That evening, the Third Prince sent all the servants away and spoke privately with Lillian for a long time. No one knew what they discussed.
Lillian stayed overnight at the Palace that evening.
Late that night.
Cool moonlight spilled over the Palace, and a figure flickered in and out of sight at the boundary between light and shadow.
Lillian wore black gauze that fell from her shoulders to the ground, swaying gently with her steps like a moth traveling alone at night. She seemed to be there, yet also seemed to be only a phantom. Her figure was indistinct, with only a pair of flame-like eyes occasionally flashing in the shadows. From time to time, guards patrolled with lanterns raised, but when the light swept over her position, it illuminated only empty walls and floors. She crouched in the shadows, as still and silent as a stone statue.
After making her way through the Palace for a while, she suddenly stopped and turned toward a door beside her.
Had Elliot been there, he would have recognized it as the very room that appeared pitch-black on the Difference Engine.
Lillian paused at the door for a moment and frowned. "Strange. It actually isn't here."
A Night Watchman's footsteps drew closer. She glanced over and concealed herself again.
Soon, she stopped once more.
This was... a Difference Engine room, the very room housing the Stage-Play Difference Engine that Elliot often visited.
Lillian gently pushed the door open and looked inside.
Elliot had already taken the Difference Engine's core away. The machinery here had stopped running, leaving the room silent.
"It's actually here?" Lillian looked around, her expression somewhat odd. "This place is actually a Node of History?"
She approached the cold machine, her fingertips brushing its cold metal casing. "It looks utterly