Buckingham Palace's eastern courtyard should have been solemn beneath the lights of Christmas Eve, but at that moment, it was filled with an eerie silence.
Vincent cut through the night and landed soundlessly on the courtyard's flagstones, without even disturbing a speck of dust.
At the center of the courtyard, Aiden, wearing dragon-hide gloves, was carefully placing an opal of exceptional quality that radiated malice and ill omen.
This was the last opal he needed to place. Once it was set, all of Buckingham Palace would become a terrifying source of curses. Even anyone merely passing outside would be instantly corroded by the curse, their body and mind severely ravaged as they slowly awaited death.
His face carried an almost devout excitement, and the hand tightly clutching the opal trembled faintly along with it.
"Unfortunately, your wish won't come true."
Aiden's body stiffened. He slowly raised his head and saw a figure nearly merged with the darkness, along with a pair of azure eyes.
Those eyes were cold, holding neither anger nor hatred, only the indifference of someone seeing a rat run into the kitchen and preparing to dispose of it casually.
"You..." Aiden's voice caught. He stared at Vincent, then lowered his head to look at his nearly completed masterpiece. Disbelief flashed through his intact right eye. "How could you possibly... I clearly erased all magical traces. You couldn't have tracked me here..."
Vincent raised a hand, allowing a Type-A Sphere that had guided him to the courtyard to deactivate its invisibility and hover above his palm. "This is a Type-A Sphere. It integrates phase scanning, magical detection, and spatial positioning. Your method of erasing traces was indeed clever, but what if it had been watching this place all along?"
Aiden's expression froze.
He did not understand. No, he