Night draped itself over Asterion like a velvet shroud.
The lamps outside the Aserra mansion flickered softly, their flames bending with the breath of the wind. Inside her chamber, Crystal rose from the bath, water cascading from her skin like falling threads of silver.
Mari held out a robe, hands trembling slightly as Crystal stepped out.
She dressed quietly, her motions calm yet unnervingly precise. There was something terrifyingly graceful about the girl tonight—like a blade wrapped in silk.
"Prepare the carriage," Crystal instructed softly.
Mari bowed deeply. "At once, my lady."
Crystal walked through the corridor lit by oil lanterns, her footsteps light but carrying purpose. When she reached Aria's room, she slipped inside like a whisper.
Her little sister slept curled up beneath her blankets, soft breaths rising and falling. For a moment, Crystal's gaze softened not with innocence, but with a depth that came from having lost this once already.
She brushed Aria's hair aside and gently kissed her forehead.
"Stay safe… little one."
Then she stood, turned, and left without looking back.
Outside, the carriage waited beneath the night sky. Crystal climbed in and tapped the wooden panel.
"To the Valen mansion."
The wheels rattled into motion, clattering softly against the stone roads. Crystal leaned back, the moonlight slipping through the small window and resting over her face.
The ride did not take long.
When the carriage rolled to a stop before the Valen estate, the guards stiffened at the sight of her stepping down, cloak fluttering behind her like a shadow.
"Lady Crystal…?"
One guard blinked rapidly.
"At this hour?"
Within minutes, word reached Lord Valen.
The lord almost dropped his teacup.
"Crystal Aserra? At night?"
He rubbed his temples, then waved tiredly.
"Open the gates. Let her in."
Crystal walked forward as if the estate belonged to her, her expression calm, unreadable. Yet to the servants watching from behind trees and pillars… something about her steps felt terrifying.
As she passed a shadowy corner, Crystal bumped gently into someone.
The girl staggered a pale figure with silver hair.
Miralyn.
Her face drained of what little color she had left.
Crystal merely offered her a polite, meaningless smile.
Miralyn's heart stopped.
The smile was too calm.
Too sharp.
Too knowing.
She watched Crystal walk past her, disappearing into the main hall.
And for the first time… Miralyn wondered if the "spoiled girl under Noah's control" was nothing but an illusion.
Is this… really the same Crystal Noah thinks he can manipulate?
Inside the grand hall, Lord Valen greeted her warmly.
He was a large man, broad shoulders, grey streaks in his beard the type of man whose presence commanded respect without needing to speak. Yet when Crystal bowed with that eerie grace, he felt unsettled.
"Lady Crystal," he said kindly, "to what do I owe this late-night visit?"
Crystal smiled.
The kind of smile that hid storms behind it.
"I came to see Lyra."
Lord Valen blinked, surprised but he had no reason to deny her.
"Of course. I'll have a guard escort you."
Crystal nodded. "Thank you, Lord Valen."
Behind a pillar, Miralyn continued watching silently.
Her breath hitched.
That smile again.
Unnaturally calm.
As if Crystal already knew every soul in the mansion.
As if she were walking a path she had seen before.
The guard led Crystal through the winding paths of the estate into a garden Lyra's sanctuary.
The air grew colder.
The grass shimmered with dew.
Moonlight poured onto the flowers in ghostly silver waves, making the garden seem ethereal, unreal, like a dream stitched into the night.
Lyra stood beneath a cherry blossom tree, her weathered black kimono brushing softly against her ankles. Her long black hair danced lightly in the breeze.
She looked lost in her own world.
A world where she was forgotten.
A world where she had no chaos, no strength, no future.
When she turned…
Crystal stepped into the moonlight, her presence shining like a jade lantern among the flowers.
Lyra's eyes widened. "Lady Crystal?"
Crystal smiled gentle on the surface, calculating beneath.
This was her new pawn.
Her first piece.
And Lyra Valen… was perfect.
Far away across mountains, valleys, and frozen northern winds thunder cracked through the sky.
A colossal spirit bird cut through the darkness, its wings spread wide as it soared over ravines and clouds. Its feathers glowed faintly with spiritual energy, illuminating the two figures riding upon its back.
The first was Master Rion Kaze, swordmaster of the Black Moon Sect.
His robes fluttered in the wind, his expression serious, though annoyance tugged at the corner of his mouth.
He still couldn't believe his master lost another gambling match and dumped this mission on him.
Beside him sat a second figure though calling him a "man" felt wrong.
The being wore a black wooden demon mask, eyes glowing blue like dying stars.
A black ninja-like robe wrapped around his body, wind whipping his ponytail back.
A black grasscutter katana rested horizontally across his lower back.
Two metal arm-bands crackled with faint lightning.
Silent.
Ethereal.
Terrifying.
And unreadable.
Rion Kaze didn't even know if he had a face behind the mask. Or if he could talk. Or if he was even human.
They soared over the final stretch of mountains until the capital appeared beneath them Asterion, glowing in moonlight.
The masked figure stepped off the bird mid-air.
The ground trembled when he landed on the cliffside overlooking the kingdom.
He gazed at the capital.
And for the first time since Rion had known him…
He spoke.
Just one word.
Quiet.
Soft.
But carrying weight enough to bend the darkness around them.
"Asterion."
The wind fell silent.
Rion swallowed hard.
This mission… was going to be far more dangerous than he thought.
And far more terrifying.
"Under the moonlight, blades awaken, destinies twist, and the forgotten rise."