Chapter 31 -

 “Sir Hayden!”

Amon rushed to Hayden's side, shaking his limp body and pressing firmly against his chest.

“Sir Hayden… Sir Hayden!”

Hayden's unresponsive body swayed loosely under Amon’s movements. Leaning close, Amon pressed his ear to Hayden's chest—no pulse. His heart had already stopped.

“Damn it.”

Amon muttered a curse. Hayden was dead. Hayden too had died. Why? And how?

Amon’s gaze snapped toward the water glass on the table. The last thing Hayden had done before his death was drink that water.

The glass was empty when Amon examined it. Not that it mattered—even if some water remained, if the perpetrator was the same as before, there wouldn’t be any detectable traces.

'His last words were strange before he drank the glass.'

If it wasn’t some absurd coincidence, Hayden must have known. He knew drinking that water would kill him.

Someone must have told him.

Whenever you’re ready to die, drink this. There’s poison inside.

And whoever said that must have been one of the knights with unrestricted access to the detention room: Eloise, Boyd, or Marvin. One of them had killed the arsonist, Hayden, and leaked information about the order. Amon’s eyes gleamed sharply.

Meanwhile, after handing Hayden over to Amon, Carlyle stretched and yawned loudly as he emerged to the surface. The hour had long passed midnight and was edging toward dawn.

The knight order's building was eerily quiet tonight. The normally bustling break room was empty. With the captured arsonist dead and the commander summoned to the council, the somber mood was unsurprising.

After idling briefly in the break room, Carlyle made his way toward the spiral staircase leading to the second floor. It was too late to head home, so he intended to rest in one of the vacant quarters. He knew he’d have to wake up early for work regardless.

“Huh? Is that…?”

It was purely by chance that he noticed Eloise. She stood at the far end of the corridor beyond the railing.

Carlyle instinctively raised a hand to greet her but hesitated. Eloise’s expression was strange.

From the landing, Carlyle observed her closely. Her face was anxious, her eyes darting around as though afraid of being caught.

Then she began to move, pressing herself against the wall as she crept forward.

“That way leads... underground.”

Carlyle's face darkened. The only person currently underground was Hayden, and anything concerning him was a strict secret among the knights. There was no reason for Eloise to head there, especially with such a nervous demeanor.

Maybe she wasn’t going underground, he thought. She might just be wandering the corridor, heading in that direction by coincidence. Carlyle peered over the railing, still watching.

But his hopes were dashed when Eloise paused at the stairs leading down. She glanced alternately between the staircase and the empty hallway as if deciding whether to proceed.

At that moment, urgent footsteps echoed up the stairs. The sound could only belong to Amon.

Startled, Eloise quickly retreated down the hallway. As she and Amon seemed on the verge of crossing paths, Carlyle reflexively hurried down the stairs.

“Amon!”

He called out, drawing attention. Amon, his face tense, looked up at Carlyle.

“It's me. You’re still here?”

“I was about to head up, but I heard your footsteps. What’s going on?”

Carlyle cast a brief glance toward the hallway where Eloise was likely hiding. Thankfully, Amon seemed oblivious.

“Come here for a moment.”

Distracted by his own urgency, Amon simply tugged Carlyle toward the stairs to the underground.

For better or worse, Carlyle's thoughts of Eloise were swept aside when they descended and he saw Hayden’s body lying on the interrogation room floor.

“What…? Is he dead? How?”

“It looks like the same person who killed the arsonist did this,” Amon explained swiftly. He recounted what had happened during Carlyle's absence—the connection between the arsonist’s killer, Hayden’s murderer, and the accomplice of Russell’s true killer.

“Eloise, Boyd, or Marvin. One of them is the spy leaking information to the council.”

Carlyle stared at Amon, aghast.

“One of them is a spy?”

“Yes. From what I observed when the arsonist was killed, it’s almost certain.”

Eloise’s suspicious behavior resurfaced in Carlyle's mind. He shook his head quickly, as though to dispel the thought.

“Do you have any leads?” Amon asked, noticing Carlyle's hesitation.

“No, nothing. I guess I’m just… shocked. I never imagined someone like that could be among us.”

“Neither did I.”

Amon replied, his gaze falling back to Hayden’s body.

He closed his eyes briefly before continuing. “Carlyle, can you recount exactly what happened when you brought Sir Hayden to the interrogation room? We need to determine which knights had access to the detention area.”

“Well…” Carlyle paused to recall. “Marvin came to me while I was resting. He said there was a commotion in the detention room.”

“A commotion?”

“Yes. I assumed Hayden was panicking over the unfamiliar environment. When I got there, I found him shouting and throwing things.”

“Were there any other knights nearby? Do you recall who?”

Carlyle shook his head. “Unfortunately, most of the knights were gathered because of the commotion.”

“So, someone could have approached Sir Hayden unnoticed.”

“Exactly.”

“Did you see the poisoned water glass? It was on the interrogation room’s desk.”

“I’m not sure…”

Carlyle's eyes fell on the table. He struggled to recall anything about the glass.

“If it was there from the start, I didn’t notice. But there were plenty of opportunities for someone to place it. Hayden was so uncooperative that I left the room several times.”

“I see…” Amon sighed, rubbing his temples.

They had let their guard down, thinking Hayden was secure within the order’s confines. Carlyle couldn’t have anticipated a traitor in their midst.

“So we still don’t have any solid leads,” Amon muttered, exhaling heavily.

Carlyle glanced down at Hayden’s lifeless body, then asked cautiously, “Are you sure the spy is one of those three?”

“Yes.”

Amon looked up sharply. “If you have even the slightest suspicion about someone, now’s the time to speak up. Did anyone behave oddly within the detention area?”

“No, nothing like that…” Carlyle hesitated.

He didn’t know if Eloise had been in the detention area or if she was even aware of Hayden’s existence. He hadn’t seen her holding the poisoned glass either.

“Carlyle?”

At Amon’s persistent question, Carlyle finally shook his head. “No… I must be imagining things.”

Yet he knew deep down that his reluctance to speak stemmed from a desire to protect Eloise.

Clang.

The walls shook with a loud noise. Startled, I flinched where I sat at the table.

With no windows, I couldn’t see outside, but the ominous sounds suggested a storm. A gale was surely raging, perhaps accompanied by torrential rain.

“They’ll come soon… won’t they?”

I murmured to myself, tearing the bread Amon had brought the previous night into small pieces. Crumbs scattered across the table, but I didn’t stop. It was all I could do to occupy myself while confined to this room.

Amon had promised to bring me books, but there’d been no sign of him. Without a clock, I had no way to track time.

A sigh escaped along with a yawn. Sleepiness began to creep in, confirming it was likely night.

Krrk.

The walls rattled again, more violently this time. It was enough to make me worry the building might collapse. As I stared nervously at the door, a creak broke the silence—the sound I had been waiting for.  

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