Setting: Velaris – Norwyn Estate (Late Night)
Theme: Hidden truths, forbidden letters, and the spark before the storm.
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[Scene 1 – Whispered Warnings]
The estate was unusually quiet — not from peace, but the kind of silence that follows after lightning.
Kaelrin stood in his study, the velvet mask discarded on his desk beside an untouched glass of wine. The mark on Lord Vael's chest still burned in his mind — the Crimson Pact sigil. It shouldn't exist. And yet, it did.
A knock came.
> "Enter," Kaelrin said, not looking up.
Darien stepped in, his usual charm nowhere in sight.
> "You look like a man who just saw a ghost," he said softly.
> "Worse," Kaelrin replied. "I saw a future I thought we had buried."
Darien dropped a folded piece of parchment onto the table.
> "It arrived in my chamber. No seal. But... you'll want to see it."
Kaelrin opened the letter slowly.
It read:
> "The Pact never died. It only learned to wear crowns instead of chains. If you value her life, stop digging. Or the next sigil will be carved on her chest."
Kaelrin's hands curled into fists.
> "It's a threat."
> "Or a promise," Darien said. "Do you think it's real?"
> "I think someone inside this estate is playing a long game. And I'm done watching from the balcony."
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[Scene 2 – Lyra's Choice]
Lyra sat on the edge of her bath, her crimson gown laid aside, her skin still warm from the heat. The velvet ribbon found near Vael's body sat folded in her palm.
> "He's not that man," she whispered to herself. "He wouldn't…"
But doubt, like fire, didn't need truth to burn.
A knock.
She stood, half-dressed, heart racing.
> "Who is it?"
> "Me," Thorne's voice said.
> "Go away."
> "I won't touch you. Just… listen."
She opened the door halfway.
Thorne looked nothing like the noble who danced with flair and fire. His cloak was gone, his shirt undone, a gash across his cheek drying into a scar.
> "I didn't kill Vael."
> "Then why was your crest there?"
> "Because someone wants me out of the way. And they're using your doubt to do it."
> "You think I doubt you?"
> "I know you do."
A pause.
> "You're burning for him, Lyra," Thorne said quietly. "But he will choose the crown over you. I won't."
> "That's not love. That's obsession," she said, and shut the door.
Behind it, she wept.
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[Scene 3 – The Interrogation]
Kaelrin waited for Thorne in the Hall of Statutes — a place usually reserved for honored guests. Tonight, it would echo with accusation.
Thorne arrived with the ease of a man who knew this moment was coming.
> "Shall I bow, or are we past pretenses?" he asked dryly.
Kaelrin didn't blink. "You know what I found."
> "And you think I carved a sigil into Vael's chest, then left a velvet ribbon to frame myself?"
> "You're not stupid. But you are dramatic."
> "You're angry because she danced with me."
Silence. Then Kaelrin struck the marble table with his fist.
> "I'm angry because someone is trying to resurrect a cult that murdered half my bloodline."
Thorne finally lost his smirk.
> "I didn't do this."
> "Then prove it."
> "How?"
> "Bring me whoever did."
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[Scene 4 – The Letter's Trail]
That night, Kaelrin gave the mysterious letter to Alina for arcane analysis. She was one of the best code-breakers in Velaris, though few knew that was more than a hobby.
Alina narrowed her eyes as the ink glowed faintly.
> "This ink reacts to bloodline magic," she murmured. "Specifically, to House Norwyn."
Kaelrin froze. "You mean someone in this house wrote it?"
> "Or someone using its magic signature. Either way… it came from within."
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[Scene 5 – The Mirror Garden]
Lyra met Darien in the Mirror Garden — a quiet, private space filled with crystal lilies that reflected moonlight like pools of memory.
> "You asked to meet?" she said.
> "I need to tell you something I should've told you weeks ago."
He handed her a small object — a pendant. Silver. Engraved with her father's sigil.
> "This belonged to your father. The night he died… he was investigating the Crimson Pact's return."
Lyra went pale.
> "He told Kaelrin not to trust Thorne. Not because Thorne was evil — but because Thorne was used by them once."
> "Used?"
> "The Pact manipulated him when he was young. They never let go."
Lyra clutched the pendant.
> "Then why didn't Kaelrin tell me?"
> "Because he was trying to protect you."
> "And now I don't know who to protect from whom…"
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[Scene 6 – The Midnight Letter's Return]
In her room, Lyra found a second letter — identical parchment, same ink.
But this one had only four words:
> "You've already chosen wrong."
Her breath caught.
Outside, thunder cracked — though the sky was clear.
The game was no longer one of whispers.
It had turned into war.
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To Be Continued...
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Chapter 27 Preview:
Kaelrin discovers an assassin in the estate.
Lyra receives a vision of her father's death.
Thorne makes an unexpected sacrifice.
The first true Crimson Pact member reveals themselves — and they are someone we've already met.