"See... it says right here..

The deal is made... Give the Noctis Sphere, and take what you wished for."

"Noctis Sphere? Now what on earth is that?" Sera murmured, completely confused.

However, hearing that word, it clicked for Lucian. He figured the Noctis Sphere had to be some kind of artifact, and looking at the massive pile of junk scattered across the floor, he knew exactly how to track it down...

Directing an icy glare toward Adrian, who was still trembling on the floor, Lucian stepped forward.

"Dear brother... Would you care to explain some other details?"

Flinching hard, Adrian frantically waved both his hands in the air while scrambling backward.

"W-What?! I told you everything I know! I swear I don’t know anything else!"

Lucian watched Adrian for a moment longer. and instincts told him that Adrian was indeed tapped out of information, so he didn’t push him any further.

Meanwhile, Zenith’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second.

Leaving the parchment scroll in Elira’s hands, she turned her attention toward Adrian’s scattered heap of artifacts and hurriedly began searching through them.

"There’s no point in questioning him anymore," Zenith said. "I know what the Noctis Sphere is... and how to use it."

Unable to hold back her curiosity, Sera asked, "What do you mean you know? And what is it, anyway?"

Keeping her eyes fixed on the mess of artifacts strewn behind the bed, Zenith began to explain...

"If I put it simply, it’s an artifact that looks like a round ball, which can be used to make a deal to break a curse..."

Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in Lucian’s mind.

A round ball...?

Stepping forward, he remembered that just a moment ago, he had been looking intently at a round glass ball near the bed.

Zenith was still searching frantically near that exact same bedside, but she hadn’t found it yet. Sera, Elira, and Viktor just watched Lucian with shrugged shoulders as he walked over.

And he easily found that as he picked it up, the crystalline glass ball resting right beside the bed. Looking down at Zenith, who was still bent over and hunting through the mess, he questioned her.

"Zenith..."

"Yeah?"

"Does this Noctis Sphere look like a crystal ball with a small, dark sphere floating inside it?"

"Yeah, something like that..." she replied, still not looking in Lucian’s direction.

Standing in the back, Viktor just watched with a completely deadpan expression. However, A exact same question popped into both Sera and Elira’s minds:

Is she dumb?

Deciding to tease Zenith one last time about her empty-headed moment, Lucian spoke up again.

"Then why don’t you just ask Adrian what that sphere looks like? I mean... he could probably tell you whether he has an artifact like that or not."

Suddenly, Zenith froze right there in her awkward, bent-over position.

From behind, they could see her neck and face turning bright red with pure embarrassment. Her reaction made it absolutely clear to everyone in the room that she was, indeed, a massive dummy.

Straightening herself up, she clenched her fists and took a couple of deep, steadying exhales. Then, she turned around...

"Ahem... yes, I mean..."

She paused as her eyes locked onto the ball Lucian was already casually holding.

With her face still flushed red, her eyes narrowed into a glare. She marched right up to him and snatched the ball out of his hand.

"If you had already found it, you could have just said so earlier!"

"Yeah... oops, silly me. I was just confirming what it looked like," Lucian replied smoothly, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Pfft..."

Standing in the back, Sera, Elira, and even Viktor immediately covered their mouths with their hands, desperately trying to stifle their laughter.

"STOP LAUGHING!" Zenith yelled, her ears burning.

Taking a sharp breath, she cleared her throat and forced her expression back to a serious tone.

Oh, so I was right. She really is stupid... Lucian thought, still highly amused.

As Zenith fixed her gaze entirely on the crystal ball, the embarrassed blush slowly faded from her cheeks.

"So... now we just have to make a deal."

Lucian raised an eyebrow. What kind of deal is she talking about?

Placing the ball down on the bed, Zenith turned around to face the wall, her back to everyone.

"Don’t look over here for a little bit, None of you..."

Viktor and Adrian seemed to understand immediately. They exchanged a brief glance and turned around without questioning it.

Lucian noticed their reaction. Something was definitely up. He followed their lead and turned away.

Sera hesitated for a second, confused, but eventually turned around as well.

Elira was the last to comply, though she didn’t ask any questions either.

Now they all faced away from Zenith, the room falling into an awkward silence. Whatever she needed to do, she wanted privacy for it.

A few tense seconds passed in silence.

Unable to hold back her curiosity, Sera slightly tilted her head, trying to sneak a quick peek over her shoulder.

Flick.

Lucian casually knocked his knuckles against her temple, forcing her head straight back.

"Hey! I wasn’t looking!" she whispered defensively, rubbing the side of her head.

"Yes, you were," Lucian replied deadpan, keeping his own eyes fixed strictly ahead.

Before Sera could argue back, the silence of the room was broken with some weird sound.

Schhluck... Squelch... Rrrr-riippp... 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

A sickening, wet sound echoed from behind them — like raw flesh being forcefully torn open by bare hands.

Sera’s shoulders flinched.

"Eww... What the hell is that sound? Is she peeling someone’s skin back there?!"

"Sounds squishy," Elira pointed out casually, not even bothering to flinch.

After a few moments, Zenith turned back around and told the rest of them that they could turn back, too.

Confused and deep in thought, Sera, Elira, and Lucian all stared at Zenith. There was absolutely no change to her body, nor was there any blood anywhere.

Holding the ball, Zenith stepped forward and handed it directly to Lucian.