"What? Tell me more. Did you see that thief we haven't caught yet?"
The maids crowded around each other.
I also pretended not to hear and pricked up my ears.
“No, I think I saw someone put out a fire and put a jewel that fell on the floor into their pocket.”
"What? I thought there was some grand story coming up, but it's just a story about a palace maid with bad habits."
I quickly lost interest.
But the maids were even more excited, as if it were some fun gossip.
"What? Who was that? Did you see her face?"
“It was so dark, and I was out of my mind; I couldn’t see her face.”
“Why didn’t you shout right then and there!”
“That’s... I’m not sure if she picked up a jewel or something else...”
“Well, you're not sure, but if you reported it and it was a misunderstanding, your life in the palace would have been difficult from now on.”
"Yeah, yeah. There were so many jewels scattered around, honestly, I bet a lot of people snatched them up."
The maids scolded the palace maids for not seizing the opportunity to take the jewels even in an urgent situation.
But their faces were filled with envy rather than condemnation of the palace maids who had participated in the theft.
Someone muttered.
“By the way, I heard the Empress is very heartbroken. She’s even skipping meals.”
I smiled secretly as I recalled my dream from last night.
“Ah!”
Kavala shouted in anger and threw the things on the desk.
The sound of things breaking and tearing filled the office sharply.
The floor was already littered with the things she had thrown.
It seemed like a typhoon was brewing.
Kavala maids did not dare to stop her and just stood against the wall with their eyes downcast.
They had expressions of guilt even though they had done nothing wrong.
Kavala shouted nervously outside.
“Dnieper! Is Dnieper here yet?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the office door flew open, and a servant came rushing in.
“Oh, you’ve arrived! The Marquis Blanco is dismounting!”
As soon as the servant saw Dnieper's shadow, he ran and announced his arrival.
The attendant reported hastily, even though he had not yet reached the office door and had only just appeared in the courtyard of the Empress's Palace.
He thought that if he announced Dnieper's visit as quickly as possible, this commotion would stop.
Kavala commanded sharply.
“Come in!”
“Yes! I will bring you!”
The servant went out again, saying he would bring Dnieper.
But before the door could even close, Dnieper appeared.
He was panting heavily.
“Sister.”
Kavala asked him without giving him a moment to breathe.
"That gypsy woman? Did you find her? Why is she so slow to report?"
Dnieper, who had been running around the palace all night searching for the runaway red-haired woman, hung his head in shame.
“I haven’t found her yet.”
“Why on earth can’t you find that one woman!”
“I’m sorry, sister.”
"Didn't you say she was just some insignificant gypsy? How could a gypsy escape my bedroom? How did she know about the magic key? Where were you and what were you doing while that woman was rummaging through the storage room?"
Kavala opened her eyes wide and strode towards Dnieper.
Then she mercilessly struck Dnieper on the cheek.
Crack!
The blow was so strong that Dnieper's body staggered.
The maids standing against the wall closed their eyes tightly.
Kavala grabbed Dnieper by the collar.
"Did you plan this to betray me? Did you free the gypsy girl and tell her about the magic key?"
Dnieper fell to his knees before Kavala.
“There’s no way that’s true, Sister!”
“Only you and the dead Empress know about that magic key!”
“Please believe me, Sister. It was all my fault, but I had no idea something like this would happen.”
As he spoke, Dnieper's cheek bore two scars, scratched by Kavala's long nails. Blood flowed from the wounds.
Kavala gritted her teeth as she saw Dnieper looking up at her pitifully.
“Oh my! Why on earth is this happening! Why on earth! Why!”
Unable to control her anger, she started throwing things again, swearing.
Then she ended up slightly hurting her finger on something sharp.
“Ah!”
Kavala took hold of the injured hand.
Then Dnieper approached her on his knees and examined her hand urgently.
A small drop of blood was forming on the tip of her finger.
It was a very small wound compared to the one on Dnieper's cheek.
But Dnieper shouted at the maids as if something serious had happened.
“Quick, bring me some medicine and bandages!”
A maid quickly ran to get the medicine box.
“Sister, be careful.”
Even after receiving a sharp blow from Kavala, Dnieper was only upset by her wounds.
He put his mouth to Kavala's wound and sucked the blood.
Kavala looked down at Dnieper, who was kneeling before her, and took a deep breath.
“...”
For a moment, silence fell upon the Empress's office.
Kavala stared blankly at Dnieper, who was licking her finger, then lifted her chin to look at him.
“Get up, Dnieper.”
It was a much more calming voice.
Dnieper slowly got up and stood facing Kavala.
Kavala turned his face slightly and examined the wound on his cheek.
“It’s bleeding.”
"it's okay."
“You need treatment.”
Kavala took some medicine from the medicine chest the maid had brought and applied it to Dnieper's cheek to treat his wound.
