The silence after the mission was louder than the battle.
No cheers.
No medals.
No congratulations.
Only a sealed report stamped with the Imperial Crest, a blood-red sigil marked **Class Black**—the kind of classification that meant *"Never speak of this again."*
Velden personally handed the scroll to a faceless courier the moment they returned. Riza said nothing the entire walk back.
And Kye?
He just stared at his palm, where the **Searing Echo** still faintly shimmered beneath his skin.
---
That night, he was summoned.
Not by Velden. Not by Darneth.
By **the Empress.**
---
They led him through corridors he'd never seen before—walls lined with obsidian glass that flickered with ghostly afterimages. Footsteps made no sound here. Even breath felt muffled.
At the end of a narrow stairwell, two silent guards opened a pair of doors carved with **celestial serpents**.
Beyond it, the **Silent Throne** awaited.
The chamber was round, dimly lit, with no grand banners, no gold—only a single silver throne in the center and **a woman seated in it**, veiled in silver silk and shadow.
She raised a hand.
The guards disappeared.
Kye stepped forward.
He expected a lecture. A threat. An interrogation.
Instead—
> "You did not disappoint."
Her voice was low, smooth, and sharp as glass.
Kye folded his arms. "That's a surprise."
"Not to me," the Empress said. "Only to the rest of them."
A flick of her finger, and a scroll unraveled midair between them—hovering, turning.
It showed his trial results. The mirror duel. The Orien mission. The Witchfire resonance.
"You've become a problem," she said.
Kye tensed. "Then why am I still alive?"
She stood.
Not tall. Not imposing. But with the kind of presence that made the room **tilt** around her. Her veil shimmered as she walked.
"Because I prefer to study problems before erasing them."
Kye didn't flinch.
She circled him slowly.
"I saw Kael grow from a spoiled whelp into a terrifying weapon. I saw him kill friends. Burn cities. Destroy laws meant to hold our world together."
Her voice dropped an octave.
"And I saw how he died."
Kye swallowed. "But I'm not him."
The Empress stopped behind him. Whispered:
"No. But he chose *you*."
Silence.
Then:
> "You are now under **Cinder Order Surveillance**."
A sigil flared on the side of Kye's neck—an invisible brand, hot for only a second.
> **\[Paradox System Notice: Hidden Surveillance Ward Imprinted – Detected and Neutralized]**
> *"Sorry, Empress. This one's not playing fair."*
Kye said nothing.
But he smiled.
---
**Elsewhere, in a darker part of the palace…**
Six cloaked figures sat in a hexagon around a table of burning ice. None showed their faces. Only one spoke.
"The Witchfire user lives."
Another responded, voice hoarse. "He should not have survived Orien."
A third: "Velden protects him. Riza observes him. The Empress toys with him."
And finally, the leader whispered:
"Then we act in silence."
From the table rose a symbol: **a cracked crown wreathed in fire.**
> **The Ash Circle has marked him.**
> *Kye must not rise.*
---
**Meanwhile, back in the War Mage quarters…**
Kye sat on his bed, cloak off, breathing steady.
He could feel the **watchers**.
He could sense the **weight** shifting in the Empire.
Something had changed.
And not just within him.
> **\[Paradox System Update: Hidden Threats Detected – Faction: Ash Circle Identified]**
> *Hostile Intent – Targeting You.*
> *Recommendation: Grow stronger. Quietly. Swiftly. Mercilessly.*
Kye whispered to himself, eyes glowing faintly.
"Then let's give them something to be afraid of."