The room fell completely silent the moment the door closed behind them.

Max took a deep breath while holding the unconscious drow under the arms together with Dorian.

The woman was still asleep because of Seraphine’s song.

And she still looked absurdly identical to Thara.

The only obvious difference was the completely white hair falling over her face.

"This is already far too weird even by my standards," Dorian muttered.

"And your standards are incredibly low," Max replied.

Seraphine walked toward the center of the room and raised a hand.

A small sphere of blue light appeared above her fingers.

Then several candles scattered throughout the room lit themselves one after another.

The room became illuminated.

And, to everyone’s surprise...

Everything was completely normal.

A perfectly made bed.

A small desk with neatly arranged notebooks on top.

A tall mirror standing beside the wardrobe.

A window overlooking the castle’s inner courtyard.

A small bathroom in the back.

Nothing strange.

Nothing ritualistic.

Nothing terrifying.

Everything was impeccably clean and organized. Nothing suspicious.

Max blinked.

"Okay."

He looked around.

"I was definitely expecting something more disturbing."

"Me too," Seraphine admitted.

Dorian observed the place with a certain disappointment.

"There are no chains."

"Why would that be the first thing you look for?" Max asked.

"Scientific curiosity."

"I don’t think that qualifies as science."

Together they carefully laid the drow down on the bed.

The woman let out a sleepy murmur and shifted slightly between the sheets.

Seraphine crossed her arms while observing her.

"She’s strangely identical to Thara."

"We all noticed that," Max said.

He watched her for a few more seconds.

"But she doesn’t feel the same."

Seraphine raised an eyebrow.

"No," Max nodded.

"Thara has something weird about her."

He pointed to his chest.

"She gives off an uncomfortable feeling."

He looked back at the sleeping drow.

"She doesn’t."

Dorian slowly nodded.

"This one’s aura is significantly less terrifying."

"That doesn’t mean we can trust her," Seraphine said immediately.

The mage walked toward one of the cabinets and opened the drawers.

"We need to take advantage of this before the real Thara comes back."

Her tone became completely serious.

"We need to find something confirming she’s involved in the forbidden rituals."

Max nodded.

"Yeah. Let’s get to work."

And then the disaster officially began.

Dorian opened the wardrobe and started checking clothes, throwing them onto the floor. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Max pulled entire drawers out of the desk.

Seraphine searched through books, bags, and small chests with surprising speed.

In less than three minutes, Thara’s immaculate room looked like it had been hit by a tornado.

"Can’t you help us with magic?" Max asked while checking under the bed.

Seraphine shook her head.

"I don’t know exactly what we’re looking for."

She held up a book.

"And search spells require a specific reference."

Dorian lifted an extremely delicate black garment.

"I found something interesting."

Max turned his head.

"Put that away."

"I’m investigating."

"You’re smelling it."

Dorian quickly put it down.

"That cannot be proven."

Several more minutes passed.

Nothing.

No ritual circles.

No forbidden grimoires.

No suspicious objects.

Just elegantly organized clothes, perfumes, makeup, and several books about politics and history.

Max was already starting to get frustrated.

"Are we sure we’re not mistaken?"

Then a small sound came from behind them.

A confused murmur.

Everyone froze.

The drow on the bed slowly began to move.

Her eyes suddenly opened.

And for two entire seconds she simply stared at the scene.

The completely destroyed room.

Three total strangers rummaging through everything like they were searching for something.

And herself partially tangled in the sheets.

"..."

She blinked once.

"Would someone mind telling me who you people are?" she asked, completely horrified.

Max jumped backward.

Dorian dropped an entire drawer onto the floor.

Seraphine reacted instantly, raising both hands.

The sheets glowed with blue magic and wrapped around the woman like serpents.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY SISTER’S ROOM?!" the drow shouted.

"Wait!" Max said quickly.

He stepped in front of Seraphine.

"She’s not Thara."

The mage frowned.

"We already know that."

"No, I mean..." Max pointed at the drow.

"I don’t think she’s dangerous."

The woman struggled against the sheets.

"Let me go!"

She looked around indignantly.

"I have things to do!"

Dorian adjusted his hair slightly and smiled charmingly.

"Before we continue..."

He stepped a little closer.

"What is the beautiful lady’s name?"

The drow stared at him for a few seconds.

"...Vesper."

Then she pointed at his face.

"And... could you stop staring at my cleavage?"

She said it with an amused smile.

Dorian froze completely.

Then placed a hand over his chest.

"My apologies, Miss Vesper."

He looked at Max.

"She’s definitely not like her sister."

Vesper sighed.

