The Husband With many Identities

Ch 8 - Who Is He

Rowan Fenn entered the private conference room carrying a stack of records.

Danaya sat at the head of the table. The captain responsible for Akeel’s capture stood near the wall.

Rowan placed the records before her.

“I completed the first investigation,” he said. “The man inside the guest room is Akeel Amihan Corvain. He is twenty-two years old and comes from Havenrock, a small village west of Asterra.”

Danaya opened the first record.

A recent crystal photograph showed Akeel standing in front of a narrow building.

“What is that place?” she asked.

“The Second Spark Workshop,” Rowan replied. “Akeel owns it. He repairs household relics and low-level machines.”

This was the first confirmed information Danaya had received about his life.

Rowan handed her a copy of Akeel’s public core registration.

“He is registered at Level One,” Rowan continued. “His listed power is Energy Sense. There is no healing ability attached to his name.”

Danaya looked at the captain.

“Your men took him from that workshop?”

“Yes, Lady Danaya,” the captain replied. “He answered to the name Akeel. His face and the mark beneath his jaw matched the portrait we were given.”

“Did you ask for his full name?”

“We did,” the captain said. “He refused to provide it. I believed he was hiding his identity again, so I ordered the men to bring him here before he could escape.”

“You confirmed nothing before taking him.”

The captain lowered his head.

“No, Lady Danaya,” he admitted. “The mistake was mine.”

Danaya returned her attention to Rowan.

“Continue.”

Rowan opened the next group of records.

“Akeel Corvain lost his mother when he was young. No father is named in the village registry. He left school at fifteen and began working in repair houses.”

Rowan arranged several old work permits by date.

“I found records from four towns,” he explained. “Each employer recorded his fingerprint when he received payment. The earliest permit was filed seven years ago.”

Danaya examined the dates.

Some of them came from the same period when her missing fiancé had lived under Seraphine’s protection.

One permit placed Akeel Corvain in Northpass. It had been signed on the same day Danaya attended a formal dinner with her fiancé in Asterra.

Another placed him in Havenrock while her fiancé accompanied Seraphine to a public event.

Danaya looked up from the records.

“These dates say they were in different places at the same time.”

“Yes,” Rowan replied. “That happened more than once.”

“Could the records have been changed?”

“I checked the original copies,” Rowan said. “They are held by different employers, town offices, and guild branches. Several existed before your engagement was arranged.”

Danaya placed the work permits beside the photograph of her missing fiancé.

The two men had the same face and the same first name.

Their records described separate lives.

Rowan allowed her time to examine the evidence before giving his conclusion.

“Lady Danaya, the man our guards captured is not your missing fiancé,” he said. “They brought back the wrong Akeel.”

Silence filled the room.

The captain stepped away from the wall.

“I accept full responsibility,” he said. “I will submit to whatever punishment you decide.”

Danaya closed the records.

“You acted before you had proof,” she said. “Your mistake could have caused the death of an innocent man.”

The captain kept his head lowered.

“Yes, Lady Danaya.”

“The only reason it did not is because he was stronger than you believed.”

The captain raised his eyes for a moment.

He knew how little resistance Akeel had shown during the capture. At the time, the guards had believed the sleeping mist and restraint had worked.

Now, he was no longer certain.

Danaya looked at Rowan.

“Does Akeel have any formal healing education?”

“None,” Rowan replied. “He never attended a healing academy. He has no medical license from a healing guild.”

“Did anyone mention the traveling healer who trained him?”

“No,” Rowan said. “This is the first time I have heard about that person.”

“Look into it.”

“I will,” Rowan replied.

He pulled one final page from the stack.

“There are also rumors about Akeel in Havenrock,” he said. “Some villagers claim he disappeared for months when he was younger. Others question where he found enough money to travel between towns.”

“Did you confirm any of it?” Danaya asked.

“No,” Rowan replied. “The village records are incomplete, and no one provided evidence. I included the statements because you requested everything we found.”

“Then they remain rumors,” Danaya said. “Do not build your investigation around them.”

“Yes, Lady Danaya.”

Danaya looked at the two photographs again.

One showed the man Seraphine had selected for her.

The other showed a LevelOne relic repairman.

The difference should have been easy to accept after reading the records.

It was not.

No report could explain why two men from separate lives shared the same name, face, and mark beneath the jaw.

“Continue investigating him,” Danaya ordered. “Speak to his former employers. Trace the places where he lived. I want facts about the man inside this estate.”

Rowan gathered the records that Danaya had finished reading.

“What should we do with him now that we know he is not your fiancé?” he asked.

“He's not a prisoner,” Danaya replied. “Remove the guards from his door. I will speak to him after he wakes.”

Rowan nodded.

“And the captain?”

Danaya looked toward the man near the wall.

“His punishment will be decided after Grandma wakes,” she said.

The captain bowed.

“Thank you, Lady Danaya.”

“That was not forgiveness,” Danaya replied. “Leave.”

The captain left the room.

Rowan followed after collecting the remaining documents.

Danaya stayed at the table.

She placed Akeel’s public record beside the engagement portrait.

The same face looked back at her from both photographs.

One man had disappeared before their wedding.

The other had been dragged into her home and saved her grandmother.

Danaya lowered her eyes to the name beneath the workshop photograph.

“Akeel Veer Corvain,” she said.