"What? Tell me more!" one maid urged, leaning in eagerly. "Did you see that thief we still haven't caught?"
The palace servants crowded around each other in a tight huddle, voices dropping to excited whispers.
I pretended not to hear—while simultaneously pricking up my ears to catch every word.
"No, it wasn't the red-haired woman. I think I saw someone else during the chaos—someone putting out the fire who slipped a fallen jewel into their pocket when they thought no one was looking."
"What? Here I thought some grand revelation was coming, but it's just a story about a palace maid with sticky fingers."
I nearly lost interest myself at that point.
But the other maids grew even more animated, as if this were the most delicious gossip they'd heard in weeks.
"Wait, who was it? Did you see her face?"
"It was so dark, and I was out of my mind with panic—I couldn't make out her features."
"Then why didn't you shout right then and there?!"
"Because... I'm not entirely sure if she picked up a jewel or something else. If I'd reported it and been wrong, my life in this palace would've been miserable from that point forward."
"Ah, that's true. Better safe than sorry."
"Honestly, with so many jewels scattered everywhere during the fire, I bet more than a few people snatched them up."
The maids scolded their companion for not seizing the opportunity to grab treasures herself in such an urgent situation—but their faces were filled more with envy than genuine condemnation of those who had participated in the impromptu theft.
Someone muttered softly, almost as an afterthought:
"By the way, I heard the Empress is utterly heartbroken. They say she's even skipping meals."
I smiled secretly, recalling the vivid dream I'd had the night before—Kavala weeping tears of fury as I stood wrapped head to toe in her stolen gold and jewels.
If only reality could be so satisfying.
"Ah!"
Kavala's shriek of rage echoed through the office as she hurled objects from her desk with violent force.
The sharp sounds of things breaking and tearing filled the air. The floor was already littered with debris from her earlier tantrum—shattered porcelain, torn documents, overturned inkwells.
It looked as though a typhoon had torn through the room.
Kavala's maids didn't dare try to stop her. They stood pressed against the walls with downcast eyes, wearing expressions of guilt despite having done nothing wrong.
"Dnieper! Is Dnieper here yet?!"
As soon as the words left her mouth, the office door flew open and a servant came rushing in, breathless and flustered.
"Y-Your Majesty! Marquis Blanco has arrived! He's dismounting now!"
The attendant had spotted Dnieper's shadow in the courtyard and sprinted to announce his arrival before the marquis had even reached the office door.
Perhaps if I report his arrival quickly enough, this nightmare will finally end...
Kavala's voice cracked like a whip.
"Bring him in! Now!"
"Yes, Your Majesty! Right away!"
The servant turned to fetch Dnieper—but before the door could even close behind him, the marquis himself appeared.
He was panting heavily, his face flushed from running.
"Sister."
Kavala didn't give him a moment to catch his breath.
"That gypsy woman—did you find her? Why are you so slow to report?!"
Dnieper had spent the entire night scouring the palace grounds for the runaway red-haired woman. Now he hung his head in shame.
"I... I haven't found her yet."
"Why on earth can't you find one woman?!"
"I'm sorry, Sister."
"Didn't you say she was just some insignificant gypsy? How could a gypsy escape from my chambers? How did she even know about the magic key? Where were you—what were you doing—while that woman was rummaging through my storage vault?!"
Kavala's eyes blazed with fury as she strode toward Dnieper.
Then, without warning, she struck him across the face with all her strength.
Crack!
The blow was so vicious that Dnieper's entire body staggered sideways.
The maids standing against the wall flinched and squeezed their eyes shut.
Kavala seized Dnieper by the collar, her fingers twisting into the fabric.
"Did you plan this to betray me? Did you free that gypsy girl yourself? Did you tell her about the magic key?!"
Dnieper fell to his knees before her.
"Never! There's no way I would do such a thing, Sister!"
"Only you and the dead Empress knew about that key!"
"Please believe me, Sister. This was entirely my fault for not being more vigilant—but I had no idea something like this would happen. I swear it on my life."
As he spoke, two long scratches appeared on Dnieper's cheek where Kavala's sharp nails had torn his skin. Blood welled up and trickled down his face.
Kavala gritted her teeth as she stared down at Dnieper's pitifully upturned face.
"Oh, gods! Why is this happening?! Why? Why?!"
