The first act had ended with an international incident, and Han Si-Yoon was already exhausted. He leaned forward on the obsidian throne, a posture meant to convey deep, dark contemplation but was actually just him trying to get comfortable.
"Permanent stillness," he muttered internally. "I could have just asked for earplugs. No, wait, undead don't have ears. I should have asked for a sound-dampening ritual. No, a Death Knight Commander doesn't do sound-dampening. I should have just done less!"
He needed knowledge, and fast. The Kallian von Draich of the novel had a hidden study, a vault of forbidden lore where he planned his most heinous acts. It was the only place Si-Yoon might find the full story, or better yet, the loophole that would let him abdicate without triggering a civil war among his loyal-but-murderous staff.
He needed to get off the throne and find the study entrance, which he vaguely remembered involved touching the third skull on the left pillar. The problem was, descending from the throne involved coordinating dozens of borrowed bones and ligaments...a physical feat requiring more concentration than his last Shakespeare monologue.
Think. Evil Lord maneuver...It must look bored, inevitable, and mildly threatening.
He began the slow, three-second process of standing up, attempting to keep his spinal column from clicking like castanets.
Just as he achieved a magnificent, intimidating verticality, the ebony doors groaned open again.
You have got to be kidding me. Is there a revolving door policy for ancient evil now?
This time, the entrant was radically different. Instead of crushing steel and granite, the figure was fluid, almost gossamer. It was Lady Lyra, the Crimson Administrator. Clad in a sharply tailored gown that looked entirely too impractical for a land of perpetually decaying foliage, she possessed the stunning, cold beauty of a classic vampire noble.
She was the brains behind Kallian's dark kingdom, managing everything from soul-gem tax collection to the strategic deployment of plague zombies. In the novel, she was the character most likely to spot a fake Kallian...she dealt exclusively in facts, figures, and absolute, crushing efficiency.
Lyra approached with a graceful glide, holding a scroll. She did not kneel, merely giving a precise, shallow curtsy.
"My Lord Kallian," her voice was silky, intellectual, and utterly devoid of warmth.
"Commander Mortem informed me of the new mandate for The Great Muting. An inspired, preemptive move to consolidate silence. However, the projected loss of taxable souls from the border provinces will decrease our quarterly income by 4.7%. I have prepared a supplementary report on how to compensate for this 'cost of silence' via expedited soul-harvesting from the South."
Si-Yoon felt a cold sweat form on his skull.
4.7% loss? I just ruined my kingdom's entire budget for a moment of peace!
He desperately needed to get rid of her so he could check the wall for the secret door.
What would Kallian do? He wouldn't engage in budgeting. He would demand something impossible and then dismiss her with a flourish.
He performed a subtle, sweeping gesture with his skeletal hand toward the farthest, darkest corner of the room.
"Lyra," Si-Yoon projected, injecting his voice with a sudden, strained sense of Urgency, something the original Kallian rarely showed.
"Your dedication to tedious calculations is noted. However, my mind is currently preoccupied with a matter of far greater import."
He took one, jerky, unnatural step toward the wall. "I require... absolute sanctuary in the inner sanctum. Do not allow any disturbance. I must access the records. Now."
He thought he was commanding her to simply leave him alone to go look for a library.
Lyra's crimson eyes narrowed, not in suspicion, but in deep, calculating fascination. She snapped the report shut.
"The inner sanctum?" she murmured, her voice dropping. "But My Lord... you have not entered the Crypt of Whispers since the Age of the Blood Moon. You are seeking the Hidden Grimoire of Chronomancy, aren't you?"
Si-Yoon froze mid-step, his body locking up with internal panic.
Chron-o-what now? I just want the Kindle version of this novel!
"Indeed," he commanded, trying to make the word sound weighty and final.
Lyra's gaze swept over the black stone walls.
"Impossible. Only the Lord can initiate the sequence. You require two keys: the Scepter of the Void and the Heart of the Forgotten Saint."
Si-Yoon mentally slapped his skull. He was trapped in a room with a character who knew the lore better than he did.
"I... I know this," he managed to grunt, his voice catching the dry click of his jaw.
"I merely needed your confirmation, Lyra. Now, execute the command: Seclusion. I will handle the key retrieval. See to it that no living, dead, or unclassified thing interrupts my communion with the ancient scripts. And bring me... a strong tea."
He added the "tea" as a last-second, desperate attempt to ask for a calming influence, but instantly regretted it. Undead lords don't drink tea. They drink liquefied despair.
Lyra's elegant eyebrows arched slightly which was the only sign of surprise.
"Tea...?"
She whispered, processing the unprecedented command. Then, her eyes widened in realization.
"Ah! A ritualistic brew to keep the senses sharp during the contemplation of time magic! My Lord, your brilliance is frightening. I shall have the kitchen staff prepare a brew of Shadow-Root Bark and Crushed Basilisk Eyes. It should achieve the desired effect of focused pain."
She curtsied again, her smile wide and predatory.
"And regarding seclusion, My Lord. I shall personally secure the perimeter. From this moment forth, any creature that even thinks of approaching the Crypt will be flayed, folded, and left as a welcome mat. Consider your 'sanctuary' absolute."
Lyra vanished in a swirl of shadows and expensive silk, her footsteps utterly silent unlike the heavy clanking of Commander Mortem, who was likely halfway to an innocent village by now.
Si-Yoon stood alone in the vast hall, his bony hands clasping his face in exasperation.
"Focused pain? Basilisk eyes? I just wanted Earl Grey!"
He lowered his hands, letting out a heavy, soundless sigh.
"And now I have to go on a scavenger hunt for a scepter and a saint's heart just to get to a library. I'm playing Dungeons & Dragons, and I didn't even read the campaign guide."
He took his first tentative, wobbly steps toward the third skull on the left pillar, hoping to find a hint of a hidden compartment that didn't require ancient, cursed artifacts.