The manor was asleep when Zelene set her plan in motion.
Or at least, it pretended to be.
Shadows clung to the corners like cobwebs, and the corridors whispered with drafts that carried the faint scent of candle smoke and iron. The moon hung low outside the arched windows — cold, silver, and distant — its light spilling across the marbled floors like spilled mercury.
Zelene waited in silence, seated near the far end of the west corridor — the one few servants dared enter after dark. Her fingers trembled faintly as she adjusted the wick of the lantern beside her, its flame dim and trembling, matching the rhythm of her heartbeat.
Ray lingered nearby, pretending to busy himself with folded sheets of parchment — the perfect decoy for what they'd prepared. He glanced at her once, eyes asking the same question he had all day.
Are you sure about this?
Zelene didn't answer. She couldn't. Because even if she wasn't sure, there was no turning back now.
The bait had been simple — too simple, perhaps. A fabricated letter sealed with the Dravenhart crest, planted on the desk of the steward, suggesting an unsanctioned audit of the manor's internal affairs.
If Miren was hiding something, she would move tonight.
The silence deepened. Time stretched.
And then—footsteps.
Slow, steady, deliberate.
The kind of sound made by someone who didn't need to hide because they already owned the shadows they walked in.
Zelene's grip on the lantern tightened.
Miren emerged from the far end of the corridor, her figure carved by the thin line of moonlight cutting through the stained-glass window. Her dark dress whispered against the floor, and her expression — calm, almost serene — made the air turn heavy.
She didn't look surprised to see Zelene there.
Only… tired. As if she'd been expecting this moment all along.
"Good evening, Lady Zelene," Miren said softly. "You seem restless. Trouble sleeping?"
Zelene stood. "Rest is difficult when the walls whisper secrets."
A faint smile ghosted across Miren's lips. "Secrets keep the world in balance. If every truth were bared, none of us would sleep again."
Zelene stepped forward, her tone sharp but steady. "Then let's start with yours."
Miren's gaze flickered — just for an instant — to the sealed scroll Ray held in his hand. "Ah. So it was you."
Zelene's heart pounded, but her face stayed calm. "What exactly is your intention for all of this, Lady Miren?"
Miren tilted her head slightly, her tone suddenly sweet, almost pitying. "You've been too nosy, Milday. Far too eager to touch what isn't yours."
"I only touch what's rotten," Zelene shot back, her voice trembling with anger. "And this manor reeks of it."
For the first time, Miren's calm cracked — barely, but enough. The faintest flicker of contempt crossed her face before she smoothed it away.
"You think you understand this house?" she said softly. "You, a guest brought here out of convenience?"
Zelene's breath hitched. "Convenience?"
"Yes," Miren continued, stepping closer, her heels echoing like slow heartbeats. "You think you belong beside him — that your pity makes you worthy of our curse? You are nothing but a distraction."
The word cut deeper than she expected. Zelene swallowed hard, forcing her voice steady. "You call it our curse. You speak of it like devotion, not damnation."
"Because it is devotion," Miren hissed, her eyes gleaming in the dim light. "The Dravenhart bloodline was chosen. The curse is not punishment — it is proof. Proof that the old gods marked them for greatness."
Zelene took a step forward, fury rising in her chest. "And yet, your god leaves him writhing in pain! You let him suffer, call it sacred, and dare to pretend it's mercy?"
Miren's breath trembled — not from fear, but indignation. "He endures because he must. It is not my place to ease it. It is his birthright to carry the weight of their sins."
Zelene's pendant glowed faintly beneath her collar, reacting to the venom in Miren's words. "And the accidents, Miren? The chandelier? The flower pot? Was that his birthright too?"
For a moment, silence. Then Miren smiled — faint, almost regretful.
"I only protect what must be protected," she said softly. "Even from temptations in human form."
Zelene's pulse spiked. "You mean me."
Miren didn't deny it. "He was fine before you came. Controlled. Distant. But now—" She stepped closer, voice dropping to a whisper that slithered through the air. "He hesitates. He doubts the blood he carries. You make him weak."
