The morning air still held the scent of roses and sunlight. I lingered in the corridor just outside the garden, listening to Aria's laughter fade behind me.
Alive. She was alive.
But so was everything else I had tried so hard to forget.
Memories pressed at the edge of my mind—like smoke curling under a sealed door. I could almost hear the collapse. Feel the heat of the flames. My hands, glowing, trembling.
I pushed them down. Not now.
Not again.
"Young master," Ellis called gently. I turned.
"The Duke requests your presence in the study. He said… it's time you resumed your training."
My heart skipped. Already?
Even in my past life, Father had never wasted time. Duty came first — before grief, before fear, before childhood.
"I'll go," I said quietly.
The study was on the third floor. A place I hadn't stepped into since my mother's funeral.
The oak doors loomed tall and cold, as if they remembered the last time I stood trembling before them. I raised a hand to knock.
"Enter," came the voice before I touched the wood.
Of course. He always sensed me.
I pushed the door open.
There he stood — tall, composed, framed by the morning light spilling through arched windows. His black hair was tied loosely back. His violet eyes, cold as ever, studied me without expression.
Duke Kael Velentis.
My father.
The strongest magician in the empire. The man whose silence spoke louder than most men's fury.
"You're early," he said.
"I… woke up early."
He nodded, faintly. "You've been out of training for three years. That ends today."
Three years.
The age I'd fallen apart. The age my mother died.
"You have until your twelfth naming day to stabilize your second circle," he continued. "That is the minimum expected of my heir."
He turned, walking toward the inner chamber.
"Come. Let's see how far you've fallen."
I followed.
The chamber was colder than I remembered. At its center stood the Aetherstone — a crystal pillar, glowing faintly with drifting runes. It pulsed gently, like a sleeping heart.
In my past life, I had barely lit it.
Now… I was different.
I stepped forward and knelt, placing both palms against the stone.
Focus.
The mana in my chest stirred. It was quieter than before — calmer, deeper — but just as fierce.
Light bloomed inside the crystal.
Purple. Steady. Strong.
A faint crack spread across the surface.
Ellis gasped. My father didn't move, but I saw it — the slight widening of his eyes.
"First circle," I said, standing. "Stable."
He stepped forward, his boots echoing softly on the marble floor. For a moment, he only looked at me.
"You've changed."
I met his eyes.
"Yes."
He nodded once. Then, in the quietest voice I'd ever heard from him, he said:
"…Good."
That night, I sat in my room with the curtains open, watching the stars flicker into place. The necklace lay warm against my chest, a silent weight.
My father's expression stayed in my mind — not pride. Not warmth. But something… unfamiliar.
Perhaps this time, I could become someone he'd acknowledge.
Someone worthy of protecting Aria.
Someone who wouldn't lose everything again.
[End of Chapter 2 — Refined]