I felt it wasn’t a request.
It was a command.
Especially considering the mechanical eyeballs orbiting the Grand Cardinal now stared at me alone, their inhuman lenses pulsing as if eager to dissect.
Great. Floating vultures with magnifying glasses. Just what I need.
I stood, slow and measured, suppressing the instinct to fidget. The room shifted - subtle at first, then all at once. Attention poured off Mary and settled on me like cold oil, seeping into every crevice of the hall.
I felt it in my bones.
Judgment.
Whispers spread through the silence. I caught fragments - orphan, commoner, rat. Nothing new. Nothing surprising. The opinions of people I couldn’t care less about was the least of my concern at that point.
I walked toward the dais, keeping my deadpan mask plastered on. That was when I noticed it.
The shadows.
They moved. Subtly - like a ripple on still water - but enough that I knew. My eyes tracked them without meaning to. They shifted against the walls, clung harder to corners, stretched too far beneath chairs. They were restless.
I forced myself to ignore it.
Weird. Must be because of the walking lantern on the stage.
Each step grew heavier. Not physically. Mentally. Like my soul was dragging its feet. By the time I reached the dais, I barely remembered crossing the hall.
The Emperor’s statue loomed, casting a shadow long enough to swallow me whole. One of the candles beneath it had gone out.
I knelt. Head bowed. Exactly like Mary.
“Kneel.” came the voice.
I already was. But I lowered my head further anyway.
Then the Cardinal spoke again, but this time not aloud. The words carved straight into me, heavy and absolute.
"Damian, who has no family. I speak to you in private. None shall hear us. Is there anything you wish to confess before the Almighty’s gaze? Once you walk the divine path, corruption will stalk you at every turn. Madness waits on every road. Many are devoured. Many are lost."
Fuck it. Time to take my chances.
“No,” I forced out. “I have nothing to confess.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Silence.
“We shall see about that.”
A warmth touched my forehead.
And then…
Nothing?
For a second, I thought my pathway just didn’t awaken. I kept my eyes closed, counting every second like it was my last.
After ten seconds I decided to finally open my eyes.
What I saw was a frozen world.
The nobles, the tables, even the flames - all locked in place. Glasses hovered midair. Prayers hung in unfinished whispers. Arthur’s eyes were frozen mid-blink.
I looked at them, blinking and feeling my chest move up and down. I could only stare blankly at the scene.
Is this supposed to happ-
Before I could finish the thought, the shadows bled.
From every person, every noble and servant. Black liquid poured from their eyes, mouths, and pores, pooling on the floor beneath them. Rivers of shadow spread across the dais, seeping into cracks, swallowing gold and marble alike.
Shadow consumed everything.
The air grew thick, suffocating. I tried to move - but the shadows pooled beneath me too, locking my legs like tar.
The entire hall was drowning in black.
Unlike usual, the shadows felt foreign to me. Like they no longer saw me.
But what terrified me was where the black underneath me came from.
I lifted my eyes - slow, terrified - and met the Cardinal's gaze.
Except he wasn’t hidden anymore.
His gown was painted black now, like it had been dyed in ink.
His hood had fallen back, and the face revealed was one I knew. Not exactly. Not perfectly. But close.
Similar features to me. Older. Harder. Worn by years I hadn’t lived yet.
His eyes bled black - not dripping, but pooling like a black jade. Patterns shifted inside them like sigils of chaos dancing on water, and I could swear I saw foreign letters flash underneath the veil.
I had seen him many times before.
In the same recurring nightmare over and over again.
I choked on my breath glancing up with shock. “…I-it’s you-!
The figure said nothing. He only reached forward and grasped the side of my face, cold fingers tightening against my skin, forcing my gaze to his, eyes unclosing.
“The Empire must survive, or everyone will die.”
The words struck like hammers, each syllable vibrating through my skull.
“The Empire must survive, or everyone will die.”
Over and over. Louder and louder. The voice wasn’t just his anymore - it was the audience’s. The frozen nobles began to chant, their mouths spilling black shadow, their voices weaving into the same phrase.
Slowly, the black pool on the ground started to rise like a flood. My body was starting to become submerged, yet I couldn’t move.
The sound cracked my skull open. My head throbbed, splitting. I tried to look away, tried to close my eyes, but his grip locked me in place. The chant dug into me, scraping against my bones.
“The Empire must survive, or everyone will die.”
Over and over, until my consciousness frayed. My vision blurred, my chest heaved, and I felt myself slipping.
Then everything stopped.
The chant. The shadows. The black.
They all paused, as if waiting.
Then the man’s eyes changed.
The chaos bled away, and in its place came order. Pure red pupils, burning like molten glass, ringed with symbols - perfect, balanced, beautiful. They pulsed not with madness, but with harmony.
The man smiled.
And he spoke, this time with a feminine voice.
"Found you."
