Wriothesely's POV
Well...
This isn't good.
I came up to the surface and quickly found Timeo who was pacing around worriedly.
"What happened?"
"Ah, Your Grace! Thank the archons you're here! A shipment of gardemeks has gone missing!"
"Missing?"
How could something so big just go missing?
"How much do you know at the moment?"
"The shipment was placed in the warehouse as usual and were waiting for the Maison Gardiennage to come and confirm it and take them away. The problem started when the paperwork on their side was delayed and they requested that we hold the shipment for just another day.
I agreed to this as never once besides this time had anything like this happened and with the Chief Justice absent and Lady Furina busy handling affairs at court, I thought it would only be fair to give them a little leeway."
Wait...
This...
His words reminded me of a conversation I had with Neuvillette two days ago.
"Oh dear... Wriothesely I'm terribly sorry." He had suddenly exclaimed.
"Excuse me?"
"I have to apologize. I've fallen somewhat behind on my work."
"And?"
I didn't understand why he would apologize to me about something like that.
Especially when I was watching him continuously work through without breaks day after day.
"It may come to delay yours. I just now realized that I sent the approval document for receiving the next shipment of gardemeks quite late. It will most likely delay the proceedings by a day."
He looked incredibly worried and borderline distressed back then.
I had to hold back the urge to sigh.
"That's completely fine, Neuvillette. It's just a day. Besides, you're working continuously through your days. If someone dares to blame you for a single late document, I will personally discuss their complaints with them in great detail."
"Wriothesely."
"Alright, alright. I was just joking."
I wasn't joking back then, but that's not the point right now.
"So? Did they not show up?"
"No, no, no. They did. They showed up at the rescheduled time and not a minute later. The problem was that when we went to the warehouse, it was empty."
"Empty? So you're telling me that the whole shipment just evaporated overnight?"
I didn't ask whether there were enough guards.
Timeo knew better than to be lax.
"I'm terribly sorry, Your Grace! If I had paid more attention-"
"That's quite enough. No more apologies."
I hear enough of those from a certain overworked dragon.
"Let's go to the warehouse. Checking the scene one more time can't hurt."
As we went towards the warehouse we met a few gardes and members of Marechaussee Phantom who too had come to investigate.
"Good day, Duke Wriothesely. I trust you have been well."
"Yes, thank you, Trow. I hope you're feeling well too."
Out of habit-
Well, Neuvillette's habit. One that I observed and picked up.
Whatever.
I nearly reached down to pet the smiling melusine on the head. I was able to stop myself just in time.
Likely noticing my intention, Trow chuckled.
"While I do not mind the gesture, Your Grace, I would prefer it if you left it outside of work."
"Of course..."
God, this is embarrassing!
I ignored the questioning glances from the other members of the Phantom, the guards, and my own subordinates and simply walked into the warehouse.
I will not acknowledge those stares.
I will not acknowledge those stares.
We entered the warehouse and after a thorough search found...
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Not even a speck of dust.
"How can we be sure the shipment even existed."
This quietly mumbled comment from one of the gardes earned quite a few glares from our side and understandably so.
"If you wish, you can confirm it with the Chief Justice. He took a look at the shipment before I sent it out."
Now what do you say to that?
Just as I expected, the man shut up immediately, shame spreading across his face.
"Your Grace." Trow suddenly spoke up.
Did she discover something?
"Yes?"
"Did you perhaps receive something from Da- Monsieur Neuvillette?"
Huh?
"I did."
But how does that come into this now?
I don't see the relevance.
"Can I see it?"
"Sure."
I took out the small conch and her eyes lit up.
Well, it was more like she squinted.
"With all due respect, Your Grace, please stand outside."
"Miss Trow, even if you're with the Marechaussee Phantom-"
"That's alright, Timeo." I interrupted him.
I might be...
"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that to you I currently look similar to the Chief Justice. In Sigewinne's words, a walking lightbulb."
She nodded but then shook her head.
"Monsieur Neuvillette is still able to reign in his aura in situations such as this. That aside, Your Grace, you look more like a flashing advertisement sign than a lightbulb."
I chuckled and stood outside the door.
"Please, go ahead."
Trow walked around for a few minutes before throwing a few hand signs at the rest of the Phantom members without even looking back.
Obviously, this wasn't the first time this had happened as one of them almost immediately pulled out a box of-
Chalk?
As she walked another circle, she marked a few places with different colored chalk before finally coming to a standstill.
"How many gardemeks were there?"
"31." Timeo reported.
"15 pneuma and 16 ousia?"
"Yes."
Oh?
That wasn't in the report though.
The only one outside of Meropide personnel who knows that is Neuvilette.
"Did you find something?"
"Even if she did, it will not be of any use to you anymore, Your Grace." A voice suddenly sounded behind me.
Before I could even move just an inch I felt something cold press against the back of my head.
A gun.
I cannot stop a bullet at this distance.
I looked inside through the door and found the others in a similarly dire circumstance.
Damn!
How did I not notice them?
There were over forty mere armed with guns!
To think that I let them get past me...
Suddenly, I felt heat pulse through my body originating from my pocket.
That-
The conch Neuvillette gave me?
At the same time, I heard Trow's voice from inside.
It was small, almost inaudible and I'm quite sure no one else heard it, not even the people standing next to her.
"Your Grace, you mustn't."
What?
What is it that I shouldn't do?
"If that thing goes haywire, even if the two of us survive, the others will surely die."
?!?
Just what on Teyvat was happening?!
"It should be reacting to your current emotional state or more accurately your heart rate, so please try to calm your heart, Your Grace."
Phew...
While I wasn't sure what kind of crisis she was trying to avert, I knew better than to question it.
I took a few deep breaths to calm my heart, albeit with little success.
"We'll be fine, Your Grace. If that showed such a big reaction Dad must have surely felt it as well. It's only a matter of time before someone shows up."
And that finally did the trick.
For some reason, the mere thought of Neuvillette knowing of the current situation managed to calm my heart down enough for the little conch to stop pulsing.
Unbeknownst to Wriothesly, Trow was anything but calm knowing that Neuvillette would know of this situation.
She feared what would happen if the dragon got angry.
And she had every right to do so.
In the next second, every melusine within Fontaine felt a huge gust of hydro explode through the nation like a warning.
A warning not just the melusines, but also a certain archon felt.
"I know, I know. I'm on it, okay? You damn inpatient lizard." Furina grumbled as she rushed through the streets.