The archives in Fontaine’s Ministry of Justice were off-limits to most.

But not to you. Not when Escoffier was leading you down the silent, gilded halls, her footsteps a ghost of sound beside yours.

“You know,” you whispered, eyeing the ornate vault doors ahead, “this feels a lot like breaking and entering.”

She cast you a sideways glance, amused. “It’s not breaking when you have the key.”

“And you just happened to ‘borrow’ it?”

“I happen to be the key,” she said, voice calm, hands folded behind her back. “Titles are useful like that.”

You smirked. “You’re really pulling rank to impress me?”

“Not to impress you,” she said, pausing in front of the archive gate. “To protect you.”

Your breath caught.

She turned then, fully facing you — expression unreadable, but intense. “What’s inside this vault could incriminate more than just corrupt officials. You’ve drawn attention… and enemies.”