Chapter 112: The Unfinished Gift

"Which matters?" Sophie asked, blinking in confusion. "And... you know why I'm learning Italian?"

The truth was, even she didn't know the answer. She had simply followed the curriculum Jane arranged for her without ever questioning the reason behind it.

"Of course I do." The burly guard admitted it with his usual hearty grin. Then, as if suddenly remembering that the subject was supposed to remain confidential, he lowered his booming voice to what was, for him, barely above a whisper. "So... have you finished preparing Jane's gift yet?"

"My gift for Jane?" Sophie blinked again, this time to hide the panic flashing through her mind. She desperately searched her fractured memories, trying to recall whether she had ever promised something like that.

Predictably, she found nothing. Meanwhile, the large guard continued waiting expectantly for her answer.

Sophie had gradually realized that the Volturi guards constantly exchanged information among themselves. Lying would only make matters worse, so she answered honestly, "I... probably haven't finished it yet. My Italian hasn't improved very quickly."

"What a shame." The giant laughed and gave her shoulder two friendly pats that nearly knocked her off balance. "A gift might've cheered Jane up. Whenever she's depressed, Alec gets miserable too, and when those two aren't happy... life becomes difficult for the entire Guard."

Using the few scraps of information she possessed, Sophie quietly began piecing together her relationship with the man standing before her.

She remembered the assembly back in June, when Aro had summoned everyone in the palace to announce the situation concerning the Moroccan coven. This towering guard had stood near the very front of the gathering.

Shortly afterward, Aro assigned three male guards to reinforce Jane's squad, but Sophie had never found an opportunity to speak with any of them. She had naturally assumed they were little more than strangers.

Apparently...

That assumption had been completely wrong.

Privately, this giant treated her with remarkable familiarity.

One of those three guards...

Aro had called him...

Sophie decided to test her memory.

"Felix?"

The large vampire answered so naturally that it confirmed her guess at once. "What?" he asked cheerfully. "Did you suddenly think of a way to make Jane smile?"

Got it right.

Judging by the way Felix clearly knew far more than he should, yet looked utterly incapable of keeping a secret, Sophie decided to carefully fish for more information.

"So..." she asked casually, "besides you, who else knows I was secretly preparing a gift for Jane?"

"Not many people." Felix counted them off on his fingers without the slightest hesitation. "You asked Alec and me for help first. Later, after Jane accidentally ruined part of your plan, you went looking for Demetri to help salvage things. So... just the three of us."

For someone attempting to whisper, Felix remained astonishingly loud.

Then, without any guilt whatsoever, he betrayed another secret.

"It was Alec who figured everything out," Felix confessed. "He's always paying attention whenever Jane's involved. He came looking for Demetri and me afterward, compared everything we'd each been told, and before long... he'd pieced the whole thing together."

"He really is impressive."

Sophie smiled faintly.

By now...

Alec had been firmly promoted to dangerous individual in her mental ranking.

"So," she continued smoothly, "did he ever say what he thought about the gift?"

"I've no idea." Felix scratched his head honestly. "Alec almost never shares what's on his mind. Although... to be honest, I don't think now's the right time to give it anymore."

Sophie raised an eyebrow.

Felix sighed. "Jane's already upset because of her injured leg. If you hand her a booklet about hand-to-hand combat techniques now, it'll look like you're mocking her disability right to her face."

He pointed dramatically at Sophie.

"You'll get burned alive!"

Then he brightened.

"You'd honestly be better off donating it to the Guard instead. Who knows? Maybe Aro would even decide to keep you around."

Within only a few short exchanges, Sophie had learned everything she wanted to know. There really were advantages to talking with someone incapable of keeping secrets.

The memories she had lost had taken away an irreplaceable portion of her life. Now, the only way to reconstruct that stolen past was by collecting fragments from the people around her.

Bits of conversation. Half-forgotten stories. Casual remarks.

Like assembling a broken mirror one shard at a time.

This time, Sophie smiled with genuine sincerity. "Thank you, Felix. I'll go back to my room and think of another gift for Jane."

"That would be wonderful!" Felix's face immediately lit up with hope. "Things have been miserable lately. If someone could cheer Jane up... everyone would breathe a little easier."

Vampires possessed an exceptionally strong sense of territorial awareness. The instant Sophie stepped into her room, she immediately sensed that someone else had entered while she was away.

Drawing a slow breath, she forcefully suppressed the instinctive surge of irritation welling up inside her before beginning a careful inspection of the room.

The suite remained spacious and elegant without feeling cold. Whoever had decorated it clearly favored blending classical luxury with touches of natural beauty, creating an atmosphere that was both refined and unexpectedly warm.

The two largest rooms were the sitting room and the dressing room.

Sophie clearly remembered what the wardrobe had looked like before leaving. It had been loosely filled with vintage dresses of every imaginable style.

Some were merely old-fashioned. Others were so extravagantly Rococo that they resembled theatrical costumes requiring someone else's assistance just to put on.

She had rarely touched any of them.

But now...

Every single dress she had considered too cumbersome, too impractical, or simply too troublesome had disappeared.

In their place stood row upon row of clothing with unmistakably modern designs. The wardrobes were packed so full they nearly overflowed.

Jackets. Blouses. Skirts. Trousers.

Shoes. Hats. Jewelry. Accessories.

Everything had been carefully organized by category until the entire room looked more like a luxury boutique than a private wardrobe. It was enough to overwhelm anyone with indecision.

No wonder Jane had called the muddy outfit she was wearing...

Rags.

On the clothing rack nearest the entrance hung an entire outfit that had already been perfectly coordinated. Sophie needed only one glance to know it would fit her flawlessly.

Unable to suppress the question that had haunted her ever since leaving the Black Room, she whispered softly, "What exactly... is Jane to me?"

Whatever relationship existed between them, it clearly extended far beyond that of a mere supervisor and a newborn under observation.

Countless thoughts flooded her mind all at once. The lavish bedroom around her suddenly seemed to transform into another Black Room.

A far more beautiful one.

Someone had once spent three hundred years trapped inside a prison because they couldn't find the exit. In reality, there had been doors everywhere.

Countless doors.

The only challenge had been discovering how to open them.

Without thinking further, Sophie grabbed the neatly prepared outfit hanging closest to the entrance and headed into the bathroom. She removed her filthy clothes and slowly lowered herself into the bathing pool, where crystal-clear water flowed endlessly day and night.

The water washed across her skin, and somehow, it felt as though it were washing through her thoughts as well. The tangled confusion gradually drifted away.

After everything settled, only one question remained.

She had promised Jane a gift.

Under the current circumstances, how was she supposed to fulfill that promise?

If she simply walked away while still owing Jane something, she knew she would never truly be at peace. It was an extraordinarily difficult problem.

The sound of running water echoed through the room for what felt like a very long time. Eventually, Sophie rose from the bath and changed into the new clothes waiting for her.

Then she came to a conclusion.

This was not a problem she could solve alone.

She needed an accomplice.