The Lady Nun Vows Revenge by Caroline Rowland

“You… Sophie nearly lost her composure when Eliza spoke

She bit back her imitation and said, “But you’re not officially part of the Black Flag, Your Grace, Isn’t it inappropriate for you to take charge of this search?

Sophie managed a strained smile and added, “After all, everyone knows about the bad blood between us, so what if you…” Sophie left the sentence hanging, but the message was obvious to anyone listerring.

It was clear to everyone that Sophie wanted to say, “What if Eliza plants something inside to frame me?”

Eliza turned toward Sophie, her expression calm, her features lit by a faint smile. “I’m not as despicable and shameless as

you.

Sophie’s face darkened in humiliation, but before she could speak, Eliza continued, “Still, you raise a valid point. Since you! re so worried, I shall search from the doorway.”

From the doorway? How would that even work? Sophie thought.

As confusion swept through the crowd, Eliza turned her hand, revealing a small vial.

Renee stepped forward, took the vial from Eliza, then crouched down and tipped it onto the ground. In an instant, dozens of thumb–sized white spiders crawled out of the bottle. There must have been 20 or 30 of them.

As the spiders scattered into Sophie’s room, everyone immediately understood what Eliza had meant. Gabriel’s face darkened further, his expression grim.

The moment Gabriel saw those spiders, everything clicked. The one who had ruined the foreigners‘ plan–it had been Eliza. Eliza was the one who had placed the parasites on Sophie, an act that caused them to be arrested by the Ministry of Justice and locked away in prison.

known then, I’d have exposed all of Eliza’s

was hope those foreigners

foreigners‘ cover–up

half an hour before they finally

search was not entirely in vain, Eliza said softly. She turned to Sophie, a ghost

the entire time, panicked when she saw

parasites had been hidden

those parasites were exceptionally powerful.

Sophie was utterly baffled

was the foreigner watching from the

foreigner could tell those spiders were not the same type of creatures as the parasites. They

did not notice one spider slipping away from the others and quietly crawling up

was even smaller no more than a fifth the size of a fingernail–and blended so seamlessly into the shadows that the foreigner failed to notice

if sensing something. Eliza arched a brow and carried

the foreign tribe’s parasites? At the palace banquet, you insisted the one found on you had been planted by another So

of your collusion with the foreign tribe is too great to ignore

Eliza’s smile vanished. Her

Successfully unlocked

as she delivered

panicked Father, Matthew, help me!