Chapter 72: The Missing Papers

"The Holy Grail?!" The thought flashed through Alia's mind in an instant, but her hands didn't pause. She kept digging, her heart racing with uncontrollable excitement and curiosity.

As the soil was gradually cleared away, a piece of metal came into view. Her breath hitched as she carefully pulled it out. To her disappointment, it wasn't the legendary Holy Grail but a rusty, ordinary-looking iron plate.

"Is this the source of the light?" she murmured, frowning but still remaining cautious.

However, there seemed to be something hidden beneath the plate. Alia gently flipped it over, and her surroundings were suddenly illuminated by a dazzling glow. The light wasn't like any ordinary flame; it radiated a sacred warmth, piercingly bright even in daylight.

As Alia reached out to touch it, something strange happened—the light vanished instantly, as if absorbed by her touch.

"What's going on?" she wondered, her thoughts swirling. "Why did it react to me?"

With no time to waste, she continued her search until her fingers brushed against something soft and slightly brittle. Carefully, she retrieved it and found a stack of worn papers, their edges yellowed and the center bearing faded text and images.

Holding her breath, Alia studied the pages under the beam of her flashlight.

The ancient text read:

"The Holy Grail originates from an era long past. Its existence is not merely a relic but a source of immense power, capable of altering souls and manipulating time. The Grail's energy can reverse the flow of time, bringing departed souls back to the past and even reshaping their destinies."

The words struck Alia like a bolt of lightning, leaving her frozen in place.

"Could this… be why I ended up here?" Her heartbeat quickened, a sense of foreboding settling over her.

As she read on, there was no mention of the Grail possessing the power to resurrect souls or transfer them into other bodies. Yet, given the events in her own life, she didn't doubt its potential. After all, wasn't that exactly what had happened to her?

"If this record is true, then all of this… really does trace back to the Holy Grail?" Her hands trembled slightly as fragmented memories and unanswered questions swirled in her mind.

She tried to piece everything together. Why had her soul ended up in Livia's body? Where was the Grail now? Who was behind all this? Or could it be that the Grail itself had a will of its own?

Though many questions remained, one thing became clear: the Holy Grail was at the heart of all these mysteries.

Alia carefully stowed the pages inside her clothing. This discovery hadn't brought her directly to the Grail, but it had brought her closer to the truth.

Standing up slowly, she glanced around at the stillness of the night, her eyes growing steely with determination.

"No matter who stands in my way, no matter the cost, I will uncover the Grail's secrets."

With that, she slipped away from the dig site, her figure melting into the darkness. She didn't notice a shadowy figure in the distance, silently watching her every move.

Back at home, Alia placed the ancient papers into a hidden box she had prepared beforehand. Though they appeared unremarkable, the information they held about the Grail was too significant to risk losing.

Strangely, from the moment she found the pages, the "calling" she had felt—the sensation of being summoned—had completely vanished.

"Could the papers themselves be the source of the calling?" she wondered, perplexed but uneasy. To ensure their safety, she resolved to move the papers to another location in a few days to see if the summoning sensation would return.

The next day, Marcellus returned home.

He went straight to his study, as usual, spending hours there before heading to the bedroom. Alia intended to avoid him, but he caught her by the wrist, pulling her close to whisper something in her ear. Whatever he said ignited a fire between them, and their passion burned hotter than ever, fraught with unspoken emotions and tangled secrets.

Even so, Alia's unease lingered, her thoughts consumed by the papers.

At dawn, sunlight streamed into the room. Alia rose as usual and checked the hidden box—only to find the papers missing!

"What?!"

Her first thought was that someone had discovered them. The only person who could have entered her room was Marcellus. Yet, everything had seemed normal this morning—Marcellus had been his usual tender self, expressing his love with no hint of suspicion before leaving the house.

But what if it was him? Alia's mind raced with possibilities. Had he discovered the papers? Did he know their secrets? If so, would he begin to suspect her true identity? Or worse, had he already uncovered her knowledge of his own secrets?

Fear and anger surged through her, and for a moment, she considered fleeing immediately.

"If Marcellus knows, staying here is as good as signing my own death warrant," she thought, pacing the room in distress.

Yet, since nothing had happened that morning, Alia decided it was worth taking a risk to stay put for now.

That evening, Marcellus returned, his demeanor as calm and collected as ever.

Alia's nerves were on edge as she subtly probed him, but he showed no sign of knowing about the papers, as if they had never existed.

"Could it be…?" Alia wondered, her suspicion shifting elsewhere. Still, her guard against Marcellus remained firmly in place.

Unable to glean anything from him, she decided on a new course of action. After weighing her options and the potential consequences, Alia resolved to seek out Elias.

"There's a deeper truth behind all of this. No matter what, I must find it!"

With that determination, she set out toward Elias, her heart heavy with questions. Unbeknownst to her, this decision would mark the beginning of yet another turning point in her fate.