Chapter 272 - Some slight trespassing
Scarlett stepped towards the armillary sphere, her fingers momentarily hovering above its cool, metallic surface. Then, with a deliberate touch, she activated it. The artifact hummed in response, but instead of returning to Mistress’ hidden underground chamber, she allowed her consciousness to slip outward. Her awareness expanded, extending from the confines of the Imperial Advisor’s office.
Soon, the halls of Dawnlight Palace unfolded beneath her mental gaze. Servants hurried along the corridors, their footfalls soundless in her mind’s eye, while stoic Palace Guards stood at attention, their armor gleaming in the warm light of various enchanted chandeliers. In the banquet hall, the nobles and dignitaries mingled, and Scarlett spotted more than one familiar face. She lingered there for a moment, confirming she still had some time before the conclave reconvened.
Satisfied, Scarlett narrowed her focus. She knew roughly where to search.
Her consciousness skimmed through the palace, slipping past bustling chambers and shadowed alcoves until she found a place that seemed to match her goal — a secluded room devoid of both guards or other prying eyes. A quick scan confirmed there was no one around, and with another activation of the armillary sphere, her surroundings shimmered and transformed.
Scarlett found herself in a spacious, dimly lit chamber, its walls lined with bookshelves crammed with various tomes and works. A large, arched window on the far wall revealed a sweeping view of the frozen Rellaria Lake, its silvery-white expanse gleaming beneath the moonlit sky. Below the window, an ornate canopy bed rested, its frame carved from a dark, burnished wood. Plush quilts and silk pillows were piled high atop the mattress to form a tiny mound of luxurious comfort.
As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Scarlett carefully surveyed the room, triple-checking that she was alone. The armillary sphere in Mistress’ office was a Zuverian artifact, and courtesy of Thainnith’s legacy, Scarlett knew it had more functions than simply connecting the woman’s underground chamber to Dawnlight Palace.
For one, it possessed capabilities similar to the spell Aetheric Repatriate, which Dean Godwin had once used to teleport Scarlett to the Zuverian ruins on the Resting Eye. Unlike Godwin’s spell, which required a physical focus to trigger the return, Scarlett could feel a tether still linking her to the armillary sphere in Mistress’ office. That should allow her to return when she was finished here.
Scarlett first turned her attention to the room’s many bookshelves. The sheer quantity of texts suggested the occupant was an avid reader. It was almost a small library in its own right. She moved towards the nearest shelf, squinting slightly as she examined the titles. There were volumes on a vast array of topics, including military strategy, statecraft, economics, history, and more, each meticulously organised by subject and author. Scarlett also found several works on the Zuver in their own dedicated section, from modern imperial treatises to ancient tomes written in the Zuverian script.
She ran her fingers over the spines, making a mental note of certain titles, searching for anything that seemed out of place or particularly noteworthy. If she had the time, she wouldn’t have minded inspecting each and every single one in detail.
Eventually, she turned to the two large desks near the entrance. One held various writing implements and the like, while the other was cluttered with open books, maps, and notes, as well as what appeared to be partially translated Zuverian texts. Scarlett conjured a small flame above her hand, illuminating the surface.
Her eyes roamed over the documents. She imagined that the imperial family’s own investigators had already combed through this room, but they wouldn’t have known exactly what to look for. While Scarlett wasn’t necessarily sure she did either, her game knowledge did give her a distinct advantage. After all, these were the private quarters of the first imperial princess. The same place where the young woman would have conducted much of her research prior to her ‘disappearance’.
There were still aspects of the first princess’ vanishing that troubled Scarlett. Questions that couldn’t be answered by her game knowledge alone. Chief among these was, of course, the possibility that the princess was collaborating with another player-like entity, one that didn’t quite follow the original game narrative. Scarlett had long suspected this, but her only real evidence still came from her discoveries in the Zuverian ruins on the Resting Eye.