As Ms. Silva walked through the doors. I hurried down the stairs and quickly locked them behind her. I'm sure the gaurdes would ask questions later, but that was a problem for later. I had a different problem on my hands at the moment.

I pulled the lever leading to the lower level of my office. I headed down the stairs and into my private quarters. I had opened up to someone I barely even knew. I sighed and scratched the back of my head.

She was warm... I thought as I laid out on my bed. The frustration I was feeling during that was confusing. She was caring and honest. That I knew from the things I witnessed from afar. 

I saw it first hand when she rushed to save the old timer who tipped the gear cart the day of her first match. Yet there was no mistaking her self-loathing, just as I had my dark places. She did, too.

But archons she was exquisite. Her chest pressed flush against mina. What i wouldn't give to feel the exact same contact but with both their chest exposed. I couldn't but help but wonder what she'd feel like under me. Archons, the lecherous thoughts that were running through my mind were distracting.

I smacked myself on the cheek, my hand wrapping stinging slightly. This brought my train of thought back to the prper places.

The rumor mill around Meropide had been filled with ones about her.  One said how she worked for the Fatui, and that's why she has a deep understanding of alchemy. There was one that said she was sent by the abyss order to assassinate the Iudex. I knew for a fact that these were both false.

Being the Duke of Meropide granted me to certain privileged information. My network went out and found what I was looking for. Her exploits in liyue and Inazuma.

The detailed report laid on my nightstand. I had finished it prior to my meeting with Silva. To say she's had an eventful life so far was an understatement.

One of the key highlights was that she was held captive by multiple ronin factions until she was saved by the former head of the Kamisato clan when she was nine. I had a troubling thought about a different inmate. He was a ronin from Inazuma who fled here before his country closed the borders.

I shook my head and let the thought pass. More than likely, I was overthinking the matter. From that point forward, she made a name for herself as an apprentice to Baizhu traveling through Liyue and some of Mondstat. She was currently only twenty-six, same age as me.

There was some information regarding her travel visa. As she said, her main reason listed was to investigate a couple of people linked to a ship leaving Port Ormos in Sumeru. The female having abandoned a man and a young infant at the port after a fight with a group of desert dwelling cultists. According to what my research has found, there was a photo of a couple in the steam bird who matched the description of the couple, not even a month prior, the woman heavily pregnant.

They were herb farmers from Sumeru and had managed to land a very lucrative deal selling to a hotel in the Court of Fontaine. The investigator went to their supposed home and found remains of a fire that had previously transpired.  Nuevillette even made a comment in the paper stating that the farmers had disappeared and weren't able to be found.

I sighed and rolled on to my back. The look on her face... when I caught her, it was quite adorable. I felt a slight growl of annoyance leave my lips. I should not be thinking about that. Even if she was enticing, she was an inmate under my watch. To have those kinds of thoughts was scandalous and downright inappropriate.

Sitting up, I turned to stand. That was when I heard footsteps in my office. There was only one other person in all of Tevyat who had a key to my office. I slicked back my disheveled hair and headed up the stairs.

"Monsieur Nuevillette, for what do I owe the honor?" I asked ascending the stairs.

"Ah, Wriothesley, I came to hand you this. Blood work from Ms. Silva, while in the hospital after the drug, had fully passed from her body." He said, laying down a folder.

"You really didn't have to travel all the way to the underworld for that. You could have sent Clorinde. You have a suspect, don't you?" I asked, opening the folder.

"Not as much a suspect but a lead rather. They recovered the blade that Ms. Silva was stabbed with." Nuevillette said, sitting on the sofa.

"Well, it's been over a  month and a half. I suspect there wasn't much evidence of the person who stabbed her." I said, picking up the blood test and reading it.

"There were trace amounts of a deep purple substance on the blade. It had been treated numerous times with what appeared to be Sumeru rose oil."  He said, "However, even that wouldn't cause the anomaly in her blood work."

I stared at the results, and I understood what he meant. The amount of Dendric energy that was running through her was as if she ingested forest essential oil every day for each day of her life.

