The fifth day inside the slum kitchen was the longest day of Lin Wan’s life.

The air inside ’The Drunken Goat Tavern’ was always thick, but today it felt almost impossible to breathe.

The heavy steam from the boiling tubs of water rose to the low ceiling, turning into big drops of dirty moisture that dripped back down onto the floorboards.

The smell of cheap yeast, old grease, and burning wood was everywhere. It was a suffocating smell, but Lin Wan forced herself to stand right in the middle of it.

*Inhale.*

She drew the hot, greasy air deep into her lungs. Her fingers were completely covered in thick, gray flour. She was kneeling by a low wooden table, using her hands to mix a massive mound of heavy bread dough for the evening customers.

The work was incredibly hard. The dough was stiff and cold, and every time she pushed her weight into it, a sharp, burning pain shot straight up from her wrists into her shoulders.

Her skin was in terrible shape. The constant exposure to the harsh lye soap and the freezing well water had turned her small knuckles raw, red, and cracked.

Tiny lines of dried blood marked the edges of her thumbs, but she did not stop. She did not dare to stop.

*Gasp.*

She took a short, sharp breath, wiping a line of sweat from her forehead with her upper arm.

She had to stay busy. If her hands stopped moving, her brain would start thinking. And if her brain started thinking, she was terrified she would lose her mind completely from the sheer terror of her situation.

Suddenly, the heavy wooden door at the back of the kitchen swung open with a loud, violent creak.

*Creak!*

Lin Wan’s entire body gave a sharp jerk. She did not raise her head, but her eyes instantly darted toward the doorway beneath her deep, dirty hood.

A large, low-tier wolf mercenary stepped inside from the back alley. He was massive, his broad shoulders covered in a rough coat of coarse gray fur. His clothes were completely soaked from the greasy, thick rain that had been falling over the capital slums all morning.

He let out a loud grunt, lifting a massive burlap sack filled with wild, dirty potatoes off his shoulder and dropping it onto the floorboards with a heavy thud.

*Thud!*

The floorboards shook under the weight. The wolf mercenary wiped his wet, dark snout with the back of his dirty sleeve, turning his yellow eyes toward the old goat-female who was standing near the roaring brick oven.

"The third prince is done for," the wolf mercenary said, his voice deep, rough, and vibrating with a strange mix of fear and dark excitement.

The old goat-female stopped her stirring immediately. She wiped her clawed hands on her dirty apron, leaning forward. "What did you say? The third prince? Already?"

"Yes," the wolf mercenary nodded, shaking the rainwater from his gray ears. "He tried to run last night. He gathered his entire personal guard, twenty of the highest-tier wolf warriors in the outer sector, and tried to slip through the eastern mountain pass under the cover of the storm. But they didn’t even make it to the first checkpoint."

"Did the royal vanguard catch them?" one of the other kitchen maids asked, her voice trembling as she dropped her vegetable knife onto the table.

*Clang.*

"No," the wolf mercenary whispered, his yellow eyes narrowing as he looked toward the dark palace towers in the distance. "The vanguard didn’t even have to draw their blades. They say Prince Cassian stood on the highest tower of the citadel and just unleashed his shadow mantle. A massive, pitch-black wave of sovereign energy rolled over the entire eastern mountain range. It swallowed the sky. It swallowed the land. Within three seconds, the darkness cleared up, and the third prince and his entire army were found standing perfectly upright along the path, completely frozen into solid blocks of black ash. He didn’t even give them a chance to scream."

The kitchen went dead silent. The only sound left was the low, angry hissing of the grease dripping into the brick fire.

Lin Wan kept her head lowered as far as it could go. Her fingers sank deep into the raw gray dough, gripping the sticky substance so hard her short nails clicked against the wooden table.

