Episode-743
Chapter : 1485
He adjusted his robes and drifted towards the fireplace. He didn't walk directly up to them. That would be rude. He paused at a nearby table, pretending to admire a painting of a very stern-looking ancestor.
He tuned his hearing. The unified power of his core enhanced his senses slightly. He focused on the conversation.
"...budget is a disaster," one man was saying. "The Minister demands a twenty percent increase in output, but gives us no extra gold."
"It's the raw materials," Silas grumbled. "The price of Aethel-Quartz is stable, but the biologicals... the reagents... the cost is skyrocketing."
"And the secrecy," another man added. "Double shifts for the drivers. Night runs only. My men are exhausted. They are starting to talk."
"Let them talk," Silas snapped. "If the Eye hears them, they won't have tongues to talk with."
The group fell silent, drinking nervously.
Lloyd seized the moment. He turned around, feigning surprise.
"Lord Silas!" he beamed. "A pleasure to see you again."
Silas blinked, then recognized him. "Ah. The Doctor. The one who cured Vance's wife. Good work, that."
"I try to serve," Lloyd said humbly. "I couldn't help but overhear... night runs? It sounds dangerous. Are the roads so bad?"
"It's not the roads," the third man said, a thin fellow with a nervous tic. "It's the cargo. Delicate. Needs to be kept... stable."
"Ah," Lloyd nodded sagely. "I understand. I once had to transport a crate of Volatile Slime molds across the desert. A nightmare. One bump and... well, let's just say the camel was never the same."
The men chuckled. The tension broke slightly.
"You understand then," Silas said. "Logistics is a thankless job. Everyone wants the result. Nobody wants to know how the sausage is made."
"Especially," the thin man added, lowering his voice, "when the sausage is made in a hole in the ground."
"Shut up, Pervis," Silas hissed.
Lloyd’s eyes narrowed behind his glasses. Hole in the ground.
"A mine?" Lloyd asked innocently. "I thought the northern quarries were open-air."
"It's not a mine," Pervis muttered, seemingly emboldened by the wine. "It's a... facility. Old bunkers. Repurposed."
"Pervis!" Silas warned. "You are drunk."
"I am stressed!" Pervis shot back. "Do you know what the Director asked for today? More restraints. Smaller sizes. Child sizes."
The glass in Lloyd's hand cracked. A tiny, hairline fracture. He kept his face perfectly still.
Child sizes.
"That is... unusual," Lloyd said, his voice level. "For a research facility."
"It's the Orchid House," Pervis blurted out. "They call it a school. But schools don't need reinforced cells."
The name hung in the air. The Orchid House.
Silas went white. He grabbed Pervis by the arm.
"We are leaving," Silas hissed. "Now."
He looked at Lloyd. His eyes were wide with fear.
"You heard nothing, Doctor. You understand? Nothing."
"I am deaf to the ramblings of wine," Lloyd promised, bowing low. "I only hear the symptoms of the body."
Silas dragged Pervis away. The group dispersed, scattering like roaches when a light is turned on.
Lloyd stood there. The party noise rushed back in—laughter, music, clinking glass. But he felt cold.
He had it.
Orchid House. Northern Quarry. Old bunkers. Child-sized restraints.
The party at Lord Vance’s estate had shifted from a polite gathering to a buzzing hive of anticipation. The murmurs grew louder, the music softened, and the crowd parted like the sea before a storm. A hush fell over the room, heavy with reverence and fear.
Lloyd Ferrum, still wearing the unassuming robes of Doctor Zayn, stood near a potted fern, sipping a glass of water that tasted faintly of dish soap. His mind, however, was miles away, dissecting the conversation from the night before.
Northern Quarry. The name rattled in his head. It was a lead, yes, but it felt... easy. Too easy. Pervis had spilled the secret after a few glasses of wine? It reeked of a trap. If Lloyd marched into the Northern Quarry tonight based on the ramblings of a drunkard, he might find an empty hole filled with explosives instead of a prison.
I need verification, Lloyd thought, his eyes scanning the room. I need to know if the supply lines actually go north before I strike. And there is only one person here with that level of clearance.
"Her Royal Highness, Princess Seraphina!" the herald announced.