"Monsieur, do you think this attack was targeted on her and not just a random mugging?" I asked, setting down the paperwork into the ever growing case file.

"I'm glad that I'm not the only one to think that as well. It seems that might indeed be the case. I can't help but wonder what would cause an anomaly quite like this. I'd jest and say she was the dendro elemental sovereign. However, the dendro the dragon Apep is still very much alive." He said, his knuckles wrapping tightly around his cane.

"I've noticed that she seems to avoid opponents in the ring who have dendro visions and use dendro related weapons. Perhaps her doctor in Liyue noticed this and told her to avoid dendro energy altogether. she received a letter from him today in all actuality. The parcel he sent her is in front of you." I said, scratching the back of my neck, "I was going to deliver it to her bunk after I dealt with a pressing matter."

"That pressing matter, what was it? I noticed your door was locked when I had first arrived." Nuevillette said, looking at the two tea cups in front of the parcel.

"I take it. You just had her sign the transfer, then? That was quite fast, your grace. If it weren't for the reforms you've been implementing, I'd say you have a bit of favoritism towards her." I heard Nuevillettes voice soften as he spoke.

I felt my ears redden, "I can guarantee there is not, Monsieur Nuevillette. I treat all my inmates with various forms of similarity. She's just an inmate we are investigating." I said, noticing my breath coming put as slightly visible clouds.

"Wriothesley, I have known you since you went by a different name. I know you wouldn't treat any exiles differently. However, my young Duke, you should learn to keep your deeper emotions in check. Your vision gives you away. In my long standing as Iudex, I've seen that cryo visions are quite linked with emotion..." Nuevillette quickly stopped and stared down the steps.

"Monsieur Nuevillette?" As I said his name, he lifted his hand up.

"Something isn't right..." He said, as my heart froze, "There was just a massive surge of hydro energy nearby."

"Is it what's kept in the forbidden zone?" I asked, glad he was here if that was the case.

"No, thankfully not, but please follow me. I have a feeling something else that has been on our minds has taken place." He said quickly, standing up and heading down the stairs.

Just as we made it down the stairs, a guarde burst in.

"I'm sorry to disturb the meeting, but we have a serious issue inside the Pankration ring!" The gaurde shouted.

"Tell us what happened!" I ordered as the man's face paled.

Nuevillette placed his hand on my shoulder. I felt a slight lessening of my tension.

"Well, from what it appears, prisoner one zero six four attacked several members of the guarde and inmates  in the Pankration ring." He said as my heart sank.

Without thinking, I rushed to the ring.  The lift is taking so long  to reach the right hallway. I was sprinting out once  it arrived. A strong grassy scent permeated the hall and was even stronger around the ring, dendro elemental reactions.

I noticed five full-grown men scattered about the floor unconscious.   There were two gaurdes and three inmates. Among the injured was Renard and his possy. They look fine, just unconscious. Then I noticed Holland, the guarde who caused Silva' s wounds to reopen her first day. He was supposed to be in the abandoned production zone.

I noticed something out of my elemental sight. While I was no master at it, Clorinde taught me how to use it effectively. Against the wall was a splash of glowing green energy, and on the floor was a medium bottle. I lifted it up to examine the bottle. There was slowly browning red liquid  around the rim.

The smell was obvious, blood. It was faint, but it took me somewhere I didn't need to be. My hands coated in the sticky warm ichor. The smell of copper grazing my nostrils.

"Your grace!" A similar voice shouted.

The grass smell came back, pushing away the smell of red metal. I looked up as Sam limped over to me. He had a bloody lip but looked otherwise unharmed.

"It's not her fault!" Sam said as he fell to his knees.

I ran over to him, bracing him and helping him over to the ring steps. He looked like he'd seen hell, and that's saying something in the underworld.

"What happened here, Sam?" I asked as I heard tiny feet run up behind me and over to the unconscious men.

