Chapter 4: Before She Entered
Morning light came through the polished glass windows and spread across the room, turning the floor and furniture a pale gold.
The room was huge.
Ridiculously huge.
Beneath the high ceiling sat row after row of royal furniture, each piece expensive enough to make an ordinary noble hold their breath.
The cabinet legs, bedposts, and folding-screen frames were all covered in tight, delicate carvings. Even the corners of the tables had patterns worked into the wood.
Some were solemn totems. Some were vines and flowers curling around each other.
Some were so small that a person had to lean in close to notice the feathers, leaf veins, and tiny lines carved into them.
Every carving in the room had come from Master Brenwick, one of the Suncrest Empire’s most famous craftsmen.
He was also one of its most stubborn.
Gold alone could not move that old man. Plenty of nobles had visited him with gifts, promises, and boxes full of coins, only to be sent away without even a polite smile.
For him to personally make a full set of wooden furniture was an honor most noble families would brag about for generations.
Unfortunately, the owner of this room did not seem to share that opinion.
In the middle of the room, a teenage boy lay sprawled across a huge, soft bed like someone had tossed him there and forgotten to arrange him properly.
The blanket had been kicked to one side. One arm dangled off the edge of the mattress, while his other hand was buried under the pillow. His mouth hung open without the slightest dignity, and a thin line of drool had slipped from the corner of his lips.
The only thing in the room that still looked somewhat proper was his favorite weapon.
An old curved saber, with a bit of rust on it, rested beside the bed.
It was close enough that if he reached out, his fingertips could touch the hilt.
"Master Kael, it’s time to wake up."
Soft knocks came from outside the door.
A young maid in a black-and-white uniform stood in the hallway with her hands folded in front of her. Her posture was neat, but from the look on her face, she had been waiting there for a while.
She raised her hand and knocked again, her voice a little louder this time.
"Master Kael?"
The boy on the bed twitched. His brows pulled together.
Kael Ashborne.
That was his name.
He was the Suncrest Empire’s Grand General, and the adopted son Empress Aurelia Valemont loved more than anyone.
At only sixteen, Kael had already taken enough land for the empire to equal nearly a third of what the Suncrest Empire controlled today.
By battlefield achievements, rank, and the stories people whispered in taverns, he more than deserved the title of Grand General.
But if someone stood beside his bed right now and looked at this drooling, blanket-hogging teenager who refused to open his eyes, they would have a hard time matching him with the legendary commander from those stories.
"Mm... so loud."
Kael rolled over, grabbed his pillow, and shoved it over his head.
He had been sleeping just fine.
The sunlight was warm. The bed was soft. The outside world, no matter how grand or annoying, had no right to steal his last few minutes of sleep.
But the maid’s voice kept coming.
Again.
And again.
It crawled around his ears like a bug he could not swat away.
"Master Kael... Master Kael!"
Knock knock knock!
This time, the knocking came together with her voice.
Kael’s face was buried under the pillow, but his expression had already darkened. His fingers clenched the bedsheet. A vein at his temple jumped twice.
Then he snapped.
"Stop yapping! Shut up already!"
The hallway went silent.
Outside the door, the little maid froze with her hand still raised.
Her face turned pale. Her lips moved once, but no sound came out.
She did not know whether she should keep trying to wake him or turn around and run.
Her order had been simple.
Wake Master Kael.
But Master Kael was clearly in a terrible mood.
"How did this happen..."
The maid lowered her head and shifted her weight from one foot to the other, fingers twisting together in front of her skirt.
She wanted to knock again.
But after that roar from inside the room, her hand refused to lift.
Leaving was no better. If she walked away before finishing the job, the head maid would have her hide. If she knocked again, Master Kael might get there first.
So she stayed outside the door, stiff and miserable, waiting for trouble to decide where it wanted to come from.
A woman’s voice sounded behind her.
"What’s going on here?"
The maid froze. When she turned and saw who had arrived, her knees nearly gave out.
"Y-Your Majesty!"
She bowed so fast a few strands of hair slipped loose.
Empress Aurelia Valemont stood in the corridor.
