Chương 67: Following the Trail

Lira met with Celene during the midday meal in the kitchens. Both of them carried trays loaded with food, and after exchanging a brief greeting, the older maid quietly guided her toward one of the smaller side rooms used by the kitchen staff. The room contained a narrow table, a few chairs, and little else. Most importantly, it offered privacy. The moment the door closed behind them, Celene set her tray down and turned toward Lira.

"How is she?"

"Maren is safe," Lira answered as she sat across from her.

"Thank the goddess." The head maid visibly relaxed. Tension drained from her shoulders, and she closed her eyes for a brief moment.

"She is bruised and frightened, but otherwise unharmed," Lira added.

"I was worried all night."

"I know." Lira offered her a small smile. For several moments, they ate in silence. Eventually, Lira reached into her satchel and pulled out one of the ledgers she had discovered in the library archives. She opened it to the marked pages and pushed it across the table.

"I think I found something."

"What is it?" Celene frowned and leaned forward.

"Employment records," Lira said.

"They belonged to Grand Steward Atropos and somehow ended up in my library." The head maid immediately became interested. Lira pointed toward three names.

"Do you remember these maids? Mara, Carry, and Amelia?" Celene did not hesitate.

"Yes."

"All three?"

"Of course I do," the head maid replied, sounding almost offended by the question.

"I personally trained them."

"Can you describe them to me?"

"They were all good workers," Celene said.

"Polite, reliable, hardworking girls." She paused.

"And pretty... very pretty." Celene's expression shifted as she began to understand where the conversation was heading. Lira tapped the ledger.

"What happened to them?"

"They left the castle," Celene said with a shrug.

"That happens all the time."

"Then why did Hesta handle their departures?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Celene blinked.

"Are you aware that it was Hesta who sent Maren to the prince's chambers?"

"What?" That seemed to have caught Celene completely off guard.

"Maren told me everything."

"You are certain?" Celene stared at her.

"She had no reason to lie." The head maid's expression darkened.

"Somehow, these three and Maren all fit the same profile." Lira tapped the page again. Celene looked down at the names.

"Young," Lira continued.

"Pretty and unmarried." The silence stretched. Finally, Celene spoke.

"I remember something," she hesitated, "At the time, I didn't think much of it."

"Tell me anyway." The older woman frowned as she searched her memory.

"Mara and Amelia became withdrawn during their final weeks."

"How?"

"They stopped socializing. They avoided certain parts of the palace whenever possible." Celene rubbed her forehead.

"I assumed they were dealing with personal problems, and that's why they left."

"What about Carry?"

"Carry cried…" Celene grimaced.

"She came to work with swollen eyes several times," the head maid added, looking genuinely disturbed now.

"I asked her what was wrong, but she refused to tell me."

"And then?"

"Hesta informed me she had stopped showing up." The room fell silent. Lira slowly closed the ledger and leaned back in her chair. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

"Do you think the same thing happened to them as Maren?"

"I don't know," Celene hesitated.

"But?" Lira prompted.

"I have seen relationships develop between nobles and maids before." Lira raised an eyebrow, remembering a rumor that Celene used to be the king's mistress in her youth.

"How does that usually happen?" Celene took a sip of water before answering.

"Most of the time, the maid is the one pursuing the relationship. Nobles have money, status, and influence. And some girls see it as a path toward a better life."

"What about these three?"

"No." Celene shook her head immediately. The certainty in her voice left no room for doubt.

"None of them were that type." Lira felt her stomach tighten. Neither woman spoke for several moments.

"For now, we keep this secret."

"Agreed," Celene nodded.

"But we need more information."

"What kind?"

"The girl who supposedly transferred, Mara." Lira pointed at the ledger.

"According to this record, she entered service with Countess Jenine."

"You think the transfer wasn't real?"

"I think it is the easiest story to verify," Lira explained.

"The other two supposedly vanished. That makes them difficult to investigate."

"But the transferred maid should have left a trail," Celene finished.

"Exactly." The head maid considered that for a moment.

"Countess Jenine should be in the capital for the social season. I can make inquiries."

"Can you do it discreetly?"

"Lira, girl," Celene smiled faintly.

"I have spent twenty years collecting gossip and solving noble scandals before they became public. Discretion is part of my profession."

"Fair enough," Lira nodded, "If the transfer was legitimate, we can question the girl."

"And if it isn't?"

"Then we will know Hesta lied in the report." Lira's expression hardened. Neither woman seemed particularly hungry after that. Finally, Celene looked down at the ledger once more.

