The silhouette standing in the alley outside the window still lingered in her mind. When had that been? A rainy night, the hooded shadow glimpsed from the inn window. The next morning, Leon had found leather shoe prints on the cobblestones. Since then, something had shifted within Alicia. The sense of *gathering evidence* had transformed into the sense of *protecting evidence*. The enemy was ahead of her. She truly understood this only tonight. --- It was the maid Ella who noticed first. Alicia had claimed poor health that morning and retired to her room early. Just as she was about to extinguish the lamp and lie down, small footsteps sounded in the corridor. Two modest knocks. "…Miss, under the door—" Ella's voice was muffled. Confused, tinged with fear. Alicia rose and opened the door. Ella—sixteen years old, petite, her chestnut hair always braided neatly—was on her knees, reaching for something that had been slipped beneath the door. A folded slip of paper, thick and caref