The walls of the Jade Phoenix Pavilion had always been beautiful.
White marble floors. Gold-plated doors. Vermilion drapes embroidered with dragons.
A prison—draped in silk.
Muran stared at them now with disdain, hands buried in the folds of his robe.
Beside him, the official decree lay unopened on the floor.
> To ensure His Majesty's Noble Consort receives adequate rest and healing following the strenuous demands of childbirth, the Emperor decrees that Muran shall be relocated to the Cold Spring Court effective tomorrow.
> The children will remain under Imperial protection elsewhere.
Elsewhere.
That single word had shattered the last thread of patience in Muran's soul.
"They want to take them from me," he muttered, eyes fixed on the sleeping babies.
His voice dripped with venom.
"Like I'm just a vessel. Like I was nothing but a moment of inconvenience."
His hands trembled.
Not from fear.
From fury.
Behind him, Chu Yi and Chun Li stood frozen—eyes taut with silence.
"Muran…" Chu Yi finally spoke, voice low. "What are you going to do?"
He turned to them slowly.
"I'm going to do what no one ever expected from a cursed consort."
A breathless pause.
"…I'm going to run."
The moment he said it, Chun Li's lips parted in shock.
Chu Yi's brows furrowed—but neither objected.
Instead, Chu Yi stepped forward, untying the black ribbon from her wrist.
In an instant, it shimmered and shifted—feathers, dark and gleaming.
A mark pulsed across her forearm: a silver-banded owl curled around a moon sigil.
"I was trained to protect," she said softly. "Even if the palace stripped my rank…
I remember who I swore to serve."
═════════════════════════════
🌜 STATUS WINDOW — Chu Yi
═════════════════════════════
Name: Chu Yi
Sex: Female
Mun: Owl 🦉
— Type: Common Beast Mark
— Mun Type: Holder Mun
— Traits: Night Vision, Strategic Insight, Foresight
Ability:
• Sight Beyond Sight — predicts movement up to ten seconds ahead; memorizes patrol patterns and behavioral shifts during missions.
Talents:
• Martial Arts — Sharp Hand Technique [A-Rank]
→ Focused strikes targeting vital points; excels in disarming, paralyzing, or redirecting force in close quarters.
• Cleaning [B-Rank]
→ Expert in maintaining operational environments; restores clarity through physical and energetic purification.
Estrella Stage: Vier
Internal Level: Peak 3
═════════════════════════════
Then Chun Li raised her sleeve.
═════════════════════════════
🐦 STATUS WINDOW — Chu Li
═════════════════════════════
Name: Chu Li
Sex: Female
Mun: Sparrow
— Type: Common Beast Mark
— Mun Type: Holder Mun
— Traits: Agility, Urban Terrain Mastery, Auditory Stealth
Ability:
• Featherstep — sprints across rooftops and narrow terrain with absolute silence; footfalls blend with airflow and leave no trace.
Talents:
• Babysitting [B-Rank]
→ Swift and responsive caretaker; excels in transporting infants, calming distressed children, and improvising distractions.
• Cooking [A-Rank]
→ Masterful in flavor harmony, foraging under pressure, and emotional restoration through nourishing meals.
• Assassin [A-Rank]
→ Expert in silent takedowns, terrain-based vanishing, and psychological targeting; operates with elegant minimalism.
Estrella Stage: Wu
Internal Level: Peak 1
═════════════════════════════
Along her collarbone shimmered the red imprint of a sparrow Mun, wings outstretched and ready to flee.
"I was born lowly," she said. "But my Mun grants me speed. Light feet. Quick escapes."
Her voice was quiet, but her eyes burned with resolve.
"I thought you'd never ask, Muran."
He blinked.
"I already knew," he said. "But let's play along with them. Ask what they think."
His voice curled with bitter irony.
"You two… have Muns?" he whispered. "You've been hiding them all this time?"
Chu Yi nodded.
"We had to. A maid with a Mun in the inner palace is considered a threat."
"And now?"
"Now…" Chun Li smiled faintly, gaze sharpening.
"We're more dangerous than anyone thinks."
The Plan
They waited until deep night, when even the shadows seemed to sleep.
The babies had been fed and wrapped in spell-lined silks designed to mask their Mun energy. Chu Yi's owl Mun had granted her a rare gift: *Sight Beyond Sight*—an ability to predict movement within the next ten seconds. She had memorized every patrol pattern.
Chun Li's sparrow Mun granted her *Featherstep*, allowing her to sprint across rooftops without sound or trace. She would scout ahead and leave silent markers—cut petals scattered on the path—to indicate danger.
