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"That\'s because Izac treasures his privacy," Katelyn replied.

Vyan snorted. "Shame the same can\'t be said for your eldest brother." Exploring the Aurora Palace felt like navigating through an obstacle course, thanks to the guards placed at every turn. It was almost like Easton was paranoid that everyone around him was trying to kill him. Well, perhaps, that was the case.

Vyan and Katelyn continued to pass by empty rooms, each more nondescript than the last, until they entered one that made Vyan pause. He suddenly remembered spotting a blank space on the palace blueprints near this room.

"Is there a secret room here?" he asked, curiosity piqued.

Katelyn arched an eyebrow, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Do you think I have no hobbies other than poking around random rooms and watching sword fights?"

Before he could respond, she punched a few particular books on the shelf with a casual flair, and sure enough, a small patch on the wall slid open, revealing a hidden passage.

Vyan gave her a deadpan look. "Really?"

She shrugged, nonchalant. "Well, I didn\'t before. But now that I have added archery to my list, I will be sure to do less poking around."

He shook his head in exasperation, crouching down to inspect the small square opening in the wall. "It seems too small for me."

"I will go in!" Katelyn volunteered enthusiastically. She always wanted to go inside this place but didn\'t, due to Ronan\'s constant warnings to not enter suspicious places all alone that might have no way out.

Vyan glanced at her gown—puffy, light blue, and as impractical as possible for secret passage adventures. With a straight face, he said, "And this is why I told you to change into a simpler gown."

She puffed her cheeks, clearly not appreciating the critique. "This gown is perfectly fine for sneaking into secret passages! I have done so before!"

"Sure then," he said, struggling to suppress a grin. "Just try not to get your pretty gown torn. I will warn you, I don\'t know any spells for sewing fabrics."

Katelyn shot him a mock glare before gathering the skirt of her gown, determined to prove him wrong.

She took a deep breath and crouched down to enter the narrow opening. She squeezed through the tight walls pressing against her gown.

Just as she was halfway through, she felt a tug. Her gown had caught on something. "Oh, come on," she muttered, trying to wriggle free, but the more she struggled, the more tangled she became. Then, with a sudden jerk, the fabric tore, and she stumbled forward, falling face-first into the small room beyond. "Oof!"

"Are you okay?" Vyan called out, his voice laced with concern and a hint of amusement.

"Yes!" Katelyn pushed herself up, brushing off her now slightly dusty gown. She wasn\'t hurt, but her pride took a small hit.

She looked around the room, a little dazed. It was small, almost claustrophobic, with a single bed and a few dusty books scattered on a shelf. This wasn\'t the grand discovery she had imagined.

Before she could dwell on her ungraceful entrance, she heard a strange sound behind her. She turned around just in time to see a small boy squeezing through the passage. Her eyes widened in shock and she was about to scream, "Who—"

"Relax, it\'s just me Vyan," the little boy with wine-red eyes said, his voice reassuring. He stepped fully into the room and, with a small sigh of relief, returned to his normal size.

Katelyn blinked at him, her surprise turning into a mixture of admiration and mild annoyance. "You could have mentioned you could do that before I got stuck."

"Where is the fun in that?" Vyan replied with a smirk, though his attention quickly shifted to the room itself. He scanned the space, his eyes lingering on the bed and the few books. "This might have been it…" he murmured, hope sparking in his voice.

He walked over to the shelf, his heart racing slightly. Maybe, just maybe, Aster had been kept here for some time in the past. Maybe he could find some clue about where he was now.

As he reached out to one of the books, his fingers brushed against a small notebook tucked away in the corner. He pulled it out, flipping it open, and began to read.

The hope in his eyes faded as he read through the personal diary, filled with bitter anger and frustration. But it didn\'t belong to Aster.

Vyan\'s eyes scanned the small room as he held the diary, the disappointment in his voice palpable. "This… this is an isolation room for Izac. And this thing?" He tapped the cover with a bit of distaste. "It\'s his personal diary. Empress Jade probably locked him up here as a kid whenever he got on her bad side."

