After the discovery of a dead dark witch in the forest, the High Conclave arrived at the crime scene alongside the Inspection Unit to investigate.
Watching the team search through the restricted forest, Envoy Egnatius Lightwood scoffed in frustration, "I can't believe we're wasting time investigating a crime when we already know who committed it."
"In your mind, perhaps," Vincenzo replied coolly, not even bothering to look at him. "But you're the only one under that impression."
Egnatius's frown deepened, but before he could respond, King Archimedes interjected with calm restraint. "We're not here to solve the murder, Egnatius. We're here to uncover what this witch might've been hiding—if anything at all."
Regal Fairy Luciana's voice was smooth and pointed, laced with elegant disdain. "The only source we had for answers, and Vincenzo conveniently eliminated her."
Vincenzo turned to her, his expression unbothered. "She knew nothing. Her magic was stripped. She'd already been exiled from the Dark Circle."
Bellatrix, the Head Witch, tilted her head slightly, a sly smile playing on her lips. "As if you would've spared her even if she knew something. You just would've torn the answers from her first."
Everyone knew it was true—Vincenzo Thornburn didn't spare lives for the sake of mercy.
Egnatius, his face tightening with anger, snapped, "You think you can kill anyone just because you deem them 'useless'?"
Vincenzo gave a dry smile. "If that were the case, Lightwood, you wouldn't still be breathing."
Archimedes sighed, clearly used to this dynamic. "Must you poke him every time?"
"I don't mean to," Vincenzo said, his lips curling into a smirk. "His face just begs for it."
The night before, Vincenzo hadn't been idly resting on a tree. He'd been hunting. He knew the exiled dark witch had taken refuge somewhere in the restricted forest, and he was there to flush her out.
But instead of the witch, his blood-red eyes had spotted something else—someone else. A girl with crystal blue eyes and a strange kind of stillness about her. She hadn't belonged in the forest, and yet… something about her tugged at the edges of his mind. He didn't know what unsettled him more—the girl's sudden appearance or the lie she told so easily.
A Conclave associate approached, interrupting the murky tension. "We've swept the area up to the Waspa River, where the forest ends. No sign of a shelter or hideout."
Vincenzo tapped a tree with the tip of his boot. "Maybe she wasn't hiding in a shelter at all. Maybe she stayed in motion—used the trees. That way, she couldn't be cornered." The others nodded in reluctant agreement.
He was about to light a cigar when movement caught his eye.
A figure was sprinting toward the crime scene.
His eyes narrowed as the girl in white came into view—mud-splattered and breathless. Her.
She didn't seem to notice the crowd. Or the body. Or even the Conclave's presence. She slipped on the wet forest ground and crashed to her knees before pushing herself up and gasping at the sight of the dead witch.
Vincenzo crushed the cigar in his palm and strode forward.
She staggered backward, bumping into something solid—him.
Spinning around, her eyes locked with his. That familiar blue, wide with fear.
"Care to enlighten me?" he said, voice low and cold. "What exactly are you doing, trespassing on a crime scene?"
The other Conclave members turned, their attention fixed on her.
Ann looked around slowly, realizing the weight of their stares, the importance of where she was.
Her throat dried up.
"I… I lost something in the forest," she said, her voice trembling. "I was just trying to find it."
Vincenzo's eyes gleamed, amused. "Is that so? In the middle of an active investigation?"
She nodded quickly, the lie wobbling on her lips.
"What exactly did you lose," he said, voice slicing through her nerves, "in the middle of a crime scene?"
Ann fumbled. "Something precious… I think I dropped it last evening when I… when I strayed into the forest by mistake."
"You strayed," Vincenzo repeated slowly, stepping closer.
The air around her felt colder now. He didn't touch her, but the weight of his presence was suffocating.
From behind, Bellatrix chuckled darkly. "Seems like someone has a habit of getting lost."
Luciana's voice followed, light but sharp. "Or perhaps she came here seeking something more… intentional."
Ann took a step back.
"Enough," Archimedes said with a gruff calmness. "We don't interrogate civilians without due cause."
But Vincenzo didn't look away from Ann.
He couldn't decide what she was. Foolish or fearless. Lying or lost. Or perhaps all at once.
Either way, she'd just walked into something much larger than she understood.