Max practically crossed half the castle at a rapid pace alongside Dorian.

The elf could barely keep up while holding his book under one arm.

"Could you stop walking like the world is about to explode?"

"Because maybe it is."

"You always say that."

"Because weird things always happen!"

Dorian sighed dramatically.

"I miss when my biggest problems were deciding which maid to flirt with."

Max glanced sideways at him.

"That’s still one of your problems."

"Yes, but now there are forbidden rituals too."

They turned through one of the corridors leading toward the main courtyard and finally found Seraphine.

The mage was sitting atop one of the stone railings, calmly watching Moonlight and Neros train.

Moon held her frozen-flame sword with both hands while trying to repeat a defensive stance.

Standing in front of her, Neros corrected the position of her feet.

"No."

The knight shook his head.

"If your weight distribution is wrong, you’ll lose balance during the counterattack."

Moon frowned in concentration.

"Like this?"

"Better."

Seraphine smiled faintly as she watched the scene.

For the first time in a long while... the little dragon wasn’t using magic for absolutely everything.

And Seraphine was simply watching. Calmly.

Until Max and Dorian came rushing in almost at a run.

The mage raised an eyebrow.

"...This usually means more problems."

Max stopped in front of her.

"We need your help. Again."

Seraphine narrowed her eyes slightly.

"What happened this time?"

Max quickly glanced toward Neros and Moonlight.

Moon was too focused on trying to imitate a sword movement.

Neros, however, was watching them from the corner of his eye.

And that alone was enough of a problem.

Dorian cleared his throat.

"Preferably... in private."

Seraphine immediately understood that something was wrong.

She hopped down from the stone railing.

"Neros."

The knight looked up.

"Yes?"

"I’ll be gone for a while."

Neros nodded.

"Understood."

Moonlight turned her head slightly.

"Where are you going?"

Max smiled quickly.

"To talk about boring stuff."

Moon made a disappointed face.

"Then I’m not interested."

She immediately returned to training.

"Neros, do the parry trick again!"

The knight smiled faintly.

"Very well."

Seraphine watched Max for a few more seconds.

And the seriousness on the boy’s face was enough for her to understand they weren’t exaggerating.

"Come on."

***

A few minutes later, the three of them were gathered inside Dorian’s small room near the castle’s side courtyard.

The place looked exactly as calm as always.

Filled with books.

Shelves lined with various potions.

A medical cot in the middle of the room.

Medical tools.

And strangely enough, a flower in a vase.

Max decided not to ask.

Seraphine closed the door behind them and crossed her arms.

"Well."

She looked at both of them.

"Explain everything."

And so they did.

Max told her about the encounter with Thara.

The conversation.

Her reaction upon hearing Vesper’s name.

The fact that she claimed she had never seen her sister in the castle.

Then Dorian added everything else.

The possibilities.

The contradictions.

And the most important fact of all.

That Vesper had been in the room when they left.

Seraphine listened to absolutely everything in silence.

Without interrupting.

Without even changing her expression much.

But when they finished... she let out a slow sigh.

"I don’t trust either of them."

Max blinked.

"Not even Vesper?"

Seraphine slowly shook her head.

"I can’t tell which one is lying."

She walked toward one of the room’s windows.

"But we do know one thing."

She turned her face slightly.

"Vesper was in Thara’s room when we left."

Dorian nodded.

"That much is certain."

"So if she’s disappeared now..."

Seraphine left the sentence hanging.

And that was exactly what worried Max the most.

The mage sighed again.

"Though I have to admit something."

She looked at Max.

"Good thing I didn’t leave the paper with the forbidden seal."

Max slowly nodded.

"Yeah..."

Seraphine crossed her arms again.

"If we don’t even know where Vesper is..."

She narrowed her eyes.

"We would’ve lost the only proof we have that Thara is connected to the rituals."

The atmosphere became heavy for a few seconds.

Max finally spoke.

"Do you have any magical way to find Vesper?"

And the moment he asked...

Seraphine smiled.

A small smile.

Confident.

"I was waiting for you to ask."

Max immediately felt a small sense of relief.

The mage extended one hand and her massive grimoire appeared floating before her, wrapped in particles of bluish light.

The pages began flipping rapidly on their own.

One after another.

Until they stopped on a page filled with circular symbols and strange markings.

Dorian leaned forward slightly.

"Ah."

He smiled.

"The Arcane Compass."

Seraphine nodded.

"It works quite well."

Max looked at the drawing.

"And what does it need?"

"Something that belongs to the person we’re looking for."

Silence.

Then Max slowly turned his head toward Dorian.

Seraphine did exactly the same.

