Chapter 155 The High Court's Summons

Chapter 155 The High Court's Summons
In the morning, heavy footfalls shattered the silence of the cold mansion corridor. Maya marched with wide strides, her face flushed with rage as her murderous gaze swept through every corner of the grand building.

"Ana! Ana!" Maya shouted, her piercing voice echoing down every hallway.

She twisted the doorknob to the servant's room at the end of the hall and kicked it open, letting it slam against the wall with a loud bang. Empty. The bed was neatly made, with no trace of her mute maid anywhere.

"Damn it! Where is that woman?!" Maya cursed, clutching her fingers until her knuckles turned white.

She rushed toward the kitchen, confronting two senior maids who were trembling as they chopped vegetables.

"You two!" Maya barked, pointing right at their faces. "Where is Ana?! Have you seen her this morning?!"

The first maid bowed her head low, her body shivering with fear. "F-forgive us, Lady Maya... We haven't seen Ana since dawn."

"Are you blind or just idiots?!" Maya shrieked hysterically, shoving a glass bowl off the table, sending it shattering to pieces on the floor. "She's a servant! How could a servant vanish from this mansion without a single one of you knowing?!"

"We already searched the laundry room and the backyard, My Lady... but Ana really isn't there," the second maid added, her voice trembling hesitantly.

"Search again! Search every room! The cellar, the attic, the downstairs bathroom, everything!" Maya commanded, her breath coming in ragged gasps. "If you don't find her in ten minutes, I'll throw both of you into the wolf pit!"

The two maids immediately scrambled out of the kitchen in panic. Maya ran her hand roughly through her hair, her chest heaving as she held back her burning rage. She walked briskly to her study and snatched the phone off her oak desk.

"Damn it, where did she go? Did she run away?"

Her fingers hastily dialed her confidant's phone number.

"Hello, My Lady"

"Bring all your men to my study right now! Don't waste time!" Maya snapped before the person on the line could breathe, then hung up unilaterally.

In less than five minutes, the study door was thrown open. Three burly men in black guard uniforms stepped inside and bowed respectfully.

"What are your orders, Lady Maya?" the head guard asked firmly.

Maya turned around, glaring at them with eyes ablaze with hatred. "Ana escaped."

The man gasped in shock. "Ana? The mute maid, My Lady?"

"Who else, you fool?!" Maya growled, taking a step toward the head guard until they were only inches apart. "She managed to slip out of this mansion last night! And all of you were sleeping like corpses?!"

"Forgive us, My Lady. The front gate security was very tight"

"Then how could she escape?!" Maya barked, cutting off her subordinate's defense. "She isn't just Ana! She is Sera! Sera in disguise!"

The three guards instantly exchanged glances, their faces turning deathly pale.

"L-Lady Sera?" the head guard whispered, choked up. "How could that be..."

"She fooled us all!" Maya interrupted, hurling a nearby vase against the wall, smashing it to pieces. "She infiltrated this place, used a magic mask, and worked as a maid right under my nose! And now she ran away with her baby!"

Maya paced back and forth across the room, unable to conceal her panic any longer. Her fingers tapped nervously against her chin.

"This is dangerous..." Maya muttered to herself. "This is extremely dangerous! If Sera manages to reach the clan council or meet Rolex... she will expose everything!"

"What should we do, My Lady?" the guard asked promptly.

Maya stopped pacing, staring straight out the window with a cold, lethal glare. "Deploy all your men. Comb the entire western and northern forest borders. Check every villager's house, every rundown rental, and every isolated place!"

"Should we bring her back alive?"

"If you find her..." Maya narrowed her eyes, her voice dropping into a venomous whisper, "Finish her on the spot. Don't let her draw another breath to leak what happened in the cave three years ago. Bring the baby to me, but make sure Sera never speaks again, forever!"

"Understood, My Lady! We are moving now!"

The three guards turned swiftly and rushed out of the room to execute the hit order.

Maya stood alone in the middle of the ruined room, her breath still ragged from an overwhelming surge of anxiety. She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug deep into her palms.

"I cannot lose," Maya whispered to herself, brimming with vengeance. "I worked so hard to reach this position! I banished Sera to that rotting cave! I won't let that damn maid destroy everything in a single night!"

She snatched a glass of water from her desk and downed it, trying to soothe her hammering heart.

"I need to contact the clan lawyer. I must secure my position before Sera gets the chance to open her mouth to the public—"

Crash!

The door to Maya's study was suddenly pushed wide open. Maya gasped in shock, immediately shouting in fury.

"You insolent fool! How dare you enter without knocking?!" Maya barked at the figure of a man in a black suit standing in the doorway.

The man was not her guard, but an official envoy from the high clan court headquarters. The envoy's face was expressionless, carrying a golden scroll tube stamped with a blood-red wax seal.

"Apologies for my impoliteness, Lady Maya," the envoy stated in a cold, formal voice. "However, this is an urgent matter that cannot be delayed."

Maya's chest turned cold upon seeing the red wax seal in the man's hand. The Seal of the High Clan Court.

"What matter?" Maya asked, trying desperately to keep her tone calm and authoritative despite her hands trembling behind her dress. "I am busy today."

The envoy stepped forward three paces, unrolling a thick parchment before Maya.

"I carry an official summons from the High Council and Clan Court," the envoy stated firmly.

Maya's face turned deathly pale. "A... a summons? On what grounds is the Clan Court summoning me?!"

"You are ordered to present yourself at the High Clan Court this very afternoon," the envoy answered without a shadow of doubt. "Under charges of severe crimes, kidnapping, torture, and the abuse of forbidden magic."

"This is slander!" Maya shrieked in a high-pitched voice, trying to intimidate him. "Who dares to spread such vile lies about me?!"

The envoy stared intently at Maya, a faint, mysterious smile gracing his lips.

"This report was filed directly by the key witness, alongside undeniable proof of her suffering," the envoy said softly, yet piercingly. "Lady Sera has returned, Lady Maya. And the High Court awaits your presence to answer for everything."

Those words struck Maya like a bolt out of the blue. Her knees suddenly buckled, and the world around her seemed to spin violently.