SSS Talent: From Tra Chapter 533: An Important Meeting [IV]

Chapter 533: Chapter 533: An Important eting [IV]

Trafalgar pulled the hood over his head once more.

Darian rose from his seat and said, "Co. I’ll take you there."

Trafalgar stood, and Caelum moved after him in silence, as constant as a shadow.

Darian reached the door first. He opened it only a little and checked the corridor with care before stepping out. After a brief glance to both sides, he gave Trafalgar a small nod.

The three of them left the office together.

They walked deeper beneath the castle, through passages and inner halls buried under the visible structure above. This part of House Thal’zar did not carry the weight of noble display. It felt older, quieter, built for endurance rather than appearance. Their footsteps ran along the stone and faded into the tunnels ahead. There were no servants nearby, no maids crossing with trays, no soldiers posted in sight. Darian had chosen this route precisely because few people had any reason to step here.

After a while, Trafalgar spoke.

"Does my family know about this place? Or the Sylvanel? Or did you decide to keep it to yourself?" His voice stayed low, but it reached Darian clearly in the stillness. "If it holds sothing dangerous enough, the right answer may be telling the whole world."

Darian kept walking as he answered. "Neither house knows." He slowed slightly at the next turn and added, "I wanted you to see it first. That is our understanding. I would rather avoid moving in a way that displeases you." He paused, choosing the rest with more care. "If we discover sothing that can threaten the world, I’ll leave that decision in your hands after you’ve seen it."

Trafalgar did not answer right away.

They reached a stairway descending farther down, and the air changed there. The stone in this section had been left untouched by the war, or close enough to it that no visible damage remained. That made sense. This route lay far from the places where Valttair and the intelligent void creature had torn the castle apart.

Trafalgar let his hand brush lightly against the wall as they descended.

’This section survived almost perfectly.’

He turned his head slightly toward Caelum, keeping his voice low enough that it would not carry too far ahead.

"Caelum. If we find sothing important down here, what do you think we should do with it?"

Caelum answered at once, his tone as controlled as ever. "That depends on what it is, Young Master. If it can be hidden safely, I would recomnd doing exactly that. If it is grave enough to put the world at risk on a larger scale, your father should be inford."

Trafalgar glanced at him. "Even while he’s training?"

"Yes. He may be away, but he is not unreachable. And if what we find is serious enough, a Council becos unavoidable regardless of where he is."

Trafalgar gave a small nod. "Right."

Several more steps passed in silence.

His thoughts did not stay with the hidden room alone. Part of him lingered on the earlier conversation, on what he had said in front of Darian, and on the fact that Caelum had heard all of it without the slightest shift in loyalty.

So Trafalgar asked the question directly.

"What did you think of what I said before, Caelum? About family."

Caelum took a brief mont before answering.

"You already know what my family’s role has always been inside House Morgain. We ensure that the house continues to prosper. That is what we have done for generations." His voice remained calm, neither defensive nor eager. "If those are the thoughts of the future head of House Morgain, then so be it."

Trafalgar listened without interrupting.

Caelum continued, "I cannot say it is pleasant to hear. It is not. But given how you were treated, I would call it a natural conclusion." He paused, just enough to let the next words land properly. "If one day you choose to kill them, I will help you."

That drew the faintest breath of amusent from Trafalgar.

"Hm. You’re colder than I expected. I thought you’d sound more disappointed."

Caelum did not miss a step. "It does pain

to hear it. I won’t pretend otherwise. But pain has nothing to do with where my loyalty stands." He finally turned his head slightly. "I swore that to you already, Young Master. And I believe you will bring greater glory to House Morgain than any other heir could."

Trafalgar’s mouth moved just a little.

"I like hearing that."

His tone remained light for only a second before it returned to sothing steadier.

"So if I ever have to face one of my brothers or sisters, support

when that day cos. And if one of my father’s wives tries sothing again, I’ll expect you beside

there too."

"Of course," Caelum said. "You need not doubt that."

At last, the stairs ended.

Darian stopped so abruptly that Trafalgar almost walked into him.

The chamber before them was bare enough to feel strange.

A square room. Plain walls. A stone pedestal at the center. A bowl resting on top of it.

That was all.

Trafalgar stared at it and said, "There’s nothing here."

Darian turned halfway toward him. "Give

a mont."

He stepped forward and raised one hand. Fur spread across the skin, the fingers thickened, and the nails curved into tiger-like claws. With the other, still human, he steadied the bowl. One quick slash across his palm opened the wound.

Fresh blood dripped into the bowl.

The room remained still for a breath.

After enough blood had gathered, the wall behind the pedestal began to move.

Stone ground against stone with a deep, hidden sound, and a passage revealed itself where monts earlier there had only been solid wall.

Trafalgar watched the opening appear and said quietly, "So this is why no one ever found it."

Darian wrapped the wound with a strip torn from the inner part of his sleeve. "Exactly. No one without pure Thal’zar blood can open it."

He looked back at them.

"Follow . And watch your footing. This place was never arranged with elegance in mind."

Trafalgar and Caelum stepped through after him.

The chamber beyond swallowed the first room whole.

Shelves ran along the walls, packed with notes, ledgers, loose papers, and bundles that had been stacked in haste and left that way. Several tables stood across the room, each cluttered with writing tools, dried ink, old stains, glass vials, and the remnants of repeated experints. A few boards still carried symbols and half-erased calculations. Farther inside stood the ugliest part of it all.

Chains.

A table fixed at an angle.

Restraints built for a body that was never ant to leave by its own will.

Trafalgar’s steps slowed.

’That must be where Icarus kept it while he worked on it.’

Nothing else in the room needed explanation after that.

Whatever had happened here had not belonged to war alone. It had belonged to obsession.