The elf immediately looked away, pretending to be distracted.

"...Don’t look at me like that."

Max raised an eyebrow.

"Dorian."

"No."

"Dorian."

"NO."

Seraphine smiled in amusement.

"Knowing you..."

Dorian pointed indignantly.

"I do not keep things from women!"

Max crossed his arms.

"I’m pretty sure you do."

"Those are serious accusations."

"One time I found three perfumed handkerchiefs under your bed."

"That proves nothing!"

Seraphine was already laughing.

Dorian finally sighed in defeat.

"...Fine."

He slipped a hand into one of his inner pockets.

And carefully pulled out a small white hair.

Max stared at him in complete disbelief.

"I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS."

Dorian immediately raised a finger.

"I didn’t keep it because of a fetish!"

Seraphine burst into laughter.

"Of course."

"I kept it because I thought it could be useful for magic!"

Max was trying not to laugh too loudly.

"You’re incredible."

"Thank you."

"That wasn’t a compliment."

Dorian ignored that and handed the hair to Seraphine.

Still smiling, the mage carefully took it between her fingers.

"This is enough."

She placed the white hair on the open page of the grimoire.

And began murmuring words in a strange language.

The letters written on the page began to glow.

The white hair slowly floated above the book.

And suddenly, a massive magical compass appeared suspended in the air over the grimoire.

It was completely translucent.

Formed from lines of bright blue energy.

The needle began spinning rapidly.

One turn.

Two.

Three.

Until it finally stopped, pointing in a specific direction.

Max widened his eyes slightly.

"...Okay."

He stepped a little closer.

"That was actually awesome."

Seraphine smiled proudly.

"I know."

Max pointed at the compass.

"So... we just follow where it points?"

"Exactly."

Dorian observed the direction of the needle.

"...Luckily it seems she’s still inside the castle."

That eased some of the tension.

Because if the compass had pointed outside...

The possibilities would have been much worse.

Seraphine slowly closed the grimoire, though the compass continued floating above it.

"Well."

The needle vibrated faintly.

Pointing firmly toward the northeast side of the castle.

The mage took the first step.

"Then let’s get to work."

Max immediately nodded.

And the three of them left Dorian’s room, following the enormous floating magical compass as it slowly moved ahead of them through the castle hallways.

Max couldn’t stop feeling tension in his chest.

Because now everything depended on what they found.

If Vesper was truly hiding...

If she was running away...

Or if something worse had happened.

The compass shifted slightly as they turned down another corridor.

Dorian swallowed.

"...I don’t like this."

"Why?" Max asked.

The elf looked around.

"Because this part of the castle is almost empty at this hour."

And he was right.

The hallways were silent.

Too silent.

Only their footsteps could be heard.

The compass kept moving.

Until it finally slowed down.

Seraphine narrowed her eyes.

"She’s close."

Max felt his heart beating faster.

The needle pointed directly toward a door at the end of the corridor.

An old dark wooden door.

Dorian frowned.

"...That place is abandoned."

Max looked at the door.

"Then..."

Seraphine slowly closed the floating grimoire.

"...Vesper is definitely inside."

The mage slowly placed a hand on the doorknob.

The air in the hallway suddenly felt much heavier.

Max swallowed.

Dorian even took a small step backward.

"...If some weird monster comes out of there, I want it officially stated that this was your idea."

"Shut up and get ready," Max muttered.

Seraphine turned the knob.

The door slowly opened.

And the three of them fell completely silent.

Because inside there was no secret laboratory.

No magic circles. No forbidden rituals. No hidden drow.

It was...

A small cleaning storage room.

Brooms leaning against the wall.

Metal buckets.

Rags hanging from hooks.

Bottles filled with cleaning liquids.

And a pile of folded sheets in one corner.

Nothing else.

Max blinked several times.

"...What?"

Dorian looked around in complete confusion.

"Well."

He crossed his arms.

"I must admit this is probably the scariest room in the castle, but I don’t see Vesper."

Max pointed at the floating compass.

"Could it be broken?"

Seraphine immediately shook her head.

"No."

She slowly stepped into the room, observing every corner.

"This magic does not fail."

The compass continued pointing firmly toward the inside of the small storage room.

The mage narrowed her eyes.

"If it says she’s here..."

She touched one of the walls with her hand.

"...then she’s here."

Max scanned the room again.

There were no signs of a struggle.

No visible magic.

Not even enough space to comfortably hide a person.

And yet...

Something about the atmosphere felt strange.

Dorian frowned slightly.

"...Then that means this room is hiding something."

Seraphine slowly nodded.

"Exactly."