Why it never ends

Chapter 1257 Breaking the promise
The old man didn't answer, but just shook his head and glanced at Klar with a hint of reproach.

Seeing that the other person didn't seem to need much help, Si Lei let go of her hand and bent down to help the old woman pick up her scattered items—her handbag had flown out during the collision, and the perfume, reading glasses, business card holder, and a delicate little fountain pen inside were scattered everywhere.

Si Lei put the items back into his bag one by one, then turned around and saw the old man applying lipstick in front of the mirror.

"...Your things are all packed up, please take a look." Si Lei handed the exquisite handbag to the old woman. The area near the sink was brightly lit, and she recognized that the handbag was made of old-fashioned silk with a fine jacquard pattern, which was obviously quite expensive.

The old man didn't give Si Lei a second glance, but silently took his handbag and put the lipstick inside.

“…More from District 14.” The old man muttered to himself as he turned away, his tone filled with an undisguised disgust. “When did Emmanuela get so many people from District 14?”

Si Lei knew to some extent that she was talking to him, but it seemed there was really nothing to argue with such an elderly person in their twilight years.

After the old man walked away, a sigh of relief came from the inner room from Clara.

"How did it go?" Si Lei's gaze returned to Clara, his voice tinged with a hint of joking. "Did you make it?"

“…Thanks to you.” The bathroom door opened from the inside, and Clara adjusted her belt. “I shouldn’t have eaten so much this afternoon…Where did that person go?”

"gone."

"That was too fast. I wanted to apologize to her in person..." Clara walked to the sink and turned on the tap. "Is she alright? She looks quite frail—"

"I can only say she looks to be in good spirits," Si Lei said. "She should be fine."

“That’s good. I was worried—” Clara’s gaze fell on the mirror, and her voice suddenly stopped, “…What is that?”

Si Lei followed Clara's gaze, then immediately turned back. Under the radiator by the window in the corner, there was a small object that was glittering and looked like it was made of metal.

Si Lei vaguely felt that this thing looked familiar. She quickly approached and bent down... The moment she picked it up from the shadows, Si Lei felt her heart sink.

A sapphire with intricate facets and dazzling brilliance is set at the top of a silver scepter.

—Scepter brooch.

Klar also saw what Si Lei was holding: "Ha...so it's someone from the Gospel Church."

"What kind of people are they?" Si Lei turned around, clutching the brooch. "You recognize this?"

“I recognize it. There’s a religious group here called ‘The God-Given Gospel Society,’ and the people in it all wear these badges,” Clare said. “This group is notorious; the people in it are extremely xenophobic.”

"But that old lady looked exactly like someone from District 3; she didn't even look like a local—"

“Yes.” Klar nodded. “Most of the members of the Evangelical Fellowship are from the Third District.”

“You say they’re xenophobic,” Si Lei tried to clarify the logic, “but this is District Twelve—”

"Do I look like someone from District 3 or District 12?" Si Lei suddenly fell silent, staring at Klar as if she were seeing her face for the first time today.

"I'm quite like someone from District 3, aren't I? But I was born and raised in District 12—so, do you think I'm from District 12 or not?"

Seeing that Si Lei did not answer, Klar continued to speak to herself: "...Anyway, I'm not from the Third District."

"...Excuse me, I'm going to make a call." Si Lei walked quickly towards the corridor outside the restroom. She took out her phone and dialed Hersta's number, but there was only a busy signal and no one answered.

—Damn it, why isn't Jane answering the phone now?

She should still be awake by this time of day.

Clara quickly followed, and in the instant that Sire kept pressing the redial button, she seized the opportunity to ask, "Was there something wrong with that brooch? Have you had contact with these people before?"

"No, we saw this prop on a ship last year... The situation is complicated and can't be explained in a few words. In short, we must tell Jane about this first."

“Is that so…” Clara remained noncommittal. “Well, she might already know.”

Si Lei paused, "Why?"

"The evangelical church members often hang out in the city center, holding events and having meals... Didn't you inspectors used to be active in the city center all the time?"

Sire continued making phone calls while making her way to the corner tower on the top floor with Clara. Her attention was almost entirely focused on the voice coming from the other end of the line. A sense of unease gripped her, leaving her no time to think about anything else.

This stretch of road leading to the corner tower seemed exceptionally long.

As they reached the top floor of the castle, they happened to hear the distant chimes of a cuckoo, an old clock in one of the castle's rooms that chimed every six hours.

Clara glanced down at the time; it was exactly twelve o'clock.

The two entered the rooftop from the top-floor staircase and walked around the edge of the castle, checking all four corner towers, but they couldn't find Simona and Zoe.

"Why is no one here? Are they still in line at Mrs. Brownbo's?" Clara muttered to herself as she opened her phone—the previous group chat was still at the point where Si Lei had said "make it bigger," and there were no new messages.

Clara sent a message saying, "We've arrived, where are you?" When no one replied, she left a message for the two of them separately, but several minutes later, the message was still unread.

“Should we go find them?” Clara said. “But what if they come up from another stairwell when we go down?”

"They might be in Mrs. Brownbo's room, which is why they can't come over for a while and won't have time to let us know." Si Lei was somewhat absent-minded and didn't quite believe what she was saying. She had a vague feeling that the two people's failure to keep their appointment was probably not so simple.

The night wind swept towards this ancient castle from afar, and in the quiet midnight, moonlight poured down from the cloudless sky, bathing everything in a tranquil and hazy glow.

Si Lei knew that some of the guests had already found rooms in the castle and were sleeping. These people hadn't come to Mrs. Brownbo's mansion for any reward; they were simply there to support the somewhat lonely old woman. Because of this, they made it clear to Si Lei that they would only come once, expressing their intentions, and that they wouldn't come back to the castle to spend the night and invite trouble upon themselves.

Was that old man also one?