Crow nodded when Penelope said her father was probably already in his room. That solved at least one of his dilemmas. He just hoped the older knight would be able to tell him where each of the noblemen’s bed chambers were, so he could find them later in the night. Worst case scenario, he planned to put everything in Adam’s room, so the baron would be forced to find his own way to put it all back where it belonged without being accused of stealing the jewelry, himself.

As the knight went on to describe in detail where Fischbach’s room was located, Crow turned to look ahead, carefully mapping the route in his mind. Even though he was new to living in the castle, he had been here enough times in the past to know how most of the lower-ranking nobles’ bed chambers were laid out. He had stolen from them quite a few times, after all. Tonight’s reverse raid would be no different than anything he had accomplished before.

By the end of Penelope’s description, Crow realized that Adam’s room wasn’t very far from his own. It seemed to be located in the same wing, just one floor below. He smirked to himself. That was going to make his job a lot easier. He only hoped the other two noblemen were nearby as well.

“I’ve got it,” the viceroy tapped his temple with one finger and casted her a wry grin. “Memorizing stuff like this is what I did for a living. I won’t forget it.”

He followed her lead as she directed him to her father’s room, keeping his head up and his eyes forward to pointedly ignore the guards who were watching him as he passed. Fortunately, even though they seemed wary of him, none of them questioned why he was in this part of the castle. The knights probably just assumed he was allowed to be there because he was being escorted by a one of their own. They made it to the chamber with no trouble.

When they stepped inside, Crow saw John sitting at a desk in the corner of the room, writing in what looked like a journal. The older knight looked up to see who had entered his chamber and then nodded his head in recognition, “Good. I was hoping you’d stop by.”

“Penelope said you might know where the noblemen’s rooms are,” Crow said a bit absently as he eyed the older man. Having only ever seen John in his armor, he wasn’t used to seeing the knight dress down. He nearly looked like a different person in just his trousers and undershirt—not nearly as intimidating as he usually was with a sword at his belt. The stark change caught the viceroy off guard.

John seemed to notice his staring but said nothing about it as he turned in his chair and gestured to the bed. “I do,” he confirmed. “You can sit over there.”

Crow glanced at Penelope before going along with her father’s suggestion and sitting on the edge of the mattress. “I need to know where the rooms are, but I was also hoping you could tell me something else.” He casted a wary look at the closed door, as if he could tell someone was listening on the other side with just a glance, before reaching into his tunic and pulling out the jewelry he’d been hiding in the inside pocket.

“I need to know which items belong to which person,” he finished in a lowered voice.