Chapter 257: Victor and Anette.

Victor waited.

Anette kept her eyes on the cup for a few seconds, as though trying to find a less strange way to answer. In the end, she let out a sigh and gave up trying to find better words.

"It might sound crazy coming from me, but I really don’t want anything."

Victor continued staring at her.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing." Anette rested her hands on her lap. "I wanted to correct the mistake I made. That’s all."

Victor raised an eyebrow, making it perfectly clear how much he believed that explanation.

Anette noticed.

"I know I’m spoiled."

"That’s a polite way of putting it."

"I’m a Princess." She shrugged. "I’ve spent practically my entire life getting almost everything I wanted. Of course I became spoiled."

"At least you’re aware of it."

"But I’m not stupid, Victor."

The answer came simply, without irritation. Anette crossed her legs and looked at him again.

"Making unnecessary enemies is stupid. Especially when that enemy is someone who has done nothing against me and just saved thousands of people."

Victor remained silent for a few seconds.

It still seemed strange.

Not because it was impossible for Anette to admit she had made a mistake, but because the woman he had seen at the ball seemed exactly like the kind of person who would rather invent fifty excuses before admitting she had fucked up.

Still, if she genuinely believed that, who was he to complain?

"Fine."

Anette blinked.

"Fine?"

"If all you wanted was to apologize, I accept."

Victor pushed his chair back.

"And thanks for thanking me."

He began to stand.

"Then I’ll be going."

Anette quickly reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"Wait."

Victor stopped.

He looked at her hand.

Then at her face.

Anette released his wrist.

"There’s something else."

Victor sighed.

"I knew it."

"It has nothing to do with the apology."

"Of course."

"Victor."

He noticed her tone.

This time, Anette was genuinely serious.

There was no wounded pride, provocation, or that arrogant way of speaking that seemed to accompany practically everything she said. Her red eyes were fixed firmly on his, and Victor realized that this second matter was probably the real reason Chysis had asked him to come.

He sat down again.

"I’m listening."

Anette took a deep breath before beginning.

"After the attack on the palace, the situation inside the Kingdom has gotten bad."

Victor did not interrupt.

"Not militarily." She rested her arms on the table. "I’m talking about the population."

Victor understood.

"Fear."

"Exactly."

Anette nodded.

"A royal property was attacked inside the Capital. It wasn’t some minor attempt. They managed to infiltrate people, steal something, and then practically blow the entire place up."

She briefly looked toward the garden.

"It doesn’t matter how many times they say the situation is under control. To the people, that means even a property directly connected to the Crown wasn’t safe."

Victor rested his face against one hand.

"And if the Royal Palace can be attacked, anywhere can."

"Yes."

Anette slowly ran her thumb along the rim of the cup.

"There are families beginning to question the safety of the Capital. Some nobles are moving relatives away from regions near military positions. Merchants are postponing trips, and there’s far more talk about war than there should be."

Victor became thoughtful.

That made sense.

An attack of that scale did not even need to cause thousands of deaths to have consequences. The mere demonstration that someone had managed to prepare a matrix of that magnitude inside a royal property was already enough to destroy part of the trust that had taken years to build.

"What do you want to do?"

"Something big."

Victor raised an eyebrow.

"That’s very specific."

Anette made a small grimace.

"Something capable of changing the subject."

"Ah."

"Not hiding the attack," she quickly explained. "That would be stupid. I want something public enough to show that the Crown isn’t cornered and that the Kingdom is continuing to function normally."

Victor stared at her.

Then an old memory returned.

Not from this life.

From the other one.

He remembered the few things Serafall had mentioned many years after the destruction of the Valentine family. The Vampire Kingdom had gone through an extremely difficult period. Families had lost influence, entire structures had needed to be reorganized, and after nearly a decade, a new Queen had emerged as one of the figures responsible for the recovery.

Anette.

Back then, Victor had never paid much attention to the name.

He had far greater problems to deal with than politics.

Now he was sitting in front of that very woman.

Victor observed Anette for a few more seconds.

She was arrogant.

Spoiled.

Violent.

And clearly had serious problems hearing the word no.

But she also cared about her people far more than she liked to show.

Victor slowly nodded.

"It can be done."

Anette seemed to pay even closer attention.

