Chapter 268: The Quiet Vow IV
She bowed to Elena first in the outer room and held out a sealed letter on a tray.
Elena’s expression changed very slightly.
"The man said it came from the head butler of the middle domain Dawn House. His name is Stephen."
Seraphiel looked up at once.
Official. Clean. Real.
Not local.
Stephen. Head butler of the main Dawn House. Which meant whoever stood behind this letter had not come as rumor.
Elena’s eyes cooled. "Where is the messenger?"
"Did he give a name?"
Seraphiel’s mouth moved faintly. "Ah."
"I have seen him." Seraphiel’s tone turned dry. "One of the useful ones around the current heir. Better posture than judgment. Very obedient. Too polite to be harmless."
He saw the letter in Elena’s hand and frowned slightly. "What is it?"
"A messenger from the main Dawn House. Sent with a letter from Stephen."
But before he could ask more, movement in the front corridor drew their attention. The messenger had evidently been brought through with proper courtesy. A man in dark travel attire stepped into view under escort, posture controlled, expression measured.
He did not yet know what he had arrived in the middle of. That was the only grace in the moment. His eyes moved first to Elena, because she was clearly the one receiving him.
Then, by some bitter stroke of fate, to the woman standing near the window in calm blue silk.
The recognition hit him instantly.
But he had seen her before. A few times in the main Dawn House. Enough to know exactly who she was. Enough to know that he had no right to address her first unless invited.
His whole body became more formal without any visible panic.
He did not dare react.
"You came with a letter," she said.
The maid held the tray with the letter.
Sekhmet stood slightly behind her line and did not yet know what Mihos Dawn’s arrival meant, or how close the other side of the family had already moved toward his life.
Elena did not open the letter immediately.
In another room, in another life, it might have looked like nothing more than proper household correspondence.
Kess remained bowed just enough to show respect without humiliating the master he represented. Good training. Good control. Better than most young men sent on quiet errands by powerful houses.
The envoy had the kind of face Mihos would choose if he wanted to be welcomed before he was suspected. Plain enough to disarm. Clean enough to suggest discipline. Sharp enough around the eyes that no one paying attention would mistake him for harmless. He stood with his hands folded low after surrendering the letter, posture patient, gaze lowered just the correct amount.
The instant Kess had recognized Seraphiel.
That meant one thing very clearly. This was no ordinary lower-house contact. Whoever sent him had been standing high enough for Seraphiel’s face to be known in the upper layers of Dawn House.
She unfolded the letter and read in silence.
Neither did Seraphiel.
Let him leave with ignorance.
Her face did not change. That meant the contents were important.
Elena did not answer him first. She looked at Kess.
"Yes, Lady Elena."
"No, Lady Elena."
"No."
"Yes."
"Stephen writes that the current Heir of the Dawn house has arrived in Slik."
Sekhmet’s expression sharpened at once. "The Heir???"
Elena’s eyes cooled by a degree.
Sekhmet knew the name.
"So, he is from Dawn House and the current heir. The one who stood where my father once stood if the past had not cracked in the direction it did."
Sekhmet’s voice remained level. "And why is he here?"