“Miss? So it was you?”
Annaer’s eyes flashed with surprise, but she quickly regained her usual calm and indifferent expression.
“Annaer…” Xiliya’s emotions were complicated. “How did you spot me?”
Though she had hidden in a hurry earlier, Xiliya hadn’t made a single sound or shown any flaws. She couldn’t understand how Annaer had pinpointed her location just by glancing around the warehouse.
“The crates have been moved, Miss.”
Annaer lowered her head and answered respectfully, “I remember every detail in the mansion. When I came to the warehouse this afternoon, those two crates weren’t in that position.”
Xiliya hadn’t expected it to be because of that. To hide behind the two crates, she inevitably had to shift them outward a bit, or there wouldn’t have been enough space for her. But Annaer had noticed even such a minor shift equivalent to one person’s width?
“…And what about you? Why are you here so late at night?” Xiliya still asked this key question, her guard fully raised.
“Routine patrol, Miss,” Annaer calmly fielded the tense question. “Every day at this time, I patrol the mansion once to ensure everything is fine.”
Just that?
Xiliya was stunned. For a moment, she couldn’t tell if Annaer was lying. Did Annaer patrol the mansion every night? She had never known about it.
“There’s no need to inform you of such a minor matter, Miss. I’m just doing my job.”
Annaer curtsied slightly. She didn’t even ask how Xiliya and Ximo had appeared there before turning to leave.
“Since it’s you, Miss, then there’s no issue. I’ll take my leave.”
Watching the receding figure holding the candlestick, Xiliya called out, “Aren’t you going to ask what we’re doing here?”
Annaer paused. “You will be the mistress of this mansion in the future, Miss. Whatever you do here, there’s no need to explain it to a servant like me, and I have no right to pry.”
“By the way, Miss, the thing you’re looking for isn’t here. The wine cellar only holds Madam’s private collection. There’s a dedicated area on the west side of the warehouse for alcohol. The wine delivered by the Black Currant Chamber this morning was moved there.”
“How did you know I was looking for something?”
Annaer turned back and rarely smiled. In the candlelight, the smile seemed somewhat mysterious.
“Just a guess. Seeing you in the wine cellar, I assumed you were looking for some wine, so I spoke out of turn.”
“Also, I won’t tell Madam about tonight. Good night, Miss.”
The candlelight and figure gradually faded from their sight amid steady footsteps, but Xiliya’s furrowed brows did not relax. Annaer’s sudden appearance made her unable to see through this maid who had served the Camberlan Family for many years, though she hadn’t sensed any malice from her.
Even in this situation, Annaer’s demeanor remained as proper and respectful as ever.
“Master, let’s handle the main business first. I don’t think Lady Annaer means any harm.”
“I think so too…”
Xiliya withdrew her gaze and went with Ximo to the west side of the warehouse. Sure enough, among the stacks of wine crates was the wooden box delivered by the Black Currant Chamber today.
Masha apparently hadn’t had time to deal with this crate of wine tonight; it was completely unopened. Xiliya hugged the box and felt its weight—it was very heavy, but whether it contained wine was questionable.
“Let me!”
Ximo volunteered and pulled out her tools to open the crate. She carefully pried off the sealed nails on the lid, ensuring no traces would be left when restoring it. But Xiliya noticed the professional tools Ximo had casually pulled from her maid outfit.
“Where did these tools come from?”
“Uh… From my own handheld suitcase. I subconsciously felt they’d be useful tonight, so I brought them.”
As she spoke, Ximo deftly opened the crate. Light element magic coalesced in Xiliya’s hand again, and the contents reflected the light source with dazzling brilliance. Finally, the items inside were revealed to the two.
“So that’s how it is.”
A smile tugged at Xiliya’s lips. Their investigation direction was indeed correct; Masha’s secret could no longer be hidden.
The crate was sized for three by four, enough for twelve bottles of wine, but only half was filled with wine now. The other half… was packed full of gleaming precious metals.
High-purity magic crystals and other valuable, unprocessed gemstones were piled together, reflecting costly radiance under the light element’s glow.
Ximo couldn’t help but let out a “wow.” She suddenly felt like she was exploring an underground labyrinth for treasure… though these treasures seemed to be someone else’s stolen goods.
Now Xiliya understood why Masha went through her wine so quickly and why she hardly ever left Camberlan City. So how did she receive the stolen goods from her trades with the Beastmen Clan?
The magic crystals and raw gemstones in the crate were all extremely valuable. Only the Beastmen Clan’s territory had such abundant mines, especially for magic crystals—Xiliya recalled that the Northern Border Beastmen’s lands had plenty of magic crystal mines.
Unfortunately, the Beastmen Clan’s skill tree was skewed. Combined with their primitive ways, these items weren’t worth much in the Northern Border Beastmen Territory.
Trading them with outsiders fetched a good price, but the Empire strictly forbade all dealings with the Northern Border Beastmen. No wonder Masha and some guilds in the city were willing to risk smuggling with the Beastmen Clan—these stolen goods profited far more than selling their normal goods.
“Strange, since the Beastmen Clan is so rich, why doesn’t any country target them, meow?”
Ximo knew well the principle that a man with a jade suffers for it. She remembered how a certain country from her previous life loved eyeing others’ resources—especially those from weak nations.
“The Northern Border Beastmen are primitive, not weak. Though they know nothing of magic, the Beastmen Clan’s physical strength alone was enough to crush other races.”
“Probably only something like the Dragon Race has physical strength surpassing the Beastmen Clan. Plus, with their universally fiery tempers, naturally no one dares to provoke them.”
Ximo nodded. Now she got it—the Beastmen Clan took the unorthodox path, investing no points in magic talent but all in physical strength and combat prowess.
But thinking that her own magic talent wasn’t much better than these beastmen, Ximo suddenly couldn’t laugh anymore.
Xiliya set down a magic crystal in her hand and re-examined the crate’s contents.
“There’s still something wrong with this crate of wine. It shouldn’t just have these stolen goods.”