"Holland, he brought her here telling her her match was rescheduled for earlier. Wosley told her to go so she wouldn't miss her match. That she could start tomorrow. I noticed them heading here, so I followed. I kept my distance." He said, wiping his dripping lip.

"Go on, we're listening." Nuevillette said, walking up beside us.

"Chief Justice, I had no idea you were here." Sam coughed, "but after I got off the lift, Renard and his goons grabbed me. When they forced me in her, I saw Holland pinning Silva against the wall, trying to force her to drink this glowing green liquid. Renard forced me on to my knees and gave Silva a choice. Drink what Holland was trying to make her drink, or they'd  make sure I'd never walk again."

"She chose to drink what was in that bottle, didn't she? Given that you're no longer on the floor out cold." I said, looking over to see Sigewinne treating the beat-up inmates on the floor.

"She did... once she did, Holland slashed at her Achilles tendons in her left foot. She crumpled over, and her highlights started to glow forest green. All four of the others started to laugh and shoved me at her. That's was when I felt it, hot fluids seeping into my uniforms coat." He said, pointing to where he was sprawled out earlier.

I saw it dropped on the floor, his uniform coat laid coating in blood, "Sigewinne, bring me Officer Auclair's coat."

"Of course, Your Grace." She said, grabbing it quickly and rushing it over to me.

Nuevillette's face scrunched at the sight, "it's pulsating with dendric energy, just like her clothes were after  she was detained. My guess is that the liquid was a vial of the drug that landed her here."

"Renard tried to run me through with his spear. She jumped in the way to protect me. She told me to close my eyes. She said that she was going to make sure I could go home tonight and see my wife and newborn. I did just that. The next few moments, there were a lot of wet noises, and suddenly, the room smelled like freshly cut grass. When I opened my eyes, she was gone, and the others were unconscious and had what looked like chains made from water holding them to the floor. I thought she had hidden herself in a corner because there were about seven dendro cores gathered behind the stands. Unfortunately, she wasn't there, and damn cores knocked my lights clean out." He said, looking defeated.

"Chains made of water?" I asked, noticing the puddles of water under each unconscious body and walking over to one.

"That must have been what I felt in your office, your grace. Sigewinne, I trust you can handle getting these fools to the infirmary? And escort Mr. Auclair to Wriothesley's office, " Nuevillette said, standing up his eyes narrowing.

"I know that look. You're pissed Monsieur Nuevillette. What course of action would you purpose?"  I asked, crossing my arms.

"Justice has failed her... I need to make this right. We need to find her." He said, stamping his cane on the metal floor.

I heard shuffling feet come down the hallway. Claude and Anton stopped in front of both me and Nuevillette. They had horrified looks on their features.

"Where did you see her?" I asked, ready to bolt.

"She made it to the lift that leads to the abandoned production zone. Your Grace, if you don't want a dead prisoner, you should hurry. Just follow the trail of blood. It's unmistakable." Claude said.

"I'll help head nurse Sigewinne. Archons, what a mess. Once these idiots are in the infirmary, I'll point Sigewinne in your direction." Anton said, running over to Renard and lifting him onto his shoulder.

I turned to face Nuevillette. He simply nodded, and we headed to the abandoned production zone. There was a pit forming in the bottom of my stomach. One I hadn't felt in a long time. Not since that night.

I couldn't place why I was having these thoughts. Plenty of people I knew died during my incarnation, and during my take over. So why was I so worried.

Nuevillette sensing my inner turmoil faced me once we reached the lift to the abandoned production zone. He had a stern look on his face, but it also bore concern.

"Wriothesley, what's on your mind?" He asked, his catalyst floating beside him.

"Nuevillette, I'm confused about my emotions. I feel as if my judgment is clouded surrounding her. I've watched Ms. Silva from afar as you asked, and we've had tea twice. However, since we first spoke, I can't get her out of my head. It's wrong!" I groan, squatting down and burying my face into my now active gauntlets.

"Ahh, the qualms of youth, tell me your grace, that pressing matter earlier it wasn't the transfer was it?" Nuevillette asked.

