When Alia returned to the castle's hidden chamber, she pushed open the heavy oak door. The hinges creaked low and solemn, as if whispering reminders of all the secrets this room had held over the centuries. Inside, the familiar interior greeted her: dark wooden bookshelves stacked with ancient tomes and scrolls, iron torches in the corners casting a dim, amber glow that painted the stone walls with mottled patterns. The air carried the musty scent of age and a faint trace of candle wax, as if time itself had been frozen within these walls for centuries.
She walked softly to the stone table and set down the fragment she had retrieved from the graveyard. The surface of the table was smooth and cool, as if resonating with the shard's own strange energy. Alia drew a deep breath, sensing the subtle interplay between the new fragment and the pieces she had previously assembled. The instant her fingertips brushed against it, a faint vibration ran up her arm, as though the shard itself were quietly responding to her intent.
Carefully, she aligned the new piece with the missing gap and pressed it down. Click. The soft sound echoed in the chamber, and the torchlight flickered as if startled, casting the shadows in restless movement. The previously obscure patterns immediately revealed new lines, as though another fragment of a long-hidden secret had been unveiled.
Alia held her breath, emotions swirling: excitement mingled with apprehension, the sense of approaching truth intertwined with an awareness of looming danger.
—Another piece joined.
The fragment's energy warmed slightly on the stone surface, as if to remind her that the path she walked drew ever closer to both revelation and risk.
When Alia entered the sickroom, slanted light streamed through the curtains, painting broken patterns on the floor by the bed. Marcellus sat at the edge of the mattress, his brow furrowed, hands clutching a rumpled sheet, evidence of a sleepless night. Looking up at Alia, a trace of doubt appeared in his eyes.
"You… you look like you've been through something. Did you find the fragment?" he asked.
Alia nodded lightly and sat beside the bed. She drew a deep breath, her gaze weighted with complex emotion. Her fingers absentmindedly traced the shard, as if the lingering force still pulsed through it.
"Yes," she said softly. "Everything went smoothly. I… I touched the fragment and felt Livia's memory."
She paused, her eyes darkening with gravity.
"When she saw you that day," Alia continued, "Livia's despair… it wasn't entirely directed at you. At first, she felt fear and unease, yes, but then she began to suspect that things were not as they seemed. She noticed changes in your behavior and observed you in secret. Even when you were unaware, she followed you. She sensed… the strange influence that the chamber's power had over you."
Marcellus's breath hitched slightly. His hands clenched the sheet, eyes dimmed, shaded by the complexity of emotions stirring within him.
Alia went on, her voice calm yet earnest. "The next day, when you weren't paying attention, she quietly entered the chamber. She found the two cup handles—the same fragments of the Grail you had touched. Curiosity compelled her to touch them. The images in her memory revealed to her that all of this was tied to the Grail."
She turned to Marcellus, her tone softening but growing even more sincere. "Then, I lost a stretch of memory. The next image shows her standing by the river, throwing the cup handle away. Perhaps she realized the object's power was too dangerous, that it might have been influencing the rift between you two."
Silence fell over the room. Marcellus lowered his gaze, fingers trembling faintly as he recalled those blurred, painful moments. Alia inhaled slowly and added softly, "So this wasn't Livia mistrusting you. She was simply forced to face overwhelming powers and secrets."
Marcellus lifted his head, a complex glimmer in his eyes.
"So… she had already realized it, but never told me…"
Alia nodded, her gaze resolute. "Yes. But now you know. All we can do now is continue collecting the fragments, complete the Grail, and protect Livia from being harmed by it. Everything else… we will deal with after our actions are taken."
In the sickroom, the light was fractured, casting long, intertwined shadows of Alia and Marcellus across the floor. It was as if their fates were interwoven, and both could feel the invisible force silently guiding their future.