CHAPTER 130: THE TEST -TRAIL OF TRUTH

The car rolled through the sleeping countryside, its headlights carving a thin path through mist and shadow.

Inside, Alessia sat between the two Council emissaries—men carved from silence, their expressions unreadable, their eyes hidden behind glass.

No one spoke.

The hum of the engine and the rhythmic thud of her pulse filled the space.

Every curve of the road drew her farther from Luca, from the safety of his arms, and closer to whatever fate the Council had scripted for her.

Her fingers worried the edge of her sleeve, brushing against the faint scar near her wrist—a reminder of a night when love and danger had first entwined.

Outside, dawn was breaking.

The world looked deceptively gentle—olive trees swaying in pale light, birds lifting from the branches.

Yet beneath that calm, Alessia could feel the tension tightening, a storm waiting to claim her.

When the car finally stopped, it was in front of a structure that didn’t belong to any century.

The Council Hall.

Built of pale stone and shadow, it rose from the earth like a mausoleum. High columns guarded the entrance, each carved with the sigil of one of the Twelve Families.

The Morano serpent gleamed faintly at the top, its eyes inlaid with onyx.

As Alessia stepped out, the air bit cold against her skin.

The guards at the gate didn’t speak, they simply bowed their heads slightly, acknowledging the arrival of the one summoned for judgment.

Inside, the hall was vast and echoing. Marble floors stretched endlessly, broken only by the dark banners of the ruling houses.

At the far end stood a crescent table, behind which sat the Council.

Twelve figures cloaked in black.

Their faces were half-hidden, but power was a tangible thing here—it lingered in every breath, every glance, every measured movement.

Lauretta’s warning echoed in Alessia’s mind: "When they summon you, do not look to Luca for help. This is your test, not his."

The lead figure rose. He was tall, his presence heavy, his voice carrying the weight of command.

"Alessia Luca Morano," he said. "You stand before the Council to face the Trial of Truth. Do you understand the gravity of this proceeding?"

Her throat felt dry, but her voice came steady. "I do."

"Good," the man replied. "Then know this—each falsehood you speak will cost you something you hold dear.

A memory, a name, a piece of who you are. Truth is the currency here, and deceit its debt."

Alessia felt a shiver trace her spine.

A second figure spoke—a woman’s voice, cool and sharp. "You married into the Morano line under unusual circumstances. Tell us, Alessia, was it for love... or for protection?"

The question cut straight through her.

She thought of Luca—their first meeting, the way danger had surrounded him like perfume, the way she had felt both terrified and alive in his presence. But love? That had come later, slowly.. Painfully.

"For love," she said quietly. "Though I didn’t know it then."

The woman leaned forward. "Not knowing and not loving are different things. Which was it?"

"I loved him," Alessia said, stronger this time. "Even before I admitted it."

A faint hum filled the hall.

The torches along the walls flickered, truth registered.

The first man nodded once. "Good. You may proceed."

A third Councilor—his accent Eastern, his tone dripping skepticism—spoke next. "Seraphina had a strange illness, and she believe you know or had something to do with it, in fact you may be the only cure to the web sickness in her veins. It beginning to get contagious and three of her guards men died that night, including one of our own agents. Tell us, Alessia, did you know who orchestrated it?"

Alessia’s chest tightened. The memory of her father telling her about such strange illness when she was little flashed back. And he concluded saying once the sickness comes to reality the day of the moon eclipse and the black book is coming very close...

She closed her eyes for a heartbeat.

"No," she said. "But I suspect it was someone from within the families."

The Council murmured.

"On what grounds?" the man pressed.

"The way they moved," she answered. "Their precision. Their access. Outsiders don’t know the Morano routines. Only someone bred into the hierarchy could have come that close and make the illness spread again. "

Another hum, the torches flared and truth again.

The questioning shifted like tides—sharp, relentless, designed to strip her bare.

