Reading people was a skill that all merchants had to learn to some extent if they were to get ahead in the business at all, and Ethirdir could tell that his knowledge and professionalism was at the very least sincerely impressing Hani. In his experience, a lot of his competitors liked to brag about their accomplishments and business acumen without actually backing up their boasts, and more often than not such false bravado caught up with them and led to a tarnished reputation and loss of business. Ethirdir had learned early on to back up his boasts with genuine results, all while letting them speak for themselves to give off an air of humility. If he was going to win Hani's attention, let alone her affections, it would be genuinely earned.<br/><br/>When their discussions turned towards a potential buyer of the Basilisk Heart, Hani voiced her concern about the power of such a gemstone and how it could draw unwanted trouble to the city, asking if selling it to someone who could take the item far away was an option. Understanding her worry for such a dangerous artifact, Ethirdir assured her, "The buyer I have in mind does tend to travel a lot, I believe he owns several properties far away from the city. I will bring up the possibility of him taking the Heart with him the next time he travels, perhaps even encourage it. Doing so would help him hide the Heart more effectively from the authorities, so he might be persuaded fairly easily."<br/><br/>Despite her obvious trust in his organization, he fully expected her to keep the gem herself until the sale was ready, but he was pleasantly surprised when she agreed to let him keep the stone. Apparently her trust in him was higher than he had anticipated...that, or she wanted to keep the gemstone as far away from her as possible. Regardless, she was putting a lot of faith in him by giving him the stone and expecting him to uphold his part of the bargain. Contracts were practically nonexistent between fences and thieves because finding a judge willing to uphold such illegal documentation was impossible. The only thing that would keep a man like Ethirdir from betraying Hani was his desire to keep a fruitful business partnership going strong, and Hani's results more than encouraged him to keep his word.<br/><br/>"I certainly do have a safe place to put it," he said, taking the gemstone and putting it back inside the puzzle box that it had come in, along with the undone wrappings. "I have a private safe that I use to house some of the more precious items in my possession. Only a handful of people know its location, and only I know how to open it. No one else will be able to reclaim this gem, I assure you. I would like to borrow your puzzle box to carry it there, if I may. It would make me more comfortable hiding it in something like this box than, say, a bag. I can return the box to you once the Heart is safe, of course." It would naturally be a perfect excuse to see Hani again.<br/><br/>As the matter regarding the Basilisk Heart was being settled, Hani turned the conversation towards a more personal matter: her relationship with the good Captain Doryn. She liked the man, clearly, and was fine with his flirting and womanizing since she herself partook in similar activities as well, but his recent burst of jealousy confused her. Especially considering she had heard he was apparently engaged. Hani wasn't ready to settle down just yet, but she was also pressured by her father to seek a good man, and Doryn's behavior had confused her feelings greatly. When she realized she was ranting, she apologized for venting about her personal problems.<br/><br/>"No need to apologize, my dear," he assured her with a warm smile, taking her hand in his and giving it a soft squeeze to reinforce that. "I can understand your frustration. The Captain and I have known each other for several years now - mostly indirectly, but we knew one another by reputation. I'm sure you know that I have flirted and dallied just as much as he had, and we both maintained a friendly rivalry between us in that regard. But I will also admit to being surprised by his bout of jealousy yesterday, as I have never witnessed him acting like that before."<br/><br/>He gazed gently into Hani's eyes before he continued. "The only explanation I can offer, after some thought, is that the reason he became jealous is because he saw a real chance at losing something precious to him. I'm sure he is well aware of your flirting, and felt confident that it wouldn't amount to any significant change in your relationship. But then I came along, and Doryn saw me as having a very real chance at taking you away from him. I don't know him personally enough to know how he feels about his fiancée, if he really is engaged, but it is clear that he thinks highly of you, my dear Hani, and he grew jealous when he believed I might take you away from him."