Seishan didn't expect another day in the castle to be different. Life was surprisingly boring as one of the Tyrant's lieutenants.
She had nothing to do except train new handmaidens every day. Their needs were taken care of without them lifting a single finger. Food, water, and even something like soul shards would just flow in the castle without them doing anything.
All it took was a word from the bright lord itself, and the entire castle would turn upside down.
She benefited from the system she hated.
She couldn't do anything about her boring, stale life. That bastard Gunlaug had a transcendent echo that made rising against him as foolish as moving a mountain.
Not that any sane person would follow her against him.
Sadly, stubborn people like her mother and her cohort were rare.
Raven Song, Smile of Heaven, Iron Heart, Broken Sword, Lord of Shadows, Whisper of the Night, and the Vile Dreamspawn.
To some, they were the brightest stars of the previous generation. But those who truly knew them would call them mad.
Even her mother called herself insane beyond reason.
Perhaps that's why they were brilliant, shining as bright as the biggest star in the night's sky. But maybe it would be more appropriate to refer to them as empty stars, who only shine brightly but give no warmth.
The Dreamspawn certainly was no star. And even Seishan — daughter of Ki Song — could not deny that her mother wasn't perfect.
Such a person would carry a lot of regrets from life. If a supreme could feel regret. After all, it was the world that was wrong, not them.
Maybe she would know one day, if she ever became a supreme herself.
Seishan chuckled inwardly. It was ironic that only a person who considered them to be always right could be supreme. Those people were always the ones who were the most mad.
She wondered if the children of those madmen would also be doomed to inherit madness. Would she and her sisters be mad like their mother? Would Sunless, Nephis, and Morgan resemble their parents?
Seishan shook her head and broke out of her daze. She was about to give another set of instructions to the trainee handmaiden when someone barged in through the door.
It was a handmaiden, one of them who were assigned with handing out breakfast for today.
"Lady Seishan! There's a commotion at the main hall."
Seishan glanced at the young woman coldly and spoke:
"So what!? That doesn't concern me. Isn't there anyone to handle it?"
The handmaiden shook her head.
"None of the guards dare to intervene, my lady. The pathfinder Andel has challenged someone under the law of challenge."
Hearing this, Seishan furrowed her brows.
"And what does that have to do with me again? Aren't the pathfinders under the rule of Gemma?"
"Please, Lady Seishan. I don't know where to find Sir Gemma, and the situation in the main hall is too hectic."
Seishan rolled her eyes at the handmaiden. She would much prefer not to clean up the mess that Gemma's men made. But she didn't like people trampling over the dignity of her handmaidens. They worked so hard so the bright castle could function as a society, but these brats with muscle for brains always fought before they formed a thought.
Especially that Andel, who had gotten into a controversy a month back and had to be bailed out by Harus.
Seishan ran through the halls as she cursed Gemma for not teaching his men manners. She swiftly reached the main hall of the castle — where food was given every morning and afternoon.
Rushing in, she found the usually grandiose and peaceful hall in disarray. There was a large crowd forming in a circle between two men — who were battling with their weapons summoned.
There was a man with a sharp jaw and menacing blue eyes. He was of average height; however, compared to his opponent, he seemed tall. He was slightly older than the other sleepers in the hall, his eyes carrying a faint sense of experience.
His opponent was a young man with long, dark hair and eyes so deep that you could find yourself drowning inside their lightest depths. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to reveal muscle stretching like rope under his skin. And on his right arm coiled a serpent with dark, onyx scales; the serpent's scales seemed to rustle, almost alive.
Seishan's eyes widened. The onyx serpent was a mark of the Shadow Clan. Bestowing it upon subjects was a rare ability possessed by the Lord of Shadows. However, even after his passing, there was a sleeper on the forgotten shores with the same exact marking.
The man with the Serpent tattoo was Sunless. The heir of the Shadow Clan. Seishan was shocked to see him present in the bright castle — as the person whom Andel challenged, no less.
She expected to see a pitiful sleeper lose their life today. However, now she realized that if the fight wasn't stopped. It would be one of their pathfinders losing a life.
Seishan winced. And Sunny was sure to follow after him. Gunlaug wouldn't want someone who killed his Pathfinder to live, after all.
Andel swung his sword towards Sunny. However, he remained unfazed, raising his arm coiled by a dark serpent. He caught the blade in his hand, stopping it in its tracks.
Sunny groaned and pressed down on the blade as hard as he could.
Cracks slowly formed on the pristine steel, spreading across the blade like a spiderweb, until it shattered into pieces.
Sunny raised his blade, looking at the hand of his opponent — still bleeding from a wound he had dealt earlier — he was about to swing and chop Andel's hand off before he felt an awfully strong grip on his own.
His eyes started to shake. He was so consumed in the battle that he forgot to pay attention to the surroundings. Looking back, he could see a looming figure of someone he hadn't seen in a long time.
"Hey… Shan."