He didn't raise a wand.
He didn't need to.
The authority in his voice was enough to make both Serena and me freeze where we stood.
The man was tall, robed in scholar's black—not the crisp robes of a professor, but older, worn down by time and ash. His hair was streaked with silver, not by age, but by alchemical exposure. His eyes, however, were clear. Watchful.
He stepped into the vault like he belonged there.
"Put the file back," he said again, quieter this time. "If you value what little safety remains."
I didn't move. "You're not faculty."
"No. And neither are you a trespasser."
Serena's hand hovered near her belt—where she kept the glass shard.
"What is this place to you?" I asked.
He studied us for a moment, then nodded to the folder I still held. "That file is not just classified—it's dangerous. Not because of the content, but because of what it might make you question."
I narrowed my eyes. "I've already been questioning."
"Not like this," he replied. "Those records were buried for a reason. Dossier 3C almost fractured the court when it surfaced. The Flameheart case… was only the surface layer."
I stepped back. "You were there."
He didn't deny it.
"I tried to stop the redaction," he said quietly. "And I failed. They offered me silence as a trade for survival."
"And you took it."
"I thought I had no choice. But maybe I just didn't have the right allies."
His gaze flicked to Serena, then to me. "But you… you're building something else. Something the court fears."
Serena raised an eyebrow. "We're not trying to burn down the system."
"No," he said, voice heavy. "But even a crack can make a kingdom bleed."
I glanced at the cabinet. "What else is in there?"
"Enough to end what's left of your protection," he replied. "And to start something no one's ready for."
I hesitated. Then slid the file back into its place.
But I didn't forget the name.
Dossier 3C. Flameheart Reconstruction. Rejected.
The man watched me for a moment longer, then turned toward the vault's exit.
"You'll have more chances," he said as he walked. "But not many. Choose the questions you're willing to pay for."
He left us alone in the dark, the vault door shutting with a quiet finality.
Serena finally exhaled. "Well."
I nodded, my mind already moving.
The court had hidden more than a truth.
It had hidden the very cost of asking.