"Rafe?"
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Eliza frowned slightly. "What''s he doing here at this hour?"
''Did he mess up at the Duke''s estate again and couldn''t handle it?''
With that thought, Eliza stood and headed outside, saying
up
to Tina, "Come with me to
check it out."
At the same time, she took the te of snacks from Tina''s hands.
Before long, Eliza arrived at the stream behind the
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mountain, carrying antern.
As soon as she got there, someone appeared out of nowhere,nding silently in front of her.
"Eliza, you''re finally here! If you''de anyter, I''d be nothing but a mosquito buffet!" Rafe whined, his tone mock- aggrieved. His eyes
immediately locked onto the te of snacks in Eliza''s hands, lighting up like a kid spotting candy.
"How did you know I was starving? These must be for me, right?"
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To his surprise, Eliza handed the te over without a word. She set thentern down and asked coolly, "What''s so urgent that you had toe thiste? Don''t tell me the Duke got the better of you."
Matthew grabbed the snacks and hopped onto a rock across from her.
Swinging his legs, he took a big bite and spoke between chews, "No way! That cranky old man tried to lock me up the moment I got back. Bute on, with just those few people in the Duke''s mansion, no way they could ever keep me locked in."
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After finishing another piece of the snack, he continued, "I
came to see you about
someone else."
Eliza didn''t sit down like him.
She stood by the stream,
letting the cool night breeze brush past her.
Hearing his words, she replied calmly, "It''s about Benedict, isn''t it?"
Rafe raised an eyebrow immediately. "Eliza, you really are amazing. You must have already guessed that
something would happen to our dear big brother after he went back, right?"
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That was an easy guess. After all, her ''dear father'' was the type to nitpick over every little thing.
Today, his precious son dared to defy him, siding with his rebellious daughter and ruining his grand ns. There''s no way Gabriel would let Benedict off without some form of punishment.
"You don''t seem worried at all, Eliza?"
Rage leaned in, craning her neck to sneak a peek at Eliza''s expression while holding a te of snacks.
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"Why should I care? He won''t die," Eliza replied tly.
And even if he did, what would
that have to do with her?
From start to finish, she hadn''t asked Benedict for anything regarding this matter.
She had begged him in the past, but Benedict hadn''t even spared her a nce back then.
Now, she didn''t need him
anymore.
So, no matter what Benedict did or how much he did, it had nothing to do with her. Rafe''s eyes widened in
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surprise. “Then I came all this way to bother you for nothing? I thought you''d definitely want to know how he''s doing."
He had rushed all the way from Hasen City, thinking this news would matter to
her.
Hearing the disappointment in his voice, Eliza couldn''t help but chuckle. "Well, it
wasn''t a total waste. At least you got
some snacks and kept the bugs busy."
Rafe rubbed his chin and
squinted. "Hmm, that kind of
makes sense."
He didn''t care about the bugs,
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but the snacks were worth it.
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With that thought, Rafe stuffed the te and snacks into his pocket, brushed off
his hands, and stood up.
"Fine, fine. Forget him. If you don''t care, let''s talk about something else."
"Is there something else?" Eliza asked with a puzzled look.
Rafe reminded her, "That old geezer suspects you, Eliza. As soon as night fell, he sent Matthew with some men to Woteria. On my way here, I even spotted traces of several groups lurking at the base of
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the mountain.''
"Not surprising."
Eliza gazed at the stream shimmering under the moonlight and said calmly, "He''s
long known I hold murderous intent toward
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them. So, with Anthony death, of course, I''d be the first person he suspects."
But as long as Gabriel couldn''t find solid proof, he wouldn''t act rashly.
''No, wait... that''s not right.''
A sudden thought struck her, and she quickly dismissed her earlier assumption.
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She had alreadypletely fallen out with her so-called
"dear father."
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The surname change had thoroughly provoked Gabriel''s desire to eliminate her.
Now, it seemed likely that he could strike at any moment.
Either before the surname-changing banquet or, perhaps, on the very day itself, Gabriel would definitely send someone to get rid of her, the thorn in his side.
If he didn''t act now, she''d gain full control of the Padi family inheritance,
reiming
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everything they had secretly divided among themselves.
And if her guess was right, Gabriel had already pocketed a significant share of it.
For the sake of those assets, he would definitely take action no matter what.
Eliza narrowed her eyes slightly, her gaze sharp and calcting.
"Now that you''re back at the Duke''s estate, do you have anything important to take care of?"
Hearing Eliza''s voice, Rafe looked up and smirked.
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"Important? You mean all that
power struggle nonsense in the estate?"
That wasn''t what Eliza meant.
She rolled her eyes and said dryly, "As long as Gabriel''s still breathing, it won''t be
your turn no matter how hard you try."
"Fair enough," Rafe said,
stroking his chin thoughtfully.
"Guess I''m free then. So, are you nning to give me something to do?"
"I do have something in mind, but if you''re not interested, I won''t push you," Eliza
replied calmly.
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Rafe raised an eyebrow, his grin widening. "Not interested? Who said that? No
matter what you arrange for me, I can do it. I can even help you kill Father if that''s what you want, but you have to promise me one thing."
He picked up thentern Eliza had ced on the ground, walked over to her side,
and held it out to light her path.
Eliza nced at him, took thentern, and said, "I don''t need you for that. Just
focus on digging up some information for me."
"Digging up information? Not exactly my specialty, but since
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you''re asking, I''ll give it my best shot," Rafe said, his grin
turning yful.
He didn''t look particrly reliable.
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But Eliza didn''t seem to mind. "What''s the promise you want, then?" she asked.
Rafe paused, as if deep in thought, before finally saying, "I want a name."
"A name?" Eliza blinked, caught off guard.
She hadn''t expected this to be his request.
"Yeah, a new name," Rafe said,
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shrugging like it was no big
deal. "This name of mine is too
unlucky, so I want you to pick a new one for me. Anything''s fine, just not ''Malone''
or
''Stonor. You decide the rest."
As he said this, his gaze locked on hers, a quiet, almost
desperate hope flickering in his
eyes.