Chapter 7
Jamie unfurled the map, the dim lantern light falling across his handsome, yet cold face.
The instant he saw what was on the map, his eyes narrowed in a flash.
The candlelight cast his shadow on the wall, making him look all the more solitary.
He took his time, examining every inch of the map with painstaking care.
His brows furrowed deeper and deeper.
"What is this?" Jamie finally broke the silence.
His voice was rough, tinged with a nervousness he didn't even seem to notice.
I lowered my head, nervously twisting my sleeves, looking exactly like someone who'd just gotten caught doing something wrong.
"I... I don't know," I stammered. "It's just... something I found when I was going through my father's old things.
"It looked kind of interesting, so I just slipped it into the book."
My voice was barely above a whisper, trembling just a little.
Jamie's head snapped up, his gaze like lightning, piercing straight into my soul.
"The Duke of the North's old things?" Jamie shot back. "Michelle, do you really think I'm some naive child? Is a map of the Northern Tribes' military positions just a toy to you?"
His voice suddenly rose, thundering with fury.
I shrank back a step, startled, my body trembling slightly.
"I really don't know what this is," I whispered. "I just thought the map looked kind of odd."
My explanation was flimsy and weak.
But that was exactly the reaction he wanted from me.
To him, I was just a sheltered woman from the inner chambers, knowing nothing about war, accidentally treating a classified map like some kind of toy.
That was the perfect cover.
Jamie let out a cold laugh, gripping the map so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
"So you 'don't know' huh?" he said. "Michelle, what exactly is the Gibson family plotting?"
He closed in on me, his presence so intense I could barely breathe.
"What, are you selling us out to the enemy? Or is this your way of blackmailing me—or the King?" Jamie snapped.
I shook my head, tears welling up in my eyes, but I stubbornly held them back, refusing to let a single one fall.
"No, we're not, really," I said. "Your Highness, why do you always doubt us like this?
"My father spent thirty years guarding the border, half his life fighting for this kingdom. And what did he get for it?
"Just the King's suspicion. And everyone else is looking at us like we're some kind of threat.
"Now he's been hauled back to Valemont City under the pretense of a royal favor. They call it 'rest,' but it's nothing more than a fancy prison.
"The border's in danger. He's worried sick, but his hands are tied. He can't do a thing.
"What can he possibly do? What can any of us in the Gibson family do?"
My voice was full of all the pent-up hurt and sadness, every word spilling out years of frustration.
What I said was a half-truth, half-lie.
But the feelings were real.
It was all that bitterness Michelle—the real me—had been bottling up for years.
Jamie was momentarily shaken by my words.
He looked at me, his gaze conflicted and stormy.
For a heartbeat, I thought I caught a flicker of vulnerability in his eyes.
But almost instantly, it was smothered by a deeper chill and wary defensiveness.
Clutching the map, Jamie spun around and strode off without another word.
"This is mine now," he said. "Don't cause any trouble. Or else, don't blame me if I show no mercy."
His silhouette disappeared at the edge of the plum grove.
I straightened up slowly, wiping away a fake tear from the corner of my eye.
As I watched him walk away, a cold smile curled at my lips.
The map was in Jamie's hands now.
Now it was up to him. Would he step up and shoulder his duty to the kingdom and its people?
I had made my first move.
Jamie walked back to his study, the map in hand.
He laid it flat on his desk, studying it over and over in the glow of the candlelight.
Every mark and every route on the map was sharp and unmistakable.
Mountains, rivers, border passes, fortresses—even the encampments of the Northern Tribes' main groups—were all mapped out in perfect detail.
But what really stood out were those red dots marked "supplies". They sent a chill down his spine.
If this map was legit, all Jamie had to do was send a crack team to torch their supplies, and the Northern Tribes' hundred thousand troops would fall apart without a fight.
This was the kind of bait that could flip the whole war on its head.
But at the same time, it was a bottomless pit of a trap.
He couldn't help but remember the tears in my eyes and the way I let all that pain and frustration spill out.
His heart was all over the place. He couldn't help it.
He'd always thought the Gibson family just saw him as a stepping stone to power.
He'd always believed this marriage was nothing but a display of the Gibson family's ambition.
'But what if they really were just loyal to the throne and the country, yet still ended up under suspicion like this?' Jamie thought.
The moment that thought popped into his head, it just made him even more restless.
He just couldn't bring himself to trust me.
But there was no way he could ignore how crucial this map was.
"Your Highness," Clark Melendez, his chief bodyguard, walked in quietly.