Chapter 74
The world was running on bad writing, and frankly, I wanted a refund.
My life had already featured transmigration, unstable magic, political kidnappings, and a cat that held high-level national security clearance. But lately? Nothing was following the original storyline. Absolutely nothing.
I was sitting on my bed, aggressively combing a knot out of my hair while explaining structural plot failures to a dog.
"Lysenne and Lucien aren't even in love," I informed Cookie, who was sprawled across my duvet like an oversized loaf of bread. "Rhaevan is wandering around looking brooding and emotionally constipated because he thinks being a lone wolf makes him look mysterious."
Cookie let out a low, judgmental huff.
"Exactly. It doesn't. It makes him look like he needs a nap."
Then there was the King of Eryndor who was getting worse everyday. His Majesty had spent the last week descending into a very specific, deeply concerning brand of paranoia.
Yesterday, he dismissed three ministers because one of them coughed during a budget meeting, citing 'unsanctioned acoustic distractions' and he had no time to prove which one was it who coughed.
The man didn't need a royal court; he needed a spiritual cleansing. And a therapy. Or both.
A firm knock sounded at the door.
"My lady," Martha's voice called out. "Master Theodore requests your presence in his study."
I paused, comb mid-air. "Is it a disaster?"
"He did not specify, my lady."
"Right. Suspicious." I stood up, smoothing down my skirts and pointing a stern finger at the bed. "Cookie, if I am executed for treason, do not eat my velvet slippers. Or my secret stash of cinnamon biscuits."
Martha looked utterly unamused.
I made my way down the quiet corridors toward the east wing. Theo's study was usually a chaotic zone of floating parchments, half-empty tea cups, and high-level strategy. But when I reached the heavy oak doors and knocked twice, nothing happened.
"Theo?" I called out, pushing the door open.
The room was empty.
No Theo. No Rhaevan. Just cold sunlight streaming through the stained-glass windows.
"Great. I've been summoned to an empty room. Truly, the plot thickens."
I stepped inside, intending to wait like a civilized human being. That resolve lasted roughly twelve seconds - right up until I noticed the desk.
Sitting squarely in the center was a small metallic box. Faint purple light leaked from its seams, pulsing softly like a heart beat. Surrounding it was a thin, shimmering film of air - likely a localized protection ward.
I narrowed my eyes. "Well. You don't look safe at all."
The purple light pulsed again.
Logically, I knew Theo didn't leave dangerous artifacts lying around. Illogically, I reasoned that Theo was also the kind of man who forgot to drink water for two days straight when researching ancient catastrophes, so organizational safety was a gray area.
"It's probably just unnecessarily dramatic jewelry," I muttered.
I stared at the box again, "Oh! Who am I kidding!" I mumbled, reaching out for the box.
My hand passed through the shimmering protection ward without a single spark. No resistance. No alarm. Just a faint tingle, like dipping a finger into lukewarm water.
I opened the latch and lifted the lid.
The purple glow intensified, radiating a strange mixture of heat and magic that made the air around it feel charged.
Inside lay a jagged, uneven shard of material, the source of the eerie glow. It looked as though someone had melted dark crystal, lightning, and bad intentions together, then let the whole thing harden in a hurry.
I picked it up to examine it more closely. The moment it touched my hand, the glowing dimmed considerably. "What an ugly-looking stone," I scoffed.
It felt strangely cool against my palm-not heavy, exactly, but dense, like I was holding a condensed piece of the night sky.
"Looks like a paperweight designed by a sleep-deprived villain."
"Cassie, drop it!"
Rhaevan's voice slammed through the doorway so sharply I nearly jumped out of my skin.
I spun around. Rhaevan stood in the threshold, looking paler than I'd ever seen him. Behind him, Theo burst into the room, followed closely by Lysenne and Lucien. All four of them stopped dead in their tracks, staring at my hand with expressions ranging from terror to sheer disbelief.
Rhaevan moved first, closing the distance between us in two frantic strides, reaching out to grab the stone.
Instinctively, I took a step back and pulled the stone toward my chest. "What are you doing? You scared me!"
Rhaevan froze, his hands hovering in mid-air, his chest heaving. "Cassiane... put it down. Slowly."