"But it needs to be genuinely impactful," Victor continued. "Something small will just look like desperate propaganda."

"I know."

"And if you do it wrong, it could make things worse."

"I know that too."

Victor rested his hands on the table.

"You want my help?"

Anette fell silent.

Victor continued:

"Because if that’s why you called me here, just say it. Depending on what you’re planning, maybe I can help."

Her expression changed slightly.

Not much.

But there was a small hesitation there.

Victor noticed.

"What is it?"

Anette looked directly into his eyes.

Victor waited.

She had apologized.

He had accepted.

She had explained the problem.

And now Victor had just offered her a vote of confidence.

Anette took a deep breath.

"Let’s get married."

Victor froze.

...

...

...

Serafall was beginning to hate documents.

She had already gone through entire boxes of old records, war inventories, military reports, and lists of materials recovered approximately nine hundred years ago. The table in front of her was practically disappearing beneath piles of paper, while several other boxes remained open across the floor.

Natasha was on the other side of the room.

With an increasingly displeased expression.

"I would like to remind you that I am a warrior."

Serafall did not look up from the document.

"Keep looking."

"A warrior."

"I heard you."

"I command soldiers."

"Congratulations."

Natasha dropped another report onto the table.

"I’m not your secretary."

Serafall finally turned a page.

"You’re the only person here I trust."

Natasha fell silent.

Serafall pointed toward another box.

"So shut up and keep looking."

Natasha narrowed her eyes.

"Was that argument supposed to make me feel better?"

"Yes."

"It didn’t."

"Your problem."

Natasha muttered something Serafall preferred to ignore and opened another box.

The two continued searching for several minutes.

Nothing.

No sample.

No matching description.

No note about unknown biological material recovered from the Lupine spoils.

Serafall began to grow irritated.

"This doesn’t make sense."

Natasha continued flipping through several papers.

"What?"

"I remember that sample."

"Congratulations on remembering something from nine hundred years ago."

Serafall shot her a look.

Natasha did not seem even slightly concerned.

"It was in that section. Researchers were analyzing it, I took it, they performed some tests afterward, and I used it for the insemination."

Natasha stopped going through the documents.

"You’re forgetting one part."

Serafall frowned.

"Which one?"

"You only stole a little."

Serafall slowly raised her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

Natasha blinked.

"You don’t remember?"

"No."

"Serafall, you couldn’t simply take the entire sample."

She stared at her.

Natasha continued:

"You had a lower rank back then. You were still important, obviously, but you didn’t have the authority to walk into a research area, take material that was being analyzed, and leave with it."

Serafall remained motionless.

A memory began to emerge.

Vague.

Annoyingly vague.

Natasha pointed at her.

"You only took part of it so no one would notice."

Serafall blinked.

"I did that?"

"You did."

"Were you with me?"

"You told me afterward."

Serafall slowly placed both hands on the table.

"Fuck."

Natasha closed her eyes.

"Finally remembered?"

"Not completely."

"Great."

"But that explains it."

Serafall looked at all the boxes around them.

Natasha realized it too.

"We’re not finding it because the sample was never entered into the inventory as missing."

"Exactly."

Serafall quickly began organizing her thoughts.

"I didn’t steal the object."

"You only stole a piece of it."

"Yes."

Natasha looked exhausted.

"That doesn’t make it much better."

"Doesn’t matter."

Serafall stood.

"If the main sample remained with the researchers, then it never left the system."

Natasha stood as well.

"Unless it was destroyed."

"Or transferred."

The two remained silent for a few seconds.

Serafall looked at the absurd amount of useless paperwork they had just reviewed.

Then ran a hand over her face.

"So... fuck."

Natasha almost smiled.

Serafall pointed toward the archives.

"We’re not finding it because it probably wasn’t even archived with the final spoils."

"It may have remained with the research division."

"At Central."

Natasha nodded.

"Or at the Royal Palace, depending on who requested the analysis."

Serafall took a deep breath.

"Then it could still be somewhere at Central or the Royal Palace."

Natasha looked at the boxes scattered across the floor.

Then at Serafall.

"And we spent hours searching here."

Serafall remained silent.

Natasha crossed her arms.

"Great General."

"Shut up."

"Excellent investigative work."

"Natasha."

"A true strategic mind."

Serafall grabbed a report and threw it at her.