The General's Daughter: The Mission

The following morning, Lara waited outside the grand gates of the Zuvel Mansion, arms folded as the chilly breeze tugged at her hair. The mansion loomed behind her in imposing silence, its towering walls glowing faintly beneath the pale morning sun.

She had sent Logan a message the night before, asking for his help with something important—though she had been deliberately vague about the details.

Logan arrived not long after, dressed casually despite the fact that he was technically on leave. His father had assigned him the task of investigating the people responsible for Lara’s kidnapping, and most would have expected him to spend every waking hour buried in reports and leads.

But the moment Lara asked him to accompany her to Mount Ourea, he agreed without hesitation.

”What exactly are you planning to do in Mount Ourea?” Logan asked as he approached her, curiosity flickering in his sharp eyes.

Lara met his gaze with complete seriousness.

”We’re going treasure hunting.”

For a second, Logan stared at her blankly before letting out a quiet laugh. Surely, she was joking.

Treasure hunting?

Still, an odd sense of warmth spread through his chest. Joke or not, he was pleased she trusted him enough to involve him in whatever bizarre plan she had cooked up.

”You mind if I bring Liam along?” he asked.

Lara gave a small nod. ”The more hands, the better.”

As they settled into the café near the estate gates, Logan leaned back in his chair, studying her carefully.

”But why the sudden interest in treasure hunting?”

Lara rested her chin against her hand, her expression frighteningly earnest.

”I want to start an entertainment company.”

Logan nearly choked.

The coffee he had just sipped sprayed straight across the table and splattered onto Lara’s face.

Her expression darkened instantly.

”Oh—damn, I’m sorry!” Logan scrambled for napkins, nearly knocking over his chair in panic as he frantically wiped the coffee from her cheek.

Lara swatted his hand away with visible annoyance.

”Why would you suddenly want to start a company?” Logan asked once she cleaned herself up. His tone carried genuine concern now. ”Do you even realize how much money that takes?”

”Well...” Lara hesitated for a brief moment before continuing, ”I didn’t like the companies approaching Emily. So I thought... maybe I should build one myself and make her an offer instead.”

Logan blinked slowly.

His sister said things so casually that it took several seconds for the absurdity to fully sink in.

”Sis,” he said carefully, lowering his voice like he was trying to talk someone down from a ledge, ”starting a company isn’t like opening a snack stand. A startup can burn through millions before it even survives its first year.”

”I know.” Lara nodded confidently. ”That’s why we’re going treasure hunting. We need funding.”

Logan stared at her in complete disbelief.

Her logic was so outrageous that he couldn’t even begin to untangle it.

And yet... she looked absolutely serious.

In the end, against every rational thought in his mind, he still agreed. Maybe because it was Lara. Maybe because ever since the kidnapping incident, he found it difficult to refuse her anything.

He contacted Liam that same day, and Liam—despite his confusion—filed for a two-day leave without asking too many questions.

They planned to leave that weekend.

Right before Logan’s scheduled flight to the southern region.

...

Before dawn broke that Saturday, Lara and her group departed for Mount Ourea.

Two rugged off-road vehicles tore through the empty highway, their headlights cutting through the lingering darkness as the quiet town slowly disappeared behind them.

Logan sat in the driver’s seat of the lead vehicle while Liam rode beside him, occasionally glancing at the back where Lara sat calmly studying an old map spread across her lap.

A few of Liam’s most trusted men followed closely behind in the second vehicle, armed and alert despite the supposedly harmless ”mountain climbing trip.”

Ares had questioned Lara earlier that morning about where they were going. She simply told him she wanted to go hiking in the mountains.

Though suspicious, Ares had been tied down by urgent matters he couldn’t postpone. Lara could tell he wanted to come with them. The slight crease between his brows and the lingering look in his eyes before they left had made that painfully obvious.

Unfortunately, duty kept him behind.

Lara stared out the window as the scenery gradually changed from the highway to dense forests and rocky terrain. The cool mountain air seeped through the cracked windows, carrying with it the scent of pine and earth.

Earlier, she had already handed the map to Logan and Liam.

And from the moment they saw it, she knew.

She knew that her brothers learned about her identity.

Neither of them had said it aloud, but Lara could see it in the way they looked at her now—careful, protective, almost overly gentle at times.

The distance that once existed between them had quietly disappeared. Logan constantly checked whether she was comfortable, while Liam watched over her with silent vigilance as though afraid she might vanish if he looked away for too long.

It was obvious now.

They already suspected—perhaps even fully believed—that she was their sister.

Yet neither of them brought it up.

Lara lowered her gaze slightly, her fingers brushing against the worn edges of the map.

Whatever their reasons were for remaining silent, she would respect it.

Maybe they were waiting for certainty. Maybe they were afraid of reopening old wounds. Or maybe... they simply didn’t know how to say it yet.

No matter the reason, Lara was willing to wait until the day they would finally acknowledge her openly—not as an outsider, not as someone they merely wanted to protect, but as family.

After more than an hour of rough travel, the vehicles finally crossed into the outer periphery of Mount Ourea.

The towering mountain range rose before them like sleeping giants beneath the pale morning sky. Thick fog curled around the cliffs, while endless forests stretched deep into the wilderness. The deeper they drove, the rougher the path became, forcing the vehicles to slow over uneven rocks and muddy trails.

Lara leaned forward between the front seats, pointing ahead.

”Take the eastern trail,” she instructed calmly. ”There should be a narrow pass about three kilometers from here.”

Logan raised an eyebrow.

”You can actually read this thing?”

The map looked ancient—its edges faded, symbols handwritten in cryptic markings that barely resembled modern directions.

But Lara navigated effortlessly.

Not once did she hesitate.

Liam exchanged a glance with Logan, both men visibly surprised.

Not only was Lara good with directions, but she also possessed an almost frightening sense of orientation. Even when the trails split repeatedly into confusing paths, she guided them without the slightest uncertainty.

It was as though she had memorized the mountain itself.