The fire in the room had almost died. Austin and Alina lay close together on the bed, her head resting on his chest and his arm wrapped around her.
She could feel him thinking. His heart was racing. Instead of asking him directly, she waited.
"Can I ask you sothing?" he asked, slowly moving his fingers over her shoulders.
"Since when do you need permission to ask anything?" Alina smiled.
"Because it is important," he replied.
She lifted her head and looked at him. Austin sat up slightly and took both of her hands.
"Do you want to marry ?"
Alina’s breath hitched and she just stared at him. It took her a few seconds to co to the realize that her delay in answering was making him anxious.
"Why are you asking? I an...didn’t we discuss it already?"
"But we never talked about what you actually want," he said. "We fought against Arcasedia, the king, and Crane because we had king’s deadline hanging over us. We didn’t have a choice. But now that everything is over, I need to know what you want. There’s no deadline or pressure on us anymore. Do you still want to marry ? Or do you need more ti?"
Of all the things she expected Austin to say, she hadn’t expected this. For months, everything about them had been about survival. They had been moving so fast that neither of them had really stopped to think.
But Austin had. He had thought about whether Alina felt pressured or whether she was only agreeing because everyone expected her to.
"Austin..."
"I just need to know," he said. "Because if you need more ti, I’ll wait. I don’t want you to marry because everyone assus it’s the next step."
Her eyes brimd with tears. Sotis she forgot how thoughtful he could be. But this was the Austin she loved. The man who would rather wait forever than force her into sothing she wasn’t ready for.
"You idiot," she whispered.
"What?"
A tear slipped down her cheek as she laughed.
"You really thought I might not want to marry you?"
"I just wanted to know what you want."
"Austin...I love you," she replied. "You are the person who was there for even when we barely spoke to each other. You were in every room I walked into. And sowhere along the way, I stopped being able to imagine a room without you in it."
"Is that a yes?" he asked tightening his hands around hers.
"Yes!" she laughed with tears in her eyes. "A thousand tis yes!"
Austin imdiately pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. Then Alina slowly pulled back.
"But...there’s sothing I need first."
"What?"
"I won’t marry until Cecily can stand beside ," she said. "How can we celebrate while she’s still trapped in there?"
Austin looked at her with overwhelming gratitude. Cecily was his sister, his responsibility. He was the one who had made the promise to her. But he was grateful for having Alina in his life who considered her as her own sister.
"We will wait," he said. "For as long as it takes. And we’ll marry with Cecily standing right beside you."
The next morning, Austin was already in his study when Harrington arrived with the morning dispatches, catching up on the old reports.
"Harrington," Austin said without looking up. "You ntioned there is sothing important I need to see yesterday. What is it?"
"Give a minute, Your Grace," Harrington left and returned minutes later carrying an old leather ledger.
"Open the marked page," Harrington said.
Austin opened the page and found records of the quarterly paynts for fifteen years. The recipient na was listed as: M.Voss.
He froze. The sa M.Voss he had been trying to find for years, and who was related to Alina’s father debt.
"How long do these paynts go?" Austin asked.
"The earliest entry is from your father’s ti, Your Grace. At that ti you were still a child."
"And after he died?"
"That’s sothing I can’t understand," Harrington said. "The paynts continued even after his death."
Austin thought for a mont.
"When I inherited the title, I didn’t manage accounts for years. It was Mr. Holloway who was the accountant then, right?"
Harrington nodded.
"Mr. Holloway ran Ravenmoor until you were old enough to take full control."
"I rember he managed my father’s estate and then mine before suddenly disappearing."
"Yes, Your Grace," Harrington replied. "When I found the ledger hidden behind the collapsed shelf in the archive, I found so other docunts with it."
He hesitated.
"What docunts?"
"Personal correspondence," he replied. "Between your father and an unknown person."
Harrington hesitantly put the letters on his desk. Austin opened the first one and his expression darkened. Inside were the details of the won with dates and paynts being moved between the states.
"It reads like a logistics operation for placing won in households under various contracts," Harrington continued.
"How many won are we talking about?"
"Eleven won in over fifteen years. The won were moved across five estates including Ravenmoor."
"Ravenmoor?"
Austin opened the other letters and froze. The list had the nas of all his bed warrs. After his father’s death soone else had taken over amd was writing letters.
My father was a part of this?? He knew M.Voss?
He read the letters again and one date from five years ago caught his attention.
"Leave the letters and the ledger," he ordered. "Don’t say anything to anyone."
"Understood."
After Harrington left, Austin pulled the old fire investigation files from his locked cabinet. He spread them across his desk beside the financial ledger and began cross checking.
At the sa ti, Alina entered the study. She saw him surrounded by the docunts and peeked at them.
"Cecily’s fire investigation records? Did you find sothing?" She asked, curious.
Austin nodded.
"The paynts," Austin replied. "There were three unusual paynts made before the fire, and all those connect to M. Voss."
Alina froze. She knew the na. She had asked her father about him and he had told her to stay away from him.
"Is this the sa M.Voss we know?" she asked.
"Yes," Austin replied. "The paynts were made from the sa accounts that fund M.Voss. One of them was triple the normal amount. But what’s surprising is the paynts imdiately stopped after the fire."
Alina’s eyes widened in shock.
"You think soone was paid to do it?"
"Yes," Austin replied. "That person must have been from inside this castle who knew the guard schedules and connected to this network."
"Do you have any na?" Alina asked.
"Holloway," Austin replied. "He managed the accounts and had access to everything. He was here the night of the fire. Then after a year he fled sowhere."
"Where is he now? We need to talk to him."
"I’ve already ordered Harrington to find out about his whereabouts. We’ll know soon."
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