Chapter 36 An Unexpected Discovery

Chapter 36 An Unexpected Discovery
Dareth’s POV
The information I had gathered was already enough to form the outline of the truth.
Althea didn’t disappear.
She didn’t run.
She was taken.
Or more precisely… she left, but not entirely of her own free will.
Obviously.
No one would willingly go to another pack’s territory—especially Black Hollow, a pack already on the brink of collapse—without a reason strong enough to risk everything.
Especially when the alliance between those two packs was already strained.
Still… I needed more information.
Including the truth about her pregnancy.
Could that rumor actually be verified?
Or… was everything Evra said truly going to happen?
I needed more before I left this place.
I had to.
My pace slowed as I moved along the other side of the market.
I no longer looked like someone searching for something.
My steps weren’t hurried.
Not overly focused.
Just… like an ordinary pack member walking without any particular destination.
Meanwhile, my mind kept working through every possibility.
If Althea really met Kael Thornridge at the border…
and if she entered his territory without direct force…
then there was a chance she had gone there looking for something.
Or for exactly what Evra had implied.
I paused briefly near one of the narrow paths between the stalls.
The scent of fresh fruit immediately reached me—sweet, slightly sour, with the earthy trace unique to forest territory.
A fruit stand.
A place most people considered insignificant.
Which was exactly why people spoke more freely there.
I was about to walk past when I suddenly heard three women talking.
“…I’m telling you, Meria is too stubborn.”
My steps halted.
Their voices were low, but not fully hidden.
I didn’t turn immediately.
Only shifted my direction slightly…
closer, without looking like I was getting closer.
The stall was run by a middle-aged woman. Her hands moved quickly as she sorted dark-colored fruits into woven baskets. In front of her stood two other women selecting produce, occasionally picking up fruit, pressing the skin, then setting it back down.
Their conversation flowed casually.
Too casually…
for something that was actually serious.
“…Not stubborn,” the second woman argued. “She just… refuses to accept reality.”
I stopped on the opposite side of the stall, pretending to inspect the arranged fruit.
Round. Dark. Rough-skinned.
I picked one up and weighed it in my hand.
“If I were in her position,” the first woman continued, “I wouldn’t believe it either.”
“Believe what?” the vendor asked without looking up.
The woman sighed softly. “That her daughter just left like that… and then suddenly they find something marked by another pack.”
My fingers paused briefly against the fruit’s skin.
There it was.
I lowered my head slightly, hiding my focus.
“Marked?” the third woman repeated, the one who had mostly stayed quiet until now.
“Yes,” the first answered. “A Black Hollow symbol on a handkerchief.”
I didn’t move.
But every ounce of my attention sharpened.
The vendor finally looked up. “Meria found it?”
“Yes,” the woman replied quickly. “In Althea’s room.”
“And you really believe that?” the vendor asked flatly.
“It’s not about belief,” she shot back. “But it’s enough to make anyone suspicious.”
I picked up another fruit, turning it slowly as if carefully considering its quality.
In truth, I was only waiting.
“Meria immediately concluded that Althea was taken by someone from Black Hollow,” the second woman said. “She even called it a kidnapping.”
“If you look at the circumstances, isn’t that obvious?” the first asked.
“I think…” the second woman paused, “…it’s not that simple.”
The vendor made a low sound. Almost a scoff.
“Nothing is ever that simple,” she said. “Especially not when it involves Black Hollow right now.”
I shifted slightly.
Closer.
Still subtle.
“Why?” the third woman asked.
The vendor began arranging more fruit before answering.
“Haven’t you heard?” she said. “They’re collapsing.”
The two women in front of her exchanged glances immediately.
“I heard about that,” one of them said. “But I didn’t know how bad it was.”
“Worse than you think,” the vendor replied calmly. “Their territory’s being sold off. Their hunting routes are shrinking. And now… they’re even seeking help from outside the pack.”
“You mean Rivenhall Dominion?”
The vendor nodded.
I forced myself not to react.
That matched Magnus’s data.
And Evra’s words.
Meaning the rumors in this market weren’t just gossip.
There was truth beneath them.
“If that’s the case,” the first woman said slowly, “doesn’t that just strengthen Meria’s suspicion?”
The vendor shook her head.
“No,” she answered. “It makes everything more complicated.”
I finally spoke.
My tone casual. Light.
“As in how?”
Three pairs of eyes turned to me instantly.
Quick. Assessing.
I raised the fruit in my hand slightly. “Sorry, I couldn’t help overhearing. You’re talking about Black Hollow, right?”
The vendor studied me longer than the others.
