Alderan, Obsidian Palace.
It was a rare sunny day. Sunlight dispersed the mist that had shrouded the entire Alderan Region, its brilliant radiance spilling down from the horizon, piercing thin, pale clouds, and slanting into the courtyard of Obsidian Palace.
In a small flower hall on the palace's first floor, an attendant opened the windows facing the courtyard. The fresh morning breeze passed through the shrubs outside and drifted unhurriedly into the hall. Rosetta Augustus sat on a bench by the window, half his face lit by sunlight as though coated in a faint glow.
"Hadrien sent word. He came up empty-handed at the Throat of Olandel," Rosetta said, raising his head to look at Matilda seated across from him. "He happened to be inspecting factories near Orandell before that, yet he still failed to notice when those Sleepers withdrew."
"If a secret organization has operated within our empire for seven hundred years, then it is only natural that we would struggle to detect and intercept them the moment they became determined to withdraw in secret," Matilda said, sitting upright across from her father. Fine golden chains hung from her hair, swaying beside her cheeks with glimmers of gold. "I simply never expected Gawain Cecil to be behind all this..."
Rosetta glanced at Matilda. "Judging by the timing, when The Sleeper Cult suffered its mishap and began its withdrawal plan, that was precisely during the days you remained in Cecil City."
Matilda could not help frowning, regret and shame appearing on her face. "Yes... I was right beside Gawain Cecil during those days, yet I noticed nothing..."
Rosetta remained calm. "If even a young person like you could casually uncover his secrets, then he would not be Cecil's emperor, and Typhon could sleep easy."
"Gawain Cecil's secrets..." Matilda murmured instinctively