Chapter 23: Heritage Revealed
Rougeria smelled of iron and old rain.
The sky was grey. Not the soft grey of morning—the hard grey of a nation that had been fighting for so long it had forgotten what peace looked like.
Lira stepped through the world gate and immediately felt wrong.
Not the air.
The looks.
People on the street had stopped. Staring. Not at Adrian. Not at Aryan.
At her.
"Ears," Adrian murmured. "Cover them."
She pulled up her hood.
The staring didn't stop.
They took a room above a tavern.
Lira sat by the window. Her hood was still up.
"Why do they hate me?" she asked.
Adrian didn't answer immediately. He was at the table, his excel open, his fingers moving. Planning. Always planning.
"Rougeria and Vertia have been at war for three hundred years," he said. "The reason doesn't matter anymore. What matters is the blood."
He looked up.
"An elf with Vertian and Rougerian blood is not a person to them. You're a reminder."
"Of what?"
"That the war never really ended."
Silence.
Drip.
Rain on the window.
Aryan stood by the door. His smile was in place. But his eyes were on the street below.
"We're being watched," he said.
The mana leak was small.
Adrian had tried to minimize it. Compressed the world gate. Sealed it faster than usual.
But Haven's mana was potent. Different from Gyndal's. It seeped through the cracks like water through stone.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Footsteps on the stairs. Many and coordinated.
"Three minutes," Adrian said. He closed his excel. Didn't stand. "Aryan. Lira."
Aryan's smile widened.
"Finally."
They came through the door.
Six of them. Black armor. No insignia. Their swords were dull. These were not Kuiji's men. These were professionals.
Swoosh.
Aryan moved first.
He touched the first one's arm.
Transfiguration.
The arm became a wing. The assassin stumbled, off-balance.
Lira was already moving.
Spear of Longinus.
Light gathered. Threw.
Thud.
The second assassin hit the wall. His armor had a hole in it. He didn't get up.
The remaining four adjusted. Faster than Kuiji's men. They didn't scream. Didn't hesitate.
They surrounded Aryan.
Swoosh.
Clang.
Swoosh.
Clang.
He moved between them like water.
One became a rabbit. One became a bird. One became a flower—a rose that fell to the ground and lay there, petals trembling.
The fourth assassin stepped back.
His eyes moved from Aryan to Lira to Adrian.
Adrian hadn't moved.
Swoosh.
The assassin ran.
"He'll report back," Lira said.
"Yes," Adrian said.
"To who?"
Adrian looked at Aryan.
Aryan's smile was gone.
"To the Hidden Eye," he said. "To Adeus."
Juran appeared that night.
Not through the door. Through the shadow.
One moment, the room was empty. The next, he was there. Kneeling.
"My lord."
Adrian didn't look up from his excel. "Report."
"Three more teams. They're tracking the mana signature. They know you're in Rougeria. They don't know where—yet."
"How long?"
"Two days. Maybe less."
Adrian nodded.
Juran didn't leave.
"There's something else."
Adrian looked up.
"Havoc knows I'm with you."
Silence.
Drip.
The rain had stopped. The room was very quiet.
"How?" Adrian asked.
"A leak."
Juran's voice was flat. But his eyes—Lira saw them. Old rage. Old grief.
"The Hidden Eye murdered my family," he said. "Havoc allowed it. He didn't do it himself. He allowed it. That was worse."
He paused.
"I joined you because I was curious. A boy who thought he could conquer the world. I wanted to see you fail."
Another pause.
"You didn't fail."
Adrian said nothing.
Juran rose.
"I stay because Havoc fears you. And I want him to fear me."
He stepped back into the shadow.
And was gone.
Lira sat by the window.
Her hood was still up.
"Your father," Adrian said. "He's in Westeria. Seeking asylum at a shrine."
Lira didn't turn.
"How do you know?"
"Vesper wasn't the only one who knew him. I told you. I asked around."
She was quiet for a long moment.
"He left me."
"Yes."
"He chose to live. For himself. Not for me."
Adrian didn't answer.
Lira's hands curled into fists.
"He's a coward."
"Maybe."
She turned.
"Why are you helping me?"
Adrian looked at her. His face was unreadable. But his eyes—there was something there. Something that wasn't calculation.
"Because someone helped me. When I didn't deserve it."
He stood.
"Sleep. Tomorrow, we find Adeus."
Thud.
The door closed.
Lira sat alone.
She pulled out the letter. Read it again.
I chose to live. For you.
That was my shame.
She folded it.
Pressed it against her heart.
And did not sleep.