Echoes of a Gilded Smile

Everyone thinks I'm the bubbly, scatterbrained Mirage-Crafter of the Oshal Guild, happily riding the coattails of my genius partner, Ravos. I've loved him for years in agonizing silence, but we both hide our true hearts behind a strictly professional partnership. That includes our newest junior colleague, Nimoe. With her wide eyes and clumsy mistakes, Nimoe plays the perfect innocent victim. Lately, she's been posting ambiguous photos on the Echo-Net - Ravos's coat on her chair, two mugs on his desk - trying to paint me as the jealous, abusive senior holding him hostage. She thinks I don't notice. But she doesn't realize my 'airhead' persona is my greatest weapon. When Nimoe crashes our strategic engagement gala in tears, accusing me of bullying her, she expects Ravos to rush to her defense. Instead, he ignores her pathetic weeping entirely, gently wiping a drop of spilled wine from my wrist to make sure I'm comfortable. Then, I let my mechanical shimmer-mink, Glim, project his hidden camera footage onto the ballroom ceiling. It doesn't just show Nimoe staging those pathetic photos - it reveals her uploading classified Guild codes to an enemy network. Will she enjoy playing the victim from a maximum-security cell?