Chapter 1738:

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“Can you be serious for once?” Leif sighed, clearly exasperated. “I’m not joking.”

“I know,” Corrine said before hanging up.

Leif stared at his phone for a long moment, brows furrowed.

Then, with a sinking feeling, he dialed Lone Ranger. “Has Corrine ever asked you to look into the Powell family?” he asked directly.

“The Powell family from the Independent Continent?” Lone Ranger asked cautiously.

“Yes!” Leif exclaimed. He knew Corrine too well. She never asked too many questions unless something—or someone—was involved. “Tell me the truth. Has something already happened between them?”

There was a pause. Then, realizing he couldn’t hide it any longer, Lone Ranger confessed how the Powell family heir, operating under the alias Claude Lowell, had framed Jayden.

When Leif heard the full story, his expression turned grim.

No wonder Corrine had been so careful with her questions.

Those who truly knew her understood one thing: once she considered someone under her protection, she became their fiercest guardian. Anyone who dared to hurt them would have to answer to her.

After Corrine ended the call, she walked back into the room. She came to a quiet stop by the window, her eyes drifting into the expanse of the night sky. Her thoughts wandered like leaves on a breeze, unanchored and weightless.

The soft creak of a door interrupted her reverie. She turned slightly, just enough to catch a familiar silhouette out of the corner of her eye. The hard edge in her expression softened immediately. A gentle smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

“Finished with work?” she asked.

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝖌𝖆𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀﹒𝗰𝗼𝗺

Nate gave a small nod, stepping behind her in that unhurried way of his. His arm slid around her waist with effortless ease, drawing her close. “What were you thinking about just now?” he murmured.

He rested his head against the crook of her neck. His breath fanned her skin—warm, subtle, electrifying. A shiver coursed through her, sharp and sweet, like a sudden gust of wind on bare skin.

“When are we heading back to Lyhaton?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Lifting his head slowly, Nate looked at her with quiet affection. His eyes, dark and steady, lingered on her face as if memorizing every line. “Eager to go back?”

“It just feels safer there,” she replied. She leaned further into his embrace, her gaze drawn to the sliver of moon partially hidden by restless clouds. “There is always this sense of being watched here. It unsettles me.”

Nate had a grip on every situation—of that, she had no doubt. Still, the past two days had unraveled more than she could easily process.

Since parting ways with the Red Flame organization, blood and violence had faded from her life like an old scar. Peace had come, and with it, the comfort of stillness. Once you got used to it, it was hard to pull yourself out.

Nate kept his gaze on her, eyes unreadable. “Once everything is settled, we will return to Lyhaton.”

“Okay,” she replied softly.

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