It was a gentle and delicate touch, as if asking when she had ever touched him.
The maids glanced at the two with strange eyes, then quickly lowered their gaze and shut their mouths tightly like dolls.
By the time Dnieper's treatment was over, Kavala had calmed down considerably and returned to her usual self.
She asked in her usual elegant and gentle voice.
“I heard a lot of the jewels in the warehouse are missing. Did that gypsy woman take them?”
"We're looking into it. We've recovered some of the jewels, but we haven't yet cleared the rubble of the burned building, so we can't give you a definitive report."
Kavala touched her forehead.
She asked in a suppressed voice, trying to suppress the anger that threatened to surge up again.
“What about ‘that thing’?”
Dnieper swallowed dry saliva.
He signaled to the maids to all leave.
It was only after the maids left that he began to tell the story.
“We’re looking for it. I’ve instructed them to start clearing the debris from where the object was.”
Kavala clenched her fists. Her hands were trembling.
"Even if everything else is the same, we absolutely must find that one thing. Got it? We must find that one thing."
"I'll keep that in mind. Even if all the other jewels were stolen, this one probably wasn't. It looks like an unremarkable item."
Dnieper tried to soothe Kabbalah by turning the circuit of hope.
“On the surface, it looks like just an old, worn-out chalice.”
“That’s true.”
Kavala nodded as if he acknowledged it.
“Come here quickly. You have to find it yourself before anyone else sees it.”
“Yes, I understand.”
"You'll find the key to awakening it through Chloe. All she has to do is persuade Marquis Rodrian."
Kavala's eyes flashed greedily.
"You know how hard I worked to figure out how to awaken that relic. If I could just use it, I'd gain something worth more than all the jewels I've lost this time."
“You will definitely get it, Sister.”
"Yes, that's right. Make sure Chloe has trustworthy people with her when she leaves."
She looked sharply at Dnieper.
"When choosing people this time, you mustn't make the same mistakes as yesterday. Got it?"
“I will keep that in mind.”
Kavala was forced to give up the idea of the Holy Grail.
"Don't forget to find that gypsy woman. I think I'll feel better if I tear her to pieces with my own hands."
Kavala had just said that if she could just use the relic, she would gain something more valuable than the jewel she had lost yesterday, but it seemed that she was still madly missing the lost jewels.
Dnieper patted Kavala.
“I will do my best to help you recover the jewels you cherished along with the woman you lost.”
The maids crowded around each other.
I also pretended not to hear and pricked up my ears.
“No, I think I saw someone put out a fire and put a jewel that fell on the floor into their pocket.”
"What? I thought there was some grand story coming up, but it's just a story about a palace maid with bad habits."
I quickly lost interest.
But the maids were even more excited, as if it were some fun gossip.
"What? Who was that? Did you see her face?"
“It was so dark, and I was out of my mind; I couldn’t see her face.”
“Why didn’t you shout right then and there!”
“That’s... I’m not sure if she picked up a jewel or something else...”
“Well, you're not sure, but if you reported it and it was a misunderstanding, your life in the palace would have been difficult from now on.”
"Yeah, yeah. There were so many jewels scattered around, honestly, I bet a lot of people snatched them up."
The maids scolded the palace maids for not seizing the opportunity to take the jewels even in an urgent situation.
But their faces were filled with envy rather than condemnation of the palace maids who had participated in the theft.
Someone muttered.
“By the way, I heard the Empress is very heartbroken. She’s even skipping meals.”
I smiled secretly as I recalled my dream from last night.
***
“Ah!”
Kavala shouted in anger and threw the things on the desk.
The sound of things breaking and tearing filled the office sharply.
The floor was already littered with the things she had thrown.
It seemed like a typhoon was brewing.
Kavala maids did not dare to stop her and just stood against the wall with their eyes downcast.
They had expressions of guilt even though they had done nothing wrong.
Kavala shouted nervously outside.
“Dnieper! Is Dnieper here yet?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the office door flew open, and a servant came rushing in.
“Oh, you’ve arrived! The Marquis Blanco is dismounting!”
As soon as the servant saw Dnieper's shadow, he ran and announced his arrival.
The attendant reported hastily, even though he had not yet reached the office door and had only just appeared in the courtyard of the Empress's Palace.
He thought that if he announced Dnieper's visit as quickly as possible, this commotion would stop.
Kavala commanded sharply.
“Come in!”
“Yes! I will bring you!”
The servant went out again, saying he would bring Dnieper.
But before the door could even close, Dnieper appeared.
He was panting heavily.
“Sister.”
Kavala asked him without giving him a moment to breathe.
"That gypsy woman? Did you find her? Why is she so slow to report?"
Dnieper, who had been running around the palace all night searching for the runaway red-haired woman, hung his head in shame.
