Arc 1: Thrones and Masks
In a kingdom built on rigid caste lines and buried secrets, a royal marriage between a king and a former slave ignites hope, controversy, and revolution. As power shifts in the open court, a deeper war unfolds in the shadows. Chloe—spy, student, and dissociating soul—must navigate the dangerous intersection of love and loyalty, truth and disguise. From hidden libraries to glittering masquerades, from ancient illnesses to future rebellions, this arc sets the stage for a world where identity is weapon, knowledge is survival, and the greatest danger lies not in enemies—but within.
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chapter 1: Operation Closer
The grand wedding of King Castellanos to the former slave-turned-queen unfolded against a backdrop of political tension and hopeful whispers of change. The castle's halls echoed with the laughter and cheers of the world's elite—mingled with murmurs of disdain in the corners, where nobles from various states begrudgingly bore witness to the mingling of bloodlines. Yet amid the opulence and celebration, shadows of the past lingered—unseen, but waiting.
Chloe, having infiltrated the castle for the past five years under the guise of a royal student, now stood at a critical crossroads. Her true mission—Operation Closer—had officially begun. With one final glance toward the king she had grown to love, she stepped away from the ballroom. Gone was the radiant wedding gown; in its place, the modest uniform of a butler student at the Royal Service University. Her heart pounded—not from fear alone, but from anticipation and the weight of everything to come.
Moments later, she slipped into the castle's examination hall. Her cheeks flushed with nerves as the proctors' disapproving glares met her late arrival. Their eyes seemed to pierce through her disguise, yet she walked with quiet poise. Years of training—sharpened by her devotion to the kingdom—had taught her how to remain composed under pressure. Chloe sat down, the woman beneath the persona shining through: this was Lady Chay, the charming royal student who had fallen for the king. It was her gentle side.
Then the exam began.
Chloe's quill moved with calm precision, each answer flowing with the confidence of someone who had long outgrown this level of testing. It was child's play for her—a calculated performance from the spy known only as C-55.
After the exam, she returned to her modest quarters, granted to her as a student of royal origin. The room, though plain, seemed to whisper secrets through the walls. She was acutely aware of the castle's silent observers—the Secret Police—watching her every move. And yet, in their scrutiny, she found comfort. It meant she was still under the radar.
With steady hands, she opened a small leather-bound book, its pages coded with invisible ink and buried meaning. Her eyes flitted to the second word of each line. One by one, the message revealed itself:
"Operation Closer."
The weight of her mission pressed against her chest. According to the encrypted entry, she had secured a place at the prestigious Royal Service University—RSU—where butler students were trained to become the eyes and ears of the castle. The greatest among them would one day serve the royal family directly, deep within the Inner Castle.
To rise to that station, she had two paths: complete three years of loyal study, or earn eight stilla stars—marks of extraordinary service or heroism.
But by morning, everything changed.
Lady Chay—the other side of Chloe—awoke with no memory of the mission. She did not know of the ball, the exam, or the coded messages. Her life was the only one she remembered: that of a noble-born student butler, ambitious and dutiful.
Sometimes, she woke in unfamiliar places or found her diary filled with entries she didn't recall writing. Yet she never questioned them. She trusted the version of herself that left them—just as she trusted the strange warmth in her chest whenever the king entered her dreams.
She was unaware of C-55, the spy persona hidden within her. She didn't know she was a carefully engineered asset raised by the Secret Agency, trained to serve the kingdom from the shadows. All she knew was that something inside her ached—a sense of purpose she couldn't quite name, and a love she couldn't explain.
As she walked through the halls of RSU, attending lectures, drills, and etiquette classes, Lady Chay clung to the diary. It was her anchor. Her secret lifeline. It protected her from a truth she wasn't yet ready to face.
And still, in quiet moments, she dreamed of him—the king. The man she had never truly met, but who felt closer to her than anyone else in the world.