Muran, meanwhile, had stirred something deep within his Phoenix Mun. His flames had grown—flickering just enough to warm the children two Infront and one back of her that keep their energies from surging.
═════════════════════════════
STATUS WINDOW — Muran
═════════════════════════════
Name: Muran
Sex: Male (Ger)
Mun: Phoenix
— Type: Mythical Beast Mark
— Mun Type:Manifest Mun
— Traits: Rebirth, Flame Manipulation, Sovereign Will, Emotional Catalysis
Abilities:
• Incarnate Flare — summons the Phoenix spirit for sweeping flame strikes and emotional incineration. May trigger a rebirth cycle under trauma.
• Flamebind Veins — channels fire through the body; converts pain into heat energy and grants accelerated regeneration.
• Pyroportation — vanishes in a burst of flame and reappears elsewhere within line of sight. Leaves behind a glowing feather sigil that may trigger revival, memory echo, or emotional backlash.
Talents:
• Knife Skill [A-Rank] — master of precise, emotionally driven bladework
• Shemer [S-Rank] — manipulates loyalty, perception, and layered social tactics
• Appraisal [S-Rank] Currently [B-Rank] — scans spiritual and emotional strengths, but may distort under mental strain
• Ember Pact [A-Rank] — forges temporary spiritual contracts through flame-bound emotion; can transmit pain, trigger protective response, or preserve memory between bonded souls
Role: Founder & Leader — Hidden Ember Circle
— A covert faction of Mun-marked warriors, spiritual outcasts, and palace survivors
— Operates through emotional resonance, feather sigils, and oath-bound loyalty
— Symbol: Phoenix feather entwined with ash script
Estrella Stage: Wu
Internal Level: Peak 7
═════════════════════════════
He was a skilled fighter, and the status window confirmed it.
But he was also a father.
And that alone was enough to set the world aflame.
The Escape Begins
The first obstacle came sooner than expected.
As they exited the rear courtyard of the Jade Pavilion, two guards stood watch—not part of the regular patrol.
"Someone sent them early," Chu Yi hissed.
"We go around," Chun Li whispered.
Chu Yi closed her eyes. Her owl Mun glowed.
Sight Beyond Sight — Activated.
A blink. A second ahead. A memory that had not yet happened.
She saw herself stepping left—and being seen.
She shifted right instead.
The vision collapsed.
"This way," she said sharply, leading them down a servant's tunnel beneath the pavilion laundry house.
Muran clutched the bundled babies to his chest. Their warmth pulsed against him.
As they moved through the cramped tunnel, he asked quietly, "Where will we go?"
"To the mountain forests beyond the southern wall," Chu Yi replied. "There's a smuggler path—used by outcast Munners and ruined clans. We'll vanish there. For now."
"And then?"
"Then you decide, Muran," Chun Li said. "But first... we survive the night."
A Flicker of Fire
They reached the final corridor near the outer gardens—the last threshold before slipping into the forested path beyond the palace.
But fate, cruel and patient, waited there.
A figure stepped from the shadows.
Not a guard.
But a soldier clad in obsidian silk, face masked, blade drawn.
Muran's heart stopped.
Chu Yi's owl Mun surged with a scream.
But the knight didn't attack.
He looked down at the swaddled children... then up at Muran.
"I was told to intercept," he said slowly, "and protect His Noble Consort as he escapes the grasp of the Royal Court."
Then his voice dropped lower.
"So Father knew I'd run?" Muran asked quietly.
The knight's reply came sharp.
"I am no knight of your father."
His tone changed.
"I was sent by your mother—before her death. She arranged for me to watch over you from the moment you arrived in this world… *Young Master.*"
Muran stiffened.
"Then why are you here?"
"To follow you from now on," the knight said.
He pointed to the infant girl in Muran's arms.
"This one. She hums, even in sleep."
Muran blinked.
*The lullaby.*
Shuyin.
"Let's leave, then," Muran said coldly.
The knight walked ahead silently… and vanished.
Chu Yi exhaled.
Chun Li wept silently behind her sleeve.
Muran didn't speak.
He just kept walking.
The Woods Beyond the Gate
By dawn, they were gone.
Three babies. One disgraced consort. Two maids with feathers hidden too long.
And one unknown knight—whose status window remained unreadable. Muran suspected he was stronger than any of them.
Behind them, the Imperial Palace awoke to silence… and scandal.
Because in the cribs where royal heirs should have slept—there were only ashes.
Ashes…
…and a single red feather.