The Rejected True Heiress (Liora and Callum) novel Chapter 376

Liora’s POV

The only sounds were the birds in the trees and the occasional little animal skittering across the path. The air smelled like wet soil and pine and the faint sweetness of budding leaves.

I had my satchel over one shoulder and my project notebook tucked under my arm, and for the first time in what felt like weeks, my head was reasonably clear. It was hard to catastrophize about Callum and Bianca with a midterm grade on the line and actual work to do.

I moved deeper into the tree line, scanning the ground as I walked. My professor had given us the bare minimum of pointers as to which plants to look for and where, but I didn’t really need it. I had spent plenty of time identifying wild plants during my tutoring at the palace and knew what to look for.

I found a patch of clover first. I crouched down and carefully extracted a few specimens, taking care to preserve the roots for replanting, and gently tucked them into a little pouch I’d brought. I labeled them, noted the location, and moved on.

The creek was running higher than usual from the overnight rain, and I had to pick my way along the bank carefully to avoid slipping on the wet rocks. I found some wild ginger a little further along the bank, tucked up against a mossy boulder. I collected a small sample, added it to my pouch, and straightened.

I startled at the sight of another person who I wasn’t expecting to see. Bianca, least of all, had been the last person I’d hoped to run into this morning.

She was standing a few paces away from me with a small basket over one arm and her hair pulled back in a practical braid that I had never seen on her before. She blinked at me, then approached.

I looked for an exit. There wasn’t really one, unless I wanted to scramble over the boulder or wade through the creek, both of which would have been a little too obvious.

“Liora.” She walked over. “Funny running into you out here.”

“Mm.” I closed my notebook and tucked it under my arm.

“What were you doing in the shop yesterday?”

I’d expected that question. “Looking for Zane,” I replied curtly.

“In a bridal boutique.”

“He’ll go anywhere there’s free food.” That part, at least, was completely true.

Bianca made a small sound that might have been a laugh, or a scoff. She shifted her basket to her other arm. “Well, I’m not upset about it, if that’s what you’re thinking. In fact, you’re even invited to the wedding.”

“I’ll pass,” I said immediately.

She turned and walked back up the path without looking back.

For a moment, I watched her go with a strange feeling in my gut. Then, I decided that whatever Bianca was up to was not my problem today. I had plants to collect and a project to work on, and speculating about Bianca and her schemes wasn’t going to get me a grade.

I turned back to the ridge and kept walking.

The morning wore on. I found two more specimens further up the slope—a small patch of wild bergamot and what I was fairly confident was wood sorrel, although I made a note to double-check against the reference sheet before I wrote it up. I was just deciding whether to push further into the forest or head back to campus when I heard a branch snap behind me.

I turned.

A man I didn’t recognize was standing about ten feet away on the path. He was rough-looking, unshaven, wearing a jacket that had several obvious holes in it. He stank of a rogue. He looked me over slowly.

“Hey,” he said. “You got any money on you?”

“Sorry,” I said. “I don’t carry cash.” Keeping him in my periphery, I turned and started walking back the way I had come.