'Third Point of view '
Kael stormed into the west wing of Thornveil Manor, flanked by Leon, his footsteps sharp and echoing like blades over marble. Servants scrambled to bow or disappear entirely—his presence was more curse than command. He didn't care.
His mind was still reeling.
The attack on the carriage wasn't just a random ambush. That style—poison-coated arrows, crescent insignias—only one faction in Requiem of Kings used that motif: the Crimson Veil.
And they didn't appear in the game until Chapter 14.
Why were they here now?
Leon kept pace beside him, watching silently. Kael could feel his knight's tension, like a taut string ready to snap.
They reached the strategy room, its heavy doors carved with the Thornveil crest. Kael shoved them open and motioned for the guards to wait outside. Only Leon followed in.
Maps were sprawled across a long mahogany table. Pins marked forts, strongholds, and key roads through the kingdom of Orvell.
Kael slammed both palms on the table.
"This shouldn't be happening," he muttered.
Leon raised an eyebrow. "You mean the ambush?"
Kael glanced at him. He couldn't afford to say too much—but Leon wasn't an idiot.
"No faction like the Crimson Veil should be operating this deep in the capital's territory. And certainly not this early in the game."
Leon's gaze narrowed. "Game?"
Kael caught himself. "I meant... the war games. The political dance."
He turned away, pretending to study the map again. Leon didn't buy it. Kael could feel it in his silence, in the way he hadn't stepped closer or let the topic drop.
Before Leon could press, the door creaked open again. A servant peeked in.
"My Lord. Lady Selene is requesting an audience."
Kael's jaw clenched.
Of course she was.
Selene Ardyn—the Crown Princess and Kael's future fiancée in the original timeline. She was cunning, beautiful, and absolutely lethal. In the game, her political marriage to Kael was a strategic union. But behind closed doors, they were bitter enemies—two snakes in a glass cage.
He hadn't planned to engage her this early. But the plot was unraveling faster than expected.
"Send her in."
Leon straightened at once, his hand casually drifting toward his sword belt. Protective. Suspicious.
Good. He needed someone like that near Selene.
She entered like a storm cloaked in velvet—draped in royal blue, silver rings glittering, and lips curled into a faint smirk. Her eyes, pale and precise, scanned the room like a predator evaluating prey.
"Lord Kael," she purred. "You look... troubled."
Kael schooled his features into neutrality. "Princess Selene. To what do I owe the visit?"
She didn't answer immediately. Instead, she stepped to the map table, eyes dancing over the markers. Her fingers brushed over a pin in the eastern province.
"A little bird told me about your carriage being ambushed. How tragic."
"Tragic would've been if I hadn't survived."
Selene glanced up, smile sharpening. "Oh, I never doubted you'd survive. Thornveils are hard to kill. It's... inconvenient, but not impossible."
Leon bristled at her tone.
Kael cut in. "What do you want, Selene?"
She tilted her head. "A warning."
Now that made both Kael and Leon pause.
"The Crimson Veil doesn't act without cause," she said softly. "They don't waste resources on nobles—even infamous ones. Someone's pulling strings, Kael. And I think you're not the only one who's... out of place."
Kael blinked.
Was she hinting—?
But Selene didn't linger. She turned toward the door. "Do be careful. I'd hate to see you die too early."
She vanished before he could speak.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Leon finally broke it. "She knows something."
Kael nodded. "Too much."
"And you think she's... like you?"
"I don't know." He rubbed his temples. "But if she's awakened memories of the original timeline—or worse, if she's one of them—then this game's about to become a battlefield."
Leon tilted his head. "One of who?"
Kael didn't answer. He needed time. He needed to rethink everything. And he needed to keep Leon loyal—for as long as possible.
Just then, another servant rushed in, pale and breathless.
"My Lord! There's been a break-in!"
Kael's eyes narrowed. "Where?"
"The manor's private library. It's... you'll need to see it yourself."
Kael was already moving. Leon followed, tension high.
They arrived to find the heavy doors to the ancestral library wide open—splintered. Several guards were unconscious on the floor, drugged or magically subdued. Inside, a swirl of papers and overturned shelves painted the room in chaos.
Kael's blood froze when he saw what was missing.
One of the hidden compartments behind the fireplace had been opened.
And the Codex of Prophecy was gone.
"Who the hell knew about this?" he growled.
Leon was already ordering a lockdown, shouting for hounds, tracking mages, anything that could help them find the thief. But Kael's thoughts were spiraling.
The Codex didn't appear in the game. It was supposed to be a secret even to the royal family. He only knew of it because of a long-abandoned questline no player ever completed—except him.
Someone had found it.
And they knew what it meant.
He turned to the last standing clue—a single rune scrawled on the floor in glowing red ink.
One symbol.
An ancient crest.
It wasn't from the Crimson Veil.
It was the Hero's sigil.
Kael stared at it, cold dread settling in.
> The Hero. The one who was supposed to rise after Kael's death.
> The one who wasn't supposed to appear for another five chapters.
Leon stepped up beside him, sword already drawn.
"My Lord... what do we do now?"
Kael's hands clenched into fists.
"We hunt the Hero," he said coldly. "Before they hunt me."
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