"...Duke Kashchey is visiting?"
"...The Reunion Movement is advancing toward Lungmen?"
"All these things happening at once... the pressure on the Lungmen Guard Department is already unbearable."
"...And now, a suspicious medical organization called Rhodes Island has just arrived in the city."
"What in the world is Wei Yenwu thinking? Adding more instability at a time like this..."
Senior Superintendent Ch'en rubbed her temples, staring at the stack of reports spread across her desk with a weary expression.
"Duke Kashchey..."
Her gaze fell upon a particular dossier—one she already knew by heart.
Ever since she gained clearance to the Guard Department's archives, she had paid special attention to the information surrounding the Ursus Duke—the man known as Talulah's foster father.
"What did you do to her... what kind of Arts did you cast, Kashchey?"
---
Years ago, when Ch'en and Talulah were university students in Victoria—
Although Talulah was older, Kashchey's careful arrangements had allowed her to enroll under a fabricated identity, placing her conveniently in the same academic year as Ch'en Hui-chieh.
"Talulah, you have to be careful. That Ursus duke is said to have the power to control people's will... Come home, back to Lungmen—back where you belong."
"...I'm sorry, Hui-chieh," Talulah said, averting her gaze with a hint of discomfort. "I think you're being unfair to Kashchey. He's... not as frightening as people say."
"...Don't tell me, Talulah—you've already fallen under his control?" Ch'en asked half-jokingly, half-testing the waters.
Ever since Talulah had left Lungmen and been taken in by Duke Kashchey, the two had stayed in touch through letters.
Their correspondence had been steady, warm even. Talulah would often tell her about life in Kashchey's domain—stories that Ch'en had once found comforting.
So when she saw Talulah one day, peering nervously around the gates of Victoria University, Ch'en could hardly believe her eyes.
She had thought receiving letters was miracle enough—seeing her again in person felt unreal.
But alongside her joy came an unease she couldn't shake.
After learning more about Kashchey through Wei Yenwu's intelligence network, Ch'en began to wonder: Was this still the same Talulah she once knew?
Over time, though, she grew used to it—and buried her doubts deep within her heart.
People tend to believe what they want to believe.
And Ch'en Hui-chieh wanted to believe that Duke Kashchey wasn't so petty—or so bored—that he'd go so far as to impersonate a friend just to toy with her emotions.
...Probably.
After their reunion, Talulah would chatter endlessly every day, her voice always in Ch'en's ear.
At first, it was heart-to-heart talk between sisters.
Before long, it became Talulah's one-sided monologue.
"You have no idea how much coursework Kashchey piles on me! He even hired retired instructors from the Royal Guards Academy to force me to study!"
"And he once adopted a little girl named Natalya for a while—ugh, you can't imagine how miserable I was back then."
"Every day I had to swing my sword a thousand times! Every movement had to follow those stuffy noble etiquettes—he insisted I live like that! I'm supposed to be his official heir, yet somehow, he always favored that whiny little white bear!"
Listening to Talulah's constant complaints, Ch'en often felt the urge to crack open her friend's head just to see what was inside.
Well... at least it sounds like she's being treated decently over there, she thought dryly.
Then again...
I really can't picture this Kashchey the way Talulah describes him.
---
"Kal'tsit! I need to talk to you—something urgent!"
Nian burst into Rhodes Island's corridors like a storm, nearly kicking open the door to Kal'tsit's office.
"...Make it quick," Kal'tsit said calmly without even glancing up, still reading through the Doctor's medical report. "I have several more surgeries scheduled today."
She was used to Nian's dramatic entrances by now.
"Uh..."
Nian hesitated.
The way Kal'tsit looked so unfazed completely killed the momentum she'd built up.
She had charged in ready to share a massive piece of gossip—yet somehow, seeing Kal'tsit so composed made her second-guess herself.
No matter how one looked at it, Dusk was still her younger sister. If rumors about this kind of thing spread, it would not look good.
At the very least, Nian wasn't completely sure of her suspicions yet.
So, she decided to approach the topic indirectly.
"Here's the thing, Kal'tsit. I have this friend who recently noticed that her usually reserved little sister has been spending a lot of time with some guy… Tell me, what do you think my friend should do?"
"…And what does someone else's family matter have to do with you?"
"How can it have nothing to do with me? My friend and I are super close! Her family affairs are my family affairs!"
"…"
"Kal'tsit, come on, just give me some advice~ You know so much about everything, don't you?"
"I do know many things, but I am not omniscient. Every course of action requires sufficient data to support it. Matters of emotion are, by nature, difficult to observe and quantify. I have no intention of wasting my valuable time meddling in someone else's family drama."
"Uh…"
"If there's nothing else, please leave. You're interrupting my work."
"Alright, alright."
Nian obediently left Kal'tsit's office, closing the door softly behind her.
'Well, she has a point. Someone as cold-faced as Kal'tsit doesn't look like she has much experience with this sort of thing anyway… Guess I'll have to uncover the truth myself!'
Her tail swayed lightly with excitement.
'Oh, little Dusk… you've been hiding something big from your dear sister, haven't you~'
---
"…"
"…This Lungmen morning tea really does live up to its reputation."
The Duke Kashchey, disguised as an ordinary citizen, sat in a teahouse savoring Lungmen's early tea.
Across from him sat an official from the Censorate, codename Leizi.
'At least it's not one of those lunatics from the Sui Regulator,' Kashchey mused. He never liked dealing with that bunch.
'But why is Talulah's half-sister here?'
He cast a subtle glance at the woman seated beside Leizi — Ch'en Hui-chieh, wearing her L.G.D. uniform.
"Honorable Duke Kashchey," Ch'en said expressionlessly, "your safety within Lungmen will be overseen jointly by the Lungmen Guard Department and the Censorate."
It was, of course, just for show.
After all, the man before her was but one of the many vessels of the Eternal Duke of Ursus. Even if someone killed this body, another Kashchey would simply appear soon after.
Normally, unless the duke himself requested it, few would bother assigning any real security around him.
Which meant her presence here, as a police superintendent, carried… a rather curious implication.
Kashchey could already sense Wei Yenwu's elite unit—the Shadow Guard—lurking nearby.
Both a shield and a leash.
With protection already so tight, and a Censorate official present to monitor him, a single police officer was clearly one too many.
Kashchey took a small sip of his tea, his gaze steady on Ch'en.
As expected, she was the first to break the silence.
"…Honorable Duke Kashchey," she began, her tone cold but firm, "I wish to speak with you privately — about Talulah."