Chapter 529
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“You’re insane!” Gregory exclaimed furiously. “They’re all bound! If we don’t get the authorities to interrogate them and find out who sent them, we can’t eliminate future threats!”
Aurora looked up, her gaze meeting Carissa’s. Her eyes, a mixture of complexity and malice, narrowed as she gritted her teeth.
“You’re a discarded woman the Warren family cast out. What right do you have to be here?”
Carissa observed Aurora’s bloodied face, her frown deepening. “Did you think they were Westhaven spies? What an idiot.”
Aurora’s expression hardened, her eyes blazing with venom. Yes, she had worried they were Westhaven spies. Tortured by the Royal Citadel or local authorities, they might reveal information about Fawnrun City. She was clinging to hope, as the king hadn’t yet punished her.
But if the matter were discovered through interrogation by the local authorities…
Aurora couldn’t risk it.
Carissa understood Aurora’s thoughts, leaving her feeling exposed and humiliated.
Moments later, Michael arrived with the Capital Guards. Saluting Carissa, he greeted her, “Greetings, Deputy Commander Sinclair.”
“The assassins are dead. Take care of the rest,” Carissa said, dragging her Rose Spear as she turned to leave without looking back.
“Understood!” Michael’s voice echoed behind her.
Barrett’s gaze lingered on her retreating figure.
Carissa’s departure, from arrival to exit, took no more than fifteen minutes. Though she was the deputy commander, she was a divorced woman from the Warren family with no control over Mystic Army affairs. Staying longer would have been inappropriate.
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Michael ordered the assassins’ masks removed. Aurora watched coldly, her calm exterior masking inner turmoil.
These assassins weren’t from Westhaven?
If not Westhaven, then who wanted her dead?
Only the people of Westhaven would hate her so intensely.
However, even if not directly from Westhaven, they might have been hired by someone there.
The physician arrived, and Michael instructed them to tend to the wounded before questioning. Barrett had multiple cuts, and Rebecca wept as she looked at him.
“How cruel. Who are these people?”
Barrett remained silent, unable to identify the attackers but certain they had targeted Aurora. His concern, however, wasn’t their identity, but Carissa's unexpected rescue.
The Hell Monarch’s household had its own spies and could easily have known about the assassins. Even if she wanted to help the Warren family, why had Carissa come personally? The Hell Monarch Estate had many skilled fighters, including the formidable instructor, Travis. Wouldn’t he have been a better choice?
Why had she come herself?
The question gnawed at him, causing him discomfort and pain.
From the moment Carissa’s Rose Spear had saved him when Aurora used him as a shield, he realized everything else—his pride and past grievances—palled in comparison to her actions.
Overwhelmed, he didn't hear Michael’s questions. Viola’s cries broke through his daze. He looked up to see servants carrying away the bodies of Viola’s maids, and Viola herself wailing on the ground.
The estate guards were dead or gravely injured. While not drenched in blood, Valor Estate was a scene of carnage.
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Chapter 529
“Do you recognize any of these people?” Michael asked again.
Barrett shook his head. “I’ve never seen them before.”
Michael frowned. “Tell me everything about how the assassins entered the estate tonight. Since they’re dead, we need to find out who was behind this.”
Barrett glanced at Aurora, who sat nearby tending to her wounds. The dried blood on her face was unremovable, and her eyes held gloom and complexity.
Barrett recounted the events, omitting nothing. He clearly stated the attack targeted Aurora, and the many deaths resulted from Aurora locking the door to Grace Mansion.
As he spoke, Viola stood and approached Aurora. Tears streaming down her face, she slapped Aurora and yelled, “Why did you lock the door? If you hadn’t locked the door, they wouldn’t have died!”