Chapter 163

Chapter 163
Lyra's POV

When I walked into the reception room, Iris rushed toward me, her fingers clamping onto my sleeve with such force that her knuckles turned white.

"Luna, you're finally back!"

Her eyes were rimmed with red, as if she'd been crying for hours, and her voice came out in broken, urgent fragments. "Sylvia didn't just poison the Alpha—she attacked my brother before she escaped. She beat him and left him at the main residence entrance. He's still unconscious, and nothing we do can wake him up!"

I looked down at her hand gripping my sleeve.

Those hands were trembling involuntarily, her fingertips ice-cold, the edges of her nails showing signs of anxious biting. Her worry was genuine, which only deepened my confusion. If she truly cared this much about Ivar, why had she chosen to follow Kaelum's instructions and drug Orion?

The thought of what she'd done made it impossible for me to interact with her as calmly as I once had. I pulled my sleeve from her grasp—not roughly, but firmly enough to make her freeze.

Iris's tears still clung to her lashes. Her expression shifted from grief to confusion, then quickly to desperation.

"Now that my cousin is dead, there's no one else in the family qualified to be Alpha—only my brother is suitable!"

Her voice rose half an octave, almost pleading. "Luna, please save my brother. Without an Alpha, the Blackwood family will descend into chaos!"

That careless sentence unlocked all my confusion in an instant.

Chaos.

Because the Blackwood family had no branch lines, because there was no one but Ivar who could assume that position after Orion's death, she had chosen to follow Kaelum's instructions and move against Orion.

I understood now why the elders' faces had looked so grim when I first entered. Perhaps the moment news of Orion's incident broke, Iris had already approached them about this matter. In the elders' eyes, Ivar had clearly sheltered Sylvia, the one who had attacked the Alpha, yet Iris was so impatient to have Ivar appointed as the new Alpha. Their reluctance was inevitable.

I didn't expose her on the spot. Suppressing the surge of anger rising in my chest, I spoke calmly.

"Take me to see him. I'll have Ian examine Ivar."

Iris's eyes lit up. She thought I'd accepted her explanation.

The elders exchanged puzzled glances. One of them was about to voice an objection when I turned to them, my tone brooking no argument.

"What Iris says isn't without merit. The North cannot be without leadership. Rather than argue here, we should assess the situation first."

My words appeared to support Iris, but my true purpose was the opposite—I intended to reveal the truth before everyone.

Iris led us to their family's main residence. As we moved through the corridor, her steps were light, completely unaware that I hadn't brought Ian along.

When we reached Ivar's bedroom door and she was about to push it open, I didn't stop but walked directly toward the door at the end of the hall—Iris's bedroom.

"Luna, you've got the wrong room," Iris's voice came from behind me, carrying a barely perceptible tension. "My brother is still in his old room."

"This is exactly where I meant to come."

I gripped the door handle without turning around.

A moment of silence followed. In that quiet, I heard Iris swallow.

Clearly, her ability to withstand pressure wasn't strong.

The elder I'd specifically had the maid remind earlier furrowed his brow, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Iris and me.

"Does this have something to do with Iris?" he asked.

I smiled slightly, not giving a direct answer. "Whether it does or not, we'll know once we look."

Iris's fingers curled tightly at her sides. Her breathing visibly quickened, her chest rising and falling twice as much as before. She tried to maintain that confused expression on her face, but the muscles at the corners of her mouth twitched beyond her control.

"Luna, what are you talking about? The surveillance clearly showed Sylvia. Besides, how could I possibly drug my own brother?"

"Of course you wouldn't drug Ivar."

I scanned the room while walking past her. Several skincare bottles were neatly arranged on the vanity, the wardrobe stood half-open, and a novel lay half-read on the nightstand. The room was warmly decorated, no different from any ordinary girl's bedroom.

"After all, you want him in the Alpha's position."

Her face went pale for an instant. She instinctively tried to usher me out. "Luna, this is my private room. You can't just—"

I ignored her, my gaze settling on a half-open drawer in the corner of the wardrobe. The drawer revealed the edge of flesh-colored silicone mixed among the clothing—something you'd never notice unless you looked closely.

Found it.

I stepped forward and pulled the drawer fully open.

Inside was a skin mask.

Expertly crafted, with hairline, brow bone curvature, lip thickness—every detail matched Sylvia's face with remarkable precision.

I lifted the mask and turned toward Iris, my voice not loud but ensuring everyone could hear.

"Iris, I never knew you had a hobby of collecting such things. And how coincidental—it's Sylvia's face."

The air in the room froze in that moment.

One of the elders stepped forward, walking past Iris's rigid form, staring at the mask in my hand for several seconds before turning to Iris. His voice carried a barely suppressed fury.

"Iris, did you poison the Alpha?"

Iris stood frozen. Her lips moved, but only a shapeless syllable emerged.

I answered for her.

"Yes, she did. Orion isn't dead—he took a feigned-death drug to deceive Kaelum. And the one who actually poisoned him was Iris, not Sylvia."

The elders erupted in outcry.

The elder who had just been questioning Iris closed his eyes and released a long breath. When he opened them again, that sigh had transformed into a trembling exclamation.

"Moon Goddess be praised, the Alpha still lives."

"Take her away," I commanded. "She'll await judgment."

The guards stepped forward and seized Iris's arms.

As Iris was dragged from the room, she kept turning back to call my name, her voice stretching long through the corridor.

After her voice disappeared completely, one elder hesitantly spoke. "Then, what about Ivar?"

I glanced down at my phone.

The latest message on the screen was from Sylvia, just a few short words: "Lyra, I've got the antidote!"

I put away my phone.

"I have a solution. He'll be fine."

After sending the elders back, I returned to the estate and walked toward the car where Darian and Orion were. Several hours had passed since Orion lost consciousness—we'd reached the time limit Ian mentioned, but he still hadn't awakened.

I opened the car door and sat beside him, gathering his fingers in my palm, an involuntary worry rising in my heart.