I looked from Rhaevan's panicked eyes to Theo, who looked like he was mentally calculating my funeral arrangements.
"Why is everyone looking at me like I just swallowed poison?" I asked cautiously.
Silence filled the room.
I looked down at the dull, jagged rock in my hand. Then back at their horrified faces.
"...Wait," I said slowly. "Was I not supposed to touch this?"
"Cassiane," Theo said, his voice dangerously level. "Keep the item in the box and step away from the desk."
"I didn't mean to!" I blurted, panic finally catching up with my brain.
"The box was glowing, and then it stopped glowing when I opened it, and I thought it was a decorative paperweight! Or Theo's secret jewellery stash!!"
I scrambled back to the desk and dropped the stone back into the velvet lining, slamming the lid shut.
"There! Look! It's back in its house! Everything is fine!"
Rhaevan immediately grabbed my wrists, pulling me away from the desk. His hands were trembling slightly as he inspected my fingers, turning them over frantically. "Are you burning? Do you feel dizzy? Can you breathe?"
"I'm fine!" I pulled at his grip, my cheeks flushing at the sudden intensity. "Rhaevan, seriously, stop, I'm entirely intact!"
Theo stepped forward, immediately pulling a heavy silver cloth from his robes and throwing it over the metallic box, effectively sealing it before locking it with a swift flick of his fingers. Only then did he exhale.
"Headaches?" Theo demanded, turning his sharp gaze on me. "Nausea? Magical destabilization? Internal bleeding?"
"I might get a headache from all these questions," I muttered.
"Cassiane," Theo said gravely. "The object you were just holding is raw Solithium ore."
The room went cold.
Solithium. The legendary corrupted element.
I took two massive steps backward, nearly tripping over the edge of the rug. "Oh, shit. You people seriously need warning labels in this place."
Lucien let out a choked, breathless laugh from the doorway.
"Our mages intercepted a shipment at the border an hour ago," Theo explained, his eyes fixed on me with a terrifying level of scrutiny.
"A single carriage was breached during transport. The three mages carrying it collapsed within seconds. They are currently in the infirmary suffering from severe magical burns and violent hallucinations."
I stared at the silver-draped box on the desk. "And you left it on your desk?!"
"It was sealed inside a multi-layered containment ward," Theo corrected smoothly. "A ward designed to repel any living entity that attempted to touch it."
He paused, narrowing his eyes.
"A ward you walked straight through. Without triggering a single trap."
"I..." I blinked. "Maybe your ward was broken?"
"It was not broken," Theo said softly.
"And raw Solithium doesn't just stop emitting energy," Rhaevan added, his voice low and tight as he stepped closer to my side. "When exposed to air, it reacts violently. It destabilizes ambient mana. But the moment you picked it up..."
"It went dark," Lysenne finished, her eyes wide as she looked at me. "It calmed down."
I pointed a finger at my own chest. "Okay, let's not make assumptions. Maybe it was just a defective rock. A lazy rock."
"It responded to your magic, Cassiane," Theo said.
A heavy, suffocating quiet settled over the study.
Up until now, my magic had only ever responded by blowing up training dummies, causing architectural damage, and embarrassing me in front of high-ranking nobility. It was chaotic. Uncontrollable.
This stone hadn't exploded. It had gone quiet.
Like it recognized me.
"No," I said immediately, shaking my head violently. "No. Absolutely not. I reject this narrative. Every time an ancient, glowing object 'chooses' someone, they end up fighting a god in a volcano. I am opting out."
Lucien leaned against the doorframe, a faint, amused smirk tugging at his lips despite the tension. "I don't think you get to opt out of this one, Lady Cassiane."
"Thank you, Lucien. Your input is, as always, deeply unhelpful."
Theo crossed his arms, his posture shifting into the exact stance he used when he was about to ruin my life with new responsibilities.
"The Varynthar military is excavating a massive underground reserve of Solithium. If they refine it, they will be able to create corrupted weapons capable of tearing through our borders."
He took a step toward me.
"We needed a way to neutralize the ore before they could weaponize it. And it appears... you are that way."
I closed my eyes briefly, letting out a long, dramatic sigh.
"I knew I should have stayed in bed with the dog."