Moonlight illuminated the Crown Prince's Palace.
The palace stood in the eastern district of the Imperial City, surrounded by black lakes and ancient spirit trees.
Inside the study...
Lucien sat behind a desk carved from Void Crystal.
Before him lay dozens of reports gathered during the three days he had spent inside the Forgotten Sovereign's inheritance.
Trade reports.
Military reports.
Border incidents.
Noble family disputes.
He read each one without missing a single detail.
After nearly an hour...
He closed the final document.
"So..."
"They've already begun."
A knock came at the door.
"Enter."
Elena Ashford stepped inside and bowed.
"Your Highness."
"The people you requested have arrived."
Lucien stood.
"Bring them in."
Moments later...
Twelve figures entered the hall.
Eight men.
Four women.
All dressed in plain black clothing.
None appeared older than thirty.
Yet every one of them possessed a sharp, disciplined aura.
They knelt simultaneously.
"We greet Your Imperial Highness."
Lucien looked at each of them.
These were not ordinary guards.
They were the finest intelligence officers personally trained by the previous Crown Prince.
Known throughout the empire only by whispers...
The Black Raven Guard.
Their existence was a closely guarded secret.
Lucien spoke calmly.
"Rise."
The twelve obeyed immediately.
A tall man stepped forward.
"Commander Cassius."
"Leader of the Black Raven Guard."
Lucien nodded.
"I've read your records."
"You've served House Noctis for seventeen years."
Cassius placed a fist over his chest.
"My life belongs to the Imperial Family."
Lucien smiled faintly.
"I don't want your life."
"I want your results."
A brief silence followed.
Then...
Cassius smiled.
"For the first time..."
"I understand why His Majesty trusts you."
Lucien walked toward a large map of the empire.
He placed three black chess pieces upon it.
"The Empire has three enemies."
He pointed to the first.
"The Sacred Lands."
"The second."
"The Demon Tribes."
Finally...
He placed the last piece within the Imperial Capital itself.
"Our third enemy..."
"...is hiding here."
The room became silent.
Cassius frowned.
"Traitors?"
Lucien nodded.
"I don't need guesses."
"I need evidence."
"No arrests."
"No assassinations."
"No mistakes."
"I want every movement..."
"...every meeting..."
"...every coin..."
"...recorded."
Cassius bowed deeply.
"It shall be done."
Lucien continued.
"From today onward..."
"The Black Raven Guard answers only to me."
"If even a Prince asks for information..."
"Refuse."
"If a Marshal demands access..."
"Refuse."
"If the Prime Minister threatens you..."
Cassius smiled.
"We refuse."
Lucien nodded.
"Good."
"Loyalty without discipline becomes recklessness."
"Discipline without loyalty becomes betrayal."
"I expect both."
As the meeting ended, one young woman remained behind.
She appeared no older than nineteen.
Silver hair.
Emerald eyes.
A calm expression.
She bowed respectfully.
"Your Highness."
"I have something to report."
Lucien gestured for her to continue.
"My name is Iris."
"I recently infiltrated House Alton as a maid."
Lucien's interest was immediately piqued.
"What did you discover?"
She hesitated.
"Nothing concrete."
"But..."
"Every seventh night..."
"The Prime Minister dismisses all servants."
"No one is allowed near the western courtyard."
Lucien walked to the window.
"The seventh night..."
"Interesting."
He turned toward Iris.
"Do not investigate further."
She blinked.
"But Your Highness—"
"If they've hidden it that carefully..."
"They're expecting spies."
"I won't lose a capable agent over curiosity."
Relief flashed across Iris's face.
"As you command."
After everyone had left...
Lucien stood alone beneath the night sky.
The city below glittered with countless lights.
Somewhere among those lights...
His enemies were making their own plans.
He wasn't in a hurry.
A hunter who rushed into the forest...
Usually became the prey.
Lucien looked up at the moon and smiled.
"Let's see..."
"...who makes the first mistake."
Far away, inside House Alton...
A hooded messenger slipped through a hidden underground passage.
In his sleeve...
He carried a sealed jade token bearing an unfamiliar symbol.
A black sun...
Surrounded by twelve golden stars.
The token vanished into the darkness.
And with it...
The first thread of a conspiracy that had been woven for decades.
Night had fallen over the Eternal Heaven Realm.
Though separated by millions of miles...
The same silver moon illuminated both the Noctis Imperial Palace and the Moonlight Sacred Land.
Within the Moonlight Sacred Land...
Sylvia stood alone beside the Moon Reflection Lake.
The water was as still as a mirror.
In her delicate hands rested the Seven-Star Soul Orchid.
She had refined countless heavenly treasures before.
Yet tonight...
She couldn't bring herself to absorb it.
Her fingers gently brushed across one of its glowing petals.
A faint smile unconsciously appeared.
She remembered the calm expression of the Crown Prince.
Not arrogance.
Not pride.
Just quiet confidence.
When he handed her the flower...
His eyes hadn't lingered on her beauty.
There had been no hidden intention.
Only one sentence.
"It belongs to you."
Such simple words...
Yet no one outside her Master had ever spoken to her that way.
The flower was priceless.
Most cultivators would have fought to the death over it.
He...
Had simply given it away.
The more she thought about it...
The warmer her heart became.
"So..."
"What kind of man are you?"
A soft sigh escaped her lips.
Footsteps echoed behind her.
The Third Elder smiled knowingly.
"Still awake?"
Sylvia hurriedly hid the orchid behind her back.
"I couldn't sleep."
The Elder chuckled.
"You've been holding that flower for three hours."
Sylvia lowered her head.
A faint blush colored her cheeks.
"...Is it that obvious?"
The Elder nodded with a smile.
"I've watched you grow up."
"I've never seen you smile because of a man."
Sylvia's heartbeat quickened.
"I don't..."
"...I don't know what I'm feeling."
"I've only met him twice."
The Elder walked beside her.
"Sometimes..."
"A single meeting reveals more than a hundred conversations."
Sylvia quietly looked toward the moon.
"...I only want to know whether the person I met..."
"...is the real Crown Prince."
"Or whether the world has misunderstood him."
At the same time...
Within the Crown Prince's Palace...
Lucien stood alone on the highest balcony.
The entire Imperial City stretched beneath him like a sea of stars.
He had everything.
Power.
Status.
Wealth.
Authority.
Yet...
The palace behind him remained silent.
Too silent.
For a brief moment...
He remembered his life on Earth.
No imperial throne.
No cultivation.
No destiny.
Just an ordinary life with ordinary dreams.
Those memories felt distant now...
Almost like someone else's life.
He smiled bitterly.
"I suppose..."
"...there's no going back."
A cold wind swept across the balcony.
Lucien closed his eyes.
When he opened them again...
The hesitation was gone.
Only determination remained.
"If fate wants me to become a villain..."
"Then I'll become the greatest villain this world has ever seen."
"But..."
His gaze drifted toward the distant eastern horizon.
For reasons he couldn't explain...
A silver-haired girl appeared in his thoughts.
He remembered the gratitude in Sylvia's eyes.
The way she had refused to accept the orchid because she didn't want to owe him anything.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"At least..."
"...there are still genuine people in this world."
He turned and walked back into the palace.
The moonlight continued to shine.
Far apart...
Yet beneath the same moon...
Two hearts had unknowingly taken their first small step toward one another.
Neither of them realized it.
But destiny...
Had already begun to change.