The Palace Hall in his dream had recently been remodeled.
Back when Victoria had first begun exploring it, Elliot had cleared out all the Believers to make sure she would not run into anyone.
He had even gone in personally to keep watch, afraid Victoria might run into her dog.
It was not that he had taken a liking to the dog and had no intention of returning it. The main problem was that he could not explain why the dog was in his Palace Hall.
But Elliot later realized this would not work.
There was no other reason, really. Victoria simply came too often.
Ever since the accident at the Investiture Ritual, after Victoria had become a [Retainer], she seemed to have been shaken by something. Every day, she frantically went over to his place to dismantle buildings and haul them back.
She could haul bricks every day, but Elliot could not. He still had all sorts of social gatherings to attend all day. How could he have time to watch the Difference Engine constantly?
He could keep the Believers out, but he had no control over the dog. That strange being was still asleep, and its [Learning] status had yet to end.
If it suddenly finished learning and went for a stroll, only to run into Victoria, Elliot hardly dared imagine the consequences.
Victoria would definitely connect this to him. The dog had disappeared in the Hearthfire District, only to turn up in a Great Being's Abode. No matter how he looked at it, he could not escape being implicated.
So Elliot had spent some time expanding and reconstructing the Palace Hall with the Cards he had on hand.
What he had mainly done was divide the Palace Hall into several sections.
The section for the Believers was