Chapter 146: Take Me to the Vault

Chapter 146: Take Me to the Vault

Are you crazy? Gideon put down the treacherous creampuff from the tower Tori had brought to the palace. Tori watched his face go through disbelief and betrayal at the realization that she didnt come by just to drop off a dessert tower to his mother.

Tori stood by the open French doors of the casual dining room where she was usually taken when they ate at the palace. While she didnt want to come to the imperial palace, she had arrangements to make.

No. I cant guard you this week and the easiest way to ensure your safety is to also make you take a leave of absence.

Gideons dismay didnt shrink. Why are you taking a leave of absence?

I told you: I have an experiment.

What experiment?

An important one.

You expect me to take a leave of absence when you wont tell me why? Gideon glowered.

If I tell you its for Piers, will you take the leave of absence? She didnt want to reveal her experiment in detail or its end goal in case it didnt work the way she wanted it. She especially did not want Piers to be disappointed. If she told Gideon, hed cave in to just a single inquiry from Piers if not blab everything to Piers of his own free will.

Gideon narrowed his eyes. What does this have to do with my brother?

Tori! The Empress melodic voice filled the room as she swept in. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the conical tower of cream puffs. Is this what I think it is?

Your Majesty. Tori smiled at once and walked towards the Empress to greet her. She extended her hands and the Empress grasped them, pulling Tori towards her to kiss her cheeks. I heard you were interested in my baking contest entry that won second place.

This only won second place? Empress Monica shook her head as she pulled Tori towards the cream puff tower perched at one end of the long dining table. She walked around it, her eyes seemingly scanning every powdered sugar dusted puff with awe. She looked back towards Tori. What beat you?

Senior Southards meat pie. I commissioned her to make me one last night since I was coming today. I thought youd be curious. Tori motioned to the heating box also on the table.

Sarah, go and bring the coffee in! And some serving ware, the Empress said as she called to one of the maids. Its just the right time for an afternoon snack.

The maid bowed her head and scurried off to give the orders.

I hope Im not bothering you today, Tori said as she stood to the side and waited until the Empress seemed satisfied at the cream puff tower.

Oh, my dear girl, youre not bothering me at all. Its the weekend! I was just getting in some exercise, the Empress said. It explained why she was wearing pants and a tunic. She glanced at Tori hopefully. May I have a piece?

Of course, Your Majesty. This is all yours. Tori winked. You dont have to share.

The Empress laughed; her face filled with pleasure. How can I be an Empress without being at least the smallest bit generous, she said with an amused smile. She looked at Gideon. Gideon, since youre here, go and fetch your father.

Gideons shoulders almost fell. Ill let a servant-Read latest chapters at novelhall.com Only

Gideon. The Empress kept a smile on her face as she looked at her youngest son. Go and fetch your father. Tori drew her lips inward and bit them at the slight edge in the Empress voice.

The second prince lowered his head, defeated, and nodded. Yes, Mother. He turned around and let out a heavy breath as he walked out of the dining room.

The Empress gave the two servants standing on either side of the double doors of the entrance a nod. They swept in and grabbed the handles, closing the doors.

Now then, the Empress said as she fell back on to the seat to the right of the head of the table. She leaned forward and plucked one of the cream puffs from the middle of the tower, pausing for a moment to make sure it didnt topple over. When it remained in place, she let out a small, relieved breath and brought the cream puff to her mouth. After biting into it, she motioned for Tori to take a seat next to her.

Tori pulled out the heavy wooden chair beside the Empress and sat down. The cream puff is layered with custard, chopped strawberries, and whipped cream, dusted with powdered sugar and a few streaks of melted sugar.

The Empress closed her eyes, relishing the taste of the puff. Its delicious! Visually, though, its quite stunning.

You shouldve seen it with the candles for Axtons birthday.

The Empress chuckled and looked back at Tori with half a puff still pinched between two fingers. Since we are alone, you can speak freely. You are Tonis daughter. Everything you do must have a purpose.

Tori held back a laugh and nodded. Id like to ask you to request that Prince Gideon have a leave of absence this week.

The Empress furrowed her brows and tilted her head. Why?

I am taking a leave of absence and cannot guard him.