<br/><br/>A soft smile formed on his lips as he lifted her hand close to his lips, his long fingers tenderly caressing the back of her hand as he held it. "And maybe he has a right to be concerned, because I do admit to being very intrigued by you, Hani. You have an air of excitement and an energy I have not seen in ages, and you have a beauty that caught my eye from the moment I first saw you. I cannot deny that I am drawn to you, and would not be opposed to learning more about you if you would give me the opportunity."<br/><br/>He capped off his words by leaning forward and softly kissing the tips of her knuckles. The last words he spoke made clear his interest in her, though they were open to interpretation on how much Hani would allow him to get close to her. Whether it was becoming close friend or something far more intimate, Ethirdir was clearly open to more than a business relationship with her.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Alyssa Celador approached the double doors in the lavishly decorated hallway slowly, trying to appear as calm as possible despite knowing what lay on the other side of those doors. Dressed in the maid uniform of the manor, she had summoned from her work moments earlier by another maid who had been similar called earlier that morning. The look on the poor girl's face suggested that what she had gone through had been unpleasant, and Alyssa was expecting something similar for her turn.<br/><br/>Standing beside the double doors was a man dressed in another uniform, this one of a personal butler. Alyssa tried not to since upon laying her eyes upon the face of the man, Gregor Fallion. The man was repulsive in looks and had a personality to match, his beady eyes often seen leering at the maids when he wasn't off serving the lord of the house. Many of the manor staff often wondered why a man this wretched was employed at such a prestigious position...and then they remember who they worked for...<br/><br/>"The Master will see you now, girl," Gregor uttered as he opened the door, sneering as he openly leered at Alyssa's body through the form-fitting uniform she wore.<br/><br/>"Thank you, sir," Alyssa replied as she hurried past the man, hiding the acid in her voice until a brief hiss on the last word that Gregor likely didn't catch. The door was closed once she was past it, the door sealing her inside the chamber within.<br/><br/>The chamber was the private study of the manor's lord, decorated with all the trappings of a typical room of that sort: dozens of ceiling-high shelves lined with expensive tomes, trinkets on display in glass curio cabinets, and a thick wooden desk cluttered with hundreds of parchments.<br/><br/><div class="floatleft">(https://img.fireden.net/tg/image/1482/27/1482273790981.jpg)</div>Standing in front of that desk stood the master of the manor himself: Baron Ludwig von Berenholdt. Dressed in a dark grey suit that seemed to swallow any light that flowed into the room from the main window, Ludwig towered over the poor girl even with the distance between them. His face seemed fixed in s perpetual scowl, not helped by the enormous scar that cut through his left cheek (no one knew how he had received that scar, but some of the more superstitious maid staff believed he received from trying to cheat the Father of the Underworld himself). In his right hand he wielded a cane, though oddly enough he never seemed to walk with any sort of limp, leading many to be believe he had the can solely for appearances.<br/><br/>The man glared silently at the maid for a few tense moments before he spoke in his familiar deep baritone. "Ms. Celador...thank you for coming. I trust you know why I have summoned you here?"<br/><br/>Alyssa felt she knew he answer, but she wasn't sure and didn't want to give an incorrect answer. "I'm afraid I don't, my Lord," she replied.<br/><br/>"Then I shall tell you," Ludwig continued without a pause. "There was a break-in in my vault two nights ago. Someone made off with a valuable artifact from that vault...and nothing else, telling me that someone targeted that item specifically."<br/><br/>Alyssa felt her hands tense a little but she managed to hide them in the ruffles of her dress well enough. "That is most unfortunate, my Lord...but what does this have to do with me?"<br/><br/>The Baron's glare grew a little more intense at the question, but he answered it calmly. "I only told one person about this artifact, Gregor, and he would slit his own throat rather than steal from me. That means someone in this house overheard our conversation, mostly likely someone on the cleaning staff that day. You, Ms. Celador, were on the cleaning staff that day."<br/><br/>Her hands were getting a little jittery, and she had trouble keeping it under control as she struggled to remain calm. "I can assure you, sir, I did not steal your artifact, whatever it may be."