"Can you explain why you’re tearing apart Thara’s room?"

Seraphine was still clearly distrustful.

"That depends."

Max felt like they wouldn’t get anywhere if they kept this up.

So he took a breath and decided to take a risk.

He pulled out the paper with the ritual seal and showed it to her.

"We found this."

Vesper’s eyes widened slightly.

Max continued:

"It fell from Thara."

He watched her carefully.

"We suspect she’s involved in forbidden rituals."

Vesper’s reaction was immediate.

And fairly exaggerated.

"What?"

She looked at the seal again.

"I knew something strange was going on with her..."

Dorian frowned.

"You knew?"

Vesper slowly lowered her gaze.

"First, I’d appreciate it if you untied me."

Seraphine looked at Max with distrust toward the drow.

Max nodded.

And Seraphine raised her hand, causing the magic flowing through the sheets restraining Vesper to disappear.

"Thank you very much," Vesper said while adjusting her shirt.

"Continue," Seraphine said, with obvious irritation in her voice.

The drow adjusted her glasses.

"My sister hasn’t been the same for a long time."

The room became quieter.

"She constantly disappeared from home," she continued.

"She bought strange things."

She frowned slightly.

"And she wouldn’t let anyone ask questions."

Max exchanged a quick glance with Dorian.

That definitely sounded suspicious.

Vesper continued speaking, now more serious.

"A few months ago our mother died."

Her voice lowered slightly.

"She was sick."

She looked to the side.

"Thara adored our mother."

She paused.

"And even so, she didn’t attend the funeral."

Max and Dorian looked at each other again.

"Okay," Max muttered.

"That does sound like her."

"Very much so, except for the part where she adored someone," Dorian agreed.

Meanwhile Seraphine continued searching through furniture, though she was clearly listening to the entire conversation.

Vesper looked back at them.

"I actually came here specifically to talk to her."

She frowned.

"I don’t like her behavior."

Then she pointed at the paper.

"What exactly do you know about those rituals?"

Max hesitated for a second.

But once again decided to trust her.

He quickly explained the warehouse incident, the summoned creatures, and the altar in the forest.

He also mentioned Raptor.

And finally said:

"We heard that the person behind all this asks to be referred to as ’he.’"

Vesper reacted with obvious confusion.

"What?"

Dorian crossed his arms thoughtfully.

"Maybe she’s possessed."

Everyone looked at him.

The elf shrugged.

"It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve encountered someone possessed."

Vesper seemed to seriously consider that possibility.

"...That would make sense."

Then she looked up at them.

"I think I have an idea."

Max raised an eyebrow.

"What kind?"

"Let me talk to her."

She pointed at the paper.

"You could give me that so I can ask her directly."

"What?" Seraphine immediately said.

Vesper sighed.

"I’m her sister."

She looked around the destroyed room.

"Besides, you’ve clearly caused enough chaos for one night."

Dorian slowly lifted another black garment from the floor.

"Objectively, yes."

"Stop touching that," Max said.

Vesper looked back at the three of them.

"I’m going to confront her."

Her expression was much more serious now.

"If she’s really doing something dangerous... I want to know what happened to her."

Max sensed honesty in her words.

And apparently Dorian did too.

The two exchanged a quick glance.

Yeah.

She seemed trustworthy.

Max began extending the paper toward her.

But before he could hand it over, a blue magical hand appeared floating in the air.

The hand instantly snatched the paper away.

Max blinked.

Seraphine held her grimoire open to the "Mage Hand" spell page, her expression completely serious.

"No."

Vesper raised an eyebrow.

"No?"

"I still don’t trust you enough," Seraphine replied bluntly.

The magical hand floated the paper back to her.

"You can talk to your sister without this."

Vesper observed her for a few seconds.

Then smiled faintly.

"That’s understandable."

Surprisingly, she didn’t seem offended.

"All right."

She adjusted herself slightly on the bed.

"With or without the paper..."

Her eyes hardened slightly.

"...I’m going to confront my sister."

The room fell silent once more.

Max took a deep breath.

Then slowly nodded.

"Then we’ll leave."

Vesper looked at him.

"But if something happens..." Max continued.

"...you can count on us."

For the first time since waking up, Vesper smiled softly.

"Thank you."

Dorian elegantly raised a hand.

"Especially me."

Vesper stared at him.

"You’re still staring at my cleavage, dear elf."

Dorian immediately lowered his gaze.

"My apologies. And my name is Dorian."

Seraphine placed a hand over her face.

And Max sighed deeply.

This night was definitely becoming way too strange.

The group quietly left Thara’s room, leaving Vesper alone, ready to confront her sister...