Chapter 19

A side corridor beneath the Universal Guard meeting chamber. Mana-glass windows shimmer faintly with the glow of the distant sea above. Shizuku stands with arms crossed, waiting. Footsteps echo. Kalt XVIII approaches—wary, unsure.

Shizuku
You’re good.
Convincing even.
But you can’t fool the Universal Emperor.

Kalt flinches.

Shizuku
When you told Astera:
"I did. But not by choice. One year ago, Raureif burned—not with fire, but with fracture. My father, Kalt XVII, called a summit. There were rumors of a being—a wanderer with frozen lungs and silver blood. Someone who claimed dominion over rot and frost. Dead before the bell struck noon. I wasn’t there. I was off-world—training. When I came back, Givre was on the throne."
—You left something out.

Kalt
(tensing)
What else do you think I could have said?

Shizuku steps closer, his gaze sharp, but not cruel.

Shizuku
You bowed to him.
Didn’t you?

Silence.

Kalt
(quietly)
Again...
To keep my people safe.
Raureif was going to splinter!
I kept the younger nobles alive.
I negotiated—if you can call it that.

He looks down, ashamed.

Kalt
But yes…
I bowed.
And I’ve regretted it ever since.

Shizuku doesn’t respond immediately. The tension lingers—like frost that won’t melt.

Kalt
I’m not proud of it.
But I know what’s coming now.
I know what Givre is.
And if I have to fight him with bare hands, I will.

Shizuku
(slowly)
Good.
Because if you hadn’t said that last part, I would’ve turned you into a training dummy for Lily.

Kalt looks up, startled.

Shizuku
(smiling faintly)
We’ve all made bad decisions.
But now you’ve got a choice—stand and fix what you let break…
Or stay a ghost in your own kingdom.

Kalt
(dead serious)
I’ll stand.

Shizuku nods once.

Shizuku
Then you’re not the ghost.
Givre is.