Thick volcanic clouds blotted out the palace dome of Blackrock.Chilly wind streamed through gaps between stone corridor pillars, letting out dismal wails.A narrow slit opened on the carved wooden window of the second-floor scripture archive.Eve leaned half her body outside, clad in ill-fitting black stealth garments. She clamped a short dagger between her teeth, clutching an oilpaper-wrapped scroll tightly to her chest.A team of royal guards patrolled back and forth three hundred meters away.If caught stealing classified royal documents by the stubborn elders, she would face flogging at the least severe, or even be stripped of her princess title and exiled to the borderlands.Eira quickly worked out an escape route in her mind. She only needed to slide down the outer drainage pipe, evade tower sentries, and reach the Windchaser Outpost in half an hour at most.She tucked the scroll closer, drew a deep breath, and gripped the windowsill, ready to jump down.Click.Soft footsteps o
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