"Let's go for a walk."

  They had been sitting on the bench for a while before Kael finally broke the silence.

  Without a word, both of them rose to their feet and began walking along the shoreline. The sun had long since disappeared beneath the horizon, leaving only the pale glow of moonlight to illuminate their path. The gentle sound of waves rolling onto the shore filled the quiet space between them.

  They walked in silence for a while before Syleena finally spoke, her voice calm and steady.

  "I need your help."

  Kael's eyes sharpened as he turned to look at her. He had come here expecting to assist in some way, but this was not how he had imagined it. Syleena, the young heir of the Eireindaile family, asking him for help personally.

  He said nothing, letting the silence stretch between them, waiting for her to continue.

  "I know your situation. You were hired by my family to come and check on me, right?"

  Kael gave a firm nod.

  Syleena sighed before continuing.

  "Do you know why I was sent here?"

  Kael nodded again, his expression unreadable.

  "Wrong."

  Her voice was steady, confident, as if she had read his thoughts before he even had the chance to respond.

  "I wasn’t sent here to mature, to gain political skills. I was sent here so they could get rid of me."

  Kael’s eyes turned cold at her words.

  “My family has studied the blade pathway since the time of our very first ancestor. Do you understand why?”

  She paused briefly before continuing.

  “It wasn’t just out of respect for our ancestors. The Blade Pathway was an honest, honorable path. In our early days, the only way for our family to rise was through battle—through shedding blood and winning wars. The fastest way to earn the people's trust was to offer them protection, to give them safety.”

  “However, me? For some reason, I awakened as a mind pathway Luminaire, as I assume you already know. And for that reason alone, they want me dead.”

  Her hazel eyes drifted into the distance as she spoke, lost in thought.

  “Pathetic, isn’t it?”

  A faint smile played on her lips, though there was no humor in it.

  Kael's eyes drifted slightly out of focus as he sank into thought. She had only spoken a few sentences, yet his mind was already at work, piecing things together, connecting the gaps, and forming conclusions.

  If what she said was true, then everything up until now made sense.

  The Eireindaile family had followed the blade pathway for centuries. But Syleena had awakened as a mind pathway Luminaire. That alone was not the issue, it was her status that made it a problem. She could have changed pathways, but from what he could tell, she took pride in her abilities.

  It was not just the fact that she was the heir. The real issue was that she belonged to a noble family.

  Noble families treasured tradition and rules, that was what differed them from mortals and other luminaires in their eyes. And by rule and tradition, Syleena would need to take the position of the family head when the time came.

  No matter how powerful a noble family seemed, only a few could truly survive on their own. The Eirendaile family was not one of them. They relied on food, materials, and other resources provided by the mortals in Farkath to sustain their power and maintain their noble status.

  This was also why many cities were protected by noble families. It was a mutually beneficial agreement. The city received protection, ensuring safety from external threats, while the noble family gained access to all the essential supplies needed to sustain their influence and way of life.

  Not only that, but they also had to maintain a good reputation among other noble families. It didn’t matter how prosperous their city was—there were always resources and materials their region couldn’t provide. That was where trade with other noble families became essential.

  Take Velthoria and Farkath, for example. Both were thriving cities, yet Farkath had no access to copper. To sustain its economy and development, it relied on trade with cities like Velthoria, which produced the copper it lacked.

  And now, back to Syleena’s position. The Eireindaile family was thriving under its current head, but when the day came for her to take over, it would have a massive impact on the family’s economy. At present, the family was led by a powerful Luminaire of the blade pathway, someone whose strength commanded both respect and stability. But what if that changed? What if the family was instead led by a formidable mind pathway Luminaire?

  The effects wouldn’t be immediate, but over time, their economy would plummet. Noble families presented themselves as symbols of nobility and righteousness to the public, but behind closed doors, every one of them played a different game—one filled with manipulation, politics, and power struggles.

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  Major trade agreements were negotiated between family heads, and as soon as Syleena’s position became inevitable, concerns would arise. Mind pathway was simply too much of a liability in politics. The mere idea of dealing with a family head who could potentially manipulate thoughts and twist negotiations would make other noble families uneasy. Gradually, fewer and fewer cities would choose to trade with them, opting instead for other cities that offered the same resources as Farkath, but without the risk of dealing with someone like Syleena.

  Kael understood the current family head’s dilemma all too well. It was a complicated position. On one hand, he was sure the man wanted his daughter to succeed, but on the other, her rise would inevitably throw the entire family into a desperate and unforgiving situation.

  He couldn’t simply strip her of her position—that would spark outrage both within the family and the city. How would their authority hold if the rules suddenly changed whenever it suited the noble family? That wasn’t an option.

  There was the possibility of forcibly changing her soulbound motes, forcing her onto the blade pathway. But what if she resisted? What if she harbored resentment toward the family? A future head of the family, filled with bitterness and ill will toward her own blood, could be just as dangerous as any external threat.

  In the end, it seemed the family head had reached his own conclusion.

  For the greater good, he had to get rid of her.

