Episode-750
Chapter : 1499
The Captain frowned at the Royal Seal. He looked suspicious, but he couldn't argue with the King's signature.
"Fine," the Captain grunted. "Get out."
Lloyd scurried away, clutching his prize. He had the King. He had the Princess. Now, he just needed the Ledgers.
----
The carriage ride back to the merchant quarter was tense. Lloyd held the Royal Warrant in his hands, staring at the wax seal. It was a shield, yes. But it was also a target. By accepting this, he had officially inserted himself between Cassius and his prize.
"The King isn't senile," Ken said, breaking the silence. "He is... waiting."
"He's a survivor," Lloyd agreed. "He realized that fighting Cassius openly would get Seraphina killed. So he played dead. It takes a hell of a lot of discipline to let your own son poison you every day and not fight back."
"Or cowardice," Ken muttered.
"Strategic cowardice," Lloyd corrected. "He bought time. But time is running out. Risa has less than a month. Seraphina is at her breaking point. And Cassius is getting impatient."
He looked at the warrant again.
"This piece of paper gets us past the guards," Lloyd said. "But it doesn't get us the information. We need the location of the Orchid House. The real location. Not just 'North Woods'. I need coordinates. I need a floor plan. I need to know how many guards are there and what kind of monsters they are cooking up."
"The Ledgers," Jasmin said from the corner. She had been quiet, listening.
"Yes," Lloyd nodded. "The Royal Ledgers. Seraphina has access. If I can get her to open them... if I can find the budget for the 'special projects'..."
"How do you make a Princess commit treason against her brother?" Jasmin asked.
"I don't," Lloyd said. "I make her think she's doing her chores."
The next morning, Lloyd returned to the palace with a new swagger. He flashed the Royal Warrant at the gate guards. They scowled, but they let him pass without a search. He walked through the corridors like he owned them.
When he arrived at Seraphina’s solar, the guards tried to follow him in.
"Ah, ah, ah," Lloyd tutted, holding up the warrant. "Read the fine print, gentlemen. 'Absolute privacy for medical procedures.' That means you stay out. Unless you want to explain to the King why you defied his direct written order?"
The guards hesitated. They looked at each other. They looked at the seal. They stepped back.
"We will be right outside," one grumbled.
"Excellent," Lloyd beamed. "Don't listen too hard. The chanting can be... disturbing."
He went inside and bolted the door.
Seraphina was waiting for him. She looked better. Stronger. The breathing exercises and the siphon stone were working.
"Doctor," she said, smiling. A real smile. "I heard about Father. You... you saw him?"
"I did," Lloyd said, dropping his voice. "He is fighting, Highness. In his own way. He signed this for you."
He showed her the warrant. She touched the seal, tears filling her eyes. "He stood up for me."
"He did," Lloyd said. "Now, you must stand up for him."
He sat down across from her.
"How are the headaches?"
"Gone," she said. "Mostly. I feel... lighter."
"Good," Lloyd said. "That means you have capacity. Mental capacity. We discussed the source of your stress. The feeling of helplessness. The lack of knowledge."
"The ledgers," she said.
"Yes," Lloyd said. "Did you request them?"
"I did," she nodded. She pointed to a stack of heavy, leather-bound books on a side table. "Cassius was... amused. He said if I wanted to bore myself to death with the price of grain, I was welcome to it. He sent over the household accounts and the 'minor logistical summaries' for the last quarter."
"Perfect," Lloyd said. He felt a surge of adrenaline. The target was in the room.
"Have you looked at them?"
"I tried," she sighed. "It's just... columns of numbers. Supply requisitions for the kitchen. Maintenance costs for the stables. It's gibberish."
"It's a puzzle," Lloyd said. "Let me show you how to read it. Think of it as a game. A way to understand the shape of your kingdom."
He stood up and walked over to the table. He picked up the top book. Royal Logistics: Quarter 3.
He carried it over to her. He opened it.
Chapter : 1500
"Look here," Lloyd said, pointing to a column. "This is the food budget for the palace. See how it fluctuates? More for feast days. Less for ordinary weeks. That is a heartbeat. It shows you when the palace is alive."
