Chapter 197 CHAPTER 197
Lisa noticed the change in Liam immediately.
A moment earlier, the warmth of the room had wrapped around them like a quiet shelter. His arms had still been around her, his lips brushing against her hair as they laughed softly together. The calm had been gentle and rare, the kind that made the chaos of the world outside feel distant for a little while.
But now Liam had gone completely still.
The warmth in his eyes had faded into something darker, something heavy and distant. His jaw had tightened slightly, and the quiet focus in his gaze told Lisa that something serious had just reached him through the mind link.
She studied him carefully.
“What happened?” she asked softly.
Liam hesitated for a moment, as if deciding how much to say. Then he stepped away from her and rubbed a hand across the back of his neck.
“The guards who buried Vaughn contacted me,” he said.
Lisa waited.
“They found something else in the forest.”
Her brow furrowed slightly.
“What do you mean?”
Liam exhaled slowly. He did not repeat everything the guards had said earlier. He knew Lisa already understood enough from the tension in his voice.
“There was a body,” he said quietly.
When Liam had finished telling Lisa everything, she stayed silent for a few seconds. Her mind struggled to absorb the words, to place them somewhere inside the endless chain of strange and terrible events that had followed her return to Mooncrest.
Finally, she let out a small breath and shook her head.
“It never stops, does it?”
Her voice was soft, but there was exhaustion hidden inside it.
“Every time it feels like things might calm down… something else happens.”
Liam watched her carefully but did not interrupt.
Lisa sank down onto the edge of the couch, pressing her palms lightly against her knees as if grounding herself.
“When will it ever end?” she murmured.
Liam stepped closer.
“Lisa…”
She looked up at him.
“Is it always like this?”
Her eyes searched his face.
“Is Mooncrest always… like this?”
Liam shook his head slowly.
“No.”
His answer was simple but firm.
“This kingdom has been quiet for many years. Peaceful, even.”
Lisa frowned faintly.
“Then why does it feel like everything is falling apart now?”
The question lingered in the room for a moment.
Then Lisa’s expression shifted slightly as another thought crept into her mind.
“Maybe it’s me.”
Liam blinked.
“What do you mean?”
She looked down at her hands.
“Since the day I came back to Mooncrest, everything has been chaos. The Silverpine elders arrived. Vaughn betrayed the council. Now there’s a dead boy hanging in the forest.” Her voice grew quieter. “Maybe I was never meant to come back.”
Liam frowned deeply.
“Lisa…”
“Maybe I’m the bad omen,” she said with a weak laugh that held no humor. “The moment I return, everything starts going wrong. I should have stayed…”
Liam stepped forward immediately.
“That has nothing to do with you.”
Lisa looked up again.
“It feels like it does.”
He crouched slightly in front of her so their eyes were level.
“Listen to me.”
His voice was calm but steady.
“These things didn’t begin when you returned. They were already happening. You simply arrived at the moment when the truth started coming to the surface.”
Lisa frowned slightly.
“What do you mean?”
Liam leaned back against the desk, crossing his arms as he spoke.
“Secrets were buried in both Silverpine and Mooncrest long before you came back. The witches were already moving in the shadows. Vaughn was already feeding information to Darius. Sarah had already begun manipulating the people around her.”
He looked at her carefully.
“You didn’t cause the chaos, Lisa. You just arrived at the moment when everything began to unravel. In a way you are just the right omen.”
Lisa sat quietly for a moment, thinking about his words.
Then she nodded slowly.
“Does that make sense?” she muttered more to herself than to him.
Liam gave her a faint smile.
“I know it doesn’t now but it will. Once everything is sorted out and the kingdom is back to its peaceful state.”
“I hope so.” she said softly.
The silence that followed was thoughtful rather than heavy.
Finally, Liam straightened.
“I should inform Ethan about this,” he said.
Lisa’s head lifted quickly.
“No.”
Liam blinked in surprise.
“No?”
She shook her head.
“Not yet.”
“Lisa, this is serious.”
“I know it is,” she said gently. “But think about what kind of day Ethan has already had.”
Liam paused.
“He confronted a traitor within his own council,” Lisa continued. “He had to stand in front of the entire city and announce Vaughn’s death. And he’s still dealing with the Silverpine elders sitting in his prison.”
