Things were chaotic in both Dyment and Teber following the incident. After Prince Nero had delivered the evidence to the king, inspectors came from the castle to gather reports on everything that had happened. It was odd how quickly Cassandra became used to their presence. She would even say they were on friendly terms.

However, there was something strange about their reaction to Yuki. Cassandra noticed when she first introduced her magical shoulder fox to them as he lived his best life as a glorified fur scarf. Linette, the lead inspector, immediately began stammering questions about how she came by him. Cassandra knew her now to be calm and confident, so the reaction was decidedly odd. Linette had refused to explain further no matter how many times she asked after.

“Just what secrets are you hiding, Yuki?” Cassandra asked the fox as she lightly touched his tail.

As always, Yuki provided no answers. Cassandra decided to try asking Linette once again. At the very least she should be able to convince her to guide her to someone who she could ask about the issue. She approached the corridor where the inspectors had gathered during their stay with those confident thoughts in mind.

The hall was silent, which was unusual for such busy people. Every one of the doors were locked as if they had never been there in the first place. Just as Cassandra was about to give up and return, Yuki pointed the way with his tail as he had before.

Rather than their personal hall, it seemed the inspectors had borrowed one of the private dining rooms to hold a meeting of some sort. Naturally, a privacy spell was in place to prevent eavesdroppers. It looked like she had best return later. Yuki’s secrets could wait. As she turned to leave, she spotted Keane walking past.

“Hello,” she greeted, “Is Autumn doing better?”

“He is,” Keane confirmed, “I hadn’t expected him to feel so guilty about everything. So what are you doing on this side of Teber manor?”

“I was going to ask Linette about what she is hiding from me, but it seems she is busy,” Cassandra answered honestly.

Keane glanced at the locked door and then beckoned for Cassandra to follow him. Rather than speaking out loud he took advantage of the jabber jewel’s telepathic feature to explain.

“Before I left that fortress in the Draconis Mountains I took a look around for anything valuable. There was a book there with the complex magic of an artifact bearing the name of Tethia. It responded to me and showed me some things. I believe it may have the answers you seek.”

“It responded to you, or to Autumn’s magic?” Cassandra checked, making sure she used the same telepathic feature for privacy.

“I thought it was Autumn’s magic at first too,” Keane admitted, “However, the book would not respond to him at all.”

“Then you must have been acknowledged by the artifact somehow,” Cassandra mused, “What kinds of things has it shown you?”

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“Anything I want,” Keane answered, “As far as I can tell, it will write or show me a record of anything past or present.”

Cassandra narrowed her eyes as she realized the implications of the current situation. “You aren’t planning to use it to spy on them, are you?”

“I thought you liked eavesdropping,” Keane replied with a smirk.

It seemed she was never going to live that down. “I recall minding my own business and you discussing your secrets on your own,” Cassandra sighed.

“Exactly,” Keane told her, “You will just be minding your own business and reading a book. Just like last time. If you want to know what they are hiding from us, this might be your only chance.”

It sounded like Keane was going to proceed regardless of her participation, so perhaps it was better if she joined him and stopped him from going too far. “Fine, but if you start to abuse the power of this artifact I will have to confiscate it,” she warned.

Decision made just in time, they arrived at Keane’s quarters. Keane led her to the convoluted looking lock box at the foot of his bed and unlocked it with a series of simultaneous spells Cassandra wasn’t able to keep track of. From this box, he withdrew a thick hard leatherbound book titled ‘Records of Tethia’ in gold leaf letters.

The appearance of the book gave an oddly clashing impression of both ancient and brand new. The magic that it released was much the same. There was no mistaking that it was an artifact.

“How do you use it?” Cassandra asked, amazed despite herself. This was the first fully functional artifact she had come into contact with since Alois had sealed his.

“I only need to ask what I wish to see,” Keane replied, “So, Cassandra, what is it you wish to know?”

The question, and the serious tone which Keane had asked it, made Cassandra hesitate for a moment. “Will it be able to show us only the things would should know?”

Keane considered the question. “I can see,” he finally answered, “I haven’t tried filtering the information before. Could you clarify what you mean by things we should know?”

“Information that we need to know or that someone has been trying to tell us,” Cassandra decided.

He nodded and turned to the book. “Show me what the inspectors have discussed that is important and valuable to us,” Keane ordered.

The book flipped open on its own with a resounding thud and the pages began to turn wildly as a single line began to write itself on a page in the perfect center. Every single page other than that one was currently blank.

Cassandra stepped closer to read what small record this artifact had for them. It was only one sentence in quotes from Linette herself.

“How are we going to tell them, after all they have done, that Gaia has just been quietly conquered by Beraud?”

“I think we might need to get rid of the filter,” Cassandra said as she fought down the shock of that single sentence with an unsteady breath.

“I can’t guarantee we will get any more explanation,” Keane warned, though he also seemed shaken.

“You’re right. Since they intend to tell us anyway, we can ask them then,” she decided.

All thoughts of Yuki’s secrets had been forgotten in the face of this news. After all that Gaia had put them through, especially Autumn, they were silently defeated by such a small nation? Naturally, Beraud did have a technological advantage, but nothing about that was quiet. Something else must have happened behind the scenes. Someone was meddling with the fate of the continent.