Chapter 1
The flames tore through the sky.
The capital of the Virtué Dynasty—once known for its white stone towers—was now suffocating beneath black smoke. As the towers collapsed, the sound echoed like the final breath of an empire.
Kael was not crying.
A newborn's eyes should have been closed.
His were open.
Too open.
The reflection of fire trembled within his ice-blue eyes.
I know this scene.
The memories were not clear. Fragmented.
Another world. Another body.
But the feeling was the same.
An inevitable end.
The Queen held Kael tighter in her arms. She wore no armor. Her crown had fallen. Yet her posture remained unmistakably regal.
"They've begun," she whispered.
The chamber trembled—as if the world itself sensed the decision that had been made.
The Queen placed her hand over Kael's chest. Her fingers shook, but her gaze was calm.
This magic was forbidden.
This seal... irreversible.
"I have to hide it from you," she said softly.
"Because this light... would kill you."
Kael felt it then.
Something deep within his heart.
Warm.
Brilliant.
As if a small sun were being born.
And then—
The light was suppressed.
Like invisible chains, layer upon layer of seals closed in. The radiance was forced deep within. Kael's body trembled—but no sound escaped his lips.
The Queen staggered. Blood traced down from the corner of her mouth.
The spell had taken its price.
That was when Kael sensed something else for the first time.
Where the light had been sealed...
there was no emptiness.
There was something.
Silent.
Cold.
Watching.
The Queen pulled Kael to her chest, pressing her forehead against his.
"Live," she said—only one word.
"No matter what."
The doors burst open.
"Your Majesty!" a man in armor shouted, his face drenched in blood. The royal knight dropped to one knee, desperation filling his eyes. "The city has fallen. There is no time left."
The Queen extended Kael toward him. Her eyes locked onto her son's. This was not a farewell—it was a command, a legacy.
"Do not forget your name," she said.
"Virtué."
The knight took Kael. Turned. Ran.
He plunged into the sea of flames.
Kael did not look back.
But within his mind, that silence stirred.
From deep below—
almost like a thought—
"..."
A whisper.
Not a name.
Not a promise.
Only a single feeling.
Something was waiting.
And for the first time, Kael understood:
This world would not leave him alone.