Chapter l238

Chapter 0238

After thanking Tiffany, I excused myself from lunch and ushered Elva back to the safety of our room. I

kept my eyes peeled for any sight of my twin in the hallways, but I saw no sight of her myself. Yet I had no

reason to doubt Tiffany.

When we were back in the room, I called Mark to the side. “I need to meet with Prince Nicholas and

Prince Julian at once. We have to make sure the tunnel is secure.”

Mark’s face immediately grew grim. He had his phone in his hands an instant later, texting. To me, he

asked, “Has something happened?”

“I don’t know yet,” I admitted.

With the princes‘ busy schedules, we couldn’t meet until the evening. I was a nervous wreck all

afternoon.

When it finally came time, I met Julian and Nicholas down in the cellar. Mark and the nanny watched

Elva back in our room.

I stared at where once had been the tunnel opening. Now, there was only a brick wall. It was recently

laid, but hadn’t been clearly tampered with. Julian lightly ran his fingers around the outer edges. He

pressed on the bricks, checking their sturdiness.

“It’s solid,” he said.

“So there’s another way in.” I wrapped my arms around myself for comfort, but I could not seem to fight

the chill. Nicholas stepped closer to me. He didn’t touch me, instead merely stood a few inches off, but

the relative closeness warmed more than I could have alone.

“I can check the blueprints again, but this seemed to be the only passage that led off the property. The

rest connected rooms or hallways.” Julian rubbed his hand over his mouth. “We can try checking the

passages to find where she’s hiding, but she could just as easily move when we get close.”

I remembered how I had chased Jane before, and how she had seemed to vanish when I’d thought I’d

cornered her.

Julian shrugged. “Unfortunately, all it would take is for Terry to sneak her in once, and she could simply

hide out here for as long as she wants. If she does get spotted, she can just pretend to be you.”

Terry, as the Luna’s brother, could more easily pass through security than other guests. Theoretically, all

Jane would have to do was lie down on the floor of the backseat as the security gate waved Terry’s car

through.

But for that to happen, that meant…

“Terry is here?” My chills returned tenfold, and I shivered.

A muscle ticked in Nicholas’s jaw. “He’s one of the benefactors for the fundraising gala event.”

Of course he was. He had money and close ties to the royal family. Why wouldn’t he be a benefactor?

My b*dy trembled. I wasn’t ready to face him again so soon, but if he was a benefactor, I would have no choice. I was obligated to speak to each of them, to give them my pitch and to convince them to donate to the orphanage. The entire thing would be monitored so no girl or benefactor would be missed.

Nicholas’s arm wrapped around my shoulders. “There’s nothing else we can do for right now. Let me

walk you back to your room.”

I couldn’t find my voice, so I nodded.

We came out from the cellars, left the kitchen, and walked through the main hallway when I noticed we were being followed. By the deep set of Nicholas’s frown, he had likely noticed even sooner than me.

As we turned a corner, Nicholas urged me to stop. Sure enough, a few seconds later, a pair of guards

rounded that same corner. When they spotted us, the quickly halted.

These were not part of Nicholas’s personal guard. No. From the design of their uniform, these were

clearly under command of Joseph.

“You’re following us,” Nicholas said.

The guards glanced at each other. One opened his mouth but immediately closed it. The other lowered

his head.

Nicholas narrowed his eyes as the wait for a reply grew longer and longer. Finally, he added some

authoritative tone to his voice, as he said, “Under whose orders were you told to keep secrets from your

prince?”