After training in the cave I made my way back to the mansion.

Sebastian was already standing at the gate.

"Good morning, Young Master."

His face showed nothing. As always.

I nodded once and went inside.

I took a quick bath, my clothes were ragged with dirt and sweat, the evidence of another morning’s work and afterward went down for breakfast. Ate quietly. I returned to my room.

I sat on the bed in lotus position and started breathing.

Mana responded immediately. No effort, no searching, just a breath, and the room filled with it. Faint particles of mana drifting through the air like embers, glowing softly in the morning light. A month ago I hadn’t even known this was possible.

After a while I stood and crossed to the mirror.

The reflection that looked back at me was unrecognizable from the one I had first seen.

"Yeah," I muttered. "That’s something."

Not finished. But better.

I headed to the training ground.

No mentor. No instructor. Just the sword, the form I had reconstructed from Kael’s fragmented memories and my own understanding of how bodies moved under pressure. It was imperfect. But it was mine.

Why was I training in sword even though I had a mana heart not a circle?

Simple.

I needed something for close combat.

I was mid-swing when I heard the footsteps.

Measured. Precise. Deliberately audible which meant Sebastian wanted me to hear him coming. An assassin who could move in complete silence choosing not to was its own kind of statement.

I didn’t stop.

"Young Master."

I completed the swing, held the position, then lowered the blade.

"Let me help with your training."

The words landed quietly in the morning air.

I turned to look at him. Sebastian Crowe composed, unreadable, hands clasped behind his back. The same as every morning. Except for the fact that he had just offered something he had never offered before.

I studied him for a moment.

Then smiled.

"What changed your mind?"

He didn’t say anything, just corrected my posture. And left.

***

Night came.

I was still awake.

Why?

Because tonight, I had a free spin in the Gacha Store.

Pop.

White smoke curled into existence.

Luna appeared, punctual as ever, for this and only this.

"What are you doing here, Luna?"

"I’m here to spin the wheel."

"Really." I looked at her flatly. "You never come when I actually need you. But for this you show up immediately."

"Yeah," she said, without a trace of shame. "Isn’t that obvious?"

Is she really a child, I thought.

"Fine. Let’s spin."

Her expression shifted instantly that particular brand of unsettling delight she reserved for moments like this.

"Round and round the wheel goes! Where it stops, nobody knows~!"

The wheel was enormous. Prizes packed into every segment, more options than I could read before it blurred into motion. It spun for what felt like an eternity, colors bleeding together, and then...

A flash of bright light.

"Congratulations~!" Luna announced, with entirely too much enthusiasm for someone who had introduced themselves by torturing me.

"You have won Hell’s Fire. High Rank Magic."

I stared at the screen.

Hell’s Fire.

High rank magic wasn’t something ordinary people learned. It wasn’t something academies taught in the first year, or second, or third. It was the domain of great mages people who had spent decades refining their craft.

And Hell’s Fire specifically was something else entirely. An everlasting flame that could not be extinguished by conventional means. Once ignited, it burned on its own terms.

I couldn’t help it.

I smiled.

"Chef’s kiss," I muttered to myself.

Luna watched me with those unreadable eyes, looking faintly amused.

***

Around evening, I was at the window when a carriage rolled through the gates.

It was formal. Dark lacquered wood, gold trim, and mounted on top, the emblem of the Ducal House of Ardyn.

A woman stepped out. Mid-twenties by appearance, dressed in a way that made it immediately clear she wasn’t a servant. The kind of person sent to deliver something important.

"So," I murmured to myself, watching from above. "The birthday invitation has arrived."

The servants escorted her inside.

A few minutes later, a knock at my door.

"Young Master." Sebastian’s voice, measured as always. "A guest has arrived. Your presence has been requested."

I looked at the door for a moment.

Then I reached for my coat.

"Tell them I’m on my way."

When I reached the guest room she was standing by the window, hands folded, posture perfect.

Her eyes met mine.

Then dropped slowly, involuntarily taking in my face, my frame, the person standing in the doorway.

Her composure cracked for exactly one second. Her mouth opened slightly. A flicker of something crossed her expression that she clearly hadn’t intended to show pure, unguarded shock.

Then the mask returned.

"Ahem." She cleared her throat. "My greetings, Young Master."

"I am here to deliver Lady Aria’s formal invitation to her birthday banquet." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

I said nothing for a moment. Just looked at her with the kind of calm that tended to make people uncomfortable.

Then I nodded.

I accepted the invitation letter.

"Sebastian escort our guest to her carriage."

I left before she could respond.

Inside the carriage, the moment the door closed, her composure finally broke.

"Who... was that?"

She sat back against the seat, staring at nothing.

"Was that really the Young Master? The trash of House Ardyn?"

The rumors had painted a very specific picture. Obese. Slovenly. The kind of person you pitied before you were dismissed. She had prepared herself for exactly that.

What she had not prepared for was that.

She pressed her lips together and said nothing else for the rest of the ride.

***

I returned to my room and broke the seal on the letter.

A birthday banquet. Formal. Attended by some of the most influential people in the empire, nobility, military figures, academy representatives.

I skimmed the details.

Then stopped.

Tucked within the formal invitation was a second document.

A duel request. Issued by Aria Ardyn herself.

I stared at it for a long moment.

Then I laughed. Quietly, to myself, the kind of laugh that came from something finally making sense.

So that’s how it happened.

In the original novel, Kael had attended this banquet. He had accepted this duel in front of every influential figure in the empire, every person whose opinion mattered and he had lost. Humiliated publicly, completely, in front of an audience assembled to witness exactly that.

And then he tried to kill her.

Not out of pure hatred, I realized. Out of shame.

I folded the letter carefully and set it down.

"Wait for me, Aria," I said quietly to the empty room.

"I have a surprise for your birthday."