Episode-753
Chapter : 1505
"You asked me what the 'ugly truth' was," Lloyd said. "You looked at the ledgers, but you didn't see. Today, I am going to make you see."
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Seraphina wiped the sweat from her brow with a lace handkerchief that now seemed laughably delicate for the work she had just done. Her body was humming. It was a strange sensation. Usually, after a magical flare-up, she felt hollowed out, drained. Now, she felt... full. Buzzing. Like a wire carrying a current.
"What is that?" she asked, nodding at the paper in Lloyd's hand.
"This," Lloyd said, unfolding it on the small table between them, "is the receipt for your golden cage."
He smoothed out the paper. He had transcribed the supply manifest for the Orchid House, highlighting the key items.
"You looked at the household budget," Lloyd said. "You saw numbers. Grain. Wine. Fertilizer."
"Yes," she said. "It was boring."
"Boring is the best camouflage," Lloyd noted. "Look here. 'Site B'. Do you remember?"
"The garden expansion," she said. "Five thousand gold coins."
"Look at the itemized list," Lloyd said, pointing to his transcription. "I translated the codes for you. 'Fertilizer' is actually alchemical fuel. Highly volatile. Used for high-temperature combustion."
"Combustion?" Seraphina frowned. "For... heating the greenhouse?"
"For incinerators," Lloyd said. The word dropped into the room like a stone into a pond.
Seraphina went still. "Incinerators?"
"And here," Lloyd continued, his voice devoid of pity. He needed to break her world to save it. " 'Support frames, small'. That translates to restraints. Shackles. Sized for children."
Seraphina’s hand flew to her mouth. "No. That's... that's impossible. Cassius is strict, yes. He is ambitious. But he wouldn't..."
"He would," Lloyd said. "And he is. The Orchid House isn't a garden, Seraphina. It's a factory. They are taking children—children with magic, like you—and they are processing them."
"Processing?"
"Breaking them," Lloyd said brutally. "Torturing them until their minds shatter and their magic becomes a weapon. And when they break too much... when they die..."
He pointed to the word Incinerator.
Seraphina stared at the paper. Her mind tried to reject it. It tried to retreat into the safety of her ignorance. My brother. My family. We are the protectors of the realm.
But she remembered the coldness in Cassius's eyes. She remembered the way he looked at her, not as a sister, but as an asset to be managed. She remembered the King, her father, weeping and whispering about the darkness.
"Why?" she whispered. "Why would he do this?"
"Power," Lloyd said. "He is building an army of monsters to fight a war he thinks is coming. Or perhaps to start one. He doesn't trust the people. He doesn't trust the army. He wants weapons that don't ask questions."
Lloyd leaned forward.
"And he is doing it to you, too," he said softly. "Just slower. He isn't putting you in an incinerator. He is putting you in a jar. He bound your magic because a powerful Princess is a threat to a Prince who rules from the shadows. He keeps the King drugged so he can sign the orders. And he keeps you sick so you can't ask why."
The silence stretched. Lloyd watched her face. He saw the denial crack. He saw the grief pour in. And then, he saw what he was waiting for.
The grief hardened.
It crystallized.
Seraphina looked at the paper again. She didn't look away this time. Her blue eyes, usually soft and watery, darkened. They turned into chips of sapphire ice.
"He poisoned my father," she said. Her voice was steady. Terrifyingly steady.
"Yes," Lloyd said.
"He is torturing children."
"Yes."
"And he lied to me. Every day. For three years."
"Yes."
Seraphina stood up. She didn't float. She didn't glide. She stood up like a queen rising from a throne. She walked to the window and looked out at the garden. The beautiful, manicured garden that she now knew was paid for with blood money.
"I thought I was sick," she said to the glass. "I thought I was weak. I thought I needed him to protect me."
She turned back to Lloyd. The fragile, porcelain doll was gone. In her place was something sharp. Something dangerous.
"Doctor," she said. "You didn't come here to heal me, did you? You came here to recruit me."