  That was why Kael suspected she had been sent to Velthoria. Two years, away from the city, with little visibility and contact limited to only a select few. And Velthoria? Kael had no doubt they had welcomed the plan with open arms.

  After all, weakening a rival noble family was always an opportunity worth seizing. These two years could be shaped into whatever they wanted them to be. With Velthoria’s cooperation, they could brand her a traitor, accuse her of unspeakable crimes, and when the time came, her fate would already be sealed. With both noble families standing against her, her words would carry no weight, and the public? They would side with the nobility without question.

  This was also why he suspected she needed his help—someone not tied to either family, someone completely neutral. A mercenary.

  His eyes sharpened at the thought.

  Was this why she had stopped sending messages? Had she understood the political struggle this well? Had she cut off communication, knowing that if they truly wanted to reach her, they couldn’t send someone directly linked to the family?

  Kael pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind for now. Instead, he quietly reevaluated Syleena, his gaze lingering on her a little longer.

  However, this also put Kael in a difficult position. Would he support the Eireindaile family or Syleena?

  The Eireindaile family was undeniably wealthy. If he completed the mission, he could expect a handsome reward, but that was assuming he survived long enough to claim it. They wouldn’t let him walk away freely after learning everything he had. Escaping with both the reward and his life intact would be a near-impossible feat.

  On the other hand, Syleena was completely alone. Could she truly escape this situation and rise to become the head of the family? If she managed to pull it off, he could demand a reward from her then. But was that even realistic?

  Kael didn’t think so.

  She was too weak. Rank one. He was almost certain of it.

  However, he couldn’t help but feel a flicker of pity for her.

  She was completely alone, hunted by the very people who should have protected her, the family she had once trusted most. And for what? Awakening as a mind pathway Luminaire? Something she had little control over. It was absurd.

  As he glanced at her, her features striking in the dim moonlight, a quiet sigh escaped him. She truly was pitiful.

  A faint dislike stirred within him toward the Eireindaile family—

  His eyes sharpened.

  Without warning, his arm shot out, his fingers closing around her throat as he lifted her effortlessly into the air. His coat and hair whipped in the wind from the sudden movement.

  She hadn’t even had time to react.

  "Stop."

  His voice was calm, but his eyes were ice-cold.

  Syleena was startled by the sudden attack, but she didn’t panic. Her sharp hazel eyes met his with unwavering steadiness. She gripped his wrist tightly, her fingers pressing firmly against his skin. Even with his hand around her throat, even as her feet hovered at an arm’s length above the ground, her expression remained composed.

  She looked down at him, her gaze unshaken.

  He looked at her. Her sharp eyes held steady, but beneath that confidence, he caught a flicker of uncertainty.

  He wasn’t worried about her retaliating too much. She was a mind pathway Luminaire, a pathway that didn’t excel in direct combat. But more than that, he believed in himself.

  As the moments stretched, he saw it. The subtle signs of panic beginning to surface. His grip remained firm, his arm as steady as a statue, effortlessly holding up her lithe frame. Her legs twitched slightly, kicking instinctively, and her fingers tightened around his wrist as she struggled to breathe.

  As he watched her struggle helplessly, a flicker of sympathy passed through him. Her resistance was futile, a desperate attempt against an opponent she had no chance of overpowering. He understood that feeling all too well—the frustration of being powerless, of having no control.

  For a brief moment, his grip eased, his expression softening.

  But then, as if catching himself, his face hardened once more. His eyes turned even colder, a sharp glint of anger flashing within them. His jaw clenched, his teeth pressing together as if holding back something deeper.

  “I SAID STOP.”

  His voice cut through the air like a blade, raw with frustration and command, laced with unmistakable killing intent.

  As he spoke, his grip around her throat tightened, his fingers pressing deeper into her skin, ready to crush her windpipe. He no longer held back his strength as a Luminaire.

  Her eyes widened in alarm, her face paling as she felt the pressure increase. She kicked and twitched, her grip on his wrist tightening in desperation—she wasn’t holding back either.

  The more pressure she applied, the more he did in return. Her struggles grew frantic, her nails clawing at his skin, digging deep, but he barely reacted. If anything, her resistance only fueled his irritation.

  He watched as her movements slowed, her eyes dimming. She was on the verge of losing consciousness. Just before she did, he released his grip.

  She dropped to the ground with a dull thud, collapsing in a heap. Lying sprawled on the dirt, she gasped for air, her chest rising and falling in uneven, desperate breaths. Kael stood over her, arms relaxed at his sides, his expression clouded with displeasure as he watched her struggle to recover.

  Kael was fine on his own. He didn’t need comrades, didn’t need friends. There was always a risk of betrayal. He didn’t trust people—they were too scheming, too selfish by nature. The only person he trusted was himself.

  But what if even that was taken from him?

  What if he couldn’t trust his own conclusions, his own will? What if his thoughts were no longer his own?

  If he lost that, he wouldn’t just lose control. He would lose his very identity. His sense of self.