*Gasp.*

*Gasp.*

Her heart gave a violent, painful thud against her ribs. Her entire chest felt tight, as if a heavy iron band were wrapping around her lungs and squeezing the air out. ’The third prince is dead.’ He had been turned to ash in a matter of seconds across a distance of miles.

Cassian was doing this. The same male who had been locked in a rusty iron cage, covered in filth, and bleeding from his old wounds just a week ago, was now wiping out royal princes like they were common flies.

He was destroying his own bloodline with a cold, heartless efficiency that was terrifying.

"That leaves only the eldest brother," the old goat-female spoke softly, her rough voice breaking the heavy silence of the room. "The crown prince."

"He is the last one," the wolf mercenary nodded, his voice dropping even lower. "He has locked down the inner citadel completely. He activated the ancestral divine golden array. It is the strongest defensive barrier in the entire realm. But everyone knows it is just a matter of time. Prince Cassian is already marching toward the palace gates. His shadow hounds are filling the streets. By tonight, the battle will be over. And when the eldest falls, the entire Upper Realm will belong to that monster."

The mercenary turned around, his heavy leather boots making a loud clicking sound against the wood as he prepared to leave.

*Click.*

*Click.*

But just as he reached the doorway, he stopped. He snapped his fingers, as if he had suddenly remembered something. He turned back around, his yellow eyes scanning the dark corner of the kitchen before locking straight onto Lin Wan’s small, cloaked figure.

"Hey, new girl," the wolf mercenary barked.

Lin Wan’s blood instantly went completely ice-cold. She did not lift her head, keeping her face buried deep within the dark shadow of her dirty hood, but her shoulders went completely stiff.

"Yes?" she whispered, forcing her voice to sound small, rough, and ordinary.

"A fellow outside left something for you," the mercenary said, reaching his large, clawed hand deep into the pocket of his heavy fur coat. "He approached me in the alley right before I walked in. He was wearing a very fine, high-tier cloak that hid his face, and he smelled like pure gold and magic. He told me to give this to the new girl who works the dish tub in this specific tavern. Wouldn’t give a name. The moment I took it, he just dissolved into the gray fog like a ghost."

The mercenary stepped closer to the table, his heavy shadow falling over Lin Wan’s hands. He reached out and dropped a object onto the flour-covered wood right next to her pile of dough.

*Thud.*

It was a small, square box. It was made of dark, beautifully polished mahogany wood, and the corners were lined with fine, delicate silver carvings. It looked incredibly expensive, completely clean, and totally out of place in this dirty, greasy slum kitchen.

Lin Wan stared at the wooden box. Her eyes went wide under her hood, and she stopped breathing completely.

She couldn’t drag the air into her lungs. Her gaze was locked onto the silver latch of the box. She could feel a strange, heavy vibration radiating from the wood. It felt warm. It felt terrifyingly familiar.

"Who... who did you say left it?" Lin Wan managed to whisper, her voice cracking with a deep, hidden panic.

"I told you, I don’t know," the wolf mercenary grunted, turning back toward the door and stepping out into the rainy alleyway. "He didn’t give a name. Just take it or throw it in the fire. I don’t care. I got my potato money."

The kitchen door shut behind him with another loud creak.

The old goat-female glanced at the expensive mahogany box sitting on the flour-covered table. She let out a low, mocking snort from her nose. "Well, look at that. It seems some low-life merchant in the front room has taken a liking to your small shape, even under all that black dirt on your face. Open it later, girl. Get that bread dough into the brick oven first, or we won’t have anything to sell to the evening drunkards."

"Yes," Lin Wan whispered, her voice completely hollow. "I will... I will finish the bread."

She reached out with a trembling hand, her fingers slick with gray flour, and picked up the small wooden box. She slipped it deep into the large, ragged pocket of her dirty apron.

The weight of the box felt like a heavy block of solid lead dragging her clothes down toward the floorboards. Her heart was hammering so loudly against her ribs she was genuinely terrified the old goat-female would hear it over the sound of the roaring fire.