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I spun around to find the room had changed. The furniture was fixed, the dust vanished, and the burnt papers were whole once more and lay atop the upright desk. Bookcases with ancient tomes on their shelves covered the walls, and in the center were a few tables scattered with beakers, pots, and notes filled with scribbles.
One object stood out among all the clutter, and that was a blue crystal that was perched atop a short metal pedestal atop one of the tables. The intensity of blue was the color of pure lake water and it gave off a soft glow of light that reflected on the surface of the table.
Seated at the desk was the count himself, Albert. Some five feet behind him, leaning against another table, was who I assumed to be Gregory. The friend of the nobleman was a handsome devi