Then nodded.
“Yes.”
I smiled faintly.
Not too friendly.
Just enough not to seem strange.
“I heard a little about it too,” I said. “But not enough to understand.”
The first woman narrowed her eyes slightly. “Where are you from?”
“South,” I answered lightly. “Just passing through for trade.”
The vendor seemed to consider that.
Then returned to sorting her fruit.
“Then listen if you want,” she said. “But don’t believe everything you hear.”
I nodded. “Of course.”
The second woman exhaled softly. “Basically, Meria found a Black Hollow symbol in Althea’s room. And she immediately assumed her daughter was taken there.”
“Which doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” the vendor cut in.
“Why not?” I asked.
The vendor looked at me directly.
“Because if Black Hollow truly wanted to take someone,” she said quietly, “they wouldn’t leave behind a clue that obvious.”
I suppressed a faint smile.
Logical.
Very logical.
“So what do you think?” I asked.
“I think,” she answered, “Meria jumped to conclusions too quickly.”
The first woman shook her head immediately. “Or maybe she just knows more than we do.”
Silence.
That statement…
was interesting.
I turned the fruit in my hand once more.
“What kind of person is Meria?” I asked casually.
The vendor shrugged. “Strict. Firm. Doesn’t trust easily.”
“Especially now,” the second woman added. “Since Althea disappeared.”
I gave a small nod. “Were they close?”
“Close enough,” she answered. “But Althea wasn’t the kind of daughter who always obeyed.”
“She stubborn too?” I asked.
The first woman laughed softly. “Not stubborn. More like… she had a mind of her own.”
“She often went out alone,” another added. “Sometimes even at night.”
“And Meria hated that,” the vendor finished.
I absorbed every word without appearing too interested.
Another piece.
Althea…
wasn’t passive.
She acted on her own.
Made her own choices.
That made the possibility of a forced kidnapping…
even smaller.
“You said she went toward the northern route?” I asked.
The second woman nodded. “Yes. That was the last place she was seen before she disappeared.”
I lowered my gaze again.
As if thinking.
But in truth, everything was falling into place.
The border.
Black Hollow.
The symbol.
The meeting with Kael.
Not coincidence.
Impossible to be coincidence.
I bit into the fruit in my hand.
Sweet.
Slightly sour at the end.
“Not bad,” I murmured.
The vendor smiled faintly. “Take it if you like it.”
I nodded, but didn’t answer immediately.
Because their conversation…
wasn’t over.
The woman who had remained mostly quiet finally spoke again.
Her voice was lower.
More careful.
“Are you sure… this is only about Althea?”
The other two turned toward her.
“What do you mean?” the vendor asked.
The woman hesitated.
Then glanced around.
I pretended not to notice.
Though all my attention was on her.
“I heard something,” she said quietly.
“What?” the first woman asked.
She swallowed before continuing.
“Althea’s brother… is seriously ill.”
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
No longer light.
No longer idle market gossip.
I didn’t move.
Didn’t react.
But my mind caught the direction immediately.
“Since when?” the vendor asked, more serious now.
“For a while,” she answered. “But lately… it’s gotten worse.”
The second woman frowned. “Why have we never heard about that?”
“Because Meria never talks about it,” she replied.
Reasonable.
Hiding information like that…
wasn’t unusual.
Especially in a world like this.
“And what does that have to do with Althea?” the vendor asked.
The woman looked at each of them.
Then said quietly—
“What if… she wasn’t taken?”
A pause.
“What if… she’s the one who left?”
Silence.
And this time…
heavier.
“For what?” the first woman asked.
The woman drew in a slow breath.
“For something she wanted.”
Something tightened in my mind.
The final piece.
“Like what?” the vendor asked.
The woman lowered her head slightly.
Then whispered—
“Medicine.”
One word.
But enough to explain everything.
The second woman immediately shook her head. “No way.”
“Why not?” she shot back. “Black Hollow may be collapsing. But they still have resources other packs don’t.”
“And you think Meria would allow that?” the vendor asked.
The woman fell silent.
Then slowly shook her head.
“That’s the problem.”
She leaned closer to the others.
Her voice dropped.
Barely audible.
But it still reached me.
“Some people say…” she whispered, “…Meria knows.”
The other two froze.
“Knows?” one repeated.
The woman nodded slowly.
“She knows… and let it happen.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
“No way,” the vendor murmured.
“But if that’s true…” she continued, “…then that means…”
She didn’t finish. She didn’t need to. Because it was already clear.
The woman finally said, almost soundlessly—
“She may have sold her own daughter… to get medicine for her son.”