Unable to contain her fury, she began throwing things again—porcelain figurines, decorative boxes, anything within reach—swearing viciously all the while.
In her frenzy, she nicked her finger on something sharp.
"Ah!"
Kavala clutched the injured hand, her rage momentarily interrupted by pain.
Dnieper immediately crawled toward her on his knees, examining her hand with urgent concern.
A single drop of blood was forming at the tip of her finger—a tiny wound, almost laughably small compared to the gashes on Dnieper's own cheek.
But Dnieper shouted at the maids as if something catastrophic had occurred.
"Quickly! Bring me medicine and bandages!"
A maid scurried off to fetch the medical supplies.
"Sister, please be careful..."
Even after receiving a brutal blow from Kavala, Dnieper seemed utterly unconcerned with his own wounds—fixated only on hers.
He brought her finger to his mouth and gently sucked away the blood.
Kavala looked down at Dnieper kneeling before her, watching him tend to her wound with reverent devotion.
She took a slow, deliberate breath.
For a long moment, silence blanketed the Empress's office.
Kavala stared at Dnieper as he carefully licked her finger clean, then tilted his chin upward with one hand.
"Get up, Dnieper."
Her voice had transformed—calm now, almost gentle.
Dnieper slowly rose to his feet and stood facing her.
Kavala turned his face slightly, examining the wounds on his cheek with delicate fingers.
"You're bleeding."
"It's nothing, Sister."
"You need treatment."
Kavala took the medicine the maid had brought and carefully applied it to Dnieper's torn cheek. Her touch was gentle and precise—as if she hadn't been the one to inflict the injury mere moments ago.
The maids exchanged uneasy glances, their eyes flickering with something unspoken. Then they quickly lowered their gazes and pressed their lips shut, silent as porcelain dolls.
By the time Kavala finished tending to Dnieper's wounds, she had calmed considerably and returned to her usual composed demeanor.
She asked in her customary elegant, gentle tone:
"I heard many of the jewels in the warehouse went missing. Did that gypsy woman take them?"
"We're still investigating. We've recovered some of the pieces, but we haven't yet cleared all the rubble from the burned building. I can't give you a definitive report just yet."
Kavala touched her forehead, visibly suppressing another surge of anger.
Her voice remained controlled—but only barely.
"What about... that thing?"
Dnieper swallowed hard.
He gestured sharply to the maids, signaling them all to leave.
Only after the servants had filed out and closed the door behind them did he speak.
"We're searching for it now. I've instructed the workers to begin clearing debris from the area where the object was stored."
Kavala clenched her fists. Her hands trembled visibly.
"Even if everything else is gone, we must find that one thing. Do you understand me? We must find it."
"I'll keep that as my top priority, Sister. But even if the other jewels were stolen, this particular item probably wasn't. It looks like nothing more than an unremarkable artifact."
Dnieper tried to reassure her, grasping at hope.
"On the surface, it appears to be just an old, worn-out chalice. Nothing special."
"That's true..."
Kavala nodded slowly, as if trying to convince herself.
"Find it quickly. You must retrieve it yourself before anyone else sees it."
"Yes, I understand."
"And you'll obtain the key to awakening it through Chloe. All you need to do is persuade Marquis Rodrian."
Kavala's eyes gleamed with greedy anticipation.
"Do you have any idea how hard I worked to discover how to awaken that relic? If I can just use it successfully, I'll gain something worth far more than all the jewels I lost in this fire."
"You will definitely obtain it, Sister."
"Yes. You're right. Make sure Chloe has trustworthy people accompanying her when she leaves the palace."
She fixed Dnieper with a sharp, warning look.
"When you choose her escort this time, you must not make the same mistakes as yesterday. Understood?"
"I will keep that in mind, Sister."
Kavala let out a slow breath, as if forcing herself to release her obsession with the Holy Grail—at least for the moment.
"And don't forget to find that gypsy woman. I think I'll feel much better once I've torn her apart with my own hands."
Though Kavala had just declared that the relic was worth more than all her lost treasures combined, it seemed she was still utterly consumed by rage over the stolen jewels.
Dnieper reached out and gently patted Kavala's shoulder in a gesture meant to be comforting.
"I will do everything in my power to help you recover both the jewels you cherished and the woman who dared to steal them."
Kavala closed her eyes, leaning slightly into his touch.
Yes. Everything will be fine. It must be.
[ To be continued... ]
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