For a moment, it was as if all the air in and around the hospital room had been sucked out.
No one spoke, but every gaze shifted—
Recognition. Shock. Suspicion. Calculation.
"…It's the real thing," Elias was the first to break the silence with a hushed murmur.
The auction house had left one condition—
Not only must the highest bidder pay a considerable sum for the fragment, but they must also "tell them what it is."
This wasn't a simple auction. It was a test—a vetting.
"If you want it, prove you're worthy of it."
That single postscript beneath the image read like bait from some ancient ritual—cold, clever, and deliberate.
News of the fragment spread like wildfire. Marcellus stared at the photograph on his phone, fingertips faintly trembling. He struggled to suppress the cough rising in his throat, but nothing could still the pounding in his chest.
And Livia—she knew. The moment she saw the image, she knew the fragment was real.
She could almost feel it in her bones—a subtle resonance between it and something buried deep inside her.
Eryx stood by the window, eyes narrowed as he stared at the screen. But what flickered in his gaze wasn't surprise—it was unease… and doubt.
He had just returned from the capital with a fragment of his own. Could it be that more remained in the world?
Or worse—
Was this auction no coincidence at all, but the first move in a carefully designed trap?
At that very moment, Jim was in his dimly lit room, staring at the same image.
He looked at the high-resolution photograph of the shard, his mouth curling into a small, almost satisfied smile.
"Good," he murmured, a conspirator savoring the first signs of a successful scheme. "The waters are muddy now."
Back in the hospital room, the air had frozen into stillness. Afternoon light filtered through the curtains, casting a hazy shadow on the floor. Marcellus remained slouched beside the hospital bed, staring at the same image on his phone.
The fragment, photographed under dim auction lights, gave off a dull golden sheen. The texture was unmistakable—it matched perfectly with the shards they already possessed.
"This thing…" Elias muttered, brows furrowed, "They don't just want money. They want to know what we know about the shard? Doesn't that strike you as wrong? No auction house should care what buyers think—this is more like… a trap."
A beat of silence passed. Outside, the cicadas buzzed faintly, as if waiting to hear their decision.
Marcellus slowly put the phone down, eyes drifting toward the window. "You're right. It is a trap. And we all know—once this gets out, anyone holding a shard won't be able to resist. And if there's one person who can orchestrate this and knows us all well enough to pull it off… it's Jim. No one else fits."
"Exactly," Livia added, her voice calm but sharp. "He's the king of the underground—auctions, black market dealings, misinformation… they're just tools in his kit. And this time, he's using an open trap to lure us out."
She lifted her gaze, letting it pass over everyone in the room, pausing briefly on Elias. Then she continued, "But this isn't something we can ignore. Even knowing it's a trap—we still have to step into it. For Jim, as long as we show that we care, that we're interested—he's already won."
Adrian had remained silent for some time, but now he spoke. "If it's an open trap… then we can't follow his script."
Livia gave a faint nod. "Exactly. So I propose this—"
She stood, pulling the curtains more tightly closed, as if sealing them off from the outside world.
"Adrian and Elise, you stay here. Remain at the castle—but don't go near the real vault. Instead, we'll make it look like you're guarding a different location. That way, you'll stay clear of the Grail's influence, and if enemies do try to infiltrate, they'll chase shadows instead of truth."
"You mean…" Adrian's eyes narrowed slightly.
"The fake vault will draw their attention. Meanwhile, the real fragments stay untouched and unnoticed," Livia replied firmly.
"Then who's going to the auction?" Marcellus asked.
"I'll go in disguise," she answered. Then, turning to Elias, "And Elias will appear as a representative of our group. That way, Jim will think we're from separate factions, competing, maybe even suspicious of each other. That's the only way to create enough uncertainty."
Elias gave a soft chuckle, catching her meaning instantly. "Let him see only what we want him to see."
Livia nodded, her tone light but edged with steel. "And you, Marcellus—stay here. Maintain the image of being too weak to act. Let Jim believe you're still recovering—but also make sure he senses you're still calling the shots. That's the only way to keep him wary."
The room grew heavier, tension thickening as each person worked through their part in this chessboard. Outside, the sunlight was fading, the wind rustling through the trees, casting wavering shadows across the glass—
As if the world itself knew a new round of games was about to begin.