Westminster Bank

'FL... So she's using English initials now. But putting it all together, it has to be Freyja Lancelot, no doubt about it...'

Baron confirmed his suspicion. He ignored the Magic Staff, as Jack had already come to his side carrying a large stack of newspapers and other documents.

"They're all piled up over there. The earliest is dated seven years ago. There are some photos and things, too."

Baron took the documents and immediately began to flip through them. The last time, in the collection room, he'd been in too much of a hurry to spend any real time on them.

The only useful piece of information he'd obtained was that Lankao had once served as a private tutor for his former fiancée in the Lancelot's Family.

Looking through them again, he made more progress and uncovered even more questions.

Why were there so many newspapers about Lankao in Freyja's collection room? She wasn't Bagins; the Dwarf Master at least had a master-apprentice bond with Lankao. But Freyja's relationship with Lankao was seemingly just that of a tutor and student for less than a year...

'Wait a minute.'

Baron's gaze fell upon a photograph. The date showed it was taken seven years ago, right when Lankao had started his position in the Lancelot's Family as Freyja's private tutor.

In the photo, he stood smiling in front of the iconic Buckingham Palace, one hand on Freyja's shoulder. He held a Magic Staff in his other hand, dressed in a sharply pressed suit, his smile filled with a sun-like warmth. The still-youthful Freyja, dressed in a gorgeous gown, had her head tilted to the side, laughing softly.

"Damn, your spitfire of an ex-fiancée looks like a schoolgirl with a crush in this picture... This doesn't look like a teacher and his student. It's more like a student who's fallen for her teacher," Jack's ill-timed commentary cut in.

Baron ignored him, his gaze locked on the brooch pinned to Lankao's chest. It was in the shape of two flowers blooming side by side—the Twin flower, a symbol every Alchemist recognized.

Master Bagins had said that the first Twin experiments began in 17th-century Holland. Back then, tulip mania had spread from the Outer Side to the Inner Side, and Alchemists dropped their work to figure out how to use Alchemy to make tulips bloom more vividly, more beautifully, and more uniquely.

All so they could fetch a higher price on the market.

That was how the first Twin experiments came to be.

As a result, academic journals generally used the Twin flower as the symbol for Twin experiments.

'Back on the train, I saw Freyja wearing a Twin flower hair clip, too. Factoring in the extra Fire Element Staff, it's highly likely that Freyja has some form of split personality... The question is whether it's another persona or a separate spirit residing within her...'

As Baron was working through his theory, Jack suddenly spoke up. "L, I just realized that the timing of your broken engagement seems to line up almost perfectly with when this Lankao fellow joined the Lancelot's Family... You don't think Freyja fell for someone else, do you? That she fell in love with Lankao—a married man—and that's why she so decisively dumped you, her fiancé..."

"And her unilaterally announcing the broken engagement to the entire Inner Side from the London Tower... that was just her way of declaring her love for Lankao..."

The Taboo Item Thief rubbed his chin. "It does seem possible, now that you mention it... Otherwise, why would she keep so much of Lankao's stuff here?

L... er, of course, I'm just spitballing here. Don't take it to heart. If you do, you'll have truly lost."

He patted Baron's shoulder, but the latter just stood there, stunned, muttering, "Love... the Blood Twin ritual... Lankao's wife and daughter..."

"Find the photos! Find every single photo you can! I need to go somewhere. You start looking here."

Baron said to Jack, then immediately started searching himself. "Check the backs."

"The backs?" Jack caught on. "You mean Freyja might have left clues on the back of them?"

The words were barely out of his mouth when an illusory spiral staircase materialized in the room. Baron stepped onto it and vanished.

"S Level Taboo Items are damn useful..." Jack muttered, full of envy. "If only they could be used for their proper purpose of containment."

Before long, Baron returned, carrying a huge stack of newspapers.

"Where'd you go?" Jack asked, staring blankly at the mountain of newspapers. Judging by the looks of it, had he gone to a newsstand to buy out their entire stock?

If Baron had known what he was thinking, he would have confirmed that yes, it was a newsstand—the one at Westminster Cathedral.

He had used the Illusory Cocoon to return to "Seagull," the undercover agent at the newsstand in the Outer Side's Westminster Cathedral. This time, once he flashed the Black Card and stated his purpose, the Seagull stall owner was even more eager to please than before. Forget macarons and black coffee; the man looked ready to hand over his entire business.

'Still, this is so inefficient. A 'manual search' really is manual. If this were the future, a click of the mouse and a few keystrokes would make everything clear in an instant.'

Baron shoved all the newspapers at his go-to guy, Jack. "Find every article in here related to Freyja..."

He paused. "For keywords, you can use my name, too."

With that, he ignored Jack's groans of protest and picked up the photos Jack had sorted. He began flipping through them one by one, making sure not to miss their backs.

They were all photos of Freyja and Lankao together, showing moments of Lankao teaching Freyja how to use Magic Cards and a Magic Staff. The Magic Staff in the photos was the same shape as the one he'd seen in the Dracul Mountain Range—an Ice Element staff.

There wasn't a single image of Freyja using a Fire Element Staff.

Until he reached one photo. Judging by the date, it seemed to have been taken on the day Lankao left his post. Freyja stood in the center wearing a Wizard Hat, flanked by Lankao and the Lancelot Family Head. Baron noticed that in her hands, Freyja was definitively holding the very same Fire Element Staff that was now in the collection room.