Anna's voice broke the awe-filled quiet. "So… does this mean I can still go to school?" she asked, hesitant but hopeful. "With Talia and Elara?"
Lyssandra blinked, momentarily thrown off by the simplicity of the question after what they had just witnessed. Around her, the assistants exchanged uncertain glances.
"Well," Lyssandra began carefully, adjusting the data tablet in her hands, "your body has… adapted faster than I expected. The resonance pattern is stabilizing, your vitals are strong—stronger than before." She paused, looking back at the faintly glowing veins that pulsed with dragonlight. "In theory, yes… you're well enough."
Anna's face lit up, pure and bright. "Really?"
Lyssandra sighed, the corner of her mouth twitching into a reluctant smile. "Really. But," she added, holding up a warning finger, "I'll need to run one last full scan tomorrow before I send the report to the Emperor. If everything still looks this stable—then yes, you can join your sisters."
Before Lyssandra could continue, a deep, measured voice cut cleanly through the hum of the lab.
"Then you'll give me that report the moment it's ready."
Every assistant froze. Even the soft whir of the analysis equipment seemed to falter.
Emperor Valerius stood in the doorway—tall, composed, and radiating a quiet authority that bent the air around him. His crimson and gold robes caught the sterile light, glinting like molten glass, and his eyes—sharp and assessing—swept across the room before settling on his youngest daughter.
"Your Majesty—" Lyssandra straightened immediately, bowing her head. The others followed in hurried unison.
Valerius lifted a hand, silencing the formalities. "Spare me the rituals. I came as soon as I was informed of the… awakening." His gaze moved from the humming containment chamber to the faint glow still tracing along Anna's skin. "So it's true."
Anna blinked, surprised but delighted. "Father!" She hopped off the table, rushing toward him. He knelt just enough to meet her halfway, resting a gloved hand gently against her cheek. The faint golden light beneath her skin pulsed once in response to his touch, and a flicker of emotion—pride, awe, perhaps even fear—passed behind his eyes.
Lyssandra hesitated, her tablet held tight. "She's stabilized, Majesty," she said cautiously. "The resonance has integrated completely into her system. Stronger, yes—but she's in control."
Valerius straightened, his expression unreadable. "Good. Then I expect a full report within the hour—preliminary or not." His tone softened slightly as he looked down at Anna again. "If she's truly well enough, she'll begin school with her sisters as planned."
Anna's face brightened instantly as she bounced with joy.
Valerius lingered for a moment longer, the weight of his presence pressing down on everyone in the room. Then his gaze swept slowly across the gathered researchers—cold, deliberate, and absolute.
"No one," he said, his voice low but cutting, "will speak a word of what was discovered here today."
A shiver rippled through the assistants. Lyssandra instinctively straightened, clutching her tablet tighter as the air itself seemed to grow heavier.
The Emperor stepped closer, the soft sound of his boots echoing against the polished floor. "Not to your peers. Not to your friends. Not to your families. The word dragon does not leave this room."
He stopped in front of the observation table, his tone softening only slightly as his eyes flicked to Anna—who watched him with a mixture of curiosity and faint unease. "Her condition will remain classified under imperial authority until I decree otherwise. Is that understood?"
Lyssandra bowed her head quickly. "Understood, Majesty. We'll seal the records and encrypt the data immediately."
"Good." His gaze lingered on her, as if measuring the conviction behind her words. "You and your team will continue your research—but your findings are to remain in-house. Any attempt to replicate or publicize them will be considered treason."
One of the younger assistants audibly swallowed.
Valerius's attention returned to Anna, and for a fleeting instant, the stern façade cracked. "This is for your safety, little one," he said softly. "There are those who would not see your gift as a blessing."
Anna's brows furrowed, but she nodded obediently, even if she didn't fully understand.
The Emperor exhaled quietly, regaining his composure. "See to it that every trace of this event is secured," he told Lyssandra. "By dawn tomorrow, I want no record of dragons—only a medical stabilization report for the princess. Nothing more."
