Chapter 103: I am Vivienne now. Vivienne Bisset.

Felix remained relaxed in his position on the sofa as he watched the woman, whom he suspected was Marin, pace a straight line back and forth in front of him.

He felt much better now that he had someone to focus on. He wasn’t entirely sure if it was indeed Marin, but the way that she had reacted at hearing her name made him certain that it was her. The link she shared with Hakimi was strong enough to cause her pain.

They were in her house right now, and she hasn’t uttered a single word since he had sat down.

"How long are you going to think about this, Marin?" He let the name slip slowly through his lips and observed her reaction.

She halted midway, jerking her head toward him in irritation. "Stop calling me that name. I am Vivienne now. Vivienne Bisset."

"Alright then, Vivi," Felix leaned back into the sofa. "Tell me why did you spread those rumors?"

"Are you going to kill me?" she asked, voice cracking as she twisted her hands together in front of her. "You’re not actually going to hand me over to Hakimi, are you?"

"That’s not really my call to make." Felix kept his voice easy despite the fact that killing her wasn’t really something he wanted. "But if you apologize to him, in front of everyone, own up to what you did, then yeah, maybe he lets it go."

He shrugged one shoulder. "Should’ve thought about all this before you started, honestly. Acting guilty and scared now isn’t going to help anyone."

"Don’t act like you know anything about me." Vivi’s voice broke into a shriek as she clenched her fists by her sides. "I can’t believe you put on this whole act just to get me talking."

"I actually do know a few things." Felix leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "You were in love with Hakimi back when he still lived in the capital. Proposed to him in front of a crowd, from what I heard. I’ll give you credit, that takes guts. And he turned you down flat, same as he did to a dozen others before you." He tilted his head. "You really think finding you was hard after that?"

"Hate him," whispered Vivi, her voice lowering, breaking on the edges. "Hate him. Hate him. Hate him." And she continued repeating that same statement over and over again as she resumed pacing, her pace accelerating, arms locked across her chest. "Hate him. Hate you. Hate Diana. Hate everyone." She was walking faster, breathing unevenly. "Why me? Why did it have to be me? There were so many other women just like me, identical to me. He did this to me. He did this. He did this."

She came to an abrupt halt, eyes falling on the fruit basket standing on the side table where the kitchen knife was lying next to it. She walked across the room slowly, then grabbed the handle of the knife with both hands, squeezing it firmly.

Her throat moved convulsively as she swallowed, and she drove the tip straight toward her own neck.

It stopped an inch short, Felix’s hand already wrapped firm around her wrist, holding the blade dead in place.

"I think we should stop here."

"I’m going to die anyway," she wept, tears streaming unchecked down her cheeks. "Hakimi will kill me. And if he doesn’t, everyone finding out what I did will kill me just the same. I can’t live with something like this hanging over me." Her grip on the knife trembled. "I don’t want to—"

Felix pulled his hand back from her neck. He could see it now, plain as anything, the weight of everything she’d been too much for her to hold up any longer. Her fingers went slack around the handle, and the knife slipped free, clattering hard against the floorboards. Her knees buckled a second later, and her whole body sank forward into his arms.

He caught her gently, lowering her down onto the sofa, letting her rest there, her breathing slowly evening out beneath the exhaustion finally taking over.

Felix looked down at her as he stood there. "What now?"

Mirabelle remained stiff on the couch, watching Duke Osbel as he finished talking to the knights who stood in attention by the doorway, with her patience getting worse each second that passed.

"Keep searching." Osbel waved the men off as they exited the room, leaving them alone. "No progress with finding the person responsible for the impersonation."

"I told you." Mirabelle stood up from the couch, arms crossed tightly. "I told you more than once that you were giving Hakimi far too much freedom. That whole performance in the square was his doing, Osbel. I warned you this would happen before it did, and now the entire town’s whispering about it, laughing at our expense."

"It wasn’t him." Osbel shook his head firmly. "Hakimi wouldn’t do something like that. I’ve known that boy since he was five years old, Mirabelle. I know his character."

"Then where is he?" Her tone grew sharper still. "Gone from the palace for days now, nobody able to find him. Everyone in this house is searching for a man who’s simply vanished."

"It has to be the work of whoever’s been spreading these rumors in the first place. They orchestrated the whole thing, put him in that position deliberately."

"Then where is he, Osbel? Answer that."

"I don’t have an answer for that yet."

"That is exactly the problem," Mirabelle said through clenched teeth. "You are the Duke, not he. His only reason for being there is to respond to your calling when you need him, and now he has gone off, leaving the rest of us to deal with whatever mess he has left behind."

"It is not as easy as you make it out to be," Osbel answered tiredly. "Hakimi serves Diana, and has no specific oath of service to me alone."

"Does that difference matter to you?" Mirabelle moved forward. "She’s not even able to make him listen to her anymore. Do you know what she’s been through in the last few days? Did you look into her eyes at all this week, Osbel? Or are you too busy with your reports and search parties to see how your own daughter is crumbling down under your own roof?"

Osbel’s mouth opened, then shut again, nothing coming out.

Mirabelle waited for some time, letting the silence fill up the room before saying anything again, but this time in a low tone of voice. "It’s decided. The only way to finish everything in its rightful way is to engage Diana to Nicole. This is the only way left which can keep her safe."

"I already said, I need more time to think it over."

"There is no more time for thinking." Mirabelle’s tone became cold. "Tonight I’ll be sending message to my sister. She will arrive tomorrow morning and you will be there when she arrives, Osbel. No excuses this time."