Lyra stared at the old man without blinking.
“Granddaughter?”
That single word felt more frightening than the sound of the gunshots that had chased her earlier.
The old man stood among several people dressed in black. His hair was completely white, but his body was still sturdy. His gaze was sharp and cold.
Seraphine stood in front of Lyra.
“Don’t come any closer.”
The old man smiled faintly.
“Seraphine.”
His voice sounded like a reprimand.
“It’s been twenty-three years.”
“I won’t let you take her.”
“She doesn’t belong to you.”
“She’s my daughter.”
The old man fell silent.
Then his gaze shifted to Lyra.
“And because of that, she’s also part of the Vesper family.”
Lyra felt her head begin to throb.
For twenty-three years, she had known only one family.
One mother.
One home.
One simple life.
Now, in a single night, everything had changed.
She had another mother.
A father who was dead.
A grandfather she had only just met.
And a family that seemed desperate to find her.
“What’s your name?” Lyra asked.
The old man replied,
“Edmund Vesper.”
The name made Cassian tense.
Lyra saw the change in his expression.
“You know him?”
Cassian didn’t answer.
Edmund smiled instead.
“Of course he knows me.”
He looked at Cassian.
“After all this, you’re still serving as our family’s guard?”
Cassian answered coldly,
“I was never your guard.”
“Is that so?”
“I worked for Adrian.”
At the mention of her father’s name, Lyra immediately focused on them.
“Adrian.”
Edmund sighed.
“My foolish son.”
Lyra clenched her fists.
“Don’t talk about my father like that.”
Edmund looked at her.
For the first time, his expression changed slightly.
“You have his eyes.”
Lyra didn’t know how to respond.
Edmund continued,
“And his stubbornness.”
Seraphine cut in.
“That’s enough.”
Edmund ignored her.
“Lyra, come home.”
“Home?”
Lyra gave a small laugh, but there was no happiness in it.
“I don’t even know where my home is.”
Edmund looked at her for a long moment.
“Your home has always been there.”
“Where?”
“At Vesper Estate.”
Lyra shook her head.
“I don’t want to.”
“You haven’t seen it yet.”
“I don’t care.”
Edmund took one step closer.
Seraphine immediately raised her hand.
“Stop.”
Edmund stopped.
“Seraphine, I didn’t come here to hurt her.”
“How am I supposed to believe that?”
“You don’t have to believe me.”
Edmund pointed at Lyra.
“She has the right to know the truth.”
Lyra looked at all of them.
“What truth?”
Edmund drew a breath.
“Your father wasn’t killed by an outsider.”
The atmosphere suddenly fell silent.
Lyra felt her entire body turn cold.
“Then who was it?”
Edmund didn’t answer.
Seraphine lowered her head.
Cassian looked away.
Lyra began to understand that everyone there knew something she didn’t.
“Who killed my father?”
Edmund finally said,
“One of our own family members.”
Lyra froze.
“Who?”
“We still don’t know.”
“After twenty-three years?”
Edmund nodded.
“That’s why we’ve been looking for you.”
Lyra laughed bitterly.
“So I only matter because I might know something?”
“No.”
Edmund looked at her.
“You matter because you’re Adrian’s daughter.”
Lyra shook her head.
“Then why was I hidden?”
Edmund fell silent.
Seraphine answered softly,
“Because after your father died, someone tried to kill you.”
Lyra looked at her.
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
“Why not?”
“Because that person left no trace.”
Lyra closed her eyes.
Every answer she received always ended with a new question.
She looked at Cassian.
“Do you know who killed my father?”
Cassian didn’t answer right away.
“I know who was with him last.”
“Who?”
Cassian looked at Edmund.
“Edmund.”
Lyra froze.
Every eye turned toward the old man.
Edmund didn’t look surprised.
Instead, he smiled faintly.
“So you finally told her.”
Lyra stepped back.
“Grandfather?”
Edmund looked at her.
“Your father came to see me that night.”
“Why?”
“He said he’d found something.”
“What?”
“Someone’s name.”
Lyra held her breath.
“Whose name?”
Edmund shook his head.
