When Lusian returned to the imperial palace, someone was waiting for him.
She wore a black silk robe, her hair arranged with impossible precision. No guards stood beside her.
"Confirm that it's true," said Empress Naira. "That you're going into the forest."
Lusian did not pretend to be surprised.
"It is."
Naira studied him the way one evaluates a strategic resource—not a man.
"You will return alive… or you will not return at all. But before you leave, I must collect the favor you owe me."
Lusian narrowed his eyes.
"I don't understand."
"Our bloodline," she explained with surgical precision. "Genetic projections confirm that with your genes and mine, the imperial heir would possess greater potential than any human in existence. If you place yourself at risk… if you die…"
She paused.
"I cannot allow that."
Silence followed. There was no pleading, no fear. Only calculation.
"And if I refuse?" Lusian asked.
"I require it," Naira corrected calmly. "You will comply now… or you will not leave the capital."
It was not a threat.
It was a decree.
Lusian held her gaze. No emotional fire passed between them—only the understanding of two powerful wills colliding.
At last, he spoke.
"Then tonight."
Naira nodded with the solemnity of someone signing an alliance.
"Ensuring the survival of the Empire is my duty."
That night, the lights remained burning in the imperial chambers.
There was no passion. No intimacy.
Only a silent agreement between power and legacy.
By dawn, the Empress did not see him off.
There was no need.
Lusian walked toward the edge of the camp. Elizabeth moved beside him, still weakened by the remnants of corrupted mana, while Thunder floated nearby in silent vigilance.
A voice cut through the night.
"You were planning to leave without me?"
Emily stood there with her arms crossed, as immovable as a fortress wall. The wind lifted the edges of her coat as though heralding battle.
"This isn't your mission," Lusian said.
"It isn't," she admitted. "But it is your life. And I'm not letting you face it alone."
"I'm asking you to stay," he murmured.
Emily stepped forward.
"And I refuse."
Her eyes were unwavering.
"If you want to leave me behind… you'll have to force me."
Thunder did nothing when she climbed onto his back and wrapped her arms around Lusian.
Lusian pressed his lips together. He didn't argue again.
"Then come," he said quietly. "But in silence."
Emily smiled, a dangerous mixture of determination and fear lighting her expression.
"Silence is the price of walking beside you."