The Empress sat up straight, the playful look on her face becoming serious. Is everything all right?

Yes and no. I believe His Majesty has informed you that I requested unrestricted access to the vaults at Universit?

Yes. He said that the Universit heads were very reluctant, but conceded. Despite not being a student, let alone an alumni, you will be allowed to access the vaults.

Part of the agreement was that I still had to follow procedures and rules regarding them. Considering that the collections and restricted vaults have rare and important pieces, I didnt see a problem with following the rules. Im not reckless with resources, Tori said. She took a deep breath. However, the Dean of Natural Sciences, who oversees the toxicology vault, is clearly resentful that Ive been given such access and is making it difficult for me.

The Empress frowned at once. You came to the right place. Matthieu gave them an imperial order-

To allow me access, and they are, Tori stressed. I have to follow the procedures everyone else does. Unfortunately, I must wait for the vault keeper to not only let me in, but remain with us the entire time Im doing my experiment. Normally, thats fine. I completely understand why. Except that the vault keeper is a professor who teaches and does lab work, but only during times that I happen to be available to do the experiment. Hes free to escort us into the vault while Im in class at Lyce.

Empress Monica narrowed her eyes. So, theyre following the imperial order, but purposely making it difficult for you.

Yes, but I dont mind being compliant, Tori said, perking up. She smiled wide. Professor Lemaires availability is during Lyces class hours, so Im taking a weeklong leave of absence. Papa has already given his approval and reached out to Lyce. Tomorrow morning, I will be waiting outside of Professor Lemaires early morning class to have him take me directly to the vault with Master Ramos and Instructor Ignatius.

The Empress nearly choked with laughter. She turned her head to the side, letting out a very un-Empress-like snort of glee as her face flushed. Brilliant!

That is why Im asking for His Highness Prince Gideon to also take a leave of absence. I dont feel I can properly guard him when I am gone for a week.

The Empress nodded, her laughter dying down. She looked at Tori curiously. Tori, I know that your experiment is likely complicated, and you dont like to give details until its finalized, but Id like to know what is so important that youd go this far.

Tori didnt falter and expected the Empress to ask. In truth, it was fair for the Empress to ask, and Tori didnt mind telling her specifically.

Im making Piers a ring and it needs to be done as soon as possible.

The Empress curious face went blank almost immediately. You...want to give my son a ring? She began to tremble as her eyes dilated, and Tori sucked in a breath.

Its a crystal tool! Her eyes went wide as she shook her head wildly. Its meant to replace food testing charms to decrease the chance of him being assassinated by poison! Its only in ring form because a ring is the most inconspicuous and convenient piece of jewelry that can be brought near food. Its easy to move around and visible to the wearer.

The Empress deflated at once. Oh...its a crystal tool.

Tori crinkled her eyes. Did the Empress not catch the part about the ring decreasing the chance of assassination by poison? That was a particularly important point.

I havent told anyone the goal for this experiment. Ive done tests with different seafood, but not with poison. There are both liquid and powdered forms I need to register into a crystal to make it react. If a poisonous substance is detected within an arms length of the crystal, it will start to glow. This includes reacting to poison in the air....

Such as at the cabin, the Empress said, nodding solemnly. How confident are you that this will work?

Quite confident, Tori replied. The accuracy with the seafood, both cooked, raw, and mixed with other ingredients was extremely high. In fact, the sensitivity was more than an arms length.

This is more advantageous than a charm?

Tori nodded and went through the various advantages the crystal tool would have over a charm and the Empress looked increasingly intrigued. I understand. If thats the case, this could be an important tool for anyone, especially my family.

Yes, Your Majesty, Tori said. I plan to sell it to the Emperor if it proves successful.

The Empress squinted. You plan to sell it to him?

My time and expertise are not free.

But arent you making it primarily for Piers?

Yes, Piers crystal will be free, Tori said. Other crystals will need to be purchased at a later fixed price.

Most programmed crystals had straight forward directions, such as searching to connect comcrys or locking and unlocking doors. Her current experiment technically had two functions: to detect poison and then release a signal if it did, but it would need to hold a lot of information.

