Countess Amelia Redgrave was not amused.
She had sent not one, but two of her best spies to Duskwatch.
The first had returned unnerved, claiming that Lord Veilwood saw through him instantly and dismissed him like a minor inconvenience.
The second—her Phantom, the best infiltrator in the empire—had come back looking like he had stared into the abyss and found it staring back.
He kneeled before her now, still pale.
"My lady…" he swallowed. "I was caught immediately."
Amelia leaned back in her chair. "That much I expected. What else?"
The Phantom hesitated. That alone was enough to make her uneasy.
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"He let me go."
A long silence.
Amelia’s fingers tapped rhythmically against the desk. "Did he interrogate you? Threaten you?"
"No."
She raised an eyebrow. "Then what did he do?"
The Phantom’s voice lowered. "He just… told me to leave. As if I wasn’t worth his time."
Amelia’s eyes narrowed. "Did he say why?"
The Phantom’s hands tightened into fists. "He said, and I quote, ‘Just make sure to report accurately. I hate misinformation.’"
The room fell deathly silent.
Amelia exhaled slowly, choosing her words carefully. "So he knew we were watching… and didn’t care?"
The Phantom’s voice was barely above a whisper. "My lady… I don’t think we were watching him. I think he was watching us."
Amelia stared at him, unblinking.
Then, for the first time in years, she smiled.
"Oh, this is interesting."
She picked up her teacup, took a slow sip, and set it down with deliberate grace.
"Enough speculation. It’s time I meet this so-called Lazy Lord myself."
She turned to her attendants. "Prepare my carriage. We leave for Duskwatch at once."
Her servants scrambled into motion.
If Lucian Veilwood was truly as dangerous as the rumors suggested, she needed to see it firsthand.
And if he wasn’t?
Well… a noblewoman of her caliber would know exactly how to expose a fraud.