"No, it wasn't. I uh had to..." I tried to speak, but Nuevillette raised his hand, and there was a soft smile on his face.

"It's attraction your grace, be it by a physical means or your attracted by her personality. It shows you are human. While you find it cumbersome that she is an inmate, perhaps fate is trying to give you some reprieve." Nuevillette said, his voice calm and almost comforting.

"Maybe you're right, Nuevillette. Maybe when...." I stopped mid sentence, "That's a lot of blood."

I stared towards a grated wall. The water leading to it was deep red, and the crimson fluid smeared across the grate. That path was closed off. It used to lead to old cells, and it was mostly flooded.

"She really doesn't want to be found." I said as a loud shrieking noise rung out from behind the grate, "What the hell was that sound?".

"That, my dear Wriothesley, was the cry of a starved vishap." Nuevillette said, his eyes narrowing.

I walked over to the grate and kicked it down. Metal groaning as it fell flat. Ducking under the wall, I was wondering how someone as injured as her was able to place back that grate. It had to have at least been seventy-five pounds.

Blood coated the walkways as we headed deeper into the sealed off wing of the prison. I remembered this place. The previous warden locked those who questioned him here. I was thrown in here just after my accounts got cleared out. I had it closed off when I became warden.

The vishap howls became louder as we began to reach the center. That was when we saw why. In the center of the main hall was a fully grown hydro vishap chained down by massive brass fetters. Its eyes were bloodshot as it thrashed about.

"It's riled up by the scent of blood that has permeated the air. It's even denser than the smell of dendro. Wriothesley, go find her. I shall take care of this and keep using elemental sight. Im sure it'll lead you straight to her." Nuevillette said, and I simply nodded.

I followed the blood and occasional dendro core. It led deeper and deeper into the old cell block. However, just as Nuevillette predicted, I had to depend on elemental sight. The room was completely flooded when the trail went cold.

Sighing, I jumped into the murky cold waters. Triggering elemental sight in the water wasn't the funnest. In all honesty, it made my eyes burn more than normal. Then I noticed it a red line. It was faint waning almost.

Kicking through the dense grimy waters, I found an outlet. It rose up beyond the waters and opened up into a sickening sight. It was but a rumor, I had thought. My predecessors torture chamber.

Blacken blood along the walls and in the center of the floor was Silva. She had her head held low. I took a single step when she spoke.

"You shouldn't have come, Wriothesley." Her sounded broken like a scratched record.

"And let you die on my watch? Now, what kind of warden would I be if I let that happen?" I asked as I took a look at the position she was in.

"A pretty standard one, in all honesty. At least from what I saw of Inazuma prison wardens." She said.

I stepped towards her, and as soon as my boot clanked against the metal, I was sent flying back by a tentacle made of water. I tried to step forth again. However, something held me in place. Looking down, I saw what was stopping me. The tentacle that just knocked me back had turned into a heavy chain that bound me where I stood.

"Please just go! I hurt them! Even if they were trying to do the same to me, it's not right what I did! I couldn't control myself!" She shouted as if in pain.

Dendro cores surrounded her. They were forming from her body. The drug she consumed clearly activated the latent dendric energy in her body.

"You defended yourself! There is nothing wrong with that! Even if you weren't in control of the clashing elemental energy's radating from you. It's because of you that Sam can see his newborn tonight!" I shouted back, pulling at the chain.

"So he is okay then.... that's..." She mumbled as the dendro cores burst, causing her to collapse onto one arm.

That's when I saw the full extent of what Renard did. Blood was leaking from her tattered shirt. The fabric falling of her body ripped and coated in her bodily fluids. He had run her clean through.

"How are you not dead? The amount of blood I saw on the way here. No one could survive losing that much." I growled as I pulled on the shackle.

"No.... clue... hey Wriothesley, do you think that even after this, we could have another tea break? I....hadn't felt so comfortable around someone in a very long time..." She laughed hoarsely as her arm gave out.

"Silva! Hold on damn it!" I called out unleashing my vision and shattered the chains made of the dense hydro energy.