Katelyn leaned in closer, curiously peeking over his shoulder. "So, this has absolutely nothing to do with what we\'re looking for?"

"Not a bit." Vyan snapped the diary shut with a little more force than necessary and tossed it back onto the shelf. "Let\'s get out of here before we end up reading something sappy and start feeling sorry for Izac, out of all people."

As Vyan began to shrink himself down, morphing into a younger version of himself, Katelyn couldn\'t resist a quip. "What exactly are we looking for in the first place?" she asked, watching with amused eyes as his voice took on the high-pitched tone of a ten-year-old.

"I can\'t tell you yet."

Katelyn grinned, clearly enjoying this new form of his. "Huh, so this is what you sounded like back then. Adorable."

Vyan rolled his eyes dramatically before crawling through the narrow opening, muttering something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like a complaint about being cute. Once he was out, Katelyn followed and gracefully tumbled out beside him.

He helped her to her feet, and she couldn\'t help but prod further. "Why don\'t you at least give me a hint? Are we talking about something massive? Or something small?"

Vyan brushed his hand against the torn part of her gown, the fabric mending itself with ease. "Something human-sized."

Katelyn raised an eyebrow and suppressed a smile as she recalled how he earlier told he couldn\'t mend fabrics. "So, it\'s not something—it\'s someone?"

"You could say that."

After leaving that room, Vyan and Katelyn continued their search throughout the Ivory Palace, combing through every hidden nook and cranny. But with each room they cleared, it became increasingly clear that whatever they were searching for wasn\'t here.

Eventually, Vyan turned to Katelyn with a hint of impatience. "Nothing here. We should head to the Diamond Palace next."

Katelyn immediately shook her head, her expression turning serious. "I can\'t go there. I once got caught snooping around there, and let\'s just say Father was not pleased."

Vyan twitched his lips in mild frustration, knowing all too well how difficult it would be to navigate the Diamond Palace on his own, especially with its stringent security. But he quickly turned his thoughts to another possibility that had been nagging at him.

"What about the tunnel?" he asked a little desperately.

Katelyn looked at him in surprise, her eyes widening. "How do you know about that?"

Vyan simply shrugged. "Just a lucky guess."

She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously before relenting. "Well, I do know of a tunnel that connects all the palaces for emergency cases. In fact, there is a basement in the Crystal Palace that connects to it as well, but Mother always told me to stay away from it. She said it\'s almost like sewage now because nobody has used it for decades."

"Interesting," Vyan mused, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips. "Let\'s check it out. Take me to that basement."

Katelyn hesitated for a moment, clearly weighing the risks, before nodding and leading the way. "Alright, but I am not going with you. I can\'t tolerate bad smells."

———

Vyan stood before the square-shaped steel door on the ground, its surface marred by time and secured with multiple heavy locks. His fingers traced the cold metal flaked by dust. Behind him, Katelyn shifted uneasily.

"If we want to get the keys for this, we will have to—" Katelyn began, but her words were cut off by a sudden burst of flame sparks that sent the crumbled pieces of locks flying around.

Vyan shot her a smug grin. "You were saying?"

Katelyn rolled her eyes, impressed but annoyed. "Show-off," she muttered under her breath.

"Up we go." He took a sharp breath and pulled up the heavy steel door, revealing a dark staircase that seemed to lead down endlessly.

A chill ran down Katelyn\'s spine as she peered into the abyss. "You are seriously going down there alone?"

"Yes," Vyan replied casually, stepping closer to the edge of the staircase. Sparing a quick glance at his pocket watch, he added, "If I don\'t come back in two hours, call Clyde."

Katelyn blinked, confused. "And how exactly am I supposed to contact Clyde?"

Vyan paused, giving her a teasing glance over his shoulder. "Figure it out."

Before Katelyn could argue, he stepped onto the staircase. But just as his foot touched the first step, a stern voice echoed through the corridor, freezing them both in place.

"What is going on here?"