NARRATOR

The impact was brutal. The air escaped from the woman's lungs in a strangled gasp as her head slammed against the stone.

The pain was immediate and blinding.

Katherine felt the world spin around her before collapsing, powerless, onto the plush carpet.

Her vision blurred, and from the floor, she barely made out Francis retreating, a shadow vanishing through the door.

*****

Meanwhile, Francis ran like a condemned man through the hallway, dodging a few maids checking the rooms, making his way into an abandoned wing.

The “treasure” he had stolen was clutched in his hands, his direct path leading to the wing of the late Dukes, a place rarely searched—his ticket out of this prison.

*****

KATHERINE

"Madam!" Amid my haze, I heard a female voice calling me and felt hands trying to lift me up.

My blurry eyes managed to focus for a second.

It was a maid and two footmen helping me. It seemed they had heard me scream.

"The… the man, Francis! He was here, find him!"

"But you're not well…"