Selene descended the steep, slippery path, the jagged rocks scraping her palms and clothes. The icy night wind filled her lungs, bringing a sting, but also the unprecedented scent of freedom. High above, the Wolfstein Estate loomed like a vast, silent shadow, gradually blurred by the encroaching night mist and the growing distance. She didn't dare stop. Drawing on the stamina and will forged in the Broken Star Belt, and a surge of potential unleashed by her escape, she moved down the cliff face with difficulty and determination.
By the time her feet finally found relatively flat ground, the first light of dawn tinged the horizon. The outline of the imperial capital emerged in the morning glow. Unlike the cold, aloof grandeur of the mountaintop estate, the city below teemed with a noisy, vibrant vitality, and… chaos. She found herself in a border area between the city's edge and the "Corridor of Erudition" academic district. The buildings were no longer uniform, the streets narrow and crowded, filled with morning market stalls, workers rushing by, and scholars looking weary from all-nighters.
Selene pulled her dark, slightly mud-stained and scraped coat tighter, burying her face in the raised collar as she melted into the bustling crowd. Her heart still raced, not just from the exertion, but from a newborn tremor—a mix of anxiety and exhilaration. She looked back one last time at the estate, a crown on the mountain peak reflecting the cold dawn light. Her eyes held no nostalgia, only a resolute finality. The place that had given her brief warmth and then suffocating confinement, along with the contradictory, dangerous man, were all firmly left behind.
However, as she tried to get her bearings and find a temporary refuge, the sound of rapid, orderly footsteps approached, accompanied by the low hum of hover engines. A squad of soldiers wearing the Wolfstein family insignia appeared at the end of the street, setting up temporary barricades, their sharp eyes scanning the passersby.
"Emergency search! Everyone cooperate!" The cold command cut through the street's noise.
Selene's heart plummeted. So fast! Kaelan's speed of response and control far exceeded her estimation. She immediately lowered her head, turned, and ducked into a narrower alley cluttered with debris and recycling bins, trying to avoid the checkpoint on the main road. She could feel eyes on her back, a chilling sensation of being tracked by hounds creeping up her spine.
She quickened her pace, navigating the maze-like alleys, relying on instinct and a fading sense of direction to move towards what she hoped was a safer, more populated area. The footsteps behind her seemed to be getting closer, persistent and unrelenting.
——
Meanwhile, at the main venue of the Empire's Victory Gala, the atmosphere was reaching its peak. Hovering decorations filled the sky with shimmering light, martial music swelled, and people in magnificent formal wear toasted, celebrating the Empire's latest military triumph.
Kaelan Wolfstein stood beside the royal family, accepting compliments and toasts. His posture was ramrod straight, his expression cold and severe, fitting the image of the Empire's Marshal. Yet only he knew of the inexplicable palpitations and irritability flickering like tiny electric currents through his icy mental domain, growing harder to ignore. That familiar, faint scent that could calm his power felt like it was being rapidly drained away by something, leaving a terrifying void.
Just as he was clinking glasses with a Duke in a facade of politeness, his personal terminal, secured in his inner pocket on the highest encryption and silent mode, vibrated almost imperceptibly. It was the pattern reserved for the highest priority alerts.
His movement hitched for a fraction of a second. Under the guise of setting down his glass, he swiftly glanced at the screen—a very brief automated alert from the estate security system: [Northwest Barrier Node: Unauthorized energy flux anomaly. Duration: 0.47 sec.]
0.47 seconds.
To an ordinary person, it was less than a blink. But to Kaelan Wolfstein, to his intuition honed in countless life-or-death moments, it was a thunderclap.
"My apologies." He barely managed to squeeze out the words through gritted teeth, his voice dangerously low. The chilling intensity that instantly radiated from him seemed to drop the temperature around him. He turned sharply, pushing past a servant who tried to approach, ignoring the astonished looks from behind, and strode towards the exit, his pace almost a run.
The moment he was outside, he activated the encrypted channel to his guard. His voice held a storm suppressed to its breaking point. "She's gone. Lock down all airspace, land routes, and subterranean passages within fifty kilometers of the estate! Pull all surveillance footage! Use every resource! Find her! Now!"
"Yes, Marshal!" came the stunned but immediate reply from the other end.
When Kaelan's personal aircraft shot back to the estate at maximum speed and landed on the platform before the main residence, the low pressure emanating from him silenced everyone awaiting his arrival. He stormed directly to the Contemplation Court, violently shoving the heavy door open. It slammed against the wall with a crash.
The room was empty. Spotless, every item in its precise place, as if never inhabited. Only the air held a trace of her scent, rapidly fading.
