For three days, I did nothing. The knowledge of Lyra's secret sat in my gut like a stone. I watched her from a distance during the changing of the guard, her posture straight and proud, her voice sharp with command. She had no idea that the ground beneath her feet was about to collapse.
I had to move. Letting this fester was a weakness. Null would never have hesitated. So, on the fourth day, I sent her a note. No signature. Just a time and a place: the old clock tower, two hours past midnight. And a single, chilling sentence: I know about Silas and your sister.
The clock tower was a forgotten place, its mechanisms still and silent. Moonlight streamed through the dusty windows, painting silver stripes on the grimy floor. I stood in the shadows, waiting. I was gambling everything. If she brought guards, if she decided to kill me and bury the secret with my body, this was all over.
But at exactly two hours past midnight, a single figure slipped through the door. Lyra. She wasn't in her armor. She wore a simple, dark tunic and trousers, a long knife at her belt. Her face was a pale, tense mask in the moonlight.
She saw me and stopped. Her hand went to the hilt of her knife. "Herrmann." She spat my name like a curse. "I should have known it was a snake like you."
"Hello, Captain," I said, my voice calm. I stayed in the shadows.
"What do you want?" she demanded, her voice tight with controlled fury. "Gold? Is that it? You want a cut of the blackmail?"
I almost laughed. The idea was so small, so petty. "No, Lyra. I don't want your money."
"Then what?" The confusion in her voice was edged with panic.
"I want you," I said simply.
She went utterly still. "What?"
"I have the evidence," I continued, my tone flat and factual. "The clerk Finn, who gave me your family history. The enforcer Boris, who told me about Silas and the letter from your sister, Elara, who is currently hiding with the very border raiders your family was accused of aiding." I took a step forward, just enough for the moonlight to catch my face. "I know it all."
The strength seemed to drain from her legs. She leaned against a dusty wooden beam for support. The proud Knight-Captain was gone, replaced by a terrified woman carrying the world on her shoulders.
"You… you can't…" she whispered.
"I can," I said softly. "And I will. Unless you swear yourself to me."
Her head snapped up. "What are you talking about?"
"Your choices are simple," I explained, as if discussing the weather. "Option one: I go to the royal council tomorrow. The evidence is presented. You are arrested for treason for concealing your sister's actions. Your career is over. Your name is dragged through the mud once more. And your sister… well, treason still carries the death penalty. She will be hunted down and executed."
A strangled sob escaped her lips. She looked away, her body trembling.
"Option two," I said. "You become my sworn sword."
Her eyes, wide with horror, met mine. "Your… what?"
"You will pledge your loyalty to me, Klaus von Herrmann, above all others. Even the crown. You will be my agent. My protector. You will do what I ask, when I ask it. In return, your secret remains safe. I will even provide you with the gold to pay off this Silas for good. Your sister lives. You keep your position, your honor… in public."
It was a monstrous offer. I was asking her to trade her soul for her sister's life. To become the very thing she despised: a noble's puppet.
"You're insane," she breathed. "I would never betray my oath to the kingdom!"
"Your oath, or your sister's neck?" I asked. "That is the choice. There is no third option."
I could see the war inside her. Her entire life had been built on a foundation of duty and law. She had dedicated herself to the crown to atone for a crime her family didn't even commit. And now, I was asking her to throw it all away for the sister who had actually committed the crime.
It was a cruel, impossible choice. And I was the one forcing her to make it.
Tears streamed down her face, cutting clean lines through the dust on her cheeks. The fight went out of her. Her shoulders, always so straight, slumped in defeat. She looked broken. More broken than Isabella.
"Elara… she's all I have left," she whispered, her voice raw. "She was just a girl. She was in love… she didn't understand…"
"I don't care," I said, my voice cold. It was the truth. Her reasons didn't matter. Only her decision did. "Your answer, Captain."
She was silent for a long time, the only sound her ragged breathing. Finally, she pushed herself away from the beam. She walked toward me, her steps heavy. When she was a few feet away, she stopped. She wouldn't look at me.
Slowly, painfully, she unbuckled the knife from her belt. She held it out to me, hilt first. A traditional gesture of surrender.
"I…" Her voice broke. She tried again, forcing the words out. "I, Lyra of the… of no house… pledge my service to you, Klaus von Herrmann. My sword, my life, my loyalty are yours. From this moment until my last breath."
The words hung in the dusty air, a sacred oath twisted into something foul.
I didn't take the knife. "Keep it. You'll need it to serve me."
She flinched as if I'd struck her. She re-buckled the knife, her movements clumsy.
"Your first order," I said. "You will report to me any investigations into me or my family. You will steer the city watch away from my… business interests. And you will continue to be the perfect, loyal Knight-Captain. Nothing has changed on the surface."
She gave a single, stiff nod. "Yes, my lord."
The title sounded like poison on her tongue.
I pulled a heavy purse from my cloak, far heavier than the one I'd given Boris. It contained enough to pay off Silas for a lifetime. I tossed it to her. It landed at her feet with a thick clink.
"Take it. Deal with your blackmailer. Permanently."
She looked down at the purse as if it were a venomous snake. Then, she bent down and picked it up. It was the final surrender.
"Now," I said. "Get out of my sight."
She turned and walked away without a backward glance. The door to the clock tower closed behind her, leaving me alone in the silence and the moonlight.
My interface flickered, the text a bloody red.
[Agent Secured: Knight-Captain Lyra - Loyalty: Broken]
[Influence: +25]
[Corruption: 96 -> 99]
I had done it. I had turned my most vocal enemy into my most powerful pawn. I had the Captain of the City Watch in my pocket. My safety, my influence, had just skyrocketed.
But as I stood there, the victory felt emptier than ever. The coldness inside me was now absolute. I had looked into a good person's soul and shattered it for my own gain.
My Corruption was at 99. One more point. One more step.
I was standing at the very edge of the abyss, and the ghost of Null was no longer behind me. He was waiting for me down in the darkness, smiling.