The next morning arrived quietly after the previous day's tension, as if the inn itself was trying to forget what had happened.
Without delay, Jack decided it was time to leave. The order was simple and final. Everyone was instructed to pack their belongings before dawn.
Stella moved through the process in silence, folding what little she had with careful precision, her mind working faster than her hands.
"They won't speak to me normally after this… neither Jack nor Thomas." she thought, eyes lowered as she secured her bag, "they're preparing something. I can feel it. I was lucky to get out of that situation alive. All because of that man's death… otherwise things would have escalated further."
Her fingers tightened slightly around the strap.
"In the end, they don't want unnecessary losses before the mission. That's the only reason I'm still here."
A pause followed as she joined the others downstairs.
After leaving their letters in the care of the innkeeper to be sent to the East, the group moved out soon after.
The first light of morning stretched across the streets, cold and pale, brushing over empty roads that had not yet fully awakened. Their footsteps echoed faintly between buildings, but no conversation followed.
Silence dominated the journey.
Even Evelyn, usually more relaxed, said nothing. Thomas walked ahead with a rigid posture, while Jack remained at the center of the group, his presence steady and unreadable.
Stella kept her gaze forward.
"Delay the escape… at least until I understand them better." she concluded inwardly. "Jack alone is far more dangerous than I expected."
For a while, only the sound of wheels rolling across stone roads filled the silence.
Then Jack finally spoke.
"We will begin the mission today," he said calmly, though the sharpness in his voice immediately drew everyone's attention.
"So I expect each of you to perform your role properly. If even one person is exposed, the consequences will be severe."
The carriage continued moving forward while Stella quietly lowered her gaze, her thoughts drifting elsewhere entirely.
Jack and Thomas still did not trust her. That much had become obvious after yesterday's events. Even if they acted calmer now, the suspicion remained. She could feel it every time either of them looked in her direction.
More importantly, escaping during the mission had now become far more complicated than before.
Then her thoughts shifted again toward something else entirely.
The Central Mountain Region.
Ever since Evelyn mentioned it, the name had remained stuck in Stella's mind. A place absent from every map she had seen so far, yet somehow connected to strength itself. Jack returning from there as a completely different person was not something she could ignore.
"What exactly exists there…?"
Before her thoughts could continue further, the carriage finally slowed down.
The first people to leave were Thomas, Evelyn, and Stella.
The mission had already been explained beforehand. Thomas would take the two girls to the residence of the Caden family, where they would work as servants from inside the residence itself.
Apparently, arrangements had already been prepared several days earlier. Thanks to Thomas' connections with the head servants managing the household, entering the estate had not been particularly difficult.
Still, the moment Stella stepped out of the carriage and saw the residence in front of her, even she struggled to hide her surprise.
The mansion was enormous.
Compared to this place, even the Loran family residence looked insignificant.
Tall iron gates surrounded the property like the walls of a fortress, while elegant stone pathways stretched across vast gardens filled with carefully maintained flowers, fountains, and trimmed trees. Several servants could already be seen moving through the grounds despite the early hour, each dressed in clean uniforms while carrying out their tasks with obvious discipline.
Beyond the gardens stood the mansion itself.
Massive white walls rose several floors high beneath the pale morning light, lined with towering windows decorated in gold-colored framing. Marble pillars supported the front balconies, while intricate carvings covered portions of the outer walls with enough detail to resemble artwork rather than architecture.
Even the air around the place felt different.
Wealth existed here on an entirely separate level.
As they walked farther inside the estate grounds, Stella noticed additional buildings connected to the main residence through smaller stone paths.
Storage halls, servant quarters, and what appeared to be private guest houses stood across different sections of the property. The sheer scale of the estate made it feel almost like a small district rather than a single noble residence.
Eventually, Thomas guided the two girls toward the rear section of the mansion instead of the main entrance. Unlike the luxurious front area, the atmosphere near the back entrance felt calmer and more practical, with servants constantly moving in and out while carrying supplies and laundry baskets.
The three of them stopped there to wait.
For several moments, no one spoke.
"I still don't know what exactly I'm supposed to do here," Stella thought while maintaining a composed expression. "But I need to adapt quickly."
Then footsteps approached from inside.
A woman appeared moments later, already walking directly toward them.
She looked relatively old, perhaps somewhere past middle age, yet her posture remained perfectly straight. Elegant dark clothing covered her figure neatly, every detail carefully arranged without a single sign of disorder. Even the servants passing nearby lowered their heads slightly as she approached.
The sharp look in her eyes immediately settled on the three standing near the entrance.