The carvings were stacked with programs. The first was to read and register the poison when the plate was activated. The plate would then need to connect to the black crystals Tori connected the quartzs energy to. The plate would feed the poisons information to the crystal. If the crystal wasnt on the plate, then another set of Old Sulfae was used to connect to that crystal through grounding, similar to how comcry connected to each other.

In this way, the black crystal that would be on Piers ring could be remotely updated with new poisons if the mother crystal - the plate, registered it. This made it incredibly easy to keep up to date. Tori used this system to program other crystals in bulk.

Next, the crystal itself needed to be sensitive to the poison. If the crystal were activated, it would actively absorb faint amounts of energy around to find and identify poison. If traces of poison were picked up, the crystal would react.

The black crystal would also give out a faint glow and cause nearby connected crystals to glow. Tori planned to use the same color-changing crystals she used on Alexanders tag as the glow wouldnt look too unnatural. Also, she discovered that those crystals were quite expensive. Her cat was wearing more expensive stones than most people did.

In the case that the glow would be unnoticed, such as in strong daylight or bright light, it also heated up. It wasnt enough to burn the skin, but enough to get ones attention, such as when her laptop overheated. Only by swiping over the top, like a comcry, could the crystal cool.

Tori directed the thread of energy from the quartz to sweep over the sample. When the energy thread retreated, it coursed through the plate and into the smaller crystals. Tori opened her eyes and picked up one of the black crystals with some metal tongs, then waved it over the open jar of powder.

The crystal began a very subtle glow that wouldve been unnoticed in the daylight, and Tori nodded.

She scraped what she could of the powder back into the jar, then wiped the plate clean. Bring me the next one.

Each sample required her to use her own energy to go through the crystals, but the energy required was minimal. After she healed from crystal shock, her channels were much clearer and wider. Gathering energy after grounding was much easier than before crystal shock. She still wasnt anywhere near the same level as Sebastian, but her energy reservoir was deeper, and she could control the flow much better.

She could last longer doing this sort of work.

Countess Guevera, Professor Lemaire said about four hours into the progress of the experiment. I would like to take a break.

Tori finished wiping the plate clean. A break is in order. Lets take a fifteen-minute break. Get some fresh air, a drink of water, and use the toilets.

The Professor looked relieved, as if he were afraid that shed reject his request. He put the latest poison back with Instructor Ignatius with him, signing it back into the vault. Tori laid out some air crystals to cleanse the room before tucking away her crystal plate.

Youre going to take that with you? Master Ramos asked.

Tori nodded. She glanced towards the vault, where the Professor was. It doesnt hurt to be cautious.

Master Ramos nodded with agreement. If the plate was damaged, they had a sister plate on Anahata Island that was mirroring this one. They locked the vault and the lab, then went above ground for their break. Tori and her masters continued to wear their smocks, gloves, and hoods, but removed the protective hoods once they reached the hallway.

At this time of the day, there were plenty of students and faculty in the science building. More than a couple looked at them strangely in their protective gear.

To ensure that Professor Lemaire would not run off, Master Ramos followed him. Instructor Ignatius knocked on an office door across from the vaults entrance.

After a few moments, the door opened and Tori drew her head back, surprised. A familiar man in his late twenties appeared and immediately smiled when he saw them. He had bright green eyes and a neat goatee and mustache.

Professor Stakes? She looked around. This is the geology department? He was the professional who she was recommended to for surveying the delta. She knew he was teaching at Universit, but didnt expect to see him.

She looked him up and down. It was strange to see him in a suit and not having traces of dirt and mud on him.

Countess Guevera! Professor Stakes laughed at her confused expression and shook her head. No, this is a shared science building. Im an adjunct professor, so I dont have a personal office. I share this one with other adjunct science professors.

I ran into him this morning and asked if he could hold our lunch in his office since it didnt seem like a good idea to keep our food in the vault with us, Instructor Ignatius said.

Thats a good idea, thank you, Tori said. And thank you, Professor Stakes.

He chuckled and shook his head. My desk area is in this corner. If you need to leave anything, Im here in the mornings. He opened one of the lower cabinets of his desk and pulled out the large heating box. By the way, have you considered making smaller versions of these to keep food warm for individual use?

Tori stared at the heating box and wanted to slap herself. Fuck. Lunch boxes. I cant believe I forgot about lunch boxes. I carried an insulated one to work for how many years, and I completely forgot about them.

