Morning arrived too fast. Female guards banged on Kai’s door before the sun even crested the horizon.

They didn’t offer breakfast or water, simply marching him out into the quiet corridors. They escorted him and the five remaining candidates down a winding staircase, leading them deep into the palace’s underground foundations.

Faint celestial runes glowed along the stone walls, brimmed with a strange, erratic energy that made the hairs on Kai’s arms stand up.

"Welcome to the Trial of Will," the gray-robed attendant announced. She stopped before a set of reinforced iron doors.

"Your mind is your only weapon in this chamber. Survive your own regrets, and you might live to see noon. Fail, and we’ll leave your bodies for the scavengers."

She pushed the doors open, revealing a vast, empty room filled with swirling white mist.

Kai stepped inside with complete confidence, while the other men hesitated near the threshold.

A guard shoved a trembling gladiator forward, and the iron doors slammed shut behind them, sealing them in.

Almost immediately, the temperature dropped.

White fog shifted and coalesced into recognizable shapes.

’Let’s see what kind of nightmares this crazy queen likes to play with,’ Kai thought, crossing his arms casually.

A familiar figure stepped out of the fog, making his breath hitch. Sera stood just a few feet away.

But she didn’t look like the cheerful merchant girl he remembered. Her neck ended in a jagged, bloody stump, and she held her own severed head in her hands. Her dead, purple eyes stared right into his soul.

"You promised to protect me, Kai," her severed lips moved, spitting crimson blood onto the floor.

"You let me die. I’m just a piece of trash to you now, aren’t I? You’re replacing me with that scavenger woman."

Before he could even process the sting of her words, the scene shifted rapidly.

Vesper appeared, sitting in a filthy circus cage.

She was crying silently, her tears freezing on her cheeks as she begged him to save her.

Then Eliza walked past him into the blistering desert, never looking back, leaving him entirely alone to rot.

The illusions pressed closer, whispering his worst failures directly into his ears. They tried to crush his spirit and feed on his guilt.

Some of the other candidates were already screaming, clawing frantically at their own faces as their worst fears broke their minds into pieces.

Kai just watched the bloody ghost of Sera.

His heart ached, but the grief didn’t cripple him anymore. It just fueled a cold, burning anger inside his chest.

’This isn’t real,’ he reminded himself, steadying his breathing. ’It’s just a cheap trick.’

He noticed something strange about the magic projecting these images. The celestial energy felt chaotic and completely unhinged.

It was leaking toxic residue into the room, stinging his senses.

’The Matriarch is using these artifacts too much,’ Kai realized, watching the edges of the illusions flicker erratically.

’This power is eating her brain from the inside out. She’s going completely insane, and she can’t control the output.’

"You’re not Sera," Kai told the bloody ghost, stepping forward.

He channeled his freezing mana into his right hand, ignoring the screams of the broken men behind him.

"She wouldn’t whine like this. She was much braver than you."

He punched his frosted fist straight through the illusion.

Blue ice exploded outward in a dazzling shockwave, shattering the misty phantoms into a million harmless pieces.

The celestial magic groaned loudly and snapped around him, unable to handle his focused willpower.

Up in the lavish viewing lounges, the noblewomen watched everything unfold through enchanted silver mirrors.

They sat on plush velvet cushions, drinking spiced wine, their eyes glued hungrily to Kai’s stoic face.

"Did you see that?" a Baroness gasped, squeezing her wine glass so hard her knuckles turned white.

"He didn’t even flinch when he saw that dead girl’s head. He just stared right through it like it was nothing."

"His eyes are so cold," a Duchess said, shifting very uncomfortably on her velvet seat. She bit her thumb, practically drooling over the mirror.

"I want him to look at me exactly like that while he fucks me. I’d let him pin me down and do whatever he wants. He wouldn’t even have to ask. Look at his hands... imagine what those fingers could do."

"You’re embarrassing yourself, Jira," another woman teased, though she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the mirror either.

"But I agree. He’s ruining every other man in this city for me."

"You can keep dreaming, darling," the Baroness laughed, fanning her flushed face to cool down.

"The Matriarch will never let this one go. She’s obsessed already. Look at the way he stands. He knows we’re watching, and he just doesn’t care. He’s practically daring us to try something."

Down in the underground chamber, the white mist cleared completely. Kai stood perfectly still in the center of the room.

Three other men lay sobbing on the floor, weeping and completely broken by their own minds. The iron doors opened with a loud creak, and the attendant walked back inside.

She stepped delicately over a weeping fighter and stopped right in front of Kai. She carried a folded bundle of fabric resting on a wooden tray.

"You passed with the highest marks," she stated, her voice tight with genuine surprise.

"Our ruler is extremely pleased with your mental fortitude. She sent you a personal gift for tonight’s banquet."

Kai picked up the fabric. It was a luxurious black silk robe, intricately embroidered with golden roses along the collar and wide sleeves. It felt softer than anything he’d ever touched, practically melting between his fingers.

"Tell her I appreciate her excellent taste in fashion," Kai smirked, draping the robe casually over his arm.

He returned to his private suite a short time later. The afternoon sun baked the balcony outside, but his room stayed pleasantly cool thanks to the stone walls. Kai stripped off his sweaty shirt and threw it onto a nearby chair, eager to wash the lingering smell of the trial chamber from his skin.

Grabbing the new black silk robe, he slipped his arms into the sleeves and tied the golden sash securely around his waist.

The fabric clung perfectly to his chest, plunging deeply to show off his sculpted torso rather than hide it. It was a very deliberate, horny piece of clothing meant to display a prized possession.

The Matriarch was treating him like a beautiful toy, dressing him up for her own amusement.