The dawn bell tolled across the capital — soft, cold, indifferent.
Sir Jiheon Ardent rode through the empty streets, the air still damp from night rain. The summons from Prince Seojin burned in his pocket, marked with the royal sigil.
He already knew this wasn't a meeting.
It was a test — or a warning.
---
⚜️
The prince's audience chamber was built like a stage. Every inch of marble gleamed too brightly; every echo felt designed for effect.
Seojin sat upon a dais, legs crossed, swirling wine in a crystal glass like he was tasting blood. "Sir Jiheon," he said, voice smooth as oil, "you've been difficult to find lately."
"I go where duty calls," Jiheon replied evenly.
"Duty," Seojin repeated, smiling faintly. "A fine word. So heavy, though. I wonder — when the Countess calls, does duty whisper differently in your ear?"
Jiheon kept his face impassive. "My loyalty lies with the crown."
"Good," Seojin said. "Because the crown requires… clarification."
He rose, slow and deliberate, eyes glinting like knives. "You see, whispers reach me. The Countess Valestria corresponding with unknown agents. You guarding her doors at night. Even touching her hand, once, in full view of the court. That's bold — for a knight sworn to chastity."
The accusation cut like frost.
Jiheon bowed slightly. "I serve with discipline, Your Highness."
"Oh, I don't doubt your discipline," Seojin said, stepping closer, "only your direction."
Then — a pause, deliberate and dangerous.
"I'm transferring you to the northern border. Immediate effect."
Jiheon's muscles went rigid. "The border?"
"Your loyalty will be tested where steel meets snow," Seojin said lightly. "Unless… you'd prefer to stay and prove your devotion here?"
The meaning behind his words was poisonously clear.
Jiheon met his gaze, and for the first time, Seojin's smirk faltered. There was no fear in the knight's eyes — only calm, quiet fury.
"Permission to speak freely, Your Highness?"
"Granted," Seojin said, amused.
Jiheon leaned in slightly. "The border would be safer — for both of us."
Then he turned and walked out before Seojin could answer.
The prince's smile returned, sharper than before. "Oh, how delightful. The Countess has found herself a spine."
---
⚜️
Back at the Valestria estate, the morning air buzzed with unease. Servants whispered of soldiers marching east, of secret orders sealed in red wax.
Eunha stood by her study window, staring at the rooftops. Her hand still bore a faint cut from the broken mirror.
A raven landed on the sill — black feathers, silver ring on its claw.
Her heart jolted.
That ring belonged to Eunho.
She untied the small parchment attached to its leg. The message was written in code, but her old instincts translated it instantly:
> "He moves tonight. Banquet. Midsummer. Poison, not steel. Don't attend."
— E.
Her chest tightened. Eunho was alive — or someone wanted her to believe it. Either way, she couldn't ignore the warning.
But avoiding the banquet would raise suspicion.
And suspicion was the one luxury she couldn't afford.
---
⚜️
By evening, she called her most trusted allies to her private parlor — Captain Daejun, Lady Mira (her strategist), and Sir Jiheon, freshly returned from the palace.
Jiheon's face was pale from restraint, but his eyes burned. "He's sending me to the border."
Daejun swore softly. "That's exile, not reassignment."
Eunha paced the room, mind racing. "He wants you out of the capital before midsummer. The same day the letter warned of an attack."
Mira frowned. "So it's coordinated. Remove the knight, kill the Countess, pin the rebellion on her family line."
Eunha stopped pacing. "Then we reverse the board."
Daejun looked up. "Meaning?"
"We let him think the trap will spring. But instead of poison…"
Her eyes glinted coldly.
"…we bring him a truth he can't bury."
Jiheon crossed his arms. "What truth?"
"The night of my execution," she said quietly. "The night the empire erased the truth. I intend to show the court exactly what happened."
"You have proof?" Daejun asked.
"Not yet," she admitted. "But I have a lead — the court alchemist who forged the poison orders. He vanished after my death… but Eunho once said he hid records in the old observatory."
Mira frowned. "That's suicide. The observatory's under the prince's control."
Eunha turned to Jiheon. "Which is why we need a knight who's already been sentenced to die."
He met her gaze without hesitation. "When do we leave?"
---
⚜️
That night, Jiheon prepared in silence. The armor felt heavier than usual, not from metal — from meaning.
He remembered the mirror, the memory of fire, the truth he'd barely begun to grasp.
The Countess had said they both died that night.
If that was true…
Then what were they now?
When he stepped into the courtyard, she was already there — cloaked, armed, eyes sharp as moonlight.
"You shouldn't come alone," he said quietly.
"I stopped being alone the moment I remembered your face," she replied.
He smiled faintly. "That's dangerously sentimental, my lady."
"I'm feeling generous tonight."
They rode through the fog-drenched roads toward the old observatory — a forgotten ruin on the cliffs beyond the city walls.
The path twisted like memory — steep, winding, and full of ghosts.
---
⚜️
Inside the observatory, the air was thick with dust and secrets.
Old star maps covered the walls, and shattered lenses lay scattered across the floor.
Eunha lit a lantern. Its glow revealed faint etchings on the central pedestal — royal alchemy symbols.
"Here," she whispered. "He worked here."
Jiheon examined the cracked desk, prying open a drawer. Inside, a stack of parchments — brittle, water-damaged.
He unfolded one carefully.
Royal seal.
The same wax crest used on her execution order.
But the name signed beneath it wasn't Seojin's.
It was Emperor Haneul — Seojin's father.
Eunha's eyes widened. "The Emperor ordered my death?"
Jiheon's jaw set. "Then Seojin's covering up for him. The poison wasn't for you — it was for the Crown Prince's rival faction."
She stared at the faded ink, rage tightening her voice. "All this time, I thought my rebirth was punishment. But it's not."
Jiheon looked at her. "Then what is it?"
She smiled faintly — a dangerous, knowing smile. "It's an assignment."
A sudden creak echoed from above.
They froze.
Footsteps.
Torches.
A squad of soldiers stepped from the shadows, bearing Seojin's crest. At their head stood Captain Daejun, face unreadable.
Jiheon's hand went to his sword. "Daejun…?"
The captain's voice was calm. "By royal order, the Countess Valestria and Sir Jiheon are under arrest for treason."
Eunha's gaze didn't waver. "Whose order — the crown's, or yours?"
A flicker of conflict crossed his eyes. "Don't make me choose, my lady."
"Then you already have," Jiheon said, drawing steel.
The lantern light caught his blade like lightning.
The observatory trembled under the weight of betrayal.