Charlotte paused at Liam's question.
For a moment, she simply looked at him, her playful smile remaining in place while her thoughts took a slightly different direction.
'I suppose I should have expected that,' she thought.
She had deliberately kept her earlier observations vague, presenting them as environmental inconsistencies rather than admitting she had already detected concealed individuals. Most students would have accepted the explanation without questioning what she had left unsaid.
Liam, unfortunately, was not most students.
They had both spent their first year studying Tactical Espionage under Lady Seraphina Vale, where omissions were often more revealing than lies. Charlotte knew how observant Liam could be, particularly when something interested him. In certain aspects of their shared field, she considered him at least her equal, if not better.
And now he had noticed exactly where her explanation stopped short.
'Well, there's no point dancing around it anymore.'
