The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Kaitlyn was tucking in the blankets for the elderly couple when she glanced up, "I'll go fetch scold medicine from the doc,

Vivienne, hang tight for a sec."

"Hold on!"

With an exasperated smile, Vivienne pushed away Percival's hand and called out to Kaitlyn, "Kaitlyn, I'm not sick. It's just... feels

like someone's gossiping about me."

"Wow, you've got ssixth sense, Vivienne! | was just saying how you and Percival are always popping into the hospital, and you

picked up on it?"

As the words fell, Leopold suddenly peeked his head around the door frame.

Thomas strode in behind him, greeting, "Percival, ma'am."

Kaitlyn gaped at the two lads who had just appeared, "Um, Vivienne, Mr. Ellington. Are these friends of yours?"

Trying not to admit it but nodding anyway, Vivienne shot Leopold a look, "Kaitlyn, meet Leopold, my junior. Thomas, Mr. Wolf's

assistant. They just called Mr. Wolf about surgent business, so we had them cover. Sorry, we didn't tell you in advance."

"What's there to be sorry about?" Kaitlyn blinked, "Con in, con. This room's not exactly a palace, so mind the mess."

Leopold was always quick to warm up to people, while Thomas was still fumbling for words.

Leopold chatted away with a big grin, lowering his voice so as not to disturb the patients, "Mrs. Littleton, no need for formalities

with us. If you're a friend of my Vivienne, you're a friend of mine. What's there to worry about between friends, right, Thomas?"

Thomas opened and closed his mouth, wanting to point out Leopold's verbosity. But then he thought better of it, realizing there

was struth in the words, and reluctantly grunted in agreement.

"What brings you guys here?" Vivienne cut straight to the chase, "Shouldn't you be at work this tof day?"

Leopold spread his hands: "Vivienne, we quit our jobs."

As he gestured, the paper bag in his hand crinkled noisily.

Vivienne and Percival exchanged a glance.

Could they say—they were not at all surprised by this revelation?

Percival didn't even ask why, his gaze fixed on the object in Leopold's hand, "What's that?"

As if suddenly remembering, Leopold smacked his forehead, "Oh, right! Ran into Matthew downstairs, and he handedthis for

you, Vivienne. Said it's about the Schram family research you asked him to dig up."

He passed the bag over, "He was going to email it, but sitems couldn't be sent digitally, so he printed and bound them for

you."

Vivienne's eyes widened in curiosity. When she touched the paper bag, she could feel the unevenness inside that was unlike

ordinary paper.

She gave Leopold a nudge to close the door before feeling safe to tear open the envelope.

Leopold, curious as ever, leaned in to get a glimpse.

Instead of white A4 paper, the first thing they saw was a brown, bamboo-like strip.

It looked ancient, like something you'd dig up in an archaeological site.

Leopold's eyes widened in disbelief, "Did Matthew dig up the Schram family's ancestral grave or something? Is this even from this

century?"

Thomas gave him a look, "You'll find plenty of these in museums."

Leopold: "So, you're saying Matthew's turned to tomb raiding? That doesn't sound like him. He doesn't strikeas the outlaw

type."

Thomas: ...Thus the nickn"Husky" is well-earned.

Even Kaitlyn couldn't help but give Leopold a glance, thinking, "Vivienne's junior didn't seem too bright."

"Not talking doesn't make you mute," Vivienne lost patience with Leopold's wild conjectures and knocked on his head, "This is likely

a replica."

She examined the strip, noticing a piece of paper tied to the back.

Vivienne, one hand on the file and the other on the strip, found it awkward to handle, so she flipped it over, "Mr. Wolf, could you

helptake this paper off?"

"Of course."

Likely wary about the information leaking, Matthew had secured the strip with the paper.

Percival carefully peeled it back, thankful not to tear the document, "Your junior... truly a collection of hidden talents..."

As he read the fading black ink on the paper, he looked from Leopold to the document and sincerely commented.

Vivienne was at a loss for words; she'd felt the sway for a long time.

But out of the little junior love that remained, she didn't voice her thoughts and coughed twice to change the subject under

Leopold's puzzled gaze, "What's written there?"

Percival spread the paper out and handed it to Vivienne, "The bamboo strip is a replica of the Schram family heirloom. He found it

with a collector who claimed it held secrets of an ancient warrior lineage."

"That big of a deal?" Leopold gaped.

Vivienne was equally astonished, turning the strip over. The black ink remained vivid, the strokes bold and intricate, forming

unintelligible characters.

Leopold took one look and his head spun. He nudged Thomas, "What's this? Can you make heads or tails of it? Looks like a kid's

scribbles to me."

Thomas shook his head, "Could this be skind of code exclusive to the ancient warrior lineage? It seems odd."

"Vivienne, have you ever cacross something like this?" Percival squinted at the cryptic symbols, utterly baffled.

But by the look on Vivienne's face, he could tell something was off. There was a spark of recognition, perhaps even excitement, in

Vivienne that the others clearly lacked.

"I have!" she exclaimed, the moment Percival's question snapped her back to the present. She turned to Kaitlyn, who had been

silent throughout the exchange, "Kaitlyn, you're from the ancient warrior lineage, aren't you? Can you make any sense of these

inscriptions?"

Lately, life had thrown so many curveballs in Vivienne's way that it had muddled her thoughts. She had completely forgotten about

a similar book she had once found in Scott Brooks' study, secured safely within his vault!

Anything that Scott protected so fervently had to be of great importance.

If they could just decipher the text, it might even shed light on their investigation into the ancient warrior lineage.

"I'm sorry, Vivienne. | can confirm that this is indeed the script of the ancient warrior lineage. Beyond that, I'm clueless. Ever since

New Veridia was established, even the descendants of the ancient warriors have adopted a more modern script. This sort of

writing... it's probably only the older generation that can still read it," Kaitlyn replied, a tinge of apology in her gaze.

Vivienne wasn't disheartened, though. If the older generation could understand it, then perhaps Finnian and Jasper could help.

She made a mental note to bring the book hand show it to them when she got the chance.

But for now, there were more pressing matters at hand to attend to.

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