Interstellar Beastworld: Raising A Cub With My Mummy System!-Chapter 56: SELAS IS THE RAT!?

Joren stood, his ears still twitching, his eyes still flicking toward the door. "Yes, Madam. Thank you, Madam."

He left quickly, the door closing softly behind him.

Lin Yue let out a slow breath and made a note on her phone.

A locked storeroom.

East wing where she had found Selas. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

No access in system.

[That is promising. Someone is hiding something.]

"Someone with authority. Someone who can keep a room out of the system." She looked down at Auriel, who was still kicking on his blanket, his gold eyes fixed on the mobile above him. "We are getting closer."

The third knock came almost immediately, as if the next person had been waiting just outside.

"Come in."

A woman entered, younger than Elara, older than Joren. She was a rabbit beastman, her ears long and pale, her movements quick and nervous. She stood just inside the door, her hands twisting in her apron.

Lin Yue smiled gently. "Please, sit. What is your name?"

"Lilia, Madam. I work in the laundry."

"Lilia. Thank you for coming. I wanted to meet everyone who helps keep this house running." She gestured to the chair, and Lilia sat, though she perched on the very edge, ready to flee. "How long have you been here?"

"Five years, Madam."

"And do you like it here?"

Lilia’s ears flattened slightly. "It is good work, Madam. The prince is fair."

Lin Yue caught the hesitation. "But?"

Lilia shook her head quickly. "Nothing, Madam."

"Lilia." Lin Yue kept her voice soft, almost a whisper. "I am not here to get anyone in trouble. I am here to make things better. If there is something that makes your work harder, something that worries you, I want to know. So I can fix it."

The rabbit woman’s hands stopped twisting. She looked at Lin Yue, then at Auriel on his blanket, then back at Lin Yue. Her voice, when it came, was barely audible. "The pay is not what it should be. I have been here five years, and I make the same as when I started. I asked once, and I was told there were budget cuts. But I see new things coming into the house. New furniture. New decorations. I do not understand."

Lin Yue’s heart ached. She kept her face soft, her voice gentle. "You are not alone, Lilia. I have seen the accounts. There are many people who are not being paid what they deserve. That is going to change."

Lilia’s eyes widened. "Madam?"

"It is going to change," Lin Yue repeated. "I promise you that. But I need to know more. Who did you ask about your pay?"

Lilia’s ears flattened again. "The administrator. The one who handles the accounts. I went to him three times. He said there was nothing he could do."

"His name?"

"Selas Aegaeon, Madam. He is the one who handles the money. He said the budget was tight. He said I should be grateful to have work at all."

Lin Yue’s blood went cold, but she kept her face calm. "Thank you, Lilia. You have been very brave to tell me this. I will make sure your pay is corrected. And no one will know it came from you."

Lilia’s eyes filled with tears. She stood quickly, bowing her head. "Thank you, Madam. Thank you."

She fled before Lin Yue could say another word.

The door closed. Lin Yue sat very still.

[Selas Aegaeon again. He literally warned you not to look too deep.]

"He handles the money. He told her the budget was tight while he was stealing from the accounts." She looked at her notes, at the red highlights on the terminal screen. "He is the rat."

[Or he is working for the rat. Someone has to have access to the locked storeroom. Someone has to be able to keep rooms out of the system.]

She frowned slightly, she wasn’t quite there yet but it was all adding up.

"He knows I am looking. He was warning me off."

[But you are not going to stop.]

"No." She picked up her phone and made another note. "I am not going to stop."

Auriel cooed from the floor, and she looked down at him. He was staring at her, his gold eyes bright, his little fist waving in the air.

"Mummy is going to catch a rat," she told him. "And then she is going to make sure everyone in this house gets paid what they deserve."

Auriel cooed again, and she took it as encouragement.

The fourth knock came. She called out, "Come in," and prepared to hear another story.

The afternoon wore on.

Staff came and went. Lin Yue listened to each one, asked her questions, made her notes. She heard about shortages and shorted pay. She heard about supplies that vanished and schedules that changed without warning. She heard fear in their voices, and she heard hope when she promised to make things right.

By the time the last person left, the light outside the windows had shifted toward evening. Auriel had fallen asleep on his blanket, exhausted from the parade of faces and voices.

Lin Yue leaned back in Uriel’s chair and closed her eyes. Her phone was full of notes, her mind full of names. The pattern was clear. The rat was not one person. It was a network, and Selas Aegaeon was at its center.

[You have what you need?]

"Almost." She opened her eyes and looked at the terminal. "I need to see that storeroom. The locked one in the east wing."

[That might be dangerous.]

"I know. But I need proof. Something Uriel can act on." She stood and stretched, her back aching from sitting so long. "Tomorrow. I will do it tomorrow."

She walked to the blanket and lifted Auriel carefully, cradling him against her chest. He did not wake, just snuggled closer, his tiny face pressed against her collarbone.

She looked at the phone, at the notes she had taken, at the name she had circled three times.

Selas Aegaeon.