Gloria knelt on the grass for a while, feeling that something was different about the Dark Lord today.
She had kept her head lowered most of the time. Though she could not make out the Dark Lord's expression, a woman's intuition told her that his attitude toward her younger brother at the end had been very wrong.
The Dark Lord had always valued her brother before.
In a distant thicket, Dobby, the house-elf in a clean pillowcase, watched Gloria rise with a puzzled expression and leave the manor.
He then teleported into the study.
Lucius was already waiting on the sofa. At the sight of the somewhat cleaner Dobby, he could not help frowning slightly again, but said nothing about it and asked directly instead.
"What did you hear?"
Dobby cowered, not daring to raise his head.
"Master, Gloria gave the Dark Lord a list. It seemed to be about monitoring the other masters' every move. I wanted to teleport after the Dark Lord, but his Apparition was too advanced. I couldn't find any traces of residual magical energy."
Lucius pondered for a moment, considering the Dark Lord's growing suspicion.
Whether this was Tom or Shawn, it seemed he would have to prove himself. He waved the house-elf away.
"You may go."
As though granted a pardon, Dobby hurriedly teleported away.
Lucius rose and paced around the room for quite some time, frowning.
There were three members of the Malfoy family.
Lucius himself served both the greater and lesser Dark Lords wholeheartedly, sparing no effort in completing their various assignments.
At school, Draco acted as a useful subordinate to Shawn while also trying to be a "good friend" and classmate who grew alongside him. That sort of relationship would last longer than one based purely on service.
Narcissa, meanwhile, had