"If you're right..." She hesitated before continuing.

"Then Maren isn't the beginning of this." Rage filled her eyes.

"She is simply the first one who managed to escape." Lira left Celene with the ledger. She had already absorbed its contents and practically memorized every page thanks to her recollection spell, so there was little reason to carry the evidence around herself. A glance at the sun told her she still had nearly two hours before Prince Lyth's usual visit to the library. That left enough time to continue her investigation. As soon as she was alone, she whispered the familiar incantation.

"Ladar. Linasara. Oshkan. Cognar. Turat." The spell settled over her awareness, and immediately, hundreds of books, journals, reports, and written records lit up across the palace grounds like distant stars. This time, however, she narrowed the search considerably. Rather than looking for missing maids in general, she focused specifically on the three names from the ledger: Mara, Amelia, and Carry. Several pings answered almost immediately. One pointed toward the bookkeeping tower, which was hardly surprising.

Another led toward the grand hall. The strongest, however, came from somewhere inside the military keep. Lira frowned as she began walking. That was unexpected. The Military Keep sat on the eastern side of the palace grounds and housed the soldiers, guards, and knights responsible for protecting both the royal family and the palace itself. Whatever connection existed between three missing maids and a building full of soldiers was not immediately obvious, but the divination spell seemed convinced there was one.

As she crossed the courtyard, Lira began constructing an excuse for her presence. She did not need a particularly convincing one. She only needed a reason to get close enough to a document for her book absorption spell to function. Once she knew its location, the contents would be hers. The keep was busy as always. Guards sparred in the training yard, soldiers marched through drills, and several knights were engaged in practice duels.

Fortunately, nobody seemed especially interested in questioning why a palace maid was walking through the area. Most barely spared her a glance as she entered the building and followed the pull of her divination deeper into the interior corridors. As she moved closer, the sensation split into two separate pulls. One led toward what appeared to be a dormitory wing, while the other continued toward a cluster of offices. Lira immediately discarded the first option.

Sneaking around inside a dormitory full of off-duty soldiers sounded like an excellent way to create new problems for herself. The office route felt considerably safer, so she followed the second pull until she reached a door marked with a carved wooden plaque. Sir Salvek. Lira recognized the name; he was an old knight often referred to as The Sergeant because he took care of training the soldiers. He was also a mentor to both Prince Aric and Sir Deren.

And for some reason, the divination pull pointed directly behind his office door. She hesitated briefly before knocking.

"Enter." The voice that answered was deep, rough, and distinctly annoyed. Lira opened the door and stepped inside. The office itself was surprisingly simple. A large desk dominated the center of the room, while shelves lined with military manuals filled the walls. Behind the desk sat a broad-shouldered man whose scarred face suggested he had spent most of his life solving problems with weapons rather than paperwork. He lowered the report he had been reading and stared at her.

"Who are you, and what do you need?" Lira immediately curtsied.

"My lord, I am the new library caretaker."

"The library caretaker?" His frown deepened.

"Yes, sir."

"And why exactly is the library caretaker standing in my office?" Lira adopted what she hoped was an expression of earnest professionalism.

"I am here regarding military literature."

"What?" The sergeant blinked.

"The library's military section is severely outdated, my lord," Lira explained.

"Most of the volumes are at least twenty years old. I was hoping your office might possess surplus books suitable for donation. If not, perhaps you could recommend a list of modern military texts that Steward Harwin might acquire for me." For several seconds, the sergeant simply stared at her as though trying to determine whether she was serious. Meanwhile, Lira quietly located the source of her divination. The target was a small journal hidden inside the top drawer of his desk. Perfect.

Now she only needed him to stop looking directly at her.

"You interrupted my work for that?"

"I apologize, sir, but I was told you were the most respected military authority in the palace." That finally produced a reaction. The sergeant leaned back slightly in his chair. Not much, but enough for Lira to notice.

"Hmph." There it was: pride, the weakness of every noble.

"I suppose that is true," he admitted. The sergeant shook his head.

"I'll think about it and send you a list."

"Thank you, sir." He immediately lowered his eyes back toward the report in front of him.

"You are dismissed." Lira curtsied once more and turned toward the door. As she did, she whispered beneath her breath, "Pika. Linasara. Cognar. Coopar. Nagla." The moment the spell took hold, information poured into her mind. She nearly stumbled as knowledge from Sir Salvek's journal flooded into her head. As she left the office, she was lucky no one could see the absolute look of revulsion plastered across her face.