"As you command, Your Majesty."
Valerius gave a final nod, his cloak whispering as he turned toward the exit. "For the good of the Empire," he murmured, almost to himself, before striding out of the chamber.
The door closed behind him with a resonant thud.
As soon as the heavy doors sealed shut behind the Emperor, the room seemed to exhale—tension releasing like a held breath.
Then, before anyone could speak, Anna's face broke into a radiant grin. She gasped, clasped her hands together, and then jumped—once, twice, practically bouncing with uncontainable joy.
"I can go to school!" she squealed, her voice echoing against the polished walls. "I can really go to school with Talia and Elara!"
Lyssandra startled, blinking as if the sudden burst of energy had physically hit her. A few of her assistants exchanged stunned looks, half relieved, half amused at the shift in tone.
Anna spun in a small circle, her braids twirling around her as faint motes of golden resonance shimmered in her wake. "I'm going to walk with them to class! And—and have lessons, and lunch, and maybe even sparring practice if they let me!"
Selene, who had been standing quietly through the Emperor's decree, couldn't help but smile. Her eyes softened, the weight of worry in them easing for the first time in days. She stepped forward, gently catching Anna's hands mid-spin.
"Careful, my love," she said, laughing softly. "You'll wear out the floor before you ever make it to the academy."
Anna giggled, bouncing on her toes. "But I get to go! Father said I could!"
Lyssandra finally found her voice, pressing a hand to her chest. "Well—yes, technically he did," she said, her tone wry but fond. "But let's maybe not overexert your newly upgraded magical anatomy just yet, hmm? I'd rather not have to explain to the Emperor that his daughter exploded from excitement."
That made a few of the assistants snicker. Even Selene let out a quiet laugh, shaking her head as Anna covered her mouth to stifle her own giggles.
Lyssandra's expression softened as she looked at the girl—the living miracle before her. "You're extraordinary, Anna," she said warmly. "Just… try to remember you're still you. School will still be there tomorrow. For now, let's make sure that beautiful heart of yours is steady."
Anna nodded, still beaming. "Okay! But I'm going to start packing my books tonight!"
Selene smiled and brushed a stray lock of hair from her daughter's glowing face. "I'd expect nothing less."
Lyssandra clapped her hands together, snapping back into full scientist mode. "Alright, Your Radiant Highness," she said, her voice bubbling with barely contained enthusiasm. "Before you start picking out lunchboxes and notebooks, we've got one final test to run—standard procedure, I promise. No poking, no prodding. Just a quick resonance scan to make sure all that glowing wonder inside you is happy and stable."
Anna nodded eagerly and hopped back onto the examination table, her legs swinging as the soft hum of equipment filled the room again. The crystal-latticed sensors that ringed the platform shimmered faintly, responding to her presence.
Lyssandra turned to her team, excitement replacing exhaustion in her tone. "Alright, team! Let's fire up the resonance matrix—low frequency sweep first, then we'll move into the harmonic mapping. Keep an eye on the output channels; I want to make sure nothing spikes past the tolerance thresholds."
The assistants scrambled into motion, flicking runes and tapping across luminous control panels. One by one, the crystalline pylons surrounding Anna began to glow in soft hues—azure, violet, and gold.
A web of light began to form, fine threads of magic weaving around her body like an intricate constellation. The air grew warmer, pulsing faintly with her heartbeat.
Lyssandra's eyes darted across her tablet. "Good, good—stabilized patterns, steady flow… oh, this is beautiful! The ley imprint is perfectly balanced with her organic mana—look at that oscillation ratio!"
Selene smiled faintly, watching her daughter bathed in the gentle glow. "Beautiful indeed," she murmured.
Then, one of the assistants—tall, freckled, and nervous—called out, "Uh, Dr. Vale? We're getting a secondary pulse on the subharmonic channel."
Lyssandra's head snapped up, eyes narrowing. "Secondary pulse? Where's the source?"
