"Lady Ral- please wait-" Isabel's voice could be heard from up the hallway.

petra?

"I have to speak to Marchioness L/N and Lord Ackerman," Petra Ral's insistent voice called out from beyond the door.

what's happening-

"We haven't sent anything out yet right?" I looked at Levi and Farlan who were just as baffled as I was.

"No-" Farlan glanced at the table, "you haven't even finished writing them."

ok well...

maybe she's just obsessed with me

wouldn't be the first time

"Any chance that she just really enjoyed our company."

"It's urgent- regarding my fiance-" Petra shouted- now much closer to the study door.

ah well.....

"That answers your question," Levi sighed, standing up to get the door.

"Isabel- she's a guest- let her in," I called out, gesturing at Farlan to clear the table of the letters.

seems like we're about to have a serious conversation

it feels weird to leave the clutter out

rude

"Finally-" Petra came bursting through the door, "have you received my letter?" She glanced around the room at our bewildered faces, suddenly remembering where she was, "I apologize for running in but it's urgent."

i don't think we have?

"No-" I frowned, "you should sit down before we start talking."

a lot is happening at once

"Is it this one?" Farlan held out the unmarked letter we hadn't opened yet.

"Yes-" her eyes lit up, "you should have received one from my fiance as well."

"We did," Levi answered curtly, "we were just discussing it."

we were just about to send a response

"You haven't sent out a response yet, right? Whatever he invited you to- don't go," she urged.

uh-

"Could you explain why?" I leaned forward reaching for her hands, "we haven't sent out a response but this feels urgent, what's wrong?"

"Right-" she took a deep breath, gathering herself.

seriously-

what could have happened in the time since we last saw each other?

it's worrying

"You don't need to read my letter- I was just inviting you over to reassure you that you could go forward with the business proposal made by my fiance," her nose crinkled in disgust at that word.

"What changed?"

"Right- so- I overheard Floch speaking with a relative about inviting Lord Ackerman over and planned to invite you on the same day-" she fiddled with the fabric of her skirt. "When I returned to speak to him about inviting you I heard something I wasn't supposed to- I ran over here immediately- he doesn't know that I know."

slow down-

"What did you hear?" Levi asked- a bit impatiently.

"Levi-"

"No, no- he's right- sorry-" she refocused. "I think I overheard Floch discussing your murder," she looked at Levi, "he's trying to hurt you."

what-

"Alright," Levi sighed loudly, "I won't go."

THAT'S ALL??

"You're taking this well," I shook my head at him in disbelief.

"I'm sorry- shouldn't you two be reacting differently? I heard my fiance plotting to kill you- why are you so calm?" Petra was obviously growing more distressed as this conversation continued.

"We expected him to be shitty," Levi shrugged, "this wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

she doesn't know everything that we know

it must be alarming

i want to help her somehow

"Farlan, Isabel- could you get us something to eat and drink? I think that would help." I dismissed them- glancing over at Levi to try and figure out where to start.

she doesn't need to know everything

"Did you hear anything else?" Levi pressed.

"Yes-" she glanced between the two of us, "a bit more."

"While we wait for the two of them to come back- why don't you finish telling us what happened?" I urged, "and then we can fill you in on what we know."

leaving out the more questionable details

"Right-" she muttered, "I overheard the tail end of the conversation- they were discussing poisoning Lord Ackerman- he-" she paused, "he was laughing about framing you for the murder- and then forcing you to rely on him to clear your innocence."

HE'S SICK

"Who knows that you're here?" Levi asked, "he'll get suspicious as soon as he learns that you're here."

"Just the coachman."

"Y/N- fill Petra in," he stood up, "I'm going to go find him."

"Right- ok-" I nodded, "stay safe."

"I will."

"He should be waiting for me," Petra called out as Levi dashed out of the room.

that's good at least

"Honestly- we approached you at the theater knowing that something like this might be happening," I started- gauging her reaction.

"That makes sense," she nodded, "not really- I'm still confused about how you knew- but I was put off by your sudden invitation."

yeah.... sorry it couldn't be more natural

"Do you remember a few months ago when I drowned?"

"Yes," she gaped at me, "you don't think-"

"We think that was his first attempt at hurting Levi-"

i was supposed to die and he was going to take the fall for it

they probably planned on going after my father for marquisate

gaining power and taking down their largest political rival

it'd be wrong to call it stupid

it would have worked had we not swapped

"He's tried this before-" she trailed off, "I had no idea."

"You weren't supposed to- and I'm glad you didn't know anything until now- you probably would have been worse off for it."

"So- what do we do now?"

"We start planning," Levi came back into the room, Farlan and Isabel in tow.

_______________________

helloo!!!! sorry this is a bit late- i forgot to set it to automatically publish earlier when i finished the chapter

hope all of u are doing well

kisses

- ami