After packing everything, I looked around the room one last time.
The clothes I had worn for the talent assessment still lay abandoned on the bed.
The wardrobe stood open, filled with garments I could no longer touch.
I hadn't taken anything from it.
Every piece of clothing bore the imperial crest.
And I could no longer afford to wear proof of who I used to be.
So instead, I packed only a few shirts, personal hygiene items, and a pouch of gold.
Not exactly the belongings of a fallen prince.
More like someone quietly preparing to disappear.
Lowering myself onto the bed, I let my gaze drift across the room.
Memories surfaced one after another.
Small things.
Meaningless things.
Moments spent in this place.
And for the first time, I understood what people meant when they spoke of longing.
That dull ache settling somewhere deep in your chest when you realize you're about to leave behind the only place you have ever known.
The place where you were born.
Where you grew up.
Where every corridor carried some fragment of your life.
I already knew I would never come back here.
Not really.
I had nothing left to offer the Empire.
Not even my own name remained mine.
Trey.
The thought still felt foreign.
Like clothing tailored for someone else and forced onto me out of convenience.
Lost in memories of everything I had lived through within these walls, I failed to notice how much time had passed.
Until a knock came at the door.
"Come in," I said, forcing the homesickness back into whatever dark corner it had crawled out of.
The door opened.
A servant stepped inside and bowed respectfully.
"Prince Aluric, preparations for your departure are complete. Please follow me."
The title sounded almost absurd now.
Still, I didn't bother correcting him.
Standing up, I grabbed my bag, slung it over one shoulder, and followed him out.
The same guards were waiting outside my chambers.
They silently fell into step beside us.
As we walked through the familiar corridors, I found myself glancing around, recalling scattered moments tied to different corners of the castle.
A laugh overheard here.
A childhood argument there.
A bruised knee from running too fast through polished halls because apparently dignity was not a skill I had been born with.
Too many emotions threatened to surface all at once.
But I forced them back down.
Not now.
Not here.
We crossed the courtyard and headed toward one of the castle towers.
The one belonging to the court megu.
As night settled over the castle, fewer servants remained in the halls.
Most had already retired.
Only guards—and likely a few deeply unfortunate cooks—were still awake.
When we reached the tower entrance, the servant knocked.
A second later, the door opened.
Standing there was the same girl who had overseen the talent assessment.
Silver hair spilled over her shoulders.
The loose robe she wore concealed her figure almost entirely.
"Prince Aluric, come with me. The rest of you are dismissed."
Her voice was soft and melodic.
She glanced between me, the servant, and the guards.
Without objection, they all bowed and departed.
Leaving only the two of us.
For a few seconds, the silver-haired girl studied me in silence.
Then she stepped aside, allowing me inside.
Technically, her behavior bordered on disrespect toward a prince.
But at this point?
That was almost funny.
I had stopped being a prince the moment the mana stone remained white.
We climbed the spiral staircase.
Torches mounted in iron brackets cast flickering light across the stone walls.
After several minutes, we reached the upper levels and entered a large room.
As far as I remembered, this was the chamber at the very top of the tower.
Shelves packed with books lined the walls.
In one corner stood a large cauldron.
And at the center of the room sat the same white table that had held the mana stone earlier.
We crossed through it without stopping and entered another chamber.
This one was stranger.
At its center stood a massive archway covered in symbols written in a language I didn't recognize.
Ancient.
Sharp.
Almost unpleasant to look at for too long.
The silver-haired girl approached the structure and began activating it.
She touched several symbols in sequence.
Gradually, the runes began to hum.
Then vibrate.
Soft light pulsed through them, shifting from green to blue.
A low resonance filled the chamber.
Between the archway, mana began twisting into motion.
A swirling vortex formed in empty space.
And after a few seconds, shapes began to appear beyond it.
Blurred silhouettes.
Moving.
Walking.
As though an entirely different world waited just beyond the portal.