CHAPTER 17:NOW THAT IT HAS COME TO THIS

We rode in silence.

Harland's body was left behind, but his words followed us like smoke.

The Emberborn lives.

No one said it. Not aloud. But I saw it in their eyes. In Kael's sidelong glances. In the way Valen rode slightly behind me instead of ahead.

He was watching me. Measuring.

Night fell. The campfire crackled low. The others slept—except Kael, who had taken first watch near the perimeter.

I sat apart from the others, pretending to polish my blade. But I was waiting for it.

Valen's footsteps were quiet.

He stopped behind me. Close. Not enough to threaten, but enough to make my chest feel tight.

"You knew him?"

His voice was calm.

I said nothing.

"Harland looked at you like he'd seen a ghost."

Still, I didn't answer.

"What is the Emberborn, Sera?"

The way he said my name—soft, no rank, no sharpness—shattered me more than shouting ever could.

I lowered the blade.

"I didn't want to lie," I whispered.

"But I had no choice."

He waited.

"Now that it has gotten to this point,I might as well just be honest.I dont know what you will do next but I'm not gonna lie to you."

"My real name… is Seraphina Virellia. Firstborn daughter of Emperor Caelis. Twin sister to the boy you now call ruler. I am the one Harland was sent to kill."

The words burned as they left me.

I expected him to shout.

To draw steel.

To call me a spy or worse.

But Valen just… sat down beside me.

"I suspected," he said softly. "But I needed to hear it from you."

His gaze was unreadable. Still. But there was no anger.

Only weight.

"I heard about the incident that happened in Varellia.On the night of the royal twin's birthday celebration, the Emporer and Empress were murdered in cold blood and the perpetrator was the eldest daughter.You were the girl who was banished from her home," he murmured. "The one they're now after."

I nodded.

"My brother didn't kill our parents alone. He was… used. Controlled. And I was the one they blamed."

"So they pinned the blame on you,and people actually believed that you murdered your own parents?What kind of monster is your brother?"he said as I sensed anger in his words.He was angry on my behalf?

"That night still feels like a nightmare.I wish I could just forget it all," I said as I felt tears rolling down.I wiped them with my sleeve hoping he hadn't noticed but he was looking at me.I didn't want to cry in front of Valen.

I felt his arm on my shoulder.I guess that's his way of comforting people.

Behind us, I heard a faint intake of breath.

Kael.

I turned, startled—but she was already stepping out of the shadows. Her arms were folded. Her face unreadable.

"How long?" she asked quietly.

I looked down. "Since the day I arrived."

Kael didn't move.

Didn't yell.

Didn't spit betrayal like she had every right to.

She just let out a shaky sigh and whispered, "You poor thing."

And then… she sat beside me.

"I thought you were hiding something," she said. "But I figured it was shame, or some failed noble house. Not this."

She laughed once, hollow. "I used to think all royals were snakes. But you? You're just trying to survive."

Valen said nothing. But he didn't leave.

And somehow, that meant everything.

---

I looked up, blinking fast.

"This doesn't change what I've done for Draeven."

Kael nodded. "It doesn't."

Valen met my eyes.

"So what are you gonna do next? Stay in Draeven as a royal guard or avenge your family?" he asked.

"I have to get stronger,and I know I can do that in Draeven."

"Good.I also want to know what this so called 'Circle' is.If they were able to access Draeven, that means they could be a threat."Valen said."And don't worry,no one will know about your past,not even my father."he reassured.

Kael nodded.

The fire crackled.

Snow drifted through the trees in the distance.

I wasn't running anymore.

They knew.

And they hadn't turned their backs.

But the silence told me one thing louder than any words could.

The game had changed.

And the war I'd left behind was about to catch up.