how unhinged she was.”
Juno placed her hand on mine, her expression grave. “Augustin, you need to confront your mother about this. This is serious, it could affect your entire family. If what Helena wrote is true, then everything you’ve been told about Kieran and his mother might be a lie.”
I stared at the documents spread before us, the weight of what we’d discovered pressing down on me.
“Darling, our wedding is just around the corner, and our child will be born soon,” Juno said worriedly, “I don’t want our baby to inherit lies and secrets. We need to uncover the truth and properly address these past matters. I hope we can begin our life together based on honesty, no matter how painful it might be.”
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Chapter 170
I nodded slowly, “You’re right. As soon as we get back to the mor tomorrow, I’ll speak with her. I’ll ask her directly, and hope she tells me the truth I owe it to myself, to you, and to our future family to know what really happened.”
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That’s going to be a painful conversation.
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