Inside the Gemstone Theater, in a restroom outside the main hall, Sister Vania rushed in, panting heavily. She stopped in her tracks, stunned at the sight of a smiling white-haired girl in the room.
“A fellow believer? You’re… that… you’re Their…” Vania stammered in disbelief, looking at the girl in front of her. She seemed no older than two years younger than Vania herself, and yet this young girl was said to be another follower of that presence. This couldn’t be real!
“I believe we are both pursuing the same truth, are we not, Sister?” the girl, Dorothy, said with a serene smile. Upon hearing her confirmation, Vania breathed a sigh of relief and continued.
“Phew… I didn’t think… so it’s true. And you’re even younger than me… Were you the one just now, praying to… Them for guidance?”
“Yes, that was me. I am currently investigating certain matters and have encountered some complications. I need your help,” Dorothy replied calmly.
After a moment of hesitation, Vania spoke again. “Investigating… what exactly? Earlier, during your prayer, you mentioned something about ‘wolves.’ Were you referring to…”
Before Vania could finish, Dorothy raised a finger to her lips, signaling her to stay quiet.
“This isn’t the time for detailed explanations. All you need to know is that this charity show is under a bloody shadow,” Dorothy said cryptically.
“A bloody shadow… wolf… could it be…” Vania thought, her mind racing. As a nun who had studied scriptures and historical records, she had some knowledge of the mysticism.
“So, how can I help you?” Vania asked. Despite her reluctance to get involved in matters of heresy, she understood that having received the grace of an otherworldly presence meant she could no longer remain entirely uninvolved.
Although Vania was a member of the Radiance Church and a Beyonder, her status wasn’t particularly high. Like most people, her faith in the Radiant Saints had been the result of standard religious education. The church was vast, and miracles rarely touched ordinary believers like her. So when true grace and revelation from an otherworldly deity came to her, a subtle shift in her faith began to take root.
“It’s simple. May I ask if you still have your invitation?” Dorothy asked.
“My invitation? Let me check… Ah, here it is,” Vania said after rummaging through her belongings.
“Perfect. Now, I need your invitation. Do you have a handkerchief or something to wrap it in?”
“A handkerchief?” Vania, though puzzled, searched her belongings again and found a handkerchief. She wrapped her invitation in it and handed it to Dorothy.
“What are you going to do with the invitation?”
“It’s too complicated to explain now. By the way, when did you enter the venue? You were with other members of the Radiance Church, correct?” Dorothy asked while carefully using a small pair of scissors from her bag to handle the wrapped invitation.
“Yes, we arrived early, nearly an hour before the program started. I came with members of the local church. Is there a problem?” Vania answered after some thought.
“No problem. Just remember, if someone comes to collect your invitation later, tell them you accidentally lost it when you entered,” Dorothy said with a smile.
“Alright, time is tight. We can’t stay here any longer. Let’s return. If anything important happens, I’ll notify you,” Dorothy concluded.
“Okay… alright…” Vania replied, feeling a mix of awe and apprehension.
“This young believer… she seems so mature. She doesn’t act like other girls her age. She’s steadier than I am. Are all of her followers ?”
After their brief farewell, Dorothy and Vania left the restroom at different times. Dorothy, who left first, reentered the venue. Observing the staff collecting invitations and their general movements, she wandered the corridors briefly before returning to her seat.
Shortly after, a staff member approached her.
“Excuse me, miss. May I see your invitation? Due to some internal issues, we need to verify them. Apologies for the inconvenience,” the staff member said politely.
Without a word, Dorothy unwrapped the handkerchief and handed over her invitation. The staff member removed it from the cloth, thanked her, and moved on.
“Thank you for your cooperation.”
As the staff member walked away, a small gecko silently emerged from Dorothy’s bag, slipping onto the floor and following the staff member unnoticed.
Soon, the invitations from the entire venue were collected. The staff, carrying the neatly bundled invitations, exited the hall.
In a staff-only room outside the venue, Bill, holding stacks of bundled invitations, sniffed them one by one. His methodical approach made the process quick.
After finishing all the invitations on the table, Bill frowned.
“Is this everything?” he asked the theater staff standing nearby.
The supervisor replied, “That’s all of them. Only two invitations are missing—one from Mrs. Marianne, a regular, and the other from a nun with the church. Everyone else is accounted for.”
“Mrs. Marianne is a regular. I know her scent, and it’s not hers. As for the nun…”
Bill muttered to himself. He recalled the scents he had detected in the hallway earlier. There hadn’t been any nuns in the group. Clerical uniforms were distinctive and hard to miss.
Besides, he knew the local Radiance Church members had arrived at their box seats long ago. It couldn’t have been them.
“Strange… Could I have misjudged the scent earlier?”
After glancing at the remaining staff, Bill dismissed them.
“You’re all dismissed. There’s nothing else for now.”
“Yes, sir,” the staff replied before leaving the room.
Once everyone had dispersed, Bill left the room himself. Climbing the stairs, he made his way to an upper-level box. After lightly knocking, he entered.
Unbeknownst to him, a gecko clung to a distant wall, its tongue flicking as it fixed its gaze on the box.
Meanwhile, in the audience seating, Dorothy turned her head, her eyes locking onto the distant box—Viscount Field’s box.
“So it really is you, isn’t it, Sir Philanthropist?”