Chapter 5 – The Library Beneath the Crown
---
Royal Palace – Early Morning
Location: East Wing – Lyssa's Quarters
A light knock echoed softly on Lyssa's chamber door.
She had just finished lacing her boots when it came—three taps, calm and deliberate. Not a guard. Not a royal maid. She knew the rhythm.
When she opened the door, she found Aeron standing there, arms crossed, dressed in an unassuming dark-grey robe trimmed with barely visible runic threads.
"You're early," she said.
"You didn't answer your last question," he replied.
"…Which one?"
"The one I didn't ask out loud."
Her brows furrowed. "You're cryptic this morning."
Aeron offered a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Tell me, Lyssa—how does one enter the Sealed Annex of the Royal Library without being noticed?"
Lyssa's eyes widened slightly. "…You're serious."
"Deadly."
"There are guards, magical seals, scrying wards—"
"All of which I'm prepared for," he interrupted calmly. "What I need is the timing. The route. The shifts."
Lyssa studied him. Her pulse picked up. Something about this young noble—this man reborn—was terrifyingly certain. Not arrogant. Not reckless. But deliberate. As if he'd done this sort of thing before.
Because he had.
Aeron had once walked the Divine Libraries of Arcthor. He'd once inscribed Void Runes on forbidden tomes that caused entire academies to collapse into pocket dimensions.
And now he needed one anchor.
Just one sigil.
"…If we're caught, I'll be executed," Lyssa said.
"I won't let that happen."
"That's not reassuring."
"I wasn't trying to reassure you," Aeron said softly. "I was promising you."
Her throat tightened.
Later that Morning
Royal Library – Central Wing
The main wing of the Royal Library was vast. Towering shelves packed with scrolls and grimoires stretched toward the high-glass dome ceiling, where sunlight poured in like divine fire.
Nobles, scholars, and mages wandered quietly between aisles.
Aeron moved through it all like mist—calm, quiet, and unseen.
Lyssa followed two steps behind, dressed in formal scribe robes now. Her hair tied up in a scholar's bun, glasses perched on her nose—part disguise, part deflection.
"Downstairs," she whispered. "Behind the genealogy archives."
They walked past a long row of crystal-bound volumes, pretending to study a section on noble family trees. Lyssa brushed her hand along a dusty wooden panel.
Click.
A hidden staircase groaned open, descending into blackness.
No torches. No runes. Just cold stone and silence.
"After you," Aeron said.
The Sealed Annex
Beneath the Royal Library
The air was colder here. Thick with old magic and something older… darker.
The stone walls pulsed faintly with enchantments. Runes etched in ancient tongues shimmered as they passed. The torches weren't lit—but the corridors were not entirely dark. The Void Seed in Aeron's chest responded, casting a low pulse through the air like a second heartbeat.
At the chamber's heart, a pedestal stood beneath a black-stained glass dome. Upon it, an iron-bound book and a series of etched sigil scrolls floated in suspended stasis.
"Don't touch anything except what you need," Lyssa warned.
Aeron stepped forward. "I only need one sigil. The rest… they can rot."
He reached toward a scroll etched in deep violet ink—the Sigil of Arcane Binding, designed to tie unstable energy into stable form. The last piece he needed to complete Shadow Threading.
As his fingers brushed the scroll—
A chime rang in his mind.
...
[System Alert: Forbidden Magic Acquired – Anchor Sigil]
[Void Rune Completion: 100%]
[Spell Acquired – Shadow Threading]
Effect: Grants user limited stealth through magical seals and surveillance. Duration: 6 minutes. Cooldown: 1 hour.
[+40 Harem Points | Lyssa Emotional State: Increased Trust]
[Sub-Quest: "Lyssa's Veil" – Progress 25%]
...
He turned. Lyssa was staring at him—no longer in awe, but in suspicion.
"That scroll… didn't trigger the warding curse."
"I'm special," Aeron said lightly.
"You're something," she muttered.
And then—a new voice echoed from behind.
"That he is."
Aeron froze. Lyssa stiffened.
From the corridor, a tall man stepped forward. Raven hair. Robes embroidered in divine gold.
High Mage Kael Vosseth.
Selene's personal magical instructor—and Grand Magister of the Arcane Order.
"You must be the infamous heir of Blackthorn," Kael said, stepping calmly into the chamber. "Word travels fast. I heard you refused to kneel before our beloved princess yesterday."
Aeron didn't answer.
Kael's eyes flicked toward the scroll now in Aeron's hand. "Stealing royal property already? Bold."
"It wasn't locked," Aeron said.
Kael chuckled. "Neither are graves. Doesn't make robbing them legal."
Lyssa stepped forward, voice calm. "He's under my supervision, Magister. This—"
"Silence."
Magic pressure crashed into the room like a tidal wave.
Lyssa dropped to one knee, gasping for breath.
Aeron's eyes narrowed.
Kael tilted his head. "And what, boy, will you do about it? You have no magic. No backing. No right."
A long pause.
Aeron exhaled once.
Then raised his hand.
And the world split.
Dark tendrils of Void magic shimmered from his palm, coiling in the air like silent serpents. They wrapped around Kael's pressure—then devoured it.
A sudden vacuum of silence swallowed the chamber.
Kael staggered.
"What… what is that?!"
Aeron stepped forward.
"No right?" he echoed, voice low and steady. "Then let me claim it."
He raised his hand higher.
The air shimmered with runes—ancient, primal, wrong.
Kael backpedaled. "That magic… shouldn't exist—"
"And yet," Aeron said, "here I stand."
He didn't attack. He didn't need to.
He turned his back.
"Come, Lyssa."
She stared at him, eyes wide. Heart pounding. Then scrambled to her feet and followed.
Kael remained frozen.
As they disappeared up the staircase, he whispered:
"…The Void… It lives."
That Evening
Royal Palace – East Wing
Back in his chambers, Aeron sat before a floating screen of runes. The spell was complete. The next step was clear.
...
[Next Main Quest Objective: Trigger Affinity Event with Selene Estelle Rindell]
Trigger: Emotional Vulnerability, Forced Proximity, Past Life Echo (optional)
Reward: Memory Trace Unlock (Tier I), Forbidden Rune – "Pulse of Regret"
...
He leaned back, fingers steepled.
Selene.
She hated him.
But hate… was only passion without direction.
And now, he had hers.
.
.