I quickly made it over to her slumped over form. Deactivating my gauntlets, I lifted her blood-soaked body. This being the second time i held her like this, I couldn't help but notice more details. She had a scar that wrapped around her neck. it matched her wrists and ankles.  Her lips were slowly losing color bit were still a soft pink. Her highlights were dimly glowing, giving off a gentle green light.

"Hey now... you better stay with me damn it." I said while checking her pulse.

I felt a slight but weak flutter in her carotid artery. Celestia hadn't taken her yet. I felt a sigh of relief shake out from my body. I placed my hand over the wound and started to apply my ice to it.

"Aughh..." She unconsciously moaned and shifted in my arms.

Then I felt something shift and roll.

CLANK!

I looked on the ground next to us, a Fontainian hydro vision now laid there on the metal floor. That little ball of glass answered so much.

"See... you can't be leaving yet... you were just chosen by the archons for something." I half-heartedly choke out, placing the vision in her hand.

As soon as I sealed the massive perforation, I lifted her into my arms and stood. The dendro cores had finally stopped forming, and her hair stopped its glow. I quickly moved away from the last few cores and made my way down an open hallway.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, I heard two very familiar voices. I knew right then this ordeal would be put to rest. I had finally met up with the all mighty Iudex and my head nurse.

"YOUR GRACE!" Sigewinne shouted, running over to me and Silva.

"I managed to stop the bleeding. However, we need to..." I stopped as she placed her hand out.

"Help me get her to her bunk, your grace. I'll treat her there." Sigewinne said, her eyes looking bleakly over Silva.

Nuevillette walked up behind Sigewinne and sighed. He looked at the messy state she was in, and his face noticably darkened.

We rushed back to the dorms, only stopping for a brief moment for Sigewinne to grab her emergency kit. It made sense to not bring her to the infirmary where the ones who did this to her were. After all, they were only unconscious. Unconscious.... they were just unconscious.

Arriving at the room, Sigewinne quickly laid out a plastic tarp over Silva's bed. After I laid her on her bed, Nuevillette and i were shooed out, and the cell door closed.

I was about to bang on the door, but Nuevillette grabbed my shoulder for who knew how many times today.

"Wriothesley, let's go to your office. We can't stand around here." He said, trying to comfort me.

I nodded and followed him. We were quiet the entire walk. The tension was palpable. I could tell that he was just as upset as I was.

Once we arrived at my office, I quickly put on a kettle. I knew it was wrong, but I wanted her blend. I prepped two cups and added the  sugar cubes. Pouring the water, I let my frustrations go with the steam.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Nuevillette. I made you a cup without asking." I said, burying my face in my palm, noticing my blunder.

"You normally pour me one anyway.  I've never seen you use cor lapis jars to store your tea. Where did you get them?" He asked.

It was clear he was trying to ease the tension in the room. I handed him his cup and sat at my desk. The floral blend of herbs wafting up to my nose slowly sent me to earlier today. When I had caught her from falling down the stairs. I softly laughed.

"They're hers. They were a gift before she left Liyue harbor." I said admiring the large gemstone jar.

"Wriothesley, what's on your mind after all that has transpired in the past hour and a half? Your smile has returned, even though today was, as you would say, a shit show." Nuevillette said as my eyes quickly darted towards him as he rarely swore.

I stared at my small tea cup, "I just have a feeling Silva will survive this."

Nuevillette took a sip of his tea, "You seem quite confident in that. What is giving you that sense of security?".

"Before she fell unconscious, she asked to have tea with me again. We signed a contract to train her in hand to hand combat when I had her sign the transfer. But she didn't ask for that. She asked for me and her to have tea again." I said, chuckling at the end.

I barely saw it, but I did. The mighty Iudex head lowered slightly, and a small smile graced his lips.

"Then I hope she doesn't let you down." He said.

I pressed my back against the chair and closed my eyes. She'd survive. I've never had anyone else actually ask for tea with me. So she would have to be OK, right?