They asked of her loyalty, her past, her bloodline.

They asked of her childhood, her estranged father, her mother’s disappearance.

They asked of nights when she had disobeyed Luca’s orders, when she’d gone behind his back to help someone she shouldn’t have.

Each confession felt like tearing a piece of herself loose.

At one point, the Councilor in the center leaned forward. "Tell us, Alessia—have you ever betrayed the Morano name?"

The question hung like smoke.

"I’ve doubted it," she admitted, voice trembling. "I’ve questioned the darkness it carries. But betrayal?" Her gaze lifted, unwavering. "No. Because Luca is my husband. And what he carries, I carry too."

The torches burned brighter.

The Councilor inclined his head. "Truth acknowledged."

But the respite was brief.

A new voice rose—a deep, unfamiliar one that carried authority unlike the others. "And yet, Alessia Morano," it said, "you conceal something still."

A figure at the far left stood. His face remained in shadow, but the air around him shifted. He wore the insignia of the Council Head.

Her pulse stuttered.

He stepped forward, and the hall seemed to darken with his presence. "We know of the night at the hotel, when you were caught with your ex . The day you made luca you spared the same man sent to kill you —lorenzo."

Alessia froze. The sound of waves, the scent of salt and gunpowder—it all came rushing back.

It was only a group of three who witness it. I, luca and the victim.. How comes the councils are aware. Even her mother had never known.

"How did you.... " Alessia tired to ask

The man’s tone silenced her. "Answer."

"I... I begged my husband let him go," she whispered. "He had never spill a blood before. I couldn’t... "

"Couldn’t kill him," the man finished coldly. "Even though his survival risked the life of your husband, severally."

Her breath faltered.

The Council murmured again, voices low and judgmental.

The man stepped closer, his eyes a void. "Compassion in our world is not a virtue, Alessia. It is a weakness. Tell us—if given the same choice again, would you spare him?"

The hall fell silent.

Every instinct screamed at her to say what they wanted to hear—to claim she would not hesitate, that she had learned. But something inside her refused.

"I would," she said softly. "Because mercy doesn’t make me weak. It reminds me I’m still human. And if the Moranos have forgotten what that means, then maybe I’m here to remind them."

The silence that followed was suffocating. Even the torches stilled, as if the flames were listening.

Then—an explosion of sound. The torches roared to life, bathing the chamber in violent gold.

The Council Head’s gaze lingered on her, unreadable. "Truth," he said finally. "And defiance. Both are costly."

He raised a hand. One of the emissaries stepped forward, carrying a small silver dagger etched with ancient script.

"By the rites of old," the man declared, "the accused who speaks a truth of rebellion shall bleed once for every shadow she exposes."

Alessia didn’t flinch as the blade sliced her palm.

The pain was sharp, clean—a contract sealed in blood.

When the emissary withdrew, she stood straighter.

The blood dripped to the marble, crimson against white.

The Council watched, silent. Then the Head spoke again.

"You have answered truthfully. You have faced what many before you would have denied. The Council acknowledges your courage."

His tone softened not kind, but measured. "But understand this, Alessia Morano. Truth is only the beginning. The next trial will not ask for honesty. It will demand endurance."

She bowed her head slightly. "Then I will endure."

The Head studied her for a long moment, then nodded once. "Take her to the chambers of silence. Her second trial begins at midnight."

The guards stepped forward.

As they led her away, Alessia glanced back. The Councilors had already turned from her, their forms dissolving into shadow.

The door closed behind her with a heavy clang.

In the corridor beyond, the air was colder. She could still feel the sting of the blade, the pulse of her blood like a warning.

But beneath it all, there was something else, something fierce and unyielding.

For the first time, Alessia understood what madam Lauretta had meant.

The test wasn’t just about loyalty. It was about transformation.

And as she walked toward the chamber that would swallow her in silence, she whispered to herself....

"They will not break me." she said as she prepares for the second test....