Hal gave them more orders before they all went off to start their marathon cultivation. After all, they all had Ten months to make it to the next major realm, something that, had it been told to them before today, they would have claimed with certainty that it was impossible.

Hal turned towards Melinda who had not said a word since their arrival and mostly observed the proceedings. Her gaze might have seemed calm and imperious to the avid observer but Hal could tell she was deep in thought.

Once she felt Hal's eyes on her, Melinda turned her attention to him,

"What are you thinking about?" Hal asked as their surroundings cleared out.

Instead of replying, Melinda reached into her spatial pouch and pulled out a spatial ring which she slipped onto her finger and out if it withdrew what looked like a tablet.

It had a smooth and almost transparent look and runes were etched on its whole form.

The moment she pulled it out, she injected Cosmic energy into it and a voice spoke out if it,

"Be prepared for a visit from the Patriarch's Envoy".

The voice was deep and authoritative but also seemed inanimate. Kind of like what you would expect an A.I ( Artificial Intelligence) to sound like.

Melinda sneered as she gripped the Tablet harder,

"Bunch of assholes. Send your Envoy, I'll crush 'em"

'What's in her hand?' Hal asked Grimoire

'A communication Talisman. Used for communication across Great distances. It is a product of Rune-mastering but a very advanced product. One you should not even attempt at the moment'

Grimoire explained and Hal nodded mentally.

He moved closer to Melinda,

"What is it?" He asked and she looked at him with a slight frown,

"I'm being Audited"

...

Horst Manor

Ford's Study

"Hahaha hahaha," Emily was laughing boisterously as she sat in the chair in front of Ford's Table while Ford stared at her with a shocked expression etched on his face,

"This is no laughing matter," He said in a breathless voice. Breathless from the shock he was feeling.

"No. It is hilarious Ford, you just lack a good sense of humor" Emily said while she tried to hold in her laughter.

At least long enough for the poor man to get a few words in.

"This has absolutely nothing to do with having a sense of humor. Centuries of legacy, stolen right from under our noses and the perpetrator makes fun of us" Ford insisted

"Centuries of legacy?. That trash was legacy?. Oh, this just keeps getting better and better" Emily laughed some more.

Ford had returned from his meeting with the other Family Heads at Edgar castle and then shut himself in his study. Apparently to be alone with his thoughts.

However, Emily could not care less. Having already suspected something big was going to happen today, Emily knew his mood was related to it and so she went into the study and Ford eventually narrated the events to her. Including his suspicion of the other Family Heads.

Of course, Emily knew about the confluence, she had been in Salmon City for twenty years but its location remained a mystery to her.

The first time she had asked Ford, he told her how very guarded the secret was but was still open to tell her it's location as he was still in euphoria at having met her. Emily however lost interest when she realized the vault only held Gold. She had more than enough and she wasn't interested in more.

Besides, She did not find a vault that did not have a single blue gem in it, interesting, and it was not worth her attention.

It was why Ford was sure she had nothing to do with the Robbery. If Emily wanted the location from him, all she needed to do was ask, and even if he was reluctant to give her the information (which he wasn't) it would not be difficult for her to pry it from his mouth.

"This is very offensive, Emily," Ford said as he clenched his fist at her reaction to this pain he was feeling.

Unfortunately for him, Emily was not feeling particularly empathetic today.

"This was done by one of the other Great Family Heads." He insisted. Mostly to himself but Melinda heard it and snorted,

"No, this was done by someone else," Emily said confidently.

"By who?" Ford piped up and Emily smirked,

"Obviously by the 'Malevolent one'" she said with a false gasp of discovery.

Emily's words and tone should have made it clear that she was messing with him, however in that seemingly joking sentence, Ford caught something,

"Do you know who the Malevolent one is?" He asked

"No I don't" Emily answered immediately with a smile that instantly raised the red flags in Ford's head.

She was lying!

"How then do you know it's not one of the Great Family Heads?"

He probed carefully knowing that if he was too direct and pushy, he would not learn anything, even if she did know who it was.

Emily sighed with False melancholy,

"Isn't it obvious, you are all dummies. If one of you had the brains to do this, it would have been done long ago. This was done by someone who only just discovered your 'Well kept secret'"

The emphasis she placed on 'Well kept secret' was obviously to mock him and by extension, the Great families but Ford endured. He wouldn't dare show dissatisfaction anyway.

Her logic on why it could not be one of the other Great Family Heads was a little flawed though. After all, even if one of the Great Families wanted the Gold they would still need a situation like this Auction to get their hands on all Four seals. So in essence. It could very well still be one of the Great families.

All in all, Ford was now even more convinced that she knew who the Malevolent one was, her explanation showed she was speaking with certainty and yet could not explain why it could not possibly go the other way.

He was of course right, Emily was quite sure she knew who the Malevolent one was, however, he could never possibly get that information out of her forcefully.

Emily's voice brought him out of his stupor,

"I'll tell you one thing though, while I do not believe any of you Great family heads is the mastermind, a member of the Great families is working with this Malevolent one.

" So ask yourself Ford and be completely honest. Are you surrounded by your most trusted men, or are there traitors in your home?"

Ford went into deep thought,

"I trust Fidel completely" he eventually said.

"Good. But that's just one man. What of the others?"

With that Emily uncrossed her beautiful legs, stood to her feet, and walked out of the Study with Ford's mood worst now than when she had first entered.

...

A few minutes later...

In a little Hut in Horst manor garden...

Mother and Daughter sat across each other playing a game of checkers. Amelia was in the lead.

"You didn't have to make Dad feel worse than he already did" Amelia protested with a frown as she pushed another piece forward.

"I can't believe we are playing checkers. It's a soft game. We should be playing chess"

Emily said airily as she captured one of Amelia's pieces.

"You always beat me in chess and you're dodging the question,"

Amelia said as she captured two pieces in return for the one Emily had captured before.

"You didn't ask a question. You were telling me off" Emily said with a smile.

"Mother!" Amelia snapped.

"Alright, alright. Maybe I should not have kicked him when he was already down. But you don't need to worry..." Emily trailed off suggestively.

"I don't need to worry about what?" Amelia asked.

"Well, my dear daughter, you see, occasionally, your Father likes to be put down"

Emily's head was cocked to the side slightly and it did not take long for Amelia to realize the hidden meaning behind her mother's words.

"Oh come on! I don't need that image in my head!" Amelia groaned and Emily chuckled.

"Sorry"

Emily did not sound sorry at all and the worst part, she had distracted Amelia enough to capture a few pieces without incurring repercussions.

"That's cheating" Amelia piped instantly,

"It's not. In checkers, just like Chess, you need to always pay attention" Emily smirked.

"So do you know who robbed the Confluence?" Amelia asked.

She had always known how much stock her father placed on the Confluence. He saw it as a legacy, a shared legacy but a legacy nonetheless.

Emily looked at her and grinned,

"Are you seriously asking me that?" She asked as she went on to capture even more pieces.

"What? You don't want to tell me?" Amelia was instantly dissatisfied. Her interest in their game was now minimal at best.

"What would be the point of telling you something you already know?" Emily said with a vague smile as she continued to clear the board of Amelia's pieces.

Amelia went silent for a while and thought more about the chain of events that had occurred at the Confluence.

The only way anyone could have pulled off such banditry was if they were invisible to all senses.

Invisible...

Her lips curved into a conflicted smile.

"Yes I do," She said right before one of her Mother's pieces would be crowned and lay waste to the rest of her pieces.

She had lost but she was more preoccupied with the thought that her lover had just robbed her father. Without a doubt, Theirs was a complicated relationship.