The knocking continued.


    "Come in," said Belinda.


    The butler burst in, half-running in the dark. In his panic, he bumped into a vase, sending it crashing to the floor, and nearly tripped over his own feet before reaching Belinda.


    Panting, he said, "Something has happened. The entire power grid is down. There''s no response from the surveince room either. The whole castle is in disarray."


    Belinda said, "Why are you in such a panic? There are candles. Just light some candles."


    The butler replied, "All the candles are gone. Even the ones from the candbras. All of it has been taken away!"


    Belinda arched a brow. She folded her arms and snorted before saying, "So, what you''re telling me is that we''re spending the night in total darkness?"


    The butler stammered quickly, "No, don''t worry. I''ve already dispatched men to check the power distribution room and the surveince room. Also, we found a suspicious individual in the storage room. He may have been the one who hid the candles. We''ve sent people after him."


    Belinda was taken aback. Just then, the moon slipped out from behind the clouds, casting a silvery glow across her face. In the faint light, her expression seemed almost lifeless.


    She turned to the butler, studying him. Then, she smiled helplessly. She said, waving her hand, "Well, I''ll leave it to you. Do whatever you must to bring the power back."


    The butler answered, "Got it."


    He stepped out of the room, still unsure if that smile had been a praise. It didn''t seem like it. But if Belinda was displeased, why hadn''t she said more?


    The door clicked shut behind the butler. A momentter, another door in the room swung open, and a person stepped out. The person reported, "We''ve managed to contact only one person in the forest. The rest arepletely off the grid."


    Belinda strolledzily behind the couch. She didn''t seem angry. Instead, she murmured like a shy woman, "He blinded me and took out most of my people. What do you think he''ll do next? I think he''lle to me and put the ne on me. I''m full of anticipation just thinking about it. I like him so much!"


    The person who stepped out was at a loss for words. This wasn''t the time to be swooning over a man. He said, "This isn''t the right moment to reveal your identity. Please think it through."


    ...


    For 20 minutes, in the castle and forest full of chaos, all kinds of noises sounded, including screams, roars, and sobs. The darkness intensified everyone''s emotions. The moon, flitting in and out of the clouds, seemed to stoke the madness, casting everything into a frenzy.


    In the chaos, a lone figure slipped through a hidden back entrance and climbed to the third floor.


    Two steady knocks sounded, like chess pieces being set on a board. Inside the study, Belinda, who was sitting on the couch, smiled and said, "Mr. Reid, pleasee in."


    The door opened, and Dominic stepped inside with a lit candle in hand. He looked utterly unbothered, as if the ckout had nothing to do with him. His calmness was provoking, especially to anyone still stumbling around in the dark.


    Dominic entered and shut the door behind him. Crossing the room, he stepped over the shards of the broken vase and sat down opposite Belinda.


    There were no candbras in the room, so Dominic just let a few drops of wax fall onto the table and stuck the candle upright. In the soft flicker of me, his features came into view.<fnbe2b> N?w ?ovel chapt?rs are published on f?ndnovel</fnbe2b>


    When Dominic nced up, his gaze was sharp. He said, "Ms. Belinda, you seem to have a lot of faith in me."


    "I do," answered Belinda, her smile filled with admiration.


    Dominic returned a faint smile and said, "It isn''t considered cheating, is it?"


    He was talking about the chaos he had just orchestrated.