The Sins of Avarice

 The royal cemetery was a very sacred site for the Exousians. The site was located at the very tip of the nation where the sun touched Exousia first in the outskirts that was away from the bustling cities.

 Just like its name, it served as the burial ground of all the royal Kaxarenes that have lived and walked this world.

 Fallen Valors were also given the privilege to be buried alongside these royals as a sign of respect for their dedication to protecting Exousia. 

 This was one of the few reasons why Kango prided himself for being a Valor and took his responsibilities seriously.

 One day when his time was up, he was going to be buried alongside one of the most powerful beings to ever walk this earth.

 Therefore, in order to be considered worthy, he did whatever he could for the sake of Exousia and its citizens, even if it meant violating traditional protocols to please that psychotic emperor of his.

 'Forgive me, dearest angels.' He would utter a prayer every time to show some courtesy to the fallen despite being a heretic himself.

 A Kaxarene's body disintegrated quicker thanks to its more direct connections to the natural world, making it harder for Kango to find signs of disturbance.

 The only thing that would be left once the body had fully decayed was the gem that was embedded in the body, and it was part of the tradition to leave it buried even after the body fully decayed.

 It was considered a grave crime in Exousia for these gems to be removed unless it was a personal request from the deceased themselves.

 A telling detail of a possible theft would be to find these gems missing if Kango attempted to dig out a corpse, which was exactly what he had been doing for approximately six hours now.

 So far, he had nothing definite that he could show Varen but it had only been a few hours, so he wasn't so worried.

It was going to take him awhile to search the entire premise because of its enormous size but he was going to get there eventually, he was patient enough after all.

 Kango often worked alone if it wasn't with his sister and today was one of those days. 

 Kango was a creature of a few words, rarely ever saying a word unless he absolutely needed to.

The lack of communication from his side made it hard for him to work with his fellow colleagues, making him an undesirable partner for many. 

 A muffled plea interrupted the sounds of Kango working, catching his attention. He calmly dropped whatever he was doing and made his way towards the sound where a figure was tied down with a piece of cloth shoved inside his mouth.

Kango pulled the object out of the man's mouth, causing him to cough in relieve, before glancing at the menacing Valor.

 "P-Please, I can't die yet." The man plead in between desperate breathes but Kango remained unmoved as he simply waited for what he wanted to hear. 

 "I-I'll tell you everything you wish to know but first, you need to let me go. Please, I-I have a family-"

 His words were cut short when Kango shoved the cloth back into his mouth before he went straight back to where he had left off, causing the man to thrash around harder but it was useless.

 All his life, Kango thought of his quietness as a flaw that he could not fix.

However, once he had joined the Academy and started working as a Valor directly under Varen's order, this feature of his soon became one of his most ideal features because of how intimidating it made him appear when paired with his equally intimidating expression.

This altogether was perfect to get confessions out of prisoners without having to use too much violence that could deteriorate their wellbeing and make the Valors look bad.

 But this particular suspect was being incredibly difficult, and Kango was starting to believe that it was better off to just find the evidence himself.

 This was the first grave he dug out at this particular side of the cemetery, and fortunately for him, he already sensed that he's hit the jackpot.

 The body was still free from any rot, indicating that it was freshly buried, maybe a couple of hours old.

 Right away, he noticed what seemed to be a surgical scar on its top left shoulder, meaning that the body was altered by someone shortly after it was buried.

 There was no sign of the jewel that was buried with the body, and it was clear that the grave was already disturbed before he got there. 

 'This must be where the gem laid.' He figured, examining the sutures before confirming his conclusion.

 All he had to do now was to notify Varen of his findings and let him handle the rest.

 "He's going to have quite the time with you and your mates, I can tell you that much." He muttered softly under his breath before making his way back to the palace.

 Varen's suspicions were right, they were retrieving gems from the royal cemetery, and only one particular Kaxarene had the rightful authority to come and go here as they pleased.

Now that the leader was found, all there was left to do was to find all the affiliates and punish them accordingly.

==================

"Your Majesty." Kaari greeted the empress with a polite bow while the rest watched her with disdain.

 Surprisingly, everyone (mainly the spell users) was behaving themselves despite having a defenseless human right in front of them.

 "... She really has no recollection." Zeya commented out loud and again, Kaari showed no immense reaction. 

 "Humans have really lost their common senses thanks to the Kaxarenes' pampering." Amrit muttered under his breathe with a disgusted look, shaking his head in disapproval. Nevra simply scoffed before turning her entire body, so she didn't have to face the human. "I've never seen a human be so glad to meet a Roseabelle... she greeted all of us with the biggest smile!"

 "I wished to greet you since you first arrived to Exousia but my health has been quite... frail." She explained with a small smile and tired gaze.

 Zeya almost immediately noticed how frail she's become after their first encounter. She appeared much skinnier than before, causing her to seem much older and dull but the light in her uniquely sliver eyes were still as bright as ever.

 "It is a pleasure to meet you, princess." Zeya welcomed her half-heartedly, somewhat feeling pity for the poor soul. "May I ask why exactly you're here to see me?"

 "Princess!" A familiar voice interrupted their interaction from going any further. It was Ezra, seemingly huffing and puffing as if he ran all the over here to retrieve the 'runaway' princess. 

 'And that seems exactly the case right now.' Zeya thought as she found Ezra's behavior suspicious. Although Zeya knew that he was a naturally nervous person, he appeared more so than usual for whatever reason. His eyes darted from Zeya and her colleagues to Kaari multiple times before he decided to speak up.

 "I apologize for the sudden intrusion, Your Majesty." He bowed in remorse before he made his way to Kaari so that she was behind his tall yet scrawny figure. "Princess Kaari must come with me for an important matter."

 He quickly glanced over at the human and grabbed her wrists, urging her to come with him in which she complied without much resistance.

 "Is everything alright, Ezra?" Kaari asked with a nervous voice, squeezing his hand.

 "... Of course, princess." The counsel assured her despite it being unconvincing. "Let's go, shall we? Your Majesty is waiting for you."

 "Is everything alright, counsellor?" Arius asked just to be polite. "You seem, well, incredibly panicked."

 "Of course, Minister Arius." He answered with more confidence in his tone now. "I'm sorry, she tends to have a habit of wandering off because of her young age."

 "I just wanted to say hello to the empress, Ezra." Kaari reasoned sulkily and Ezra nodded empathetically.

 "If you could excuse us, Your Majesty... and the High Roses." He bowed to everyone before leaving the room with Kaari in a haste.

 "That was..." Amrit trailed off his sentence as everyone stared at the door where they had abruptly left the room from. 

 "Incredibly odd." Nevra finished his sentence for him, eyeing the exit with a suspicious look.

 "Extremely odd." Rowen added, just as confused as everyone else.

 "You don't think she was here to ask us for help, do you?" Amrit asked with a wary tone, hoping that someone would have an answer to his question.

 "I doubt that's the truth. The human would've at least resisted if that was the case." Arius reasoned, although his tightly knitted eyebrows told the rest that he too was troubled. "Although I do have to admit that the entire situation was peculiar, to say the least."

 "I'll have Nox monitor the princess for the time-being." Zeya offered, wishing to investigate further out of intense curiosity, and nosiness. "I have a feeling that this will lead us to some very important information."