CHAPTER 169 — HOUSE VEIL
He tilted his head slightly, as if testing the thought before releasing it.
"There's another Erasmus running around?"
Dorian's gaze snapped toward him immediately, and the atmosphere inside the chamber tightened at the same moment. His jaw hardened slightly before he stopped speaking altogether as the training chamber sealed itself shut, cutting away the world outside in one continuous motion. The formations lining the walls dimmed rapidly while the light throughout the room faded as though the space itself was being withdrawn from reality.
Dorian raised his hand.
The chamber obeyed instantly. Every structure around them compressed inward as walls, formations, and space itself folded toward a single point before collapsing entirely.
The next moment, they stood above the estate's projection layer.
A massive continental grid stretched endlessly beneath them, Twinveil rendered in real time through shifting streams of light and layered information. Regions pulsed constantly across its surface, purple, gold, crimson..each representing active influence zones controlled by the great Houses.
Only one region remained unchanged.
Grey.
Dorian stared at it for several moments before finally speaking.
"Among the Five Marquis Houses, House Veil possesses the weakest military presence."
The projection continued moving beneath them while the grey territory remained perfectly still, detached from the fluctuations affecting the rest of the continent.
"They avoid war. They avoid territorial expansion. They avoid direct confrontation."
His eyes narrowed faintly.
"Yet every House keeps distance from them."
Sevrin adjusted the chrome frame resting lightly against his nose before glancing downward at the grey region again.
"Why?"
Dorian's gaze never left the map.
"Because House Veil does not conquer."
A brief silence followed,Then..
It erases.
The projection shifted slightly beneath them as several streams of information crossed the continent.
"Thirty-one years ago, House Veil entered a territorial dispute with a minor eastern lineage. The conflict lasted nine days."
Sevrin remained silent while Dorian continued calmly.
"When it ended, the lineage no longer existed."
"That isn't unusual."
"No," Dorian agreed. "What was unusual was everything surrounding it."
His fingers moved slowly across the projection as a cluster of faint lights surfaced briefly before dimming again.
"Their estates remained intact. Their treasury remained untouched. Their cultivation grounds were untouched. Even their armies were still stationed at the borders when our observers arrived."
Sevrin's brows narrowed slightly.
"But?"
Dorian finally looked at him.
"No one remembered who ruled it."
The silence between them deepened instantly.
"The servants remembered serving someone. The soldiers remembered taking orders. The outer territories remembered paying tribute."
His gaze returned to the grey region below.
"But every trace of identity tied to that lineage disappeared. Records failed. Signatures vanished. Even ancestral imprints within their tomb halls were gone."
For the first time since entering the chamber, Sevrin's expression became completely serious.
"That should be impossible."
"Yes," Dorian replied quietly. "Which is why none of the Houses investigated further."
The projection pulsed once beneath them before stabilizing again.
"And now," Dorian continued, "they've sent notice regarding the Soulis Event."
Sevrin's eyes narrowed slightly.
"They're participating?"
Dorian nodded once.
House Veil had ignored the last three Soulis gatherings entirely. They never competed for territory, resources, or political influence. They simply observed from a distance while the other Houses fought amongst themselves.
But this time..they had decided to move.
Sevrin stared at the grey territory for several long seconds before finally speaking again.
"Who are they sending?"
Dorian answered immediately.
"Seris.
The projection dimmed faintly.
Even the name itself seemed to settle strangely into the atmosphere around them.
Sevrin frowned.
"I've never heard of her."
"That," Dorian replied quietly, "is the problem."
He moved his hand once more across the projection.
A file surfaced above the grey region.
Name.
Age.
Status.
Empty.
No lineage records,No cultivation history.No battle records.
Nothing.
Sevrin stared at the blank projection for several moments before slowly looking back toward his father.
"She doesn't exist."
Dorian's expression remained unreadable as his gaze settled once more on the silent grey territory below them.
"No," he said calmly.
"She exists."
"We simply don't know anything about her."