While the young master Lucien slept soundly in his chamber, blissfully unaware beneath the warmth of his blanket and the soft silence of a room dimmed by drawn velvet curtains, a quiet investigation was already underway deep within the Velebrandt estate. Beneath the marble floors and the elegant spires of the grand mansion, down the less traveled corridors into the underground servant quarters, two figures stood in muted tension.
Knight Rex, tall and broad-shouldered with a commanding presence even while seated, leaned over slightly with both arms resting atop his armored thighs. His usual stoicism was shadowed by a storm brewing behind his eyes—controlled, yet fierce. Across from him sat Maid Marie, her hands neatly folded on her lap, though her thumbs twitched anxiously as she retold the morning's events.