Lloyd smiled. It wasn't his nice doctor smile. It was a sharp, wolfish grin.
Chapter : 1506
"I came to heal you," Lloyd said. "But I realized that the only way to heal you is to cut out the tumor. And the tumor is sitting on the throne."
"You want to stop him," she stated.
"I want to burn his operation to the ground," Lloyd corrected. "I want to save those children. And I want to give you back your kingdom."
"I cannot fight him," Seraphina said. "Not yet. He has the guards. He has the ministers."
"You don't need to fight him with swords," Lloyd said. "You fight him with who you are. You are the symbol. You are the Light. If you shine... the shadows have nowhere to hide."
He stood up and bowed. It was the first genuine bow he had given her.
"But first," Lloyd said, "we need to survive the week. He knows I am helping you. He suspects me. He will try to remove me soon."
"He will invite you to dinner," Seraphina said. "That is what he does. Private dinners. People go in, and they come out... changed. Or they don't come out at all."
"I am looking forward to the menu," Lloyd said.
Seraphina walked over to him. She took the paper with the list of horrors. She folded it carefully and tucked it into her bodice, right next to her heart.
"You teach me to control the river," she said. "Teach me how to drown him in it."
"Lesson two starts tomorrow," Lloyd promised.
He picked up his bag. As he reached the door, she spoke again.
"Doctor?"
"Yes, Highness?"
"My name is Seraphina," she said. "Not Highness. Not Princess. Just Seraphina. If we are going to be conspirators, we should be on a first-name basis."
"Lloyd," he said, slipping up for a fraction of a second before catching himself. "Zayn. Just Zayn."
She smiled. It was a cold smile. A queen's smile.
"Goodbye, Zayn. Try not to die at dinner."
Lloyd walked out of the room. He felt a chill run down his spine. He had wanted to create a player. He might have accidentally created a monster.
But looking at the guards in the hallway, he decided that a monster was exactly what they needed.
The invitation arrived at the clinic exactly as Seraphina had predicted. It wasn't delivered by a courier or a servant. It was delivered by a squad of the Obsidian Eye.
Lloyd was measuring out dried valerian root for a customer—an old woman with a persistent cough—when the door opened. The chime didn't jingle; it seemed to be silenced by the sudden drop in air pressure.
Three figures in black armor stepped in. The customers in the shop evaporated, scuttling out the back door or squeezing past the armored men with their heads bowed low. Even Jasmin, playing the role of Jia, turned pale and backed into the corner, clutching a broom like a weapon.
The leader of the squad stepped forward. His face was hidden behind a polished obsidian mask.
"Doctor Zayn," the officer said. His voice was muffled and metallic.
"That is me," Lloyd said, adjusting his spectacles. He kept his hands visible on the counter. "How can I help the... authorities? A rash? A sprain from marching?"
"No medical aid is required," the officer said. "You are summoned."
"Summoned?" Lloyd asked innocently. "By the King?"
"By the Crown Prince," the officer corrected. "His Highness Cassius invites you to a private dinner this evening. At the Summer Palace."
"Dinner?" Lloyd blinked. "I am... flattered. But I am a humble man. I do not own formal wear. Perhaps a rain check?"
The officer didn't laugh. "The carriage is waiting. You will come now."
"Ah," Lloyd said. "It is that kind of invitation. Very well. Let me just get my coat."
"No coat," the officer said. "No bag. No tools. Just you."
Lloyd looked at Ken, who was standing by the back door, his hand resting casually near a hidden knife. Lloyd gave a tiny shake of his head. Stand down.
"Jia," Lloyd said, turning to Jasmin. "Close up shop. I will return... later."
"Be careful, Doctor," she whispered, her eyes wide with fear.
"Always," Lloyd smiled.
He walked around the counter. "Lead the way, gentlemen. I am famished."
They escorted him out to a black carriage with no windows. They shoved him inside. The door locked from the outside.
"Hospitality," Lloyd muttered as the carriage lurched forward. "Five stars."