The palace had never lacked beautiful women. Singers, dancers, noble daughters raised behind silk curtains until they looked more like display pieces than people. Aurelia was beautiful too, but no one with a working brain stopped at that.
She ruled the Suncrest Empire, and she had not reached that throne by being gentle.
Aurelia was only thirty, yet the old noble families had already learned to choose their words carefully around her. Court factions had tried to use her. Old houses had tried to trap her. A few generals, leaning on private soldiers and old favors, had thought they could bargain with her.
After that, no one brought soldiers to a negotiation with her again.
Years ago, the old empire had already been dying. Taxes vanished before they reached the treasury. Nobles carved up villages like private gardens. The army still looked grand in its armor and banners, but the country behind it was thin enough to break.
Then Aurelia raised an army of a hundred thousand and tore the old regime apart.
After that came the wars. Border after border was pushed outward, and kingdoms that had once laughed at the old empire began locking their gates before nightfall.
When the fighting slowed, Aurelia turned back to the court. Reform followed reform.
Some nobles cried. Some begged. Some tried to fight back. It made no difference.
Somehow, the empire stopped looking like a corpse wearing a crown and started looking like a country again.
Commoners ate better. Roads became safer. Farmers no longer woke each morning wondering which lord would take the last grain from their barns.
Without Aurelia Valemont, the old empire would have been swallowed sooner or later.
Everyone in court knew that much, though only idiots said it where someone might hear.
And now that same empress was standing outside her son’s room, looking at a maid who seemed ready to vanish into the floor if the gods were kind enough to let her.
Aurelia’s eyes moved from the girl to the closed door.
The corridor quieted. The attendants nearby lowered their heads, and one of them held her breath without noticing.
"Why are you standing outside my son’s room?" Aurelia asked. "Did something happen?"
She did not raise her voice. She did not have to.
The maid’s shoulders trembled.
"N-No, Your Majesty!" she said quickly. "I was only ordered to wake Master Kael. That’s all!"
The words came out in a rush. She kept her head low, afraid even a pause might make her sound guilty.
Aurelia watched her for a moment.
The sharp look in her eyes eased.
The maid did not relax. No one in the corridor did. They only breathed a little more quietly.
"Is that so?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The little maid nodded hard.
Aurelia turned to the armored attendants behind her.
"All of you, step back. I’ll wake him myself."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The guards answered together and moved without delay. The maid followed them with shaky steps, probably praying Master Kael would never remember her face.
Their footsteps faded down the corridor.
Soon, only Aurelia remained outside the door.
For a moment, she did not move.
Then the empress faded from her face, leaving only Kael’s mother.
She raised her hand and knocked once, light enough that the sound barely carried.
"Little Kae, are you awake? Mommy’s here to see you."
The room went quiet.
Then the lump under the blanket, which had looked dead a second ago, jerked hard.
"Huh? Mom?"
Clang!
Kael almost fell out of bed.
That voice worked better than all the knocking outside. Kael was awake now.
Very awake.
Clothes.
He needed clothes.
Right now.
Kael lurched toward the wardrobe, one foot catching on the blanket before he kicked it away.
Unfortunately, his body was moving half a beat behind his brain.
Before he found his balance, his arm swept across the nightstand—
—and hit the magic lamp.
The lamp slid off the edge and slammed into the floor.
Glass cracked and scattered across the floor, catching the morning light in sharp little flashes.
"Ah! Damn it—stupid thing!"
Kael stared at the broken lamp.
His face fell.
He crouched down and glared at the glittering pieces on the floor, but the anger did not last long. It came hot, burned fast, and left regret sitting in its place.
Mom gave me that...
He remembered the lamp. Some famous artisan had made it. He could not remember the man’s name, only that the palace steward had once spent half a day explaining how rare it was.
Expensive.
Stupidly expensive.
The kind of thing nobles would pretend not to care about, then go home and lose sleep because they could not get one.
Kael had not exactly taken good care of it, but Aurelia had given it to him.
And now he had broken it with one careless swing.
Is Mom gonna be mad...?
"What happened?"
Aurelia heard the crash from outside.
This time, she did not knock again.
The handle turned.
"Mom! Don’t come in!"
Kael shouted the moment he heard the door move.
But he was too late.
