Page 131 of A Silent Prodigy for the Lycan Princess
“Do you know what the tattoo said?”
“No, they were runes, I think. I couldn’t read them.”
“Do you think you could reconstruct them?” Arden asks.
“I don’t think it will be accurate, but I could try.”
Annette starts to scribble something on a paper, but she doesn’t look content with the outcome. “It’s all I could come up with,” she mutters. “The only thing I’m certain of are the little flowers.”
“That’s perfect,” Valerie reassures her. “It’s more than we expected. You are a fantastic help, Annette.”
Her eyes light up. “If you want, I can draw an outline of the place too.”
“That would be a great help,” Eric agrees.
Annette continues to explain details of the place she was kept, how it was built, what it looked like, and how they changed her looks for the auction. Eventually, she looks so exhausted that we decide to call it quits. We got more information from her than expected.
“Annette, do you think you can find the place again?” Eric asks eventually.
“Yes,” she says.
We sent the recording to Gustave to share it with the others. Not even a minute later, Gustave calls us. “The tattoo on Annette’s wrist,” he says. “I looked it up. It means Opal.”
“I thought so,” Arden answers, while putting his phone on speaker so we can listen in.
“And there is something else,” he says. “When she mentioned the tattoo on his neck, I don’t know… something hit a nerve.”
Arden straightens his back. “Wait a moment. You remember it from somewhere?”
“There was something,” Gustave mutters. “A picture…”
“You saw it before?” Arden asks.
“Yes,” he mutters. “I am sure I did. I just don’t know where.”
“Then try to find out where and how you spotted the image,” Arden commands.
“I-I am not as good as you are,” Gustave admits. “I’ve tried working with a memory palace, but I don’t have an eidetic memory, I—”
“Gustave, you still have an IQ that puts you on par with other geniuses,” Arden says. “You just don’t have confidence. You saw that image, I didn’t. I can’t help you retrieve this memory, but I have full faith in your abilities.”
“I will try,” Gustave promises. “I… I hope I won’t disappoint you.”
We can hear Nox in the background. “I took a closer look at the rune that Annette drew. Something about it strikes a memory in me, too.”
“Guys, what’s going on with you?” I ask. “Both of you being on high alert.”
“Well, thank you.” Nox chuckles. “The thing is, it’s not the rune itself that I remember, but the little roses around it.”
“You both need to go down memory lane,” Arden instructs.
“Shouldn’t I come with you to go to the hideout of our culprits?” Nox asks.
“No,” Arden says promptly. “Because I doubt we will find anything there.”
“Pretty sure they moved places already,” Eric agrees.
“You have a point,” Nox admits.
