Sold to My Killer Husband: His Concubine's Dilemma
Chapter 153: E.M

Chapter 153: E.M

Samuel’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, but he didn’t push. "There was a message from the capital."

Lucien’s attention snapped up. "From Alden?"

"No. From Beatrice."

Lucien glanced at Liora, then back at Samuel. "Go on."

"She says a merchant from Petra arrived at court two days ago. Claims he has proof that someone from within the Valcour household has been leaking information to border spies."

Lucien’s eyes darkened. "Did he give names?"

"Only initials...E.M."

Liora stiffened behind him.

Lucien glanced at her. "Does that mean anything to you?"

She hesitated. "No... Not directly."

But her mind raced. Evelyne Miral.

Could it really be her aunt?

Lucien nodded to Samuel. "Get me every document on that merchant. And if possible, bring him here under protection. Discreetly."

Samuel left with a bow.

Lucien turned back to Liora. "Come with me."

She followed him through the estate into a smaller study room adjacent to his. This room she hadn’t seen before walls lined with old scrolls, a worn but richly carved desk at the center. On the wall was a map of Petra, Halwen, Virelle... and one unfamiliar region marked only with a black seal.

Lucien walked to the map and tapped it. "Do you see that?"

Liora stepped closer. "That mark... it’s the same shape as the one at the ruins.

Lucien gave a slow nod. "It belonged to the Virelle bloodline. Thought to be extinct. But if it’s tied to you, or to the Mirals... we may have been wrong."

Liora looked down. "I don’t understand how any of this is tied to me."

Lucien’s voice softened for the first time. "You don’t have to not yet. But if your family was ever involved in what’s happening now... you need to be prepared."

She looked up at him. "For what?"

His eyes met hers, serious and quiet. "For what happens when your name is no longer yours to control?"

Lucien sat alone in his study ink-stained fingers tapping against the map sprawled before him. The arrival of the Petra merchant, the echoes of the ruins’ sigil, and Liora’s hidden lineage all wove into his thoughts.

Then the door opened quietly. Liora entered, clutching a folded parchment.

"You said to bring information, not questions," she said, voice calm but determined.

Lucien looked up. "Yes."

She handed over the parchment Beatrice’s handwriting, shaky but deliberate.

"Merchant arrives at dawn. Watch for E.M. Valcour. Use the map."

Lucien narrowed his eyes. "Beatrice suspects Evelyne Miral your aunt."

Liora exhaled softly. "It can’t be her. Aunt Evelyne...the kind woman in the portrait."

Lucien studied her. "Family isn’t always what it seems."

Silence stretched between them until Liora spoke: "We need to confront her."

Lucien nodded slowly. "We do...but carefully." He stood and approached her, eyes softening. "It will be dangerous."

She met him halfway. "So is staying silent."

They exchanged a look long, unspoken, and all that had grown between them since the ruins.

At dawn, the merchant’s caravan arrived: a lean man with hawk-like eyes and a chest of trade goods. Lucien greeted him personally at the gates. Rowan and Samuel flanked him, alert.

The merchant presented a letter sealed with Petra’s emblem and invited Lucien to inspect it in private. Lucien closed the gates and led him to a dim inner hall.

They sat. The merchant slid the letter forward. Lucien broke the seal and read.

It named Evelyne Miral by name:

"She meets nightly. Sends whispers to Petra’s southern scouts. She’ll lead Lucien into open conflict."

Lucien’s jaw tightened.

He looked at the merchant. "Why bring this to me?"

The man’s response was cold. "Because Petra wishes to see her head on your court table. If she keeps leaking, your estate will be blamed."

Lucien’s eyes flashed to the hall’s entrance, where Liora stood; she was silent and resolute.

Later that afternoon, Liora walked the path to the old orchard where Evelyne lived, a weathered cottage veiled by overgrown hedges since Miral’s downfall.

Lucien trailed a few steps behind, silent but present.

Liora raised her hand and knocked.

Evelyne opened the door, face lined but eyes still warm.

"Liora," she whispered in relief. "You shouldn’t have come."

"We need to talk," Liora said firmly.

Evelyne stepped back, inviting them inside.

Lucien stared down the corridor they were alone, the tension thick.

Liora began, "There’s a letter... from Petra. They name you."

Evelyne’s hand trembled slightly as she closed the door. "Name is easy," she said. "Truth... isn’t."

Lucien cleared his throat. "Tell us what’s happening."