She stood slowly.
“Last time I saw Isabel, she was going to his room to calm him down.”
Liam frowned thoughtfully.
Lisa crossed her arms lightly.
“If we go to him right now with more bad news, we’ll undo whatever progress Isabel made tonight.”
Liam considered that.
The thought of Ethan’s exhausted expression earlier that day lingered in his mind.
“So what do you suggest?” he asked.
Lisa met his gaze.
“You investigate first.”
“And if the situation is serious?”
“Then we tell Ethan.”
Liam thought about it for a moment.
Finally, he nodded.
“That seems reasonable. I’ll head down to the Silverpine elders.”
Lisa smiled faintly.
He moved toward the door.
“If this body belongs to someone from Silverpine, the elders may know something.”
Lisa nodded slowly.
“Be careful.”
Liam paused briefly before leaving.
“You should get some rest.”
Lisa laughed softly.
“I don’t think sleep is going to come easily tonight.”
He gave her a small, understanding smile before stepping outside.
The Mooncrest prison was quiet when Liam arrived.
The torches along the stone walls flickered softly, casting long shadows across the floor. The guards stationed outside the cell nodded respectfully as the commander approached.
Inside the cell, the Silverpine elders looked exhausted.
Days of waiting had carved deep lines into their faces. Their clothes were wrinkled, and the tension of uncertainty hung heavily over them.
When they saw Liam approach, several of them straightened immediately.
Hope flickered in their eyes.
Alpha Richard stepped forward first.
“So,” he said quietly, “the king is finally ready to judge us?”
Several of the elders nodded in agreement.
“It would be better to know our fate than to sit here waiting forever,” one of them muttered.
Rumors had already spread through the prison about Vaughn’s death.
They all knew there would be consequences.
Liam stopped outside the bars.
“I did not come here on the king’s orders.”
The faint hope in their expressions dimmed slightly.
“Then why are you here?” Richard asked.
“I need information.”
The elders exchanged glances.
“About what?” Richard asked cautiously.
Liam studied them carefully.
“Has Silverpine lost any boys recently through abductions?”
Richard frowned.
“No.”
“None at all?”
“None.”
Liam’s mind turned over the information slowly.
Then why had Sarah left a note claiming the body belonged to Silverpine?
Before he could speak again, a weak voice suddenly rose from the corner of the cell.
“Wait.”
Liam turned.
Sebastian stepped forward slowly.
His appearance was far more worn than the last time Liam had seen him. His shoulders seemed heavier, his eyes shadowed with exhaustion.
“What is it?” Liam asked.
Sebastian swallowed slightly.
“There was a boy.”
Richard turned sharply.
Sebastian continued.
“Leonard and Mara’s son,” he said quietly. “Sarah took him.”
Liam’s gaze sharpened.
“But it was not recently,” Sebastian added. “It happened some years ago.”
Hope suddenly filled Sebastian’s voice.
“Did you find him?” he asked quickly. “Is he alive?”
The silence that followed felt heavy.
Liam did not soften the truth.
“We found his body.”
A collective gasp filled the prison cell.
Sebastian staggered slightly as if the words had struck him physically.
“No…”
His hands tightened into fists.
“It must have been Sarah,” he said bitterly. “She killed him once we discovered what she really was.”
The elders murmured angrily among themselves.
“We were blind,” one of them muttered.
“All that time she was pretending to be a good girl,” another said bitterly.
Richard shook his head slowly.
“We trusted her.”
He turned back toward Liam.
“Sarah was one of the reasons we came here to speak to the king.”
His voice carried both guilt and urgency.
“We know we deserve punishment for what happened to Lisa,” he said quietly. “But the king must hear what we have discovered about Sarah.”
Liam’s expression remained calm.
“The king will see you when he is ready.”
Richard lowered his head.
“That is all we ask.”
Liam nodded slightly before turning to leave the cell.
As he stepped back into the corridor, the pieces of the puzzle began to settle in his mind.
Sarah had killed the boy.
Not out of panic.
But out of revenge.
She wanted Silverpine to know exactly who had done it.
And she wanted them to understand that she had been the one who ended the boy’s life.
Liam’s jaw tightened slightly as he walked through the dim prison corridor.
The situation was becoming darker than anyone had imagined.