Bound by the Mark of Lies (BL)-Chapter 357 - 351: Bring her in.

Rosaline pulled her hood lower over her face as she stepped out from the alleyway, the smell of city smoke and dust clinging to her like static. Her hands were trembling, but she kept them tucked into the folds of her coat. One misstep, one glance too long in the wrong direction, and the Shadows would have her throat split open before she could beg.

They had been on her since the poisoning failed.

Since the Emperor bled and lived, and Gabriel didn’t fall.

She hadn’t slept in a proper bed in weeks. Hadn’t eaten without checking for ether residue or bitter aftertaste. Every safehouse she touched turned cold within hours. The few loyal aides she had left were gone, taken, or turned. Even now, even here, in the outer ring of the Capital, she could feel eyes behind her, watching, waiting.

She slipped between two vendors, avoiding the stall selling charmed textiles, keeping her head down—

And froze.

The square ahead had erupted in cheers.

Not loud ones. Not thunderous. But enough, dozens of voices lifting, curious, awed, a ripple of surprise running through the crowd. She turned her head without meaning to, a lifetime of instincts overriding caution.

There it was.

A wide silk banner stretched across the heart of the square, strung between two marble pillars. Enchanted by imperial magic, the fabric shimmered as it projected the golden seal of the Empire, then unfurled into script that glowed in the afternoon sun.

His Imperial Majesty announces that the Empress-in-waiting, Gabriel von Jaunez, is carrying the first heir of the Lyon Dynasty. Now in his sixth month, both consort and child are confirmed in strong health by the Imperial Medical Court. Celebrations will follow with due formality across the Capital and provinces.

The words pulsed once. And then, the image changed.

Gabriel.

Not in armor, not in court robes, but dressed in white, the high collar trimmed in silver thread, his hand resting lightly over his abdomen. Regal. Calm. Alive.

Rosaline staggered back a step.

No.

No, no, no.

She had burned the reports. She had bribed the archivists. She had planted the rumor herself, seeding it into the ears of those who trusted her most. She knew it would stick, that it had stuck. The Empress wasn’t a true omega. His bond to the Emperor was a lie.

So why—

Why was the Empire celebrating his pregnancy like it was gospel?

Why did he look untouched by fear?

She couldn’t breathe.

The crowd moved around her like a tide, faces tilted toward the enchanted announcement with reverence and awe. She was the only one standing still. The only one shaking.

Somewhere far too close, a figure shifted behind a lamppost. Another leaned against a wall, eyes not on the banner but on her.

They had seen her.

She turned and vanished into the alley before the second kick of the imperial heir’s announcement echoed across the square.

She didn’t see the last line of the projection, spelled in bolder script than the rest:

The Empress-in-waiting will attend the formal celebration three days from now. The future of the Empire begins with him.

But she heard the crowd cheer again.

—

Gregoris didn’t bother knocking.

The chamber wasn’t his to enter, but that had never stopped him before. The marble hall outside was still echoing with preparations for the celebration, silk banners enchanted to shimmer with golden glyphs, guards standing straighter than usual, the smell of polished wood and fresh-cut roses clinging to the air like ceremony itself.

Inside, the war room was quiet.

Too quiet.

Only two men remained at the far end of the table, a single lamp illuminating the stretch of parchment between them. Gregoris walked straight past the guards outside and set the message scroll down with the kind of force that made the table creak.

"She saw it."

General Halbrecht didn’t look up from the map he was reviewing, but the flick of his eyes was enough to show he heard. Across from him, the clerk paled and retreated without needing to be told.

Gregoris tapped the wax seal once. It was still warm. "Confirmed by one of the Shadows trailing the upper quarter. Rosaline was spotted near the civilian banner in the western plaza. She froze. Stared for a full ten seconds. Then ran."

Halbrecht looked up now. "She escaped again?"

"Escaped?" Gregoris echoed, his voice dry, like Halbrecht had just insulted his entire bloodline and tactical record in a single breath. "We knew where she was. Gabriel asked for her to be followed around, not arrested."

He leaned against the edge of the table, folding his arms as a slow, satisfied smirk pulled at his mouth.

"She’s been weaving through safehouses like a cornered fox, thinking she’s clever. Slipping notes, meeting old allies, trying to rebuild a network that doesn’t exist anymore. We let her think she was one step ahead."

Halbrecht narrowed his eyes. "You played with her."

Gregoris gave a slow shrug, unbothered and utterly unapologetic. "We needed her desperate. Needed her to feel like she still had a chance and to contact her network."

He stepped closer to the window, where the banner in the plaza below still shimmered faintly, Gabriel’s name illuminated in gold, the announcement looping in silent enchantment across the sky: Heir to the Empire Confirmed.

Halbrecht’s jaw tensed. "And you left her just enough to keep her crawling."

Gregoris didn’t deny it. He watched the glowing script ripple across the sky like a victory anthem and exhaled, slow and sharp. "You don’t cage a viper. You let it exhaust its venom first."

He turned away from the window, the light catching the sharp edge of his uniform collar. "Rosaline thought she still had allies. We gave her ghosts. Thought she had hiding places. We gave her dead ends."

"She thought her connections left her," he continued, his voice calm, almost amused. "But we just eliminated them one by one. Every name she whispered into the dark, every door she knocked on in secret, we were already there."

Halbrecht didn’t speak for a moment. Then, dryly, "You ever think you’re too good at this?"

Gregoris gave a tight smile, not quite humor. "No. I sleep very well."

Then he snapped his fingers toward the waiting officers outside the door. "Surround the quarter. No more shadows. Bring her in before nightfall."

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