The Rogue is a Female Alpha novel Chapter 147

Chapter 147

Zephyrine

24%

Finished

It was under the late afternoon sky that Moon and I arrived at the path where we would part ways. I had claimed I was leaving for the Lycan Kingdom, while he would return to White Pack.

He stopped his horse and turned to me, his eyes still full of apology.

“I wish you’d let me escort you to the Lycan Kingdom. I’ll only leave once we reach the gates,” he said softly.

But I offered him a smile. I was slowly dying, and I knew it.

“I’ll be fine, Moon. Once I get there, Princess Mearez will heal me. My horse is fast. You don’t have to worry about me at all.” I assured him tenderly, and he nodded.

“Go on, then. Let me see you leave.”

I steered my horse onto the path, and it galloped away. Only when I had disappeared from sight did Moon turn back on his own road, heading for White Pack.

The moment I was certain he was gone, I pulled my horse to a halt and swallowed hard.

If I left without finding the peddler, without something more tangible, I would never forgive myself. I had seen the state Varyn was in. Every second to him must be more painful than hell.

I turned my horse back toward the place where I had fainted, where the mirror had fallen. When I arrived under the dimming sky, I found the shards still scattered on the ground.

I dismounted at once, gathering every last piece. Passersby threw glances at me, but I ignored them. After filling my saddlebag with the shards, I asked around for a repair shop.

There, I paid a craftsman to restore it. He stared at me as if I were mad.

“Why not buy a new one, my lady? The cost would be the same. And no one bothers to fix a mirror since it’ll never be the same again.”

I shook my head.

“Fix it. Keep the old handle intact.”

The shopkeeper looked at me again, baffled, but obeyed. I waited at the counter until he returned with the mended relic, and I paid him before stepping outside.

By my horse, I leaned against the saddle and held the mirror to my face. At first, it showed nothing. My shoulders sagged with exhaustion, and I nearly gave up. But then it shifted. My reflection rippled away and there he was. Varyn.

Cold chills raced down my spine. His beard was overgrown, but those eyes could never lie. It was him, chained and broken. I swallowed hard, returning the relic carefully to my saddlebag before sighing.

I was tired. Weak. But I pressed my forehead against my horse and closed my eyes. Just one night, I told myself. One night more to endure, and tomorrow I would return home.

1/2

Sat, Sep

Chapter 147

***

令24%日

Finished

“The peddler? That old man? He just left a few hours ago. If you wait, he’ll circle back with his cart,” the woman told me.

I had arrived in Nightine Town at nightfall, and every answer I received was the same. That he had just left, he would come if I stayed. But I couldn’t wait. Each second felt like it cost me everything. Even my wolf wheezed with pain, yet I endured.

I turned to leave and search elsewhere when a voice came from behind.

“You’re the pale beauty who’s been asking around for me?”

I froze for a moment, then turned slowly. The old peddler stood there, pushing his cart. The townsfolk must have spoken of me to him. “Pale“. That word told me more than I wanted to know.

Whatever happened, I had to return home tonight, or I might collapse on the road and never wake again. Without wasting time, I went to my horse, pulled the mirror from my saddlebag, and extended it to him.

The instant he saw it, his eyes widened with horror. He spun to flee, but my horse blocked his path.

His terrified reaction confused me. Why was he afraid, when I hadn’t even spoken?

“Where is this fortress?”

“How do you know?”

“Years ago, a captive inside that fortress wrote a letter. I was there for trade when he slipped it to me. He begged me to deliver it to his sister. But… I’m a crook. I sold it instead with this mirror to the Mirror Monger.”

My heart sank. Rage clawed at me. For a heartbeat, I wanted to strangle him and I could, easily. But if I did, I would lose my only lead to Varyn after all these years.

“When did he write the letter? Where did he ask you to deliver it?”

“Four years ago, if I recall. He mentioned Ash… Ash Pack, I think.”

My gaze fell, my heart breaking. Four years. If only the letter had reached me…

“This fortress. Its name?”

The peddler swallowed, his face ghostly pale as he whispered the word that froze me to the bone.

“Blackwater.”

I went cold at that revelation.

Blackwater. A fortress for barbarians, hidden in the empire’s own backyard. A place where every sort of ambiguous trade thrived. Slavery, slaughter, dealings without law or conscience.

I staggered back, and my horse stepped forward just in time for me to lean against her flank.

Blackwater. If this was true, then my brother was already running out of time.

No wonder his sanity was slipping.

“Where can I find a messenger?” I asked the peddler, my voice tight. “I have a letter to write and it must be delivered.”

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