The assistant pointed shakily at the readings streaming across the holo-display. "It's… centered around the core resonance—right where the egg should be."
The hum of the room deepened. The crystalline pylons flared brighter, their lights shifting from soft gold to a deep, living amber. Anna gasped softly as a warmth spread through her chest—gentle, but powerful.
The projection above the table flickered, and the lattice mapping her mana veins shifted. Lines of light began to branch outward—new channels unfurling through her body like glowing rivers. The pathways expanded, pulsing in rhythm with a deeper heartbeat that didn't belong to Anna alone.
Lyssandra leaned closer, her voice a mixture of awe and disbelief. "By the Aether… her pathways are growing. The egg's pulse is resonating with her circulatory mana flow—it's synchronizing, expanding her internal network."
Selene stepped forward, concern and wonder battling in her expression. "Is it… hurting her?"
Anna shook her head quickly, eyes wide, her voice trembling with amazement. "No… it feels… warm…"
The egg's energy signature on the display pulsed again—stronger this time. Each beat sent a wave of light through Anna's veins, her body momentarily glowing from within like living crystal. The intricate web of her mana anatomy had transformed—no longer separate streams but a unified lattice, woven tighter and more radiant than any human's.
Lyssandra's breath caught as she adjusted the magnifier, her voice trembling with awe. "It's… incredible. The egg isn't just merging—it's integrating at a molecular level." She tapped rapidly across her tablet, eyes widening as the data shifted in real time. "This isn't parasitic or even symbiotic in the traditional sense—it's a fusion. Every cell, every mana vein, is synchronizing with the egg's resonance signature."
She looked up, unable to contain her wonder. "It's rewriting her biology and magic into a single, cohesive system—a perfect molecular bond. Two entities, but one frequency."
The assistants stared, spellbound, as the display above them showed the miraculous process unfolding: Anna's energy network and the dragon's core intertwining, their luminous strands looping together in a seamless helix of light.
A faint vibration filled the air, musical and alive, like the world itself was humming in harmony with her.
Selene's voice came softly, reverently. "They're resonating as one."
The hum of the scanners gradually subsided, the crystalline pylons dimming as the final harmonic sweep completed its cycle. The projection above Anna's body slowly dissolved, leaving only the faint shimmer of her now-reinforced mana veins.
Lyssandra exhaled, running a hand through her slightly tousled hair, eyes sparkling with exhilaration and disbelief. "Well… that's it. Full scan complete." She looked at Anna, her voice lightening. "I'm happy to report that despite hosting a very active, growing, and frankly ambitious dragon inside you, you are in perfect health."
Anna's eyes went wide. "Wait—perfect? Even with the… dragon?"
Lyssandra grinned, tilting her magnifier as she tapped a few commands on her tablet. "Absolutely. In fact, I'd say you're overachieving. Most humans would be exhausted by a single resonance surge, let alone one that's practically rewriting their mana framework. But you? You've taken it in stride like it's… well, breakfast."
Anna giggled, her eyes sparkling with relief and excitement.
Lyssandra gave a small, dorky shrug. "I guess some of us just get lucky. Or terrifyingly gifted." She gestured toward the exit. "Alright, princess, Empress, your official science-approved blessing has been issued. You're free to go, carry on with your lives, and, yes… go to school tomorrow."
Selene stepped forward, placing a hand on Anna's shoulder. "Thank you, Lyssandra. Truly."
Lyssandra waved it off with a grin. "Just doing my job. But I may be slightly tempted to write a paper on this someday—don't worry, I'll leave out any identifying details."
Anna laughed, bouncing lightly on her toes again. "I promise, I'll keep it a secret!"
Lyssandra nodded, smiling warmly. "Good. Now go on, little one—get some rest. You've got school, sisters, and possibly a dragon-sized adventure waiting for you."
With that, Selene and Anna turned to leave, the hum of the lab fading behind them as Lyssandra began scribbling excited notes to herself, already planning the next stage of her observations.