Chapter 21: Karen's Suspicions
410words
"Something's wrong with her," he said to Eileen behind him. "This isn't the Lyra we know."
Eileen walked to his side: "What do you mean?"
"She's too... confident," Karen turned around, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. "In her past life, Lyra was timid and easily manipulated. But now, her gaze is sharp, her actions decisive, as if..."
"As if she knows what's going to happen," Eileen finished his sentence, her face turning pale.
Karen nodded: "I'm beginning to suspect that she somehow knows about our plan."
"Impossible," Irene shook her head, "unless..." she suddenly stopped, afraid to voice that terrible speculation.
Karen stared at her intently: "Unless what?"
Irene bit her lip: "Unless she somehow... remembers what happened in her previous life."
The room fell into silence; this idea was too absurd, yet it explained all of Lyra's unusual behaviors.
"If that's true," Karen's voice turned ice-cold, "then our plan faces enormous risk."
He walked to the bookshelf and took out an ancient tome: "We need to speed up. We can't wait until the Moon Shadow Valley trial."
Irene watched him vigilantly: "What are you planning to do?"
Karen opened the book, pointing to an ancient text: "Trigger her memory confusion in advance. The Dark Moon Stone can work not only during the trial, but can begin interfering with her now."
Erin hesitated: "This is too risky. If we're discovered..."
"Compared to the possibility that she might already know everything, this risk is worth taking." Karen said firmly, "Tonight, I will activate the first stage power of the Dark Moon Stone. If she truly remembers her past life, it will soon become apparent."
Erin nodded in agreement, but a sense of unease rose in her heart. She recalled what Lyra had said before leaving: "Fate is never predetermined." The power contained in these words made her shudder.
Outside the window, a raven once again landed on the windowsill, its red eyes gleaming. Karen noticed it, his brow furrowing deeper: "That bird... I always feel like it's watching us."
He waved his hand to drive away the raven, but it merely flew to a nearby tree, continuing to observe the room.
What Karen didn't know was that this raven was actually one of Mira's spirit familiars, and their conversation had been recorded in its entirety.