Kaelan stood in the center of the room, his silver-gray eyes scanning every corner before finally settling on the empty windowsill. He remembered the small stone bird from the Broken Star Belt, the one he had casually disintegrated. An unprecedented mix of rage, a sense of betrayal, and a panic he couldn't understand—a feeling of his heart being violently ripped out—seized him! He slammed his fist into the nearby alloy wall. The hardened metal dented instantly with a dull, heavy thud.
"Se...le...ne..." He practically snarled the name, his eyes churning with a destructive storm. He would find her. No matter where she fled.
——
Selene ran through the alleys, her lungs burning. The footsteps behind her were closing in; she could even hear the faint click of energy weapons being taken off safety. She knew she might not escape. The Wolfstein family's roots in the capital ran deep.
Just as she was nearly cornered in a dead end, a minor commotion erupted at the mouth of the alley. Several large hover-transports emblazoned with a complex molecular structure emblem were temporarily blocking the passage, apparently due to a cargo loading issue, causing a wave of complaints and the noise of mechanical adjustments.
The brief chaos diverted the pursuers' attention. Seizing the fleeting chance, Selene darted into a corner piled high with discarded instruments and metal crates, squeezing herself tightly behind a half-open empty container, holding her breath.
The pursuers appeared at the alley entrance, scanning the now slightly disordered crowd and the piled clutter warily.
"Split up! She can't have gone far!"
The footsteps scattered. Selene's heart was in her throat. She could feel someone approaching her hiding spot.
Just as a black-gloved hand reached to flip open the empty container in front of her, a clear, male voice, laced with a hint of laziness and curiosity, cut through the air:
"Hey, you lot, judging by the uniforms... Wolfstein's men? Making such a fuss. Looking for a lost pet?"
The voice carried a perfect blend of scholarly naivete and innocence, yet held a subtle, almost imperceptible note of mockery.
The soldier's movement halted, clearly recognizing the speaker. His tone became cautious. "Dr. Hohenwaldt. We are conducting official business, pursuing a dangerous fugitive. Please cooperate and do not interfere."
"Dangerous personnel?" The man addressed as Dr. Hohenwaldt sounded even more curious, a laugh in his voice. "Here in the 'Corridor of Erudition?' Capable of detonating an antimatter bomb, or hacking the Imperial Core? I'm rather interested."
Selene peered cautiously through a gap in the crates. A young man with blond hair, wearing a white lab coat over a stylishly patched outer jacket, was leaning casually against one of the hover-transports. He was handsome, a delicate data monocle perched on his nose. Behind the lens, his slightly upturned fox-like eyes sparkled with keen interest as he idly played with a piece of strange ore glowing with a faint blue light. His gaze seemed to sweep unintentionally over Selene's hiding place, a teasing curve lifting the corner of his mouth.
"This is against protocol, Doctor. You need to leave. Now!" The soldier's tone hardened.
"Protocol?" Felix Hohenwaldt chuckled softly, straightening up. Though half a head shorter than the soldier, his presence was undiminished. "According to Clause 3, Article 7 of the Capital Core District Research and Security Co-management Act, during non-wartime conditions, military personnel conducting operations that may disrupt vital research activities within five hundred meters of Imperial Science Academy facilities must file prior notice with the office of the Chief Scientific Advisor for the district. Did you... file that notice?"
He spoke at a measured pace, logically and with academic precision, leaving the soldier momentarily speechless.
While the soldier was distracted by Felix, Selene took a deep breath. Spotting a gap that had opened up as the transport shifted, she slipped out like a ghost, silently merging into the bustle of a neighboring street packed with market stalls and students.
She glanced back once. The blond scientist was shrugging at the flustered soldier, that harmless, charming smile still plastered on his face, as if they were merely discussing an interesting academic point.
Selene didn't linger. She quickly disappeared into the human current. Finding a relatively quiet back street, she leaned against the cold wall, catching her breath and steadying her frantic heartbeat. She knew the hunt was far from over. Kaelan would never let this go. But she also knew she had successfully taken the first step.
She looked up at the capital's sky, lit by countless neon signs and holographic ads, where no stars were visible. This was no longer the Broken Star Belt, nor the Wolfstein Estate. It was a vaster, more complex chessboard, where opportunity and danger coexisted.
Just as she pondered her next move, a voice, laced with amusement and clear as a bell, sounded from not far behind her, shattering the alley's silence:
"It seems I've inadvertently helped a lovely lady out of a spot of trouble? Though, to warrant such... 'enthusiasm' from the Wolfstein whelps... Miss, you appear far more intriguing than any antimatter bomb."