The light did not disappear after the revelation.
It changed.
It became deeper. Heavier. Like truth had weight.
Vivian stood beside Sebastian inside the fractured space. The Trial was no longer a chamber. It was no longer a system. It felt like standing inside something that remembered everything.
Before them floated the preserved memory of the First D'Aragon Bride.
Not an illusion.
Not a story.
A record.
She stood calm, dressed in simple ceremonial cloth. No crown. No glory. Only quiet strength.
And behind her…
A vast curtain of light.
A wall that stretched beyond sight.
It moved slowly like breathing.
Vivian felt it immediately.
Fear.
Not loud fear. Not pain. Something older. A warning inside her bones.
She whispered, "That… is the Veil."
Sebastian nodded slowly. His eyes did not leave it.
"Yes," he said. "But it is not what they told us."
The memory began to move again.
The First Bride did not kneel in worship.
