The Grand Library of the Silent Palace was a cavernous space that seemed to swallow sound and light. Shelves carved from living obsidian stretched up into a gloom pierced only by the soft, floating orbs of light. It was ancient, vast, and felt more like a natural formation than a built structure. The air hummed with the energy of countless restricted texts and forgotten lore.
For Lan Yue, it was a sanctuary. Here, amidst the silence and the dust, she could escape the bewildering reality of the Empress, the friendly demons, and the terrifying title that had been thrust upon her.
An Enigma.
The word echoed in her mind, a ghost haunting every thought. She moved through the aisles with a new purpose, her earlier search for weaknesses and escape routes forgotten. Now, she sought only one thing: the truth about herself.
She found the section on celestial genealogy tucked away in a remote corner, as if the previous regime had wanted it forgotten. The scrolls here were old, their parchment brittle, the ink faded. They were not the clean, dogmatic texts of the Azure Cloud Sect. These were older, wilder, filled with contradictions and theories that bordered on heresy.
Hours bled into one another. Gleeb found her there at one point, leaving a tray of food and tea with a nervous bow before scurrying away. Lan Yue ate without tasting, her eyes never leaving the intricate scripts.
The texts spoke of the Celestial Realm, not as a distant paradise, but as a place of immense power and equally immense strife. They spoke of gods who walked the earth, of celestial incarnations, and of rare events where a soul of such potency was reborn into the mortal coil.
And then, she found it. A single, crumbling scroll, its language archaic and complex. Its title was "On the Nature of Paradoxical Souls: A Treatise on the Enigma."
Her heart hammered against her ribs as she unrolled it carefully.
The text was difficult, its concepts esoteric. It spoke of beings who existed outside the natural order of Yin and Yang, Alpha and Omega. They were described as "living breaches in the fabric of destiny," whose very essence could "rewrite the foundational edicts of life."
One passage made her breath catch:
"The Enigma is not bound by the procreative dictates of its form. Its spiritual core, its very soul, holds the potential for genesis. In union, an Enigma does not merely receive or impart life essence; it forges it. A child born of an Enigma is not a mere combination of parents, but a new creation, a unique fusion of their utmost potential, a soul written into existence by will and power."
It was all there. Everything Xue Lian had said. The ability to bypass biological limitations. The potential to create an heir where none should be possible.
She read on, her hands trembling.
"The energy of an Enigma is often mistaken for that of a high level Beta or a suppressed Omega due to its serene and controlled nature. Its true power is only revealed under moments of extreme duress, profound connection, or conscious unleashing. Most who bear this nature live and die without ever knowing it, their song unsung, their potential dormant."
Profound connection. The Empress's words in the garden came back to her. "I know what you are." Had she felt it? Had Lan Yue's dormant power called to her on some level she herself couldn't perceive?
She leaned back against the cold shelf, the scroll held loosely in her hands. It wasn't a myth. It was real. And she was one.
The implications were staggering. It wasn't just about an heir. It was about her entire existence. Her effortless cultivation, the sense of otherness, the deep, inexplicable loneliness it all made a terrible, perfect sense. She wasn't just a talented human. She was something else entirely. A divine accident. A celestial refugee.
A knock on the wooden end of the shelf made her jump. She looked up to see Empress Xue Lian standing there, leaning casually against the stacks. She held two steaming cups of tea.
"Find anything interesting?" the Empress asked, her voice mild.
Lan Yue just stared at her, the scroll feeling like a live coal in her hands. She couldn't form words.
Xue Lian's gaze dropped to the scroll in Lan Yue's lap, and a knowing look passed over her face. "Ah. That one. It's a bit dry, but the author knew his stuff. For a madman who believed the moon was made of solidified starlight and cheese, anyway." She held out one of the cups. "I brought tea. You looked like you could use it."
Mechanically, Lan Yue took the cup. The warmth seeped into her cold fingers.
"You knew," Lan Yue whispered, her voice hoarse from disuse and shock. "You knew all along."
"I had a strong hypothesis," Xue Lian corrected gently. "The scroll just confirms it. I told you. I've read the book." She took a sip of her own tea, watching Lan Yue over the rim. "It's a lot to process. Finding out you're a walking, talking violation of natural law before dinner."
The flippant remark, which would have angered her days ago, now felt like a lifeline thrown to a drowning woman. It grounded the insane truth in something mundane.
"Why tell me?" Lan Yue asked, the question raw. "Why not just… use me? You have me collared. You have the power. You could have forced the ritual."
Xue Lian's expression softened. "What would be the point of that? To create an heir born of coercion and fear? To have a child that is a living reminder of a violation?" She shook her head. "I want a dynasty, Lan Yue. Not a hostage situation that lasts for generations. I want a child who is wanted. Who is chosen." Her amber eyes held Lan Yue's. "And I would rather have a willing partner than a broken tool."
Partner. The word hung in the silent library.
Lan Yue looked down at the ancient scroll, then at the woman who had upended her entire world with a terrifying honesty. The righteous path seemed a lifetime away, a childish story compared to the complex, daunting, and terrifyingly real choice before her.
The Empress wasn't offering her a cage. She was offering her a throne. And a truth.
She took a slow, shuddering breath, the first full breath she felt she'd taken since arriving in this impossible place.
"I need more time," she said, her voice firmer now.
Xue Lian simply nodded. "Take all the time you need. The library is open all night. Just try to get some sleep eventually. Facing an existential crisis on no sleep is just adding insult to injury."
She gave Lan Yue a small, surprisingly gentle smile, then turned and walked away, leaving her alone once more with the world shattering truth and a cup of perfectly steeped tea.