The Messenger( Iva) novel Chapter 143

Plans-1

The air in the hidden room remained heavy long after the truth had been revealed, the dark liquid in the crystal bowl still swirling faintly as if it carried a life of its own, a silent witness to something that should not exist.

Melissandre moved first.

Slowly.

Carefully.

As if even breathing too hard might disturb whatever cursed force had just been confirmed.

She turned toward Caleb, her expression no longer touched by amusement or curiosity, but sharpened into something serious… something almost grim.

“I will do everything in my power to undo this,” she said, her voice steady despite the tension still clinging to her. “But this is not simple magic, Prince Caleb… this is deep… invasive… layered.”

She stepped closer to the table again, her fingers hovering over the corrupted mixture as if studying it further.

“It might take time.”

Caleb’s jaw tightened immediately at that.

“Time is not something we have,” he replied, his tone firm, edged with urgency that he could no longer mask. “The last thing this kingdom needs are its rulers… its leaders… operating under foreign influence.”

His eyes darkened.

“Especially now.”

Melissandre looked at him, truly looked this time, understanding the weight behind his words, the implications, the danger that extended far beyond the palace walls.

She exhaled slowly.

“I can do it in three days,” she said finally.

A pause.

“But you will need to hold on until then… but in the meantime you will need to uncover the source of infection and remove it… permanently.”

Three days.

It sounded short.

It felt like an eternity.

But it was something.

4

Plans-1

Calcb gave a single nod.

“Do it,” he said.

Then his gaze hardened sightly,

“And not a word to anyone.”

Melissandre didn’t hesitate.

“You have my word,” she replied.

Silence followed for a brief moment.

Then Caleb turned.

And left.

Claim

The drive back was a blur.

He didn’t remember the roads.

Didn’t register the passing lights.

Didn’t even realize where he was going-

Until he stopped.

The engine went quiet.

And only then-

He noticed.

The lake.

The same place.

The same quiet stretch of water where everything had once felt… simpler.

Where she had been with him in the first evening when they really spoke,

Caleb stepped out of the car slowly, the cool air hitting his face as he walked toward the familiar bench, his steps heavier now, as if something inside him had finally given in to the weight of everything.

He sat down.

Leaning back.

His head resting against the wood behind him as he let out a long breath, one filled with something he rarely allowed himself to feel.

Longing.

(Plans-1

Raw.

Unfiltered.

“…Iva…” he whispered under his breath, her name leaving his lips like something fragile.

The silence around him felt louder now.

Because she wasn’t there!

Because she had been there.

And now-

She was gone.

The emptiness in his chest stretched further with each passing day, growing into something sharper, something harder to ignore, something that no amount of control could fully suppress anymore.

“I miss you…” he admitted quietly, his voice barely audible, carried away by the breeze over the water.

And he hated it.

Hated how much her absence affected him.

Hated how she had managed to slip past every wall he had built.

Hated how she had left-

And taken something with her.

His fingers curled slightly as frustration mixed with that ache.

One thing, however-

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