Chương 222: Chapter : 222

The jungle did not answer. The miasma pulsed. The purple glow spread. And the night fell over the Dimitri tribe like a suffocating blanket, choking the last traces of warmth and hope from the air.

Back at the 13th Unit's estate, the atmosphere was a mixture of sheer desperation and frantic urgency. The warm, cozy feeling that usually filled the hallways was gone, replaced by the heavy, pressing weight of a ticking clock that nobody could see but everyone could feel. Dr. Chiha was still in Luna's bedroom, maintaining a steady flow of golden healing magic into her body. The old physician's face was gray with exhaustion, and sweat poured down his wrinkled forehead, but his hands never wavered.

He had been at it for hours, fighting to keep the Blue Decay from consuming Luna's mana channels faster than his magic could patch them. But healing magic was not a cure. It was a bandage on a wound that kept tearing itself open. The blue veins on Luna's neck still pulsed with their sickly, terrifying light, and her breathing was getting shallower by the hour. Down the hall, in the strategy room, Sayma had turned the long wooden table into her personal war room.

She was surrounded by massive stacks of heavy encyclopedias, geographical surveys, and ancient mana journals. Books were piled so high that they formed small towers around her, threatening to topple over at the slightest bump. Three empty coffee cups sat abandoned near her elbow, and a fourth was slowly going cold in her hand. Her glasses reflected the flickering lamplight as she flipped through page after page with aggressive speed.

Her long fingers moved like a machine, turning pages, scanning text, discarding, turning, scanning, discarding. Each book that failed to give her what she needed was shoved aside with a growing sense of frustration.

"Silverleaf Jungle regional flora, no. Eastern border territorial disputes, no. Rare magical minerals of the outer provinces, definitely no." Sayma muttered under her breath as she worked, her voice growing more strained with each failed attempt. Naomi stood by the window, arms crossed tightly over her chest, watching Sayma work with tense, worried eyes. Every few minutes, she would glance toward the door, as if expecting someone to walk through it with the answer they so desperately needed.

Laxmi sat in the corner, her knees pulled up to her chest. For once, the fiery brawler was completely still and completely silent. There were no flames around her hands. No confident grins. No trash talk about how she would punch the disease out of Luna. She just sat there, staring at the floor, looking smaller than anyone had ever seen her. Zinia leaned against the wall near the bookshelf, her strong arms folded. Her expression was calm and steady, but her eyes betrayed the worry underneath.

Ira sat perfectly still in a straight-backed chair, her blank face showing nothing at all, though her hands rested on her knees in a way that suggested she was ready to move at any moment. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. And Ken was slumped in a chair near the door, his head tilted back, his eyes half-closed. To anyone watching, he looked like he had fallen asleep. Again. Which, to be fair, was not an unusual sight.

But his ears were sharp, and his mind was working behind those lazy, half-closed eyes.

"Come on, come on, come on," Sayma whispered fiercely, flipping through yet another massive volume. Her fingers were starting to cramp from the relentless page-turning. Her eyes were red and dry from hours of reading in poor light. After a full hour of dead ends, Sayma finally stopped. She pushed her glasses up slowly with a trembling hand. Her shoulders sagged. She closed the book in front of her with a soft, heavy thud and looked up at Princess Iris with an expression of pure, utter defeat.

"I cannot find it," Sayma admitted quietly. Her voice was flat and hollow.

"I have searched every geographical archive, every bestiary, every mana research journal in the estate's library. Nothing. Absolutely nothing." She gestured at the towers of books around her, her expression a mixture of exhaustion and disbelief.

"Forty-seven books. I have read forty-seven books tonight. Not a single one mentions the Glayin deer, the Dimitri tribe, or anything useful about the Silverleaf Jungle beyond basic border patrol reports."

"There must be something," Naomi said, stepping away from the window.

"The Glayin deer is real. Luna confirmed it. It has to be documented somewhere."

"Normal royal archives do not document mythical fairy-tale creatures, Naomi," Sayma said, shaking her head.

"The Imperial Library catalogs confirmed species, verified phenomena, and peer-reviewed research. A glowing deer from a children's storybook does not qualify. It simply does not exist in any official record." She closed her eyes and massaged her temples.

"The problem is that the Glayin deer has never been captured, studied, or verified by any accredited magical institution. Without official confirmation, it is treated as folklore. Myth. Superstition. Not science." The room fell into a heavy, frustrated silence. The answer was out there. The cure was real. But they could not find it because no proper scientist had ever bothered to write it down. The world's greatest library had failed them. Princess Iris had been pacing the strategy room for the last twenty minutes.

Her small hands were clasped behind her back, her violet eyes distant but racing with thought. She walked from one end of the room to the other, her soft footsteps the only sound in the heavy silence. Then she stopped. Right in the middle of the room. Her eyes went wide, and she turned around so fast that her messy silver hair swung around her shoulders.

"My brother," Iris said. Everyone looked at her.

"My older brother," Iris repeated, her voice gaining strength and urgency.

"The 9th Prince, Hephaestus. He is an absolute genius when it comes to obscure knowledge. He collects ancient manuscripts the way other Royals collect weapons or territory." Sayma blinked.

"Prince Hephaestus? The inventor? I have heard he has a private collection that rivals the Imperial Archives. But Princess, he is a rival in the Succession War. Would he really help us?"

"He is a good man," Iris said firmly.

"Despite everything. Despite the War. Hephaestus has always cared more about his research than about politics or power. If I tell him one of my people is dying, he will help. I know he will." Naomi's eyes narrowed.

"And if he refuses?"

"He will not refuse," Iris said, and there was no doubt in her voice. Not even a flicker.

"He is not like the other Royals. He has a heart. I have seen it."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Laxmi said, standing up from her corner. There was a small spark of fire back in her eyes. Just a tiny one, but it was there.

"Let us go right now." Princess Iris nodded.

"Naomi, Sayma, Ken. You three are coming with me. Zinia, Laxmi, Ira, stay here and watch over Luna. If her condition worsens, send a runner immediately."