“I never got an answer.”
“Why?”
“Because his house caught fire that night.”
Lyra looked at Seraphine.
“Were you there?”
Seraphine nodded.
“I was there.”
“And Dad?”
Tears began to fill Seraphine’s eyes.
“I saw him for the last time that night.”
Lyra looked at the woman she had never known until now.
For a moment, her anger disappeared.
All that remained was grief.
“Why didn’t you take me with you?”
Seraphine closed her eyes.
“Because when I came back for you, you were already gone.”
“What?”
“Someone had taken you away.”
“Who?”
Seraphine shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Lyra felt her chest tighten.
“Then who raised me?”
Seraphine fell silent.
Edmund answered,
“A woman named Mara Vesper.”
The name left Lyra stunned.
“Mara…”
Her mother.
The woman who had died just three days ago.
“She wasn’t part of the Vesper family.”
Edmund shook his head.
“She worked for your father.”
Lyra found it harder and harder to breathe.
“So all this time…”
She looked at the house visible in the distance behind them.
“…Mom saved me?”
Seraphine nodded.
“Yes.”
Lyra looked at her.
“And now she’s dead.”
Seraphine lowered her head.
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
Lyra’s tears fell.
For the first time since Mara’s death, she let herself cry in front of someone else.
She had lost the only mother she had ever known.
And now she knew that her life had been built on secrets.
Cassian stood not far from her.
He said nothing.
But when Lyra lost her balance, he moved and caught her.
Lyra didn’t resist.
A few seconds later, she pulled away.
“I’ll go with you.”
Everyone looked at her.
Seraphine was startled.
“Lyra?”
“I want to know everything.”
Edmund nodded.
“A wise decision.”
“But I have one condition.”
Edmund waited.
“No more lies.”
The old man was silent.
Lyra continued,
“If there’s even one thing you hide from me, I’m leaving.”
Edmund finally nodded.
“All right.”
Cassian stepped closer.
“I’m coming too.”
Edmund looked at him.
“No.”
“I’m not asking for permission.”
“This is a family matter.”
Cassian answered coldly,
“And I made a promise to Adrian.”
Lyra looked at Cassian.
“What promise?”
Cassian fell silent.
“Answer me.”
He looked at Lyra for a long moment.
“I promised your father that if anything happened to him, I would protect you until you learned the whole truth.”
Lyra didn’t know why those words made her heart pound.
But before she could say anything, Edmund walked toward the car.
“Then let’s go.”
Lyra took a step.
But after only two steps, Cassian suddenly grabbed her arm.
“Don’t.”
Lyra turned.
“What?”
Cassian’s gaze was fixed on the car in front of them.
“Don’t get in that car.”
Edmund turned around.
“What’s the problem?”
Cassian didn’t answer.
He walked toward the car.
Then he crouched beside the rear wheel.
His hand touched the underside of the car.
When he stood again, his expression had turned serious.
He was holding a small object.
A tracking device.
Lyra stared at it.
“Who planted it?”
Cassian shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Edmund looked furious.
“Check every car.”
Several people immediately moved.
But Cassian continued staring at the small object in his hand.
“This isn’t an ordinary tracking device.”
“Why?” Lyra asked.
Cassian looked at her.
“Because this device doesn’t just transmit a location.”
“What else does it do?”
Cassian showed her the small screen on the device.
There was a symbol on it.
A constellation.
The same as Lyra’s necklace.
Cassian said quietly,
“This device is sending a message.”
Lyra moved closer.
“What message?”
Cassian stared at the screen.
His expression changed.
Then he handed the device to Lyra.
There was only one sentence on the screen.
SUBJECT L-23 HAS BEEN LOCATED.
Another line appeared beneath it.
LAST NIGHT PROTOCOL INITIATED.
Lyra looked at Cassian.
“What does that mean?”
Cassian didn’t answer.
Because in the distance, the sound of an explosion rang out.
One of the Vesper family’s cars exploded in a burst of flames.
And amid the chaos, Edmund shouted,
“EVERYONE, FIND LYRA!”
But Lyra was no longer where she had been.
To be continued…