<br/><br/>"Did you really not?" the Baron mused, a thin, sneering smile forming on his lips as he abruptly started approaching Alyssa, his cane somehow clacking on the plush carpet as he walked. He slowly encircled her as she remained still, his piercing gaze remaining fixed on her nervous figure. "Perhaps you are telling the truth. Perhaps you really didn't steal it. It's certainly believable - you are far too clumsy to steal something like that without leaving a trace, like the thief has done. But maybe you didn't need to steal it yourself. Maybe you just gathered the necessary information and passed it off to another to steal it instead. Does that sound reasonable, Ms. Celador?"<br/><br/>Alyssa was struggling not to sweat and visibly shake in front of the man, her body threatening to collapse from the tension wound inside her. She had to be very careful: the Baron was very good as reading people, and lying directly to his face was considered a fool's errand. She had to be careful with what she said...<br/><br/>"It is...reasonable, my Lord," she agreed as the man hovered over her from behind.<br/><br/>"I'm glad you agree," the Baron said as he slammed the tip of his cane down, striking the wood beneath the carpet hard enough to echo in the study. "So is that what you did, then?"<br/><br/>One wrong move, and that cane would be the last thing she would ever see. Alyssa swallowed as she chose her words carefully...<br/><br/>"My Lord, I can honestly tell you I did not give any information to any thief so they can steal something from you. I've served you faithfully for seven years now, and I would never do that to you."<br/><br/>Alyssa could swear she felt the weight of the man's shadow as he looked over her, judging her based on her answer. Did he accept what she said? Had she worded her answer well enough, or had he detected her attempt to...?<br/><br/>"Very well," he said finally, moving away from her and back to his original spot. He had believed it! Success! Alyssa nearly breathed a sigh of relief but caught it in time as she felt the tension inside her chest eased off. "I believe you are telling the truth, Ms. Celador, so you are free to go. But I expect you to keep your eyes and ears open for the real thief and any accomplices. That artifact was precious to me, and I was planning on using it with the tri-point amplifier that arrived tod..." He paused, catching himself saying something he shouldn't, and then continued as if nothing had happened. "...I want that artifact back, and I expect you to help me find who stole it. Understood?"<br/><br/>"Yes, my Lord," Alyssa said as she bowed politely, before being dismissed with a wave of the hand by the Baron. She wasted no time in leaving the study through the double doors, not caring if that lecher Gregor was still there to leer at her.<br/><br/>It was only when she rounded a corner in the corridor that she breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that she had escaped the Baron's wrath. But something the Baron had mentioned just now had her worried. She knew about the stolen artifact, the Basilisk Heart, because indeed she had been the one to overhear that conversation between the Baron and Gregor. And she had indeed relayed that information, though it had been to Arch Magister Quintillion, not a thief, which had helped keep her earlier statement truthful. But it seemed the Baron was now in the possession of something equally dangerous: an tri-point amplifier, a magical artifact that amplified the effects of magical gemstones. If the man somehow got hold of another Basilisk Heart, that amplifier would increase the stone's power immeasurably. It had to be taken care of.<br/><br/>After making sure she wasn't being followed or watched, Alyssa made plans to leave the manor soon under the guise of a shopping trip, hoping she could relay this information to the Arch Magister so he could take care of it like he had taken care of the Heart.<br/><br/>Back in his study, the Baron was seated in his favorite chair, an open book in one hand and a glass of dark red wine in the other, his cane resting against the chair's arm within reach. Alyssa had been the last maid he had spoken to that morning, and the trap had been fully set. Whoever had stolen the Basilisk Heart from him would undoubtedly be interested in the amplifier as well, so all he could do now was wait for the thief to make an attempt on that item as well.<br/><br/>Oh, but won't the thief - whoever it was - be surprised to learn that there was no amplifier waiting for them, only a snare for someone who was going to suffer for stealing his precious treasure from him. And if he was lucky, someone else would suffer along with them: there were many different types of amplifiers - tri-point, quad-point, circular, and more - and he had mentioned a different one to each of the maids he had met with. His lips almost curled into a cruel smile at the thought of hearing which amplifier the caught thief would mention to him, and which of his maids would be accordingly punished for daring to betray him...