Seraphina nodded, interested. "I see."
"Now," Lloyd said, flipping pages. He scanned the columns with his [All-Seeing Eye], not looking for magic, but for patterns. For anomalies.
He found one.
"Here," Lloyd said. "This entry. 'External Maintenance: Site B'. It's listed under 'Garden Supplies'."
"Site B?" Seraphina frowned. "We don't have a Site B garden."
"Look at the cost," Lloyd whispered. "Five thousand gold coins a month. For 'fertilizer'?"
"That's... a lot of fertilizer," she said.
"And here," Lloyd flipped more pages. His finger traced a line. "'Specialized Transport'. Destination: Sector 4, Grid 9. Weekly delivery. Contents: Classified."
"Classified?" Seraphina asked. "In the household budget?"
"It's hidden in plain sight," Lloyd said. "He puts it in the boring books because he thinks no one reads them. But look at the cross-reference."
He pulled out another book. Medical Supplies.
He flipped through it rapidly.
"Here," he said. His voice went cold.
Item: Mana-Suppression Collars (Small). Quantity: 50. Destination: Site B.
Item: Surgical Tables (Reinforced). Quantity: 5. Destination: Site B.
Item: Disposal Units (Incinerator Grade). Quantity: 2. Destination: Site B.
The words seemed to burn off the page. Collars. Surgical tables. Incinerators.
Small collars.
Seraphina read the items. Her face went pale. Her hands began to tremble.
"What... what is this?" she whispered. "Disposal units? For a garden?"
"It's not a garden," Lloyd said grimly. "Site B. Sector 4, Grid 9. That is the location. And 'The Hothouse'..." he pointed to a handwritten note in the margin. "...is the Orchid House."
He looked at her.
"Highness," Lloyd said. "Your brother isn't growing flowers out there. He's growing monsters."
Seraphina stared at the book. The reality of it crashed into her. The 'ugly truth' wasn't war. It was this. It was torture.
"He... he did this?" she choked out. "In our name?"
"Yes," Lloyd said. "And now we know where it is."
He memorized the coordinates. Sector 4, Grid 9. North Woods. He had the map in his head.
He closed the book gently.
"You did good, Highness," Lloyd said. "You just found the key."
"I feel sick," she whispered.
"Good," Lloyd said. "Hold onto that sickness. Turn it into anger. Because we are going to need it."
He stood up. He had the location. He had the proof.
The hunt was over. The assault was about to begin.
The heavy leather cover of the ledger closed with a soft thud that sounded like a gavel striking a judge's bench. The room felt colder, despite the sunlight streaming in. Princess Seraphina sat frozen, her hands hovering over the book as if it were a coiled viper she had just touched.
"Incinerators," she whispered again, the word hanging in the air like smoke. "Small collars."
Lloyd Ferrum stood beside her, his face a mask of grim satisfaction. He had what he came for. The coordinates. The supply lists. The confirmation. But seeing the Princess unraveling wasn't part of the plan. He needed her stable. He needed her to maintain her cover.
"Highness," Lloyd said, his voice sharp enough to cut through her panic. "Look at me."
She looked up. Her eyes were wide, filled with a horrific dawning comprehension. The innocent world she had lived in, the gilded cage where she was the protected bird, had just been smashed open.
"He is a monster," she said, her voice trembling. "My brother. He... he is hurting people. Children?"
"Yes," Lloyd said. There was no point in lying now. "He is."
"I have to tell Father," she said, starting to stand. "I have to stop him."
"Sit down!" Lloyd commanded. It wasn't a request. It was an order.
She sat, shocked by his tone.
"If you go to the King now," Lloyd hissed, "if you run out there screaming about incinerators and collars, Cassius will know. He will know you looked. He will know I helped you. And he will kill us all. He will kill the King. And he will move the facility before anyone can find it."
"Then what do we do?" she cried softly. "We can't just... leave them there!"
"We don't," Lloyd said. "We act. But we act smart. We act like ghosts."
He grabbed a stack of papers from the table—mundane receipts for candles and silk—and spread them out over the ledger, hiding the damning entries.