While I was watching all of them, keeping my attention locked on every little movement, I didn't really gain much useful information about Moriarty. That was the annoying part. I had been watching him closely the entire time, expecting at least something to slip through, even a small hint, but there was barely anything to grab onto.

He wasn't talking about his plans at all. Not even a vague mention or a careless word. There was almost nothing, honestly, and that silence started to get under my skin more than I expected. He might be already thinking several steps ahead, and whatever he had in mind, he didn't feel the need to share it.

Still, from what little I could pick up, it looked like he was planning to give some kind of power-up to the Prince. I had no clear idea what that power actually was, and that uncertainty made things more irritating than it should have been. The way everything was set up, though, made it obvious they were preparing some kind of ritual. Something meant to change him into… something else.

Honestly, I could already piece together what they were aiming for.

So, in simple terms, they were probably trying to give him a power-up strong enough to actually deal with me.

That narrowed things down quite a bit.

The only thing that came to mind that could even come close to defeating me was the Great Ones.

Well, even then, I doubted they could just casually make use of something like that. Sesillian needed a ridiculous level of preparation to even get close to it, and that wasn't something you could just replicate overnight.

Still, thinking about it more carefully, it wasn't impossible.

Moriarty might actually know a way.

After all, if I could think of a method to summon one, then it wouldn't be strange if he had his own approach. If he was moving this confidently, then there had to be something backing it up.

Right now, though, he didn't seem to be in a rush. It looked like he was just biding his time, waiting for the right moment to act. That part caught me off guard a bit. I expected something more aggressive or something faster, but instead, he was taking it slow.

Not that I was complaining.

That gave me more breathing room than I expected. I could move back and forth between Myrcella and here without much pressure. The situation wasn't ideal, but it wasn't suffocating either.

Honestly, it even gave me enough time to mess around a bit.

I mean, I even had the time to have a threesome with both Lilia and her last night. Thinking about it now, that was kind of ridiculous considering everything going on. Things should've been more tense and more chaotic, but instead, I somehow had time for that. Not that I was going to complain about it.

Still, the extra time wasn't wasted.

I learned quite a lot from the people around me, especially from Claire. Her memories had been flowing into me, piece by piece, and with each one, I started to understand more about her past.

She used to be a sex slave under a noble.

That alone already painted a pretty ugly picture, but it got worse the more I saw. She wasn't just treated poorly. She was exploited, abused, and used without any regard for her as a person. It went on for a long time, longer than anyone should have to endure something like that.

Then, when things couldn't get any worse, they did.

She ended up being thrown away, left with nothing, and forced into becoming homeless. With no support and no protection, just left to survive on her own in a world that clearly didn't care whether she lived or died.

Eventually, someone picked her up.

That should have been a turning point and something better, but it wasn't. Instead, she was pushed into becoming a prostitute, forced into another kind of life that wasn't any kinder to her.

It really was a cursed existence.

The kind of story you hear and think it's too much and too unfair, something that shouldn't happen so easily. Yet it did. And seeing it through her memories, feeling parts of it as if I had been there, made it harder to brush off than I expected.

Normally, I wouldn't care.

Compassion wasn't exactly something I handed out easily. But this was different. Experiencing it, even indirectly, made it feel more real than just hearing about it. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

So yeah, I felt a bit sorry for her.

Just a bit.

Didn't change anything, though.

She was still my enemy.

And enemies were meant to be treated as such.

Meanwhile, Gaspard was staring at me like I had personally offended his entire existence. The look on his face was pure disgust, like he couldn't even stand being in the same space as me.

I didn't even bother taking him seriously.

I just raised my hand, flipped him the middle finger, and gave him a smug smile. If he was expecting some kind of reaction, that was the best he was getting.

***

"So, Master? What are you planning to do?" Sara asked.

She was standing right there in my room.

Precautions were already in place.

The entire room was covered by the Guardian, sealing it off from unwanted interference. On top of that, I had layered Illusion Magic over everything, making it look like I was just talking to myself. Anyone watching from the outside would see nothing unusual. If Claire tried to phase into the room, she wouldn't find anything suspicious.

Paranoia paid off sometimes.

"Well, nothing for now," I said, keeping my tone casual. "For the moment, I think I'll head back to Myrcella and help her with the arrests of the administrators."

"I see…" Sara nodded slightly. "The Princess seems to be doing fine on her own. It also feels like she already has an idea that it wasn't you who was standing next to her, but she didn't say anything about it. She seems to understand your intentions, Master."

"That sounds like her," I replied.

"Well, it is her after all," I continued. "She's smart. Maybe a bit too smart for her own good. It might not fully make sense to her yet, but she'll figure it out soon enough."

That sounded about right.

She had always been sharp. It wouldn't be surprising if she had already noticed more than she let on. The fact that she wasn't saying anything just meant she was choosing not to. That kind of silence usually meant she understood enough to not interfere.

"For now, I think it's better if I focus on figuring out a way to stop Moriarty from doing whatever he's planning," I said, thinking it through as I spoke. "Considering the vision that Hertrude saw, it would be more accurate for us to trace back what leads to that moment first before making any major moves. Acting blindly isn't going to help here."

Planning ahead was the safer option.

Even if it took more time.

"For now, I should set everything up properly," I added.

Sara watched me for a moment, then gave a small nod.

"Well, I think you're going to win, Master," she said, her voice steady, filled with confidence like it wasn't even up for debate.

I let out a quiet breath and reached out, placing my hand on her head.

I rubbed it gently, like I was petting a dog. She didn't seem to mind.

"Naturally," I said.