Are they going to come to market soon? he asked as Instructor Ignatius opened the box and rummaged through for some snacks.

Ill make sure to send one to you when it does, Tori said with a smile.

Thank you, Professor. Well get the rest when its time for lunch, Instructor Ignatius told him. She followed Instructor Ignatius outside to the courtyard behind the building. Master Ramos was already there with an exhausted-looking Professor Lemaire.

All right lets have a snack to keep up our energy. We have a few more hours before Professor Lemaire has to return to class. Then, well meet him at the lecture hall to return here for a few more hours before his designated lab time.

With each word, Professor Lemaire seemed to slump lower.

My lady...how long do you think it will take to complete your experiment?

Well, considering how far weve come so far...how many have we gone through, Instructor Ignatius?

Id say...less than 10%? We did stop several times to check to make sure the registry was performing correctly.

Tori nodded. We need to register all the samples in the vault, Professor Lemaire. How long we will need to stay and do this is entirely up to you, she said in a calm voice. Either we get it done this week in long blocks or you drag it out for months in one-hour increments.

Master Ramos put his hand on Professor Lemaires shoulder and smiled pleasantly. I believe you know what will work best for all of us, Professor.

She couldve sworn the Professor whimpered. He swallowed hard. Then, let me see if I can reschedule some office time. I may also be free this weekend.

Tori smiled until her eyes were crescents. Thank you in advance, Professor.

After the initial tests and once they got into the rhythm of the process, it went by faster. Thanks to Professor Lemaires generous sacrifice of his weekend, Tori was able to complete registering the poisons within a weeks time and had to restrain herself from cackling when she finished.

Its over! Tori resisted the urge to jump and clap her hands as everything was packed away. The vault was sealed, and they came out of the science building. The fresh air feels nice!

Professor Lemaire, Master Ramos said, turning to face the man who looked as if hed just shaken off a demon. Thank you for your time this week.

Yes, Professor. I will let the Emperor know you did your job well, Tori said with a bright smile. We have some time today. Do you want to join us for dinner?

No! He stumbled back at step. No, its not necessary, my lady! I was only doing my job!

Are you sure? Tori asked. Ive already made reservations at one of the top restaurants in the city-

Thank you for the offer, my lady, but I have work to catch up on!

All right, well, thank you again.... Her voice trailed off as she watched the Professor flee. She narrowed her eyes. Whats he afraid of? Im not a monster. She heard a low chuckle beside her and turned to see her master smirking. Then again, maybe its not me....

Master Ramos snickered. So, my pupil, where are you treating your masters to tonight?

The Three Queens! Tori said, filling her face with a genuine smile. Axton called the manager, and he is expecting us.

Ah, the Three Queens, Master Ramos said, looking interested. Im hungry just thinking of it.

Should we change? Instructor Ignatius looked down at his rather unkempt clothing. Its a very fancy restaurant.

Axton always says we dont have to. Well be eating in the rooftop dining hall, anyway, but I think we should. The establishment calls for it and I do feel a bit self-conscious if I appear dressed like this. She held her arms out, showing off her own dull work clothing.

Since we were in the vault all day, we should also bathe before changing into clean, suitable clothing, Master Ramos said.

Then after I drop you off, Ill go to Lyce. I must find a suitable dress, as I dont like wearing my uniform there unless I have to, Tori said. Ill likely take longer. Have the spare imperial carriage take you and Ill take SIG One.

They climbed into SIG One to be dropped off and as the knights unloaded their things into the house when they arrived, Instructor Ignatius furrowed his brows.

Ive been meaning to ask, does the name of your carriages mean something?

Tori froze in her seat. No one had questioned her on the name of the carriage until now. Its short for an old word I read about in an obscure book. Short for...sigma. It means...sum. That was the only thing she could think of off the top of her head and cursed that the first thing she thought of was the symbol of sigma in a spreadsheet. This is what I get for working in an office....

Oh... Instructor Ignatius nodded thoughtfully. I thought it was an acronym.

Tori laughed it off and quietly gave Mr. Novak the order to take her to go back to the dorm. No one needed to know that SIG was an acronym for Suck It, Gideon.