The sun had climbed high up in the sky when I decided to take a leisurely walk through the extensive castle grounds. The sun felt especially violent and aggressive today, beating down with particular intensity. Though honestly, the heat didn't really affect or matter to me anymore—my body had thoroughly adapted and gotten completely used to the harsh Southern climate after weeks of exposure.
But objectively speaking, this castle environment was easily a hundred times more pleasant and bearable than the brutal desert had been. The castle grounds were beautifully adorned with numerous big, mature trees strategically planted throughout. The generous shade they provided was more than enough to escape from the worst of the oppressive heat. The dense tree crowns effectively filtered the harsh sun rays, making them much more tolerable and even pleasant. And the natural canopy made the rustling winds that blew through feel noticeably cooler too, creating pockets of genuine comfort.
This particular morning, my destination was Arvid's personal residence—the Diamond Palace. This historic structure had served continuously as the official emperor's palace for Arpa since it was first constructed approximately six hundred years ago, making it ancient by most standards. The impressive building was actually the very first major structure to be erected when Arpa was founded. Other buildings and sections of the castle complex had followed gradually over the years, maybe even decades later as the city grew and prospered.
According to what I'd been told, the entire massive palace complex had taken around a full century to complete properly, along with all three protective walls. There was still so much more of the castle to explore that I hadn't seen yet—entire wings and buildings I hadn't set foot in. But that thorough exploration would have to wait for now. I had more pressing matters.
Unlike my own Rose Palace with its elaborate, sprawling rose gardens, the Diamond Palace didn't feature particularly extensive or ornate garden spaces. There were tasteful potted plants positioned here and there throughout the grounds, adding touches of greenery. But the palace building itself stretched across and occupied the better part of the land it was built upon, leaving less room for gardens.
Since the Diamond Palace was considerably older than most other structures in the complex, the architecture itself was distinctly different from the newer sections of the castle. The intricate carvings decorating the stones somehow reminded me strongly of the statue of the Sun God I had seen, though I couldn't quite articulate why. Maybe both had been created by master artisans from the same historical age, working in a style that was now lost.
As I walked along the stone pathways, a male servant I recognized as Vicram appeared and bowed deeply to me in respectful greeting. He served as Arvid's primary personal manservant and was effectively the head administrator of all the emperor's household servants—a position of significant responsibility and trust. He had faithfully served Arvid since the coronation ceremony years ago.
Vicram was a rather tiny fellow physically, short and slight of build. He possessed the same dark shade of skin common to Southern men. One distinctive feature I had noticed was that one of his eyes had a noticeably different color from the other—which I had learned later was because he was completely blind in that particular eye, likely from some childhood injury or illness.
"I greet Your Majesty the Empress," he announced formally, executing a very deep bow as he properly greeted me. Like virtually every other servant in the palace, he carefully did not dare to meet my eyes directly, keeping his gaze respectfully lowered.
"Is His Majesty currently awake?" I asked him gently, offering a friendly smile to put him at ease.
"Yes, Your Majesty," he answered promptly and then respectfully gestured to show me the correct path to where Arvid was waiting.
Earlier this morning, Arvid had thoughtfully sent a maid to my palace specifically asking me to join him for brunch, which I had gladly and eagerly accepted. I had much important information to share with him anyway, so the timing was perfect.
As we walked further into the palace grounds, we approached a lovely open patio area. There sat a substantial stone table surrounded by matching stone seats positioned in a small garden space. There wasn't an extensive amount to see in this particular garden except for a modest selection of carefully chosen plants here and there, but everything was impeccably well maintained and pleasant.
And there on the patio, sitting casually in one of the chairs, was my husband. Spread out before him on the stone table was a vibrant, colorful array of traditional Southern foods—far more than one person could reasonably eat alone.
As soon as Arvid spotted me approaching, he immediately stood up and walked directly toward me with obvious pleasure at my arrival.
"I've been waiting for you," he said warmly as he gently took my hand in his and planted a tender kiss on the back of it in greeting, his eyes never leaving mine.
I smiled genuinely at the sweet, romantic gesture. "As was I," I replied to him honestly. "I've been looking forward to this."
We naturally intertwined our hands together and walked side by side toward the prepared patio table.
Between enjoying the delicious food and engaging in pleasant conversation about various lighter topics, I found myself increasingly aware that there was something much more serious and important I urgently needed to tell him. But I absolutely needed us to be completely alone for that conversation, without any possibility of being overheard.
So when an appropriate moment presented itself, I politely asked for privacy. Arvid immediately understood the seriousness from my tone and expression, and he promptly dismissed all of his attending servants and maids, sending them well out of earshot.
"What is it? Is there something seriously wrong?" he asked once we were alone, his voice carrying both obvious caution and genuine curiosity.
I decided to be direct and not waste time with preamble. "There's an elf currently living here in the palace, Arvid," I told him straightforwardly, watching his expression carefully. "And based on everything I've learned, this elf doesn't bear the best interests toward us or the empire."
---
The trap had been carefully laid and prepared. The thing we had to do to catch the infiltrator was actually much more simple and straightforward than one might think, truly.
I had deliberately messed up and disrupted the magical runes that had been secretly carved into the conference room door, making them non-functional. The elf would certainly notice this tampering and feel compelled to come repair them to maintain their communication channel. And we had strategically left that area appearing unattended and vulnerable, with guards noticeably absent.
We had been careful not to place so much obvious security that it would immediately scream "trap" to any observer. But it was absolutely a trap nevertheless, carefully designed to catch our spy.
But honestly, it didn't even particularly matter whether the elf showed up tonight or not. We had already determined who it was anyway through Rahu's gift of sight and careful observation over the past day. We just needed concrete physical evidence of wrongdoing that would hold up under scrutiny and justify arrest. We needed to catch them in the act.
Before very long at all, the elf took the bait and bit the trap exactly as we had anticipated. The figure appeared in the dead of night when the palace was quiet, slowly and carefully creeping from the concealing shadows toward the military barracks complex. Then they proceeded specifically to the conference room door where the disrupted runes were located.
The elf in their human disguise appeared as a man with a noticeably small, slight frame. The magical disguise was absolutely a perfect one—flawless in every detail. Even I, being a magical being myself with enhanced senses, was completely unable to see through the sophisticated illusion to perceive their true form. If it hadn't been for the seer boy Rahu's special gift allowing him to perceive true nature regardless of magical deception, we would still be completely in the dark about this infiltrator's presence.
The disguised man finally emerged from the protective cover provided by the deep shadows, stepping out into the moon-lit courtyard of the barracks area. He paused there briefly, carefully scanning the area and confirming that absolutely no one was currently in sight before proceeding.
"What a bother," he muttered under his breath, clearly annoyed at having to make this repair. "Careless servants, damaging my work."
As he took confident steps forward into the open, we finally could see him with perfect clarity under the bright moonlight streaming down.
It was Vicram. Arvid's most trusted personal servant. The man who had served loyally for years.