“I haven’t found her yet.”
“Why on earth can’t you find that one woman!”
“I’m sorry, sister.”
"Didn't you say she was just some insignificant gypsy? How could a gypsy escape my bedroom? How did she know about the magic key? Where were you and what were you doing while that woman was rummaging through the storage room?"
Kavala opened her eyes wide and strode towards Dnieper.
Then she mercilessly struck Dnieper on the cheek.
Crack!
The blow was so strong that Dnieper's body staggered.
The maids standing against the wall closed their eyes tightly.
Kavala grabbed Dnieper by the collar.
"Did you plan this to betray me? Did you free the gypsy girl and tell her about the magic key?"
Dnieper fell to his knees before Kavala.
“There’s no way that’s true, Sister!”
“Only you and the dead Empress know about that magic key!”
“Please believe me, Sister. It was all my fault, but I had no idea something like this would happen.”
As he spoke, Dnieper's cheek bore two scars, scratched by Kavala's long nails. Blood flowed from the wounds.
Kavala gritted her teeth as she saw Dnieper looking up at her pitifully.
“Oh my! Why on earth is this happening! Why on earth! Why!”
Unable to control her anger, she started throwing things again, swearing.
Then she ended up slightly hurting her finger on something sharp.
“Ah!”
Kavala took hold of the injured hand.
Then Dnieper approached her on his knees and examined her hand urgently.
A small drop of blood was forming on the tip of her finger.
It was a very small wound compared to the one on Dnieper's cheek.
But Dnieper shouted at the maids as if something serious had happened.
“Quick, bring me some medicine and bandages!”
A maid quickly ran to get the medicine box.
“Sister, be careful.”
Even after receiving a sharp blow from Kavala, Dnieper was only upset by her wounds.
He put his mouth to Kavala's wound and sucked the blood.
Kavala looked down at Dnieper, who was kneeling before her, and took a deep breath.
“...”
For a moment, silence fell upon the Empress's office.
Kavala stared blankly at Dnieper, who was licking her finger, then lifted her chin to look at him.
“Get up, Dnieper.”
It was a much more calming voice.
Dnieper slowly got up and stood facing Kavala.
Kavala turned his face slightly and examined the wound on his cheek.
“It’s bleeding.”
"it's okay."
“You need treatment.”
Kavala took some medicine from the medicine chest the maid had brought and applied it to Dnieper's cheek to treat his wound.
It was a gentle and delicate touch, as if asking when she had ever touched him.
The maids glanced at the two with strange eyes, then quickly lowered their gaze and shut their mouths tightly like dolls.
By the time Dnieper's treatment was over, Kavala had calmed down considerably and returned to her usual self.
She asked in her usual elegant and gentle voice.
“I heard a lot of the jewels in the warehouse are missing. Did that gypsy woman take them?”
"We're looking into it. We've recovered some of the jewels, but we haven't yet cleared the rubble of the burned building, so we can't give you a definitive report."
Kavala touched her forehead.
She asked in a suppressed voice, trying to suppress the anger that threatened to surge up again.
“What about ‘that thing’?”
Dnieper swallowed dry saliva.
He signaled to the maids to all leave.
It was only after the maids left that he began to tell the story.
“We’re looking for it. I’ve instructed them to start clearing the debris from where the object was.”
Kavala clenched her fists. Her hands were trembling.
"Even if everything else is the same, we absolutely must find that one thing. Got it? We must find that one thing."
"I'll keep that in mind. Even if all the other jewels were stolen, this one probably wasn't. It looks like an unremarkable item."
Dnieper tried to soothe Kabbalah by turning the circuit of hope.
“On the surface, it looks like just an old, worn-out chalice.”
“That’s true.”
Kavala nodded as if he acknowledged it.
“Come here quickly. You have to find it yourself before anyone else sees it.”
“Yes, I understand.”
"You'll find the key to awakening it through Chloe. All she has to do is persuade Marquis Rodrian."
Kavala's eyes flashed greedily.
"You know how hard I worked to figure out how to awaken that relic. If I could just use it, I'd gain something worth more than all the jewels I've lost this time."
“You will definitely get it, Sister.”
"Yes, that's right. Make sure Chloe has trustworthy people with her when she leaves."
She looked sharply at Dnieper.
"When choosing people this time, you mustn't make the same mistakes as yesterday. Got it?"
“I will keep that in mind.”
Kavala was forced to give up the idea of the Holy Grail.
"Don't forget to find that gypsy woman. I think I'll feel better if I tear her to pieces with my own hands."
Kavala had just said that if she could just use the relic, she would gain something more valuable than the jewel she had lost yesterday, but it seemed that she was still madly missing the lost jewels.
Dnieper patted Kavala.
“I will do my best to help you recover the jewels you cherished along with the woman you lost.”
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