Free Web NovelChapter 27: Chapter 27: VALDENMOOR
The morning Celestia left for Valdenmoor, Angelina had already been awake for two hours.
Celestia found her in the guest room she had been given at the mansion — surrounded by open boxes, folded garments, and carefully organized items arranged with the particular thoroughness of someone who had been doing this specific task with this specific person in mind for long enough to know exactly what was needed without being told.
"You packed already," Celestia said from the doorway.
"I packed last night," Angelina replied without looking up from the final box she was closing. "When I heard about the investigation I started immediately."
She straightened and looked at Celestia with that expression — warm and practical at the same time, the kind that had been looking at Celestia exactly that way since she was old enough to need looking at.
"Everything you need is in these three boxes. Clothes for different situations — formal, practical, weather appropriate. Medical supplies. Your personal items."
Celestia looked at the boxes.
Then at Angelina.
"You are not coming," she said.
It was not a question. They both knew it.
Angelina’s expression did not change — but something behind it did.
Something already processed privately, something she had decided how to carry.
"We still belong to House Alwyn," she said quietly. "Legally. Until that changes, Jake and I cannot leave with you without consequences falling on us rather than Lady Tiana."
Celestia held her gaze for a moment.
The unfairness of it sat in her chest — clean, cold, and useless to act on immediately. Angelina was right. There was no time.
But leaving without them felt wrong in a way she could not fully explain.
"The mansion staff," Celestia said, turning. "Fetch me the head butler."
The head butler of Lady Bailey’s mansion — Corvin — was a small, precise man who had served for thirty years and had long since learned how to remain unshaken.
Celestia still managed to shift that certainty slightly.
"I need funds transferred to House Alwyn," she said, seated at grandmother’s desk, her fan resting in her hand. "Enough to cover the release of two household members — a personal maid and a personal guard. I want the paperwork drawn up today and delivered before noon."
Corvin hesitated. "My Lady, the legal process for household release typically takes—"
"I am aware," Celestia said pleasantly. "I am asking you to make it take less time than that. Money has a way of accelerating paperwork. Use whatever is necessary."
A pause.
"Yes, my Lady."
"Good." She stood. "And also double the payment for all staffs working here"
For the first time, something like approval flickered in his expression.
"Of course, my Lady."
Angelina cried.
Not loudly. Not dramatically. Quietly — standing in the entrance hall with the packed boxes around her, her hands folded tightly as if trying to hold herself still. freēwēbnovel.com
"You did not have to—" she began.
"I did," Celestia said simply. "It will take a few days to finalize. Until then, you stay here. Not at House Alwyn."
"My Lady—"
"Angelina." Celestia looked at her directly. "You raised me. In a house that gave you very little for doing so.
The least I can do is make sure you are not someone’s property anymore."
Angelina pressed her lips together.
Said nothing.
Jake, standing slightly behind her, cleared his throat awkwardly.
"We will take care of the mansion, my Lady," he said. "You focus on the investigation."
"I always do," Celestia replied.
She picked up her fan and turned toward the door.
And nearly walked straight into Drazeil.
He was already there.
Still.
Watching.
His gaze moved briefly across the entrance hall — the boxes, the bags, the prepared departure. Then he looked at Celestia.
"What," he said slowly, "is all this."
"My things."
"We are going on an investigation."
"Yes."
"Not relocating."
"A girl needs her things, Zeil."
Something shifted in his expression — faint confusion, like a concept had been introduced without proper documentation.
"Three boxes."
"And a travel bag."
"For an investigation."
"For an investigation that could take weeks," Celestia said calmly. "I am not arriving in an unknown region with inadequate preparation because you prefer to travel with nothing."
"I do not prefer—"
"You teleport everywhere. You do not pack. You do not get to have opinions about my boxes."
A pause.
He looked at them again.
"We are taking the carriage."
"I will teleport—"
"The King gave us a Royal carriage."
A beat.
"I do not ride in carriages," Drazeil said flatly.
"And yet," Celestia replied, already walking past him, "you are going to."
After a long pause, he followed.
The carriage was waiting.
Drazeil entered first and sat as far from the boxes as physically possible, as though proximity alone might be an inconvenience he could avoid through sheer will.
Celestia followed and opened her fan.
Neither of them spoke for several minutes.
Then Drazeil said, still looking out the window, "How long is this journey."
"Several hours." freewebnovel.cσ๓
A pause.
"Several," he repeated.
"Mm."
Silence returned.
But it was not empty.
Valdenmoor announced itself before they arrived.
Not with a sign.
With a feeling.
The air changed first — heavier, older, like something had settled into it and never fully left. Celestia noticed it and said nothing.
Drazeil noticed it and went still.
After a long moment, he spoke.
"Something is wrong here."
"Yes," Celestia said quietly.
"You feel it too."
"Some time ago."
She glanced at him. "How long ago?"
"Before we crossed the border."
His eyes tracked the passing landscape"
"Whatever is operating here has been present long enough to change the land itself. That takes time.
Decades at minimum."
Celestia turned her wrist slightly.
The crescent mark was faint.
She closed her hand.
"We should reach an inn before dark," she said.
Drazeil did not respond.
But his hand had moved to his sword.
The carriage slowed suddenly.
Not by choice.
The horses stopped.
The coachman’s voice came immediately, tight with controlled alarm.
"My Lord. My Lady...
The crescent mark on Celestia’s wrist burned.
Drazeil’s hand tightened on his sword.
He did not speak.
The air outside the carriage changed.
Like something had just stepped close enough to be noticed.
"My Lord. My Lady. There is something—"
