The toll of the morning bell still hung faintly in the air when Aiden stepped into the palace's eastern corridor.
The hall stretched endlessly, lined with fading portraits and cracked marble busts. The light filtering through stained glass was soft, golden, and heavy with dust. Every step echoed — too loud, too alone — and yet he was not alone.
Two palace guards in black uniforms followed at a careful distance, their silver epaulettes bearing the faint outline of the twin-headed eagle — the old Valdric crest. They walked in silence, as disciplined as shadows.
Aiden's gaze wandered over the marble pillars, the gold leaf worn thin by time. Even ruins can look proud, he thought.
The maid who had woken him earlier appeared again, walking just ahead. She bowed when their eyes met. "The car awaits, young master. His Grace ordered your escort to the capital square."
He hesitated. "For the Awakening?"
"Yes, my lord."
The way she said my lord was careful — practiced — but distant. Like the servants had been told to respect him, not to like him.
Aiden nodded. "Lead the way."
The palace courtyard shimmered beneath the morning sun. Statues of past emperors stood cracked and headless. The once-grand fountains were dry, and the old banners of black and gold had been replaced by the blue-and-silver standard of Durvane — the empire that had crushed Valdric.
At the center waited a black car which looked like it belongs in some vintage show trimmed in gold, pulled by two immaculate white stallions. The Duke's crest — a simplified version of the Valdric eagle — was painted on the doors.
Aiden stepped inside, followed by a single attendant and the two guards who took their seats in another car behind them
As the car began to roll, he glanced through the small window. The outer gates of the estate opened with a groan of metal, revealing the city beyond.
Veyria, once the imperial capital of the Valdric Empire, was now little more than a conquered jewel.
The streets still bore the old layout — broad and elegant, lined with marble arcades — but where the black banners of Valdric had once flown, now hung the pale azure flags of Durvane.
The car rolled past markets and plazas. People stopped to look. Some bowed stiffly; others simply turned away. No one spoke.
And yet the silence was louder than open hostility.
He caught fragments — hushed whispers slipping between the sound of wheels on cobblestone.
"Is that him? The heir of the emperor?"
"Poor child. Son of traitor."
"I heard his father willingly became the dog of empress even after all that …"
"son of a coward they say."
Aiden clenched his jaw, staring straight ahead. The guards sitting outside didn't even flinch; they were used to it.
The noble blood of Valdric still commanded respect — but only just. Their existence was tolerated, not honored.
The car halted before a white-domed structure rising from the heart of the city — the Hall of Ascension, where the young nobility and commoners of Durvane's territories came to awaken their mana.
Aiden expected a crowd, but the square had been cleared. No peasants, no families. Instead, rows of soldiers in blue uniforms stood in rigid formation — Durvane soldiers, not his family's and commoner watching from afar as they had enterence from behind
Aiden felt the weight of a hundred eyes as he stepped down from the carriage.
Waiting at the steps was a man in a high-collared coat — the Imperial Overseer, a Durvane official with the air of a bureaucrat and the stare of a vulture.
"Lord reinhart von Valdric," the man greeted, his voice smooth but cold. "You honor us with your presence. Her Majesty's court takes… special interest in your awakening."
So his name is reinhart, huh
Aiden forced a polite smile. "I'll try not to disappoint Her Majesty."
The overseer's lips curved faintly. "That would be wise."
Behind him, the great doors of the hall opened.
Inside, the air was cool and sharp — like a cathedral built for gods long dead. Blue mana crystals floated along the ceiling, casting pale light that shimmered across the marble.
A platform stood at the center, surrounded by priests and scholars in Durvane blue.
A single pedestal awaited — upon it, a crystal spire pulsing faintly, alive with restrained power.
The overseer gestured. "You will proceed alone. The Duke has requested privacy."
Aiden glanced behind him — his guards remained at the threshold. The Duke was absent. Only the overseer and the circle of attendants remained.
He exhaled slowly, stepping forward.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
In the game, awakening scene was never shown as kids with talent were too young at that time and mana awakening technology was still being researched and was expensive
He reached out his hand.
The crystal was warm.
Not like fire — but like sunlight trapped in glass.
The warmth crawled up his arm, into his chest, his veins, his eyes — and suddenly, the world around him shattered.
He was standing somewhere else.
A silent hall
But broken, burning, drowning in ash.
Some dead bodies in foreign clothes lay scattered across the marble floor in black dress which were definitely not western, soaked with blood. The air reeked of sulfur and smoke.
And there — at the end of the hall — stood a women with red hairs and a sword in her hand
Tall. Red hair like blood . Red eyes, calm and unflinching.
She was beautiful, even better than models back in his world , it looked ai almost
She turned, and for an impossible moment, reinhart met his gaze — and felt something inside him tighten.
" finally someone came," she said quietly. "I was waiting for you."
His breath caught. "You—"
But before he could speak, the vision dissolved.
The light exploded outward, blinding and wild.
When Aiden opened his eyes again, he was on his knees. The hall trembled faintly, the crystal pulsing erratically before shattering into glittering fragments that evaporated into the air.
The overseer stared at him — pale, sweating.
"What… what did you do?"
"I—" Aiden swallowed. "Nothing. I just touched it."
The overseer looked shaken. "The crystal responded weird — overlapping, intertwined. That shouldn't be possible."
The attendants whispered among themselves, words like " defectivd model " or " maybe too high mana " were heard
Aiden's pulse raced. What , am i some genius
Before the overseer could speak again, the doors slammed open.
The Duke strode in, cloak flowing behind him, face unreadable. "Enough."
He looked at the shattered remains of the crystal, then at Aiden. "The ceremony is concluded. His results will be delivered privately to the Imperial Council."
The overseer hesitated. "But, Your Grace—"
"I said privately."
The man's mouth snapped shut.
Outside, the air was sharp with the scent of rain.
The Duke waited until they were back inside the car before speaking.
His gaze was fixed out the window, voice low and calm.
"What did you do ?"
Aiden hesitated. "…i don't know ."
The Duke turned. His blue eyes narrowed — not in disbelief, but in thought.
"What did you say?"
"uh , i awakened mana and can feel it but i just suddenly fainted and this happened then "
For a moment, silence filled the carriage. Then, quietly, the Duke said, "Then perhaps , your mana reserve were too great that your body couldn't handle it and so did the crystal ."
Reinhart looked down at his hands — faint golden light still pulsed under the skin, fading with each heartbeat.
He whispered, "What does that mean?"
The Duke's expression was grave. "It is something you learn at academy "
He leaned back in his seat, eyes cold. "Be careful, son , talent has a way of drawing attention "
The car rolled on through the rain.
Outside, the city blurred past — a ghost of empire swallowed by another.
Aiden stared out the window, his reflection pale and golden-eyed against the glass.
maybe who knows what more surprises are waiting for him today ? Surely this day couldn't get more weird