The garden had gone completely silent.
No wind.
No movement.
No enemies.
But the tension hadn't left.
It had only changed shape.
---
Kael was the first to move.
He stepped closer to Aria, slower this time—careful, like approaching something unpredictable.
"Are you alright?"
Aria didn't answer immediately.
Her gaze was fixed on the ground.
On her shadow.
It looked normal again.
Still.
Flat.
But she could feel it.
Like something was there.
Listening.
Waiting.
"I don't know," she said finally.
And it was the first honest answer she had given all night.
---
Selene watched both of them quietly.
Her usual confidence had faded into something more calculated.
"This isn't random."
Kael glanced at her.
"Explain."
Selene crossed her arms.
"The Null Division doesn't move without purpose. And they definitely don't deploy experimental units inside the palace unless—"
"They're desperate," Kael finished.
Selene nodded slightly.
"Or afraid."
---
Aria finally looked up.
"Afraid of what?"
Selene held her gaze.
"You."
---
Silence.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
---
Kael shook his head.
"That doesn't make sense. If they were afraid, they would eliminate the threat immediately."
Selene smiled faintly.
"Unless they can't."
That landed harder than anything else.
---
Aria exhaled slowly.
"They said something."
Kael's attention snapped back.
"What?"
She hesitated.
Just for a second.
"Shadow Sovereign lineage."
The words felt wrong even now.
Like saying them made them more real.
---
Kael's expression darkened instantly.
Selene didn't react outwardly.
But her eyes sharpened.
"Say that again."
Aria's voice didn't change.
"Shadow Sovereign."
---
This time—
Selene went completely still.
Not surprised.
Not confused.
Recognizing.
---
Kael noticed it immediately.
"You know what that is."
Selene didn't answer right away.
That alone was answer enough.
"Selene."
His voice hardened.
"What is it?"
---
She exhaled slowly.
"This was never supposed to come back."
Aria frowned.
"Stop speaking in fragments."
Selene looked at her again.
Serious now.
Completely.
"Before the current empire existed, there were two dominant forces."
Kael stiffened.
"You're talking about pre-imperial records."
"Exactly."
Selene continued.
"One controlled the skies."
Aria's fingers tightened slightly.
"And the other?"
Selene's voice lowered.
"Controlled what the skies couldn't reach."
---
The shadows across the broken garden shifted faintly.
Almost responding.
---
Kael's voice was sharp.
"That's myth."
"No," Selene said quietly.
"It was history."
---
Aria felt something cold run down her spine.
"Then why is it gone?"
Selene didn't look away.
"Because the empire erased it."
---
That answer changed everything.
---
Kael stepped forward again.
"You're saying the royal archives are incomplete?"
Selene almost laughed.
"Incomplete? No."
Her eyes darkened slightly.
"They're edited."
---
Aria's mind moved quickly now.
Pieces connecting.
The assassination attempt.
The Null Division.
The reaction to her power.
"They knew," she said.
Selene nodded once.
"They suspected."
Kael frowned.
"Suspected what?"
Selene answered clearly.
"That you're not just an anomaly."
She paused.
"You're a return."
---
The word hit harder than anything else.
---
Aria shook her head slightly.
"No."
But even she didn't sound convinced.
"I've never had this before."
Selene tilted her head.
"That doesn't matter."
"Why?"
"Because power like this doesn't appear randomly."
---
Kael's voice cut in.
"Enough."
Both of them looked at him.
"This is speculation."
His eyes locked onto Aria.
"Right now, what matters is control."
---
Aria held his gaze.
"And if I can't?"
---
That question lingered.
Dangerous.
Real.
---
Kael didn't hesitate.
"Then we find a way."
Selene raised an eyebrow.
"You sound very confident for someone who just watched a classified military unit confirm an extinct power."
Kael didn't look at her.
"I'm not letting the empire decide what she is."
---
That was the first time he said it like that.
Not as a prince.
But as someone choosing a side.
---
Aria noticed.
She didn't react.
But she noticed.
---
Selene smiled faintly.
"Careful, Your Highness."
A pause.
"You're stepping into dangerous territory."
Kael finally looked at her.
"I already am."
---
The wind returned slightly.
Gentle this time.
But unstable.
Like it didn't fully belong to Aria anymore.
---
She looked at her hand.
Then at her shadow again.
Still normal.
Still quiet.
But not empty.
---
"Selene."
Selene met her eyes.
"If this is real…"
Aria's voice lowered.
"What happens next?"
---
Selene didn't sugarcoat it.
"They will come again."
"Who?"
"This time?"
A pause.
"Not soldiers."
---
Kael's grip tightened on his sword again.
"Then who?"
---
Selene's expression turned serious.
"The ones who buried this the first time."
---
Silence fell again.
But this silence felt different.
Heavier.
Like something had already started moving far beyond the palace.
---
Aria looked toward the sky.
Then down at her shadow.
Two forces.
Both hers.
Both unknown.
---
For the first time—
She wasn't thinking about survival.
She was thinking about control.
And what would happen if she lost it.
Because if the empire had erased something like her once—
Then this time…
They wouldn't try to erase her.
They would try to destroy her completely.