Zelene's chest ached with anger and disbelief. "Weak? If that's weakness, then perhaps weakness is the only thing that's kept him human!"
The air trembled. For a moment, neither moved.
Then, slowly, Miren's expression changed — calm turning to something almost reverent.
"You do not understand the bond I share with this house," she murmured. "With him. I have been here since he was a boy — when the curse first took root beneath his skin. I soothed his fever when the mark burned him alive. I watched his father rot from the same pain. And I vowed… never again."
Her voice trembled then, almost tender. "If the curse demands sacrifice to remain contained, then I will give it everything — everyone — it needs."
Zelene's hand went cold.
"Even if that means killing me?" she whispered.
Miren smiled — and that, more than anything, terrified her.
"If that's what the curse desires."
The lantern flickered violently as a gust of air swept through the corridor.
For a heartbeat, the runes along the walls glowed faintly red — responding to Miren's presence.
Zelene stepped back, fingers tightening around the pendant at her throat. The air pulsed with Aether and malice, colliding invisibly between them.
Ray, who'd been standing silent till now, drew closer behind her — eyes wary, ready.
"Miren," Zelene said, voice shaking but resolute, "you're no longer protecting him. You're feeding the very thing that's killing him."
Miren's expression softened — eerily gentle. "You mistake faith for corruption, my lady."
"And you mistake obsession for love," Zelene breathed.
A sharp crack echoed — the lantern shattered as the flame burst out, throwing wild light across the hall. For an instant, Miren's shadow twisted — long, inhuman, reaching.
Zelene raised her hand. The faint glow of light gathered at her fingertips — Aether Requiem, the power that could weigh sin and purity alike.Its warmth stung her palm.
"Miren Althra," Zelene said, her voice trembling but resolute. "You've sinned against your own Duke. By light's judgment—"
"By arrogance, you mean," Miren hissed. "You play with powers you do not understand, girl."
The air cracked — light against darkness.
Miren thrust her relic forward, dark energy exploding through the chamber. Zelene countered with a flare of white, their magic colliding midair, sparking across the floor like lightning.
Stone shattered. The runes on the walls screamed awake.
Ray shielded his eyes, calling out, "Zelene!"
And then — a voice.Not theirs."ENOUGH."
The shockwave ripped through the room. Both women were thrown backward.
When the dust cleared, Zelene's vision swam — her shoulder aching, her magic flickering out.She looked up—
—and saw Kael, standing at the doorway.
The torchlight behind him cast his face in shadow, his expression unreadable. His gloves were off — and the black markings on his arm were burning faintly through his skin, veins of red light creeping higher.
"Miren," he said quietly. "What… is this?"
"Your Grace," Miren whispered, lowering her head quickly. "I was protecting you. She—she sought to use forbidden light. I intervened."
"That's not true!" Zelene snapped, forcing herself to stand. "She's been feeding the curse—"
"Silence!" Kael's voice thundered, more from pain than anger. He staggered a step, pressing a hand to his chest as the markings flared again.
Zelene froze — torn between fury and concern.
Miren immediately moved toward him, hands glowing faintly with dark energy. "Let me, Your Grace—"
But Zelene stepped in her way."Don't you dare touch him."
The two women locked eyes, light and darkness circling them like twin storms.
Kael's breathing was heavy; he looked between them, the curse whispering louder in his mind. He couldn't tell who was right anymore — only that the air burned, and every heartbeat felt like fire under his skin.
"Both of you," he rasped, "out. Now."
Miren bowed immediately, masking the satisfaction in her eyes. "As you command, Your Grace."
Zelene hesitated. "Kael—"
He didn't look at her. "Go."
She swallowed hard, eyes flicking to the mark still glowing on his arm. "This isn't over."
Then she turned sharply, Ray following her out, though both knew what that meant — she'd exposed the truth, but at a cost.
When the door shut, Miren knelt beside the Duke again, whispering softly, "You see now, don't you? She will ruin you."
Kael didn't answer. His gaze stayed fixed on the door Zelene had left through — the faint scent of light magic still lingering in the air.
And beneath it all, his curse throbbed harder, whispering her name like a threat.