POV: Nameless Narrator
Location: Narshia Estate's Noble Court
Date: Day 2 of court
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The chamber wasn't built for justice.
It was built for theater.
Velvet drapes. Cold silver crests. Ancestral portraits that watched with dead eyes.
Count Halden sat like a man aging between seconds.
Beside him: Lady Yveline, veiled in elegance.
Opposite her: Sael Narshia, smiling too easily.
Cerene sat silently among them, her expression unreadable.
---
> "Nitsuo Caelum. Escort leader and witness," the steward announced.
He walked calmly. His wounds had healed. But the weight behind his eyes had not.
---
Halden asked the question plainly:
> "Tell us what happened after you left the Academy."
And Nitsuo told him. Brief. Clinical. But never emotionless.
1. Ambush One — Mercenaries:
Well-armed. Coordinated.
Left behind gear and coin-pouches marked by Sael Narshia's trading banners.
"But I claim no certainty. Only strong suspicion," Nitsuo said.
2. Ambush Two — Assassins:
Attack occurred around Day 17.
Clearly trained professionals.
"No clear trace," he said. "But they had Narshia clearance to pass through border posts."
He does not accuse Yveline outright — just plants the idea.
3. Ambush Three — Mirror Holders:
Nitsuo speaks very little about this.
"I was taken by something not human."
"Not your enemies, not your people. But something worse."
He returns with strange insight, sharper mana, and haunted eyes.
---
Yveline narrows her eyes.
> "You claim my house shelters bandits and phantoms, Nitsuo Caelum?"
He bows slightly.
> "I report what we endured, Lady Yveline. The shadows choose who to cling to. I merely bring the torch."
---
Sael clicks his tongue.
> "So convenient, that you vanish during an welcome party — only to return days later with riddles and bruises."
Nitsuo doesn't answer.
Silence.
---
Halden closes the inquiry with a grave nod.
He does not make a judgment yet — but the political lines have been drawn.
He knows Sael is plotting.
He suspects Yveline has made her move.
And now he sees that Nitsuo is dangerous — not politically, but tactically. He is someone who survives.
Later that evening, in a dim room off the west wing, the team regrouped.
The fire crackled softly. Shadows flickered.
Leander paced like a lion in a cage.
Alice leaned near the window, silent, but her eyes were on every shadow.
Riya clutched a cup, long gone cold.
Gideon stood guard near the door, silent as stone.
Anna sat beside Elric, fingers twitching at her sleeve.
Lily sat at table looking at Nitsuo like he never returned.
Then, Nitsuo spoke. The room stilled.
> "From now on… three orders."
He said it like a soldier, not a friend.
"First — watch Sael and Yveline. Quietly. From a distance. No contact. No noise. Use shadows."
"Second — don't wait for me. Move if needed. Think."
"Third — if danger rises… flee."
> "No second thoughts."
Alice raised an eyebrow.
> "Is this war, Tactician?"
Nitsuo nodded once.
> "It always was. We just entered their battlefield."
Leander's smile faded. He didn't joke this time.
Riya looked down, gripping her cup tighter.
Anna breathed out slowly — like someone realizing her mask wouldn't protect her here.
Gideon didn't react. But he shifted his stance. Ready.
Elric simply nodded.
> "Understood."
---
That night, Nitsuo walked alone to Count Halden's private chamber.
The old man looked smaller in candlelight.
> "You saw it," Halden said before Nitsuo could speak.
"You saw the decay. The house eating itself."
Nitsuo's response was calm, but sharp.
> "I saw a family built on sand. And blood in the walls."
Halden sighed, hands pressed together like a man in prayer.
> "What would you have me do, boy? I cannot execute suspicion. I cannot exile shadows."
Nitsuo reached into his coat.
Placed a crumpled, dirt-stained parchment on the desk.
> "Found it on the mercenaries. The seal is faded. But the signature is clear. Sael Narshia."
Halden's fingers hovered before touching it. Like he was afraid it might bite.
He read it. Once. Then again.
And the last piece of strength in his shoulders seemed to fall away.
> "...My brother."
Nitsuo didn't speak.
Then Halden looked up — and for a moment, the tired old count became something else.
> "What of Yveline?"
> "No proof yet," Nitsuo said. "But something is wrong."
Halden clenched the letter.
> "Then bring me proof. Quietly. I give you that right."
> "What reward?"
> "When this house can breathe again, we'll speak of it."
---
That Night
Nitsuo returned to his chamber late. His boots still dusty. The fire dim.
He opened his journal. Ink bled softly onto the page.
> "A court is not a place of truth. It is where power dresses in lies."
"And tonight, I was just another actor."
---
But behind the page, something had shifted.
The team didn't see it yet. But they would.
Because Nitsuo no longer walked behind their footsteps.
He was already in the next room. Opening the next door. Setting the next trap.
---
> "If this house falls, let it be by my hand — not theirs."
"And let those who pull strings learn that I do not dance."
— Journal of the Silent Tactician