Suddenly an Empress

II: A Look Inside

"Come on!" Barbara's excited voice resonated through the museum as the two sneaked in through the back door. "The necklace should be in his office,"

Sprinting along with Barbara, was the daughter of the museum's owner, Elodie Bryne. Driven with the desire to receive attention from her stoic father, she plans to steal the valuable necklace that had just arrived from Rome, known to be previously owned by the great Roman Empress, Alexandra Perseis.

"Keep your voice down, Barbara. Mr. Linton might hear you," Elodie was tugging Barbara's sleeves in an attempt to slow her down since she was skipping and sprinting recklessly and might bump against one of the displays.

Elodie knows that her father's museum, the Centre of Ancient Artifacts is one of the world's excellent and largest museums. The collections that her father had gathered here throughout the years span 2000 years of world culture, artifacts, and archeological remains from the prehistoric era to the present were all safely stored inside the 1 million square feet building. She only plans to steal and hide that one necklace and bring it back a few days later, but bumping into any of the important things and breaking it would be punishable by death so she was trying her best to calm Barbara down.

"I have already informed Mr. Linton that we would be walking around here tonight, and besides all the guards are guarding outside the building." Barbara swiftly maneuvered through the empty hallway that was usually stuffed with crowds in the morning, and Elodie was trailing carefully behind her.

"Well, it was a good thing that you and the head of security are close," Elodie mumbled, thinking about Barbara who spends most of her time in their museum that she managed to befriend all the staff, especially the strict and prickly Mr. Linton.

"There it is!" Barbara pointed her finger at the massive oakwood door by the end of the long hallway that would lead them to the office where the necklace was stored before it is put on display for the public to see.

Without waiting for a sign of agreement, Barbara rushed towards the door while carrying the office keys in her hand. Occasionally letting out an enthusiastic series of chuckles that made Elodie plant her palm on her face since she had just told Barbara to keep quiet. Discretion had always been Elodie's specialty, but being together with the loud and attention-grabbing Barbara makes her frustrated.

"H-hey, wait." Elodie dashed as well, internally regretting letting Barbara take the office keys since she looked way too excited that she might prance around the office once she gets inside and accidentally break everything.

However, contrary to Elodie's expectations, Barbara turned calm and composed once she had opened the door and entered.

"I have been in this office so many times but every time I come here it feels like it is my first time," Barbara commented as she lets her gaze wander across the whole room.

Elodie did the same and looked around, aside from the golden jewelry box on top of the wooden desk, everything in the room remained the same as when she last came here. The room gives off an antique vibe, the interior design was mostly victorian, these designs and decorations adorned the British Empire at the peak of Queen Victoria's reign.

"Anyway, that must be the Empress's necklace then?" Barbara walked over to the desk and carefully picked up the jewelry box embellished with gold to inspect it closely, letting the tips of her finger run freely on its rough surface.

"I guess so?" Closing the door behind her, Elodie approached the desk and sat on her father's swivel chair covered with velvet cushions while waiting for Barbara to finish being a history geek, she did not want to disturb Barbara while she marvels at the designs on the jewelry box like a crazed fan.

"Hurry up so we can return back to my room," Elodie said while spinning around on the chair, she only came to a stop when she found an old-looking small book on her father's desk that was next to the jewelry box before Barbara took it.

"What is that?" She asked, earning Barbara's attention and glancing at what Elodie was referring to.

"That is probably the book containing information about this necklace, although I already know all about that," Barbara answered while trying her best to open the jewelry box that does not seem to pry open. "Ugh! I give up. Maybe there is some kind of mechanism to open this, Elodie read that book."

"Why should I?" She grunted, staring blankly at the said book. She was never a fan of reading, especially if it is about pre-historic things and ancient artifacts.

"Nevermind, I'll do it." Barbara placed the unopened jewelry box down and took the obligation to read the book since Elodie was not budging from her seat. She only plans to take the necklace to cause distraught to her father, so reading or studying about the said necklace was not on her list of things to do.

"I knew it, this necklace was owned by Empress Alexandra Perseis, it was given to her by her husband, Emperor Lucius Vel Sylas." Barbara was lightly jumping up and down as she reads the content of the book. Contrary to her enthusiastic demeanor, Elodie was far from amused and was already getting bored but she has to wait for Barbara to be able to open the jewelry box before she could take the necklace.

"Can you read the part where it's stated how to open the jewelry box?" Elodie groaned, indicating to Barbara that she was not interested in the story behind the necklace yet Barbara continued to read out loud the contents of the book except for the instructions on how to open the box.

"The two conquered so many lands and turned it into a rich federation, the people under their reign were never hungry at all! It must be nice to live in their era." Barbara beamed which was only answered by Elodie's loud sigh.

"That was probably written by the emperor himself, of course, he would sugarcoat everything."

"Hey, why are you so bitter? Did you not know that according to the records, emperor Lucius was a hottie?" Barbara placed down the book and placed her hands on her waist, looming over Elodie who was seated down on the swivel chair. "You must not speak ill of the hot and handsome emperor."

Elodie only rolled her eyes and gently pushed Barbara out of her way so she could see the book as well as the still closed jewelry box. "Why did you stop reading?"

"Oh, the book only contains stories about the necklace, I didn't see any instructions on how to open the jewelry box so I guess you have to take the whole thing back to your room."

"What? That is too bothersome. Let me try, maybe you're just doing a horrible job at opening it." Elodie stood up and walked closer to the desk where the jewelry box was placed, she grabbed it and pulled it closer to her face for inspection but almost immediately, it suddenly unclasped itself and opened wide to reveal the necklace inside earning a loud and shocked gasp from Barbara.

"What?!" She exclaimed, "Why did it suddenly open as soon as you touched it?"

Elodie was just as confused as Barbara but she kept her gaze fixated on the necklace inside. Despite being a thousand years old, it still remained divine and enthralling. It had the shape of the crescent moon, handsome glossy stones with an intriguing matrix were attached to it that made it more compelling. Dreamy blue was the necklace's color that deeply resonated with Elodie since it was her favorite color.

All in all, the only thing that escaped Elodie's mouth was a loud "Wow."

"I know right! This is definetely from the Empress, look at how classy it is." Barbara was peaking over Elodie's shoulder, staring at the necklace as well. "Although, why would it suddenly open like that? Did you do something to it?"

Elodie shook her head in response, picking up the necklace from inside the box so she could look at it closer. "Do you think it's cursed? Am I cursed now?" She asked that made Barbara snicker.

"Why would the emperor curse the necklace he gave to his beloved wife?"

"I don't know, just a thought since it only opened when I touched it."

"Well, maybe you are the chosen one," Barbara joked, walking around the desk so she could reach the door.

"Chosen for what exactly?" Elodie saw that Barbara was preparing to leave the office now that they have acquired the necklace so she followed closely behind her, she did not know where to put the necklace and in the absence of pockets, she just wore it around her neck and trailed behind Barbara.

"Maybe to become the next empress," Barbara answered, opening the door and walking outside.

"Let's go, I'm getting sleepy. You should return the necklace after a few days if you really want your father's attention..." Barbara received no reply from Elodie which she found weird.

When Barbara noticed that Elodie was not walking close behind her, she turned around and walked back to the office door with a heavy sigh.

"Elodie, what are you doing? We have to go back before Mr. Linton comes." She turned the doorknob and opened it, "Elodie?" Her voice echoed from the doorway and all throughout the empty room, with no sign of her cousin anywhere.

Elodie had disappeared.