Evelyne looked at Liora, pain and regret in her eyes. "They listed me. But they don’t know everything not about Liora’s mother. Or how I’ve tried to protect her."

Liora’s gaze went wide.

"What do you mean?"

Evelyne drew a slow breath: "After your uncle died, I found scrolls ancient treaties, warnings of Petra’s promises to Albenian heirs. I hid them, translated them, and tried to learn who needed to know."

Lucien’s stare locked on Evelyne. "So you’re the one who guided her to the ruins..."

Evelyne nodded. "Yes. But Petra turned it. They bribed the merchant to trap us flag you among the traitors."

Lucien stepped closer. "And you allowed yourself to be bait?"

Tears glinted in Evelyne’s eyes. "I couldn’t let them destroy you too."

Liora moved forward. "So... all of this? Family secrets. Petra’s plans?" She looked to Lucien. "What do we do now?"

Lucien drew a breath, steadying himself. Then he spoke to both Evelyne and Liora:

"Tonight, we sail south to Petra’s border. We’ll bring you back, Evelyne, and present the scrolls. We challenge their lies with truth. Liora’s mother will no longer be silenced."

Evelyne’s grief and hope flickered in her gaze.

Liora placed a hand on Lucien’s arm. "I will go with you."

Lucien looked at her, gentle, fierce, and fearless.

He touched her hand back. "Stay close."

By nightfall, the estate was unusually quiet.

Lucien stood in the war chamber, cloak half-clasped, gazing at the table map. The ink marking Petra’s eastern divide was still fresh. Rowan stepped in, carrying two short-bladed daggers wrapped in velvet.

"Travel light," Rowan said. "You’ll be watched."

Lucien took the blades without a word. His gaze shifted to Samuel, already preparing the horses.

"I want no one but you two knowing we’ve left," Lucien instructed. "If the Queen Dowager learns too soon..."

"She won’t," Rowan promised. "But the court will notice your absence by morning."

Lucien’s lips curled into a grim smile. "That’s the point."

In the guest wing, Liora helped Evelyne gather what little she had left. The older woman moved slowly, pausing to glance at an old brooch she hadn’t worn in decades. A silver rose, once belonging to Liora’s mother.

"I always believed she’d come back for it," Evelyne whispered.

Liora gently took it and tucked it into her pouch. "Then let’s take it to her story, if not to her hands."

Evelyne didn’t speak again only nodded, misty-eyed.

By the stables, moonlight danced across the silver manes of the horses. Lucien helped Liora into her saddle. She hesitated not from fear, but uncertainty.

"Are you sure it’s wise?" she asked. "Going headfirst into the same fire your enemies have set?"

Lucien looked up at her, jaw tight. "Better I walk into it than let them light it under my feet."

She nodded slowly.

As they rode out, Evelyne cloaked in a deep brown shawl, the gates opened with barely a sound. Only Samuel remained, closing them behind.

The three disappeared into the forest path, bound for the southern ridge the wind colder, the night darker, and the weight heavier.

Meanwhile, at the royal court...

Queen Dowager Lilian sat under the arched canopy of her private solar, draped in violet silks. Minister Thalos leaned beside her, speaking in a low tone.

"Lucien left his estate. No formal summons, no guards. He took Evelyne Miral and the girl."

Lilian’s gaze narrowed. "She’s getting bolder... That girl."

Thalos added, "And so is Lucien."

The Queen Dowager sipped her tea slowly, then placed the cup down.

"Send word to Alden. Tell him I want the next court hearing moved forward. We will announce the upcoming festival but also lay down a test. I want to see who will dare oppose me in public."

Thalos bowed and left.

Lilian turned to the window, watching the stars.

"Let’s see how far the abandoned prince and his little concubine are willing to go."

Back in the forest, the ride was silent. Trees blurred past, and the road narrowed into an old Petra trade route abandoned years ago but still ridden by smugglers and spies.

Lucien’s voice broke the quiet. "Liora."

She turned to him.

"When we reach the border post, let me speak. Petra’s men will remember my face. But if they sense fear in yours, they will press you."

Liora gave a firm nod. "I’m not afraid. But I’ll let you speak first."

Lucien studied her for a moment, silent pride in his eyes and nodded.

The road ahead turned steep, rocks giving way to the sound of distant river currents.

Their past was behind them. What waited in Petra might be worse than they feared. But it was there they might also find the truth and, perhaps, something neither of them could name yet.

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