Lloyd adjusted his glasses. There is my confirmation.
He watched as the guest of honor entered.
Chapter : 1486
She was breathtaking. That was the first thought that hit him, bypassing all his cynical filters. She wore a gown of shimmering silver that looked like it was woven from moonlight. Her hair was a cascade of pale gold, and her eyes were the color of a summer sky. She moved with a grace that was almost ethereal, gliding rather than walking.
But beneath the beauty, Lloyd saw something else. He saw the way her shoulders were hunched, ever so slightly, as if she were carrying an invisible mountain. He saw the way her hands trembled, just a fraction, as she clutched a lace handkerchief. And he saw the profound, suffocating melancholy that radiated from her like heat from a dying fire.
She didn't look like a princess at a party. She looked like a prisoner at her own execution.
"She looks... sad," Jasmin whispered beside him, her voice filled with genuine pity.
"She looks terrified," Lloyd corrected softly. "Look at her eyes. She's scanning the room for exits, not friends."
The Princess was led to a high-backed chair on a raised dais. She sat down, her movements stiff and mechanical. Nobles lined up to greet her, offering fawning compliments and expensive gifts. She nodded to each one, her smile brittle and fake, like a crack in a porcelain doll. She didn't speak. She barely made eye contact. It was as if she was surrounded by a glass wall that no one else could see.
Lloyd narrowed his eyes. Something was wrong. This wasn't just shyness or royal aloofness. This was pathology.
He casually adjusted his spectacles and activated his [All-Seeing Eye]. The world around him dissolved into a wireframe of energy and biology. The nobles became glowing outlines of health or minor ailments—a gouty toe here, a liver stressed by wine there.
Then he looked at Princess Seraphina.
He almost dropped his glass.
She wasn't sick. She was a chaotic storm of suppressed energy. Her internal mana flow, which should have been a steady river, was a raging, pressurized torrent. But it was blocked. Thick, dark bands of spiritual energy were wrapped around her core, choking it, squeezing it. It looked like a python crushing a star.
The pressure was immense. Her own power was fighting against the bindings, creating a backlash that was tearing her apart from the inside. The migraines, the fainting spells, the terror—they weren't symptoms of a weak constitution. They were the symptoms of a nuclear reactor on the verge of a meltdown.
"Interesting," Lloyd muttered. "Very interesting."
"What do you see, Doctor?" Ken asked, his voice a low rumble.
"I see a lock," Lloyd said. "And I think I might be the key."
He deactivated the Eye and let out a long breath. This was it. This was the opening he needed. The Orchid House was a secret facility, likely run by the state. To get there, he needed access to the highest levels of the government. And who was higher than the Royal Family?
But he couldn't just walk up to her. She was surrounded by a phalanx of Royal Guards, heavily armored and looking for an excuse to hurt someone.
"I need to talk to her," Lloyd said. "Alone."
"Good luck," Ken grunted. "Those guards won't let a fly land on her without a background check."
"Then we need a distraction," Lloyd said. He looked around the room. His eyes landed on a large, ornate plant stand near the dais. It held a massive, spiky succulent that looked like it wanted to murder someone.
"Jia," Lloyd said. "How are your acting skills?"
Jasmin blinked. "My... what?"
"I need a medical emergency," Lloyd said. "Right now. Right there." He pointed to a spot near the plant.
"Me?" Jasmin squeaked. "Here? In front of the Princess?"
"Yes," Lloyd said. "Just faint. Make it dramatic. Knock over the plant if you can. Scream a little."
Jasmin looked terrified. "But... but..."
"Think of Risa," Lloyd whispered. "Think of the Orchid House."
Jasmin’s face hardened. She took a deep breath. She nodded.
She walked towards the dais, weaving through the crowd. She looked pale, which helped. As she neared the plant stand, she let out a moan. She staggered. She clutched her chest.
"Oh! My heart!" she cried out, her voice surprisingly loud.
She collapsed. As she fell, she flailed her arms and managed to hook her hand around the base of the heavy plant stand.
CRASH!
The sound was deafening. The pot shattered. Dirt and spiky leaves flew everywhere. Jasmin lay on the floor, groaning theatrically.