Nightfall draped the Aurelius Palace in silver moonlight. Lanterns glowed softly across the marble corridors, casting long shadows that swayed with each passing breeze. Servants hurried quietly, knights patrolled with focused vigilance, and somewhere far above, griffons cried out against the star-studded sky.
But beneath all that light and order…
A girl moved unseen.
Silent as dust.
Soft as breath.
Swift as a falling petal.
Her name was Mira.
A member of the emperor's covert intelligence division—
and the youngest prodigy of the secret group known as the Shadow Veil.
Wrapped in a black cloak that melted into darkness, she stepped lightly across the beams of the palace rooftops. Hazel eyes as sharp as daggers watched from behind her mask.
She had only one assignment tonight:
Observe the youngest prince.
Not attack.
Not interrogate.
Not threaten.
Just watch.
Because the empire, despite trusting Sohag, still could not understand him. His power defied common sense. His presence distorted magic. His existence remained a mystery even to the emperor's most ancient archives.
So Mira had been instructed:
Follow him.
Study him.
Report everything.
Easy enough… or so she thought.
She perched outside the window of Sohag's room, balanced effortlessly on the stone edge. Her breathing slowed. Her aura vanished until she felt like a ghost in a forgotten corner of the world.
Inside the room, she saw—
Sohag lying on his bed.
Sleeping.
Again.
And yet—
The moment she stepped within ten meters of him, her body trembled involuntarily. A weight pressed down on her like the ocean itself had collapsed over her.
Her heart hammered.
Her fingertips numbed.
Her magic spasmed wildly, struggling to remain under her control.
Ridiculous… she thought.
He's just… lying there…
Mira was an elite assassin who could slit a man's throat without making a sound. She could dodge arrows in the dark, walk across floors without bending dust, and melt into shadows without leaving a trace.
But this boy—this quiet, sleepy boy—made every instinct in her scream as if she were staring down a dragon.
She tightened her grip on the window frame.
Is this… killing intent? No… it's not even intentional. It's just his existence… His aura is too dense… His mana is overflowing beyond what a body should contain…
Her mind raced.
No wonder the emperor is cautious. No wonder the Seven Swords look at him strangely. No wonder the measuring crystal shattered…
She swallowed, forcing herself to relax.
Focus.
Observe.
Report.
This was her mission.
But just as she steadied herself—
Sohag's eyes opened.
Two calm, heavy, expressionless eyes.
They turned toward the window.
And they looked directly at Mira.
Her blood froze.
Her breath caught.
Her heart nearly stopped.
Because he wasn't supposed to be able to see her.
No normal person could detect someone using the Shadow Veil's stealth technique.
Not even the Seven Swords could track her when she fully concealed herself.
Yet Sohag looked at her as simply… as naturally… as if she were standing in the center of the room in broad daylight.
Mira's throat tightened. She forced her voice out in a whisper.
"H-how… did you—?"
She couldn't finish.
Sohag sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes as if waking from another half-dream. His hair was messy. His expression unchanged—calm, quiet, almost sleepy.
He stared at her through the window for a moment.
Then he said, in the softest voice:
"…You'll fall."
Mira blinked.
"What?"
Sohag pointed lazily at her feet.
"You're standing on a weak stone."
Mira frowned, confused—and then the stone beneath her boot cracked.
She gasped.
There was no time to jump. No time to use magic. No time to stabilize herself.
But just as her body fell backward—
A warm hand caught her wrist.
Her breath left her.
Not because she was saved—
But because she suddenly felt like she had been caught by a god, not a boy.
His aura was so massive that even the brief touch felt like being pressed into deep water. She trembled despite herself, gripping the window tightly with her other hand.
Sohag pulled her gently forward so she would not fall.
Mira tumbled through the window and landed on his floor, knees hitting the carpet with a soft thud.
She stared up at him in shock.
He looked down at her, expression blank.
"…Why were you in the wind?" he asked, voice calm and monotone.
Mira blinked rapidly.
"Y-you… mean the window?"
Sohag tilted his head a little, as if the answer didn't matter.
Lyra burst into the room a second later, eyes blazing with jealousy.
"WHO IS SHE?! WHY IS A WOMAN IN PRINCE SOHAG'S ROOM AT MIDNIGHT?!"
Mira flinched so hard she nearly broke her neck.
Sohag looked at Lyra.
"She fell."
Lyra gasped dramatically. "She fell… into your room?!"
Mira stood up so fast she nearly flew.
"W-wait! This is a misunderstanding!"
Sohag blinked once, then lay back down on the bed without another word—as if nothing unusual had occurred at all.
Lyra marched circles around Mira like a furious kitten.
"Explain yourself! Why were you spying on him?! Why were you outside the window?! Why did he touch your hand?!"
Mira's face burned.
"I—I wasn't—! I mean—I was assigned to—!"
Sohag, eyes half closed, murmured:
"She was watching me."
Lyra gasped with the force of an earthquake.
"You were spying on His Highness?!"
"I—It's my job!" Mira shouted.
Sohag mumbled into his pillow:
"Don't fall again."
Mira froze.
Her heart inexplicably skipped.
Lyra grabbed her collar.
"You are forbidden from falling again! Only I am allowed to fall around him!"
"That makes no sense!" Mira yelped.
Lyra puffed out her cheeks. "It makes perfect sense!"
Mira wanted to scream.
Sohag wanted to sleep.
The palace wanted answers.
And the empire wanted to know what this silent prince would become.
But in that quiet room, under moonlight and soft laughter and awkward misunderstandings—
A new piece was placed on the board.
The girl from the shadows had met the boy of overwhelming power.
And her mission—
had just become far more complicated than she had ever imagined.
---