Chapter 122

The weight of the diamond, clearly of no ordinary value, seemed to settle heavily against her finger. Axion’s gaze lingered on her, steady and unreadable, before he spoke again, his tone edged with quiet significance.

“Now’s a good time for you to know.”

“….?”

“To whom I belong.”

At his sudden, audacious claim of belonging, Evelyn’s gaze wavered, her eyes darting restlessly. She found herself staring into the depths of his gaze when Axion bent and brushed a brief kiss over the back of her hand.

“Happy birthday, Evelyn.”

“….!”

Heat flared there as though her skin had been seared. She curled her fingers in reflex, lifting her eyes to meet his.

Unlike his usual manner, so often devoid of earnestness, his crimson eyes now shone as though lit with genuine feeling. Perhaps it was the suddenness of her fiancé’s gesture, but her heart began to race, as though long-settled emotions had broken free of their moorings and were now running wild.

In that moment, realizing she had been holding his gaze all along, Evelyn startled and quickly dropped her eyes. Then, with a slight nod, she quietly offered her thanks to the man who had wished her a happy birthday.

“…Thank you, Axion.”

And yet, the warmth on the back of her left hand showed no sign of fading.

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

“Finally finished!”

With a light exclamation, Evelyn stretched her arms high, her expression bright with relief. On the desk lay a neat stack of freshly written letters—thank-you notes for those who had sent her birthday wishes.

Knock, knock—

“My lady, it’s Jacqueline.”

“Come in!”

At the appearance of the family’s secretary, she handed over the stack of letters she had just finished. Then, almost out of habit, and knowing it was a question he must have heard more times than he cared to count these past days, she asked.

“Has there been no letter from the Aclo Foundation?”

At her question, Jacqueline answered with a kindly smile and respectfully handed her an envelope.

“It arrived only moments ago, my lady. I brought it straight to you.”

At last…!

Evelyn smoothed her expression, though the spark of anticipation in her eyes was impossible to hide. The corners of her lips lifted in quiet satisfaction.

“Thank you, Jacqueline.”

“I’m glad to be of service.”

Once the secretary had departed, she reached for the envelope resting on her desk. Pressed into the wax seal was the crest of the Aclo Foundation, a rising name in the world of the arts.

‘It’s really here…’

Even though she had been awaiting this letter for days, now that it was in her hands, she felt an odd tightness in her chest. To others, her correspondence with the foundation might appear to be nothing more than a polite overture under the guise of patronage, but her true aim was something else entirely.

Evelyn’s gaze sharpened, her fingers tapping lightly against the armrest of her chair.

“I must meet the guildmaster in person.”

For behind the Aclo Foundation’s respectable façade lay the hidden stronghold of a guild powerful enough to shake the world. Their primary enterprise, Hermes, was a network of information brokers so skilled they were known as the Messengers of the Gods.

In only a handful of years, they had amassed their fortune ferrying secret intelligence, rising to claim the throne as the Empire’s most formidable information guild.

‘Of course, that too is something known only to a select few.’

Perhaps because she had read the original story so many times, Evelyn felt a strange sense of familiarity with Hermes.

The problem was that meeting the guildmaster was as difficult as plucking a star from the heavens. Still, if he had read the letter she had sent, she was certain his curiosity would be piqued. After all, she had passed along intelligence of considerable value.

Steeling herself, she broke the seal and opened the envelope.

A cascade of pamphlets spilled out, lavish materials extolling the Aclo Foundation’s virtues.

“What is all this…?”

True to his role as the head of the foundation, the guildmaster hadn’t forgotten to slip in a touch of advertisement. She was still frowning at the mess when something small yet thick slid free of the envelope, landing softly on the desk. It was a letter sent directly by the guildmaster of Hermes.

Without hesitation, she picked it up and examined it.

But inside, there was nothing written at all.

Tilting her head in puzzlement, she held the near-blank card closer, studying it intently.