As soon as they entered the private room upstairs, the manager quickly stepped in behind them, clearly nervous about letting strangers into a place filled with expensive antiques.
There were display shelves along the walls holding old jewelry, watches, and decorative pieces under soft lighting.
"Sir, ma'am," the manager said cautiously, "please be careful around the items here. Some of them are extremely valuable."
At that moment Bela was still leaning weakly against Henry like she could barely stand.
Henry looked immediately offended by the warning.
"Do I seriously look like a thief to you?" he asked. "Even my dog has standards."
The manager gave an awkward smile, clearly wanting this interaction over as fast as possible.
"Yes, sir. Of course, sir."
A second later he stepped back outside and shut the door behind him.
The moment the lock clicked—
Bela's entire "weak and faint" act disappeared instantly.
She straightened up from against Henry's chest like nothing had happened at all.
"You know," she said while looking up at him with amusement, "you would make an excellent scammer instead of a hunter."
Henry finally let go of her waist now that there was no audience watching. "Please don't insult me like that."
Bela ignored the comment and walked further into the room, heels clicking softly against the polished floor. "No, really," she continued. "Even I couldn't tell you were acting downstairs."
Henry loosened the tight collar of the suit with visible annoyance. "That's because unlike you, I use my talents for productive things."
Bela laughed quietly at that while inspecting the displays around the room.
"You literally guilt-tripped a poor manager into giving us access upstairs."
"Keep those thieving hands to yourself," Henry said immediately as Bela casually moved toward one of the cabinets. "Are you blind? There's an alarm attached to it."
Bela stopped just before touching the glass and smoothly pulled her hand back like she had never intended to touch anything in the first place.
"I was merely appreciating the craftsmanship," she replied calmly.
Henry gave her a look that clearly said he believed absolutely none of that.
Then his attention shifted toward the center display of the room.
Inside the reinforced glass case rested a shriveled blackened hand mounted on dark velvet.
The Hand of Glory.
Henry stared at it for a second with visible disgust. "Sometimes," he muttered, "I genuinely don't understand rich people." He pointed toward the display. "Who the hell keeps a dried-up human hand in their house and thinks, yes, beautiful decoration?"
Honestly, if something like that appeared in his home, he'd probably burn the entire room down on instinct.
Bela walked over beside him, folding her arms lightly. "Most humans spend their entire lives chasing money," she said. "And rich people usually end up needing strange hobbies to feel interesting."
Henry still looked disturbed by the hand.
"So, big boy," Bela said after a moment, "do you happen to know lockpicking? Because that glass looks reinforced."
Henry glanced toward the thick case once.
Then he simply lifted his hand.
Blue and gold energy immediately began gathering around his fingers, crackling softly through the air before taking shape. The light condensed piece by piece until a sword formed in his grasp, its sharp glowing edge humming faintly inside the dim room.
Bela blinked once.
Then very slowly smiled.
"…Wow," she said quietly while staring at the weapon. "That is incredibly sexy."
"But you warned me about alarms," Bela said while looking at the display case. "If you cut the glass with that sword, won't it trigger one anyway?"
"There's a window right there," Henry replied casually, nodding toward the large side window overlooking the gardens below.
"We jump out before security reaches the room." He rolled one shoulder slightly. "It's not like breaking into places is new for me. Honestly this is practically routine."
Bela opened her mouth to point out they were on the second floor—
then stopped.
Because she suddenly remembered watching him jump from a far greater height before and walk away completely fine afterward.
"…Right," she muttered. "Forgot who I was talking to."
Henry swung the glowing sword once.
The reinforced glass didn't shatter dramatically. Instead the blade sliced through it cleanly, leaving a glowing line before the upper section slid apart.
A second later the alarm started screaming through the room.
"Well," Henry said calmly while reaching in, "there's the alarm."
He grabbed the Hand of Glory just as heavy footsteps and shouting echoed faintly somewhere downstairs.
Bela immediately moved toward the window and extended both arms toward him expectantly, clearly preparing for a princess carry without even asking.
Henry stared at her.
"…No."
Bela looked offended instantly. "Excuse me? I wore heels for this operation. If you leave me behind, I go to prison."
"You are fully capable of running."
"In these shoes? Absolutely not."
The shouting downstairs got louder.
Henry sighed heavily like the entire situation offended him on a spiritual level.
Then instead of carrying her properly, he simply grabbed Bela around the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder like a sack of laundry.
Bela let out an indignant noise immediately. "Could you be any less of a gentleman?"
Henry walked toward the open window without slowing. "Nope. Women lost that privilege when everyone started yelling equal rights. I believe all genders are equal, so chivalry and gentleman treatment lost meaning."
"…Wow."
Then Henry jumped.
The second-floor drop vanished beneath them as they cleared the window entirely, landing hard in the gardens below while alarms continued screaming through the mansion behind them.
*****
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