The dawn had yet to kiss the blackened walls of the Obsidian Castle.
The air, thick with moisture, seeped through the tall windows like the last, reluctant sigh of a night refusing to die.
Sophia hadn't slept.
Since the entity's appearance in the library, her mind had been a labyrinth of echoing whispers. The words "Silver Heiress" and "Tenebris" still burned in her memory, like embers impossible to extinguish.
The medallion lay inert on her desk. Yet, every time her fingers brushed against it, a subtle vibration—like the beat of an alien heart—ran across her skin.
"Broken Guardian…".
That phrase relentlessly repeated itself, a song that pursued her even in the absolute silence.
A masculine voice pulled her from her thoughts.
"Still awake, Your Highness?"
Kael leaned against the doorframe, his armor half-donned, his hair still damp from the morning dew. He had learned not to sleep for more than two hours since the shadow had first appeared.
