Chapter 183 An Invitation

Ding dong.

The doorbell rang in the middle of breakfast.

Carmilla set down the soup ladle, wiped her hands, then went to answer the door. A moment later, she returned, her expression slightly unusual.

"Sir Erik. Someone from the Council is here to see you."

The atmosphere at the dining table grew heavy. Meira set down her knife and fork. Elowen instinctively shifted to shield Felyn.

At the threshold of the living room, a woman in a gray attendant’s uniform knelt, both hands holding up a letter sealed with golden wax bearing the image of a sun. Her black hair was cut at chin length, her face white and expressionless like a porcelain doll.

"The Sacred Sun Men’s Council presents its regards to Sir Erik." Her voice was even and entirely without emotion. "God Zeka invites you to the Council headquarters at noon three days from now."

Erik stood and walked over. "Stand up. No one has to kneel here."

The female attendant paused for a moment before slowly rising. When she lifted her head, her gaze swept across the living room.

Past the dining table, past the bowls of soup still steaming, lingering on Runi for an instant. Then it moved to Laviana, seated at the corner of the table, still holding a teacup.

Only for an instant. Then she lowered her eyes, as though she had never looked at anyone.

Laviana took a sip of tea, the corner of her mouth unchanged.

Erik accepted the letter. "Why does Zeka want to see me?"

"I am only the messenger." The female attendant lowered her head. Then, as though suddenly remembering something, she added in the same even voice as if reading a report, "Last night, the Council sent a group to an ancient human ruin north of the city. They stood before a stone door all night, but no one could enter. This morning, God Zeka wrote this letter."

Erik frowned. "What ruin?"

"I am not permitted to say any more."

She bowed once again, then retreated to the door. Her footsteps were so light they were nearly silent.

The door closed.

Erik lowered his eyes to the letter in his hand. The blazing gold sun seal, with its ostentatious rays almost painful to look at, was exactly the aesthetic of those people.

A door that the entire Council could not open. And the next morning, Zeka remembered him.

"The bread is getting cold." Laviana set down her teacup, the porcelain softly touching the saucer. "Eat first, darling. Those old men’s affairs can wait."

Erik laughed, set the letter down on the table, and returned to his seat.

He did not notice that as she spoke, Laviana’s blue eyes gleamed slightly, like a snake that had just seen prey step precisely into its intended place.

...

That afternoon, after Carmilla took Runi to the market to buy more food, Erik called everyone into Meira’s study.

The room was at the end of the second-floor hallway. Three walls were lined with bookshelves reaching the ceiling, filled with the scent of old paper and dried herbs hanging in bundles by the window.

Afternoon sunlight slanted through the thin curtains, scattering pale gold streaks across a map of Silver Moon spread wide over the table.

The sun-sealed letter lay at its exact center.

Meira stood by the window, arms crossed over her chest, fingers tapping against her elbow as they did whenever she was waiting for test results. Elowen sat perched on the armrest of an armchair, her legs swinging while her eyes never left the letter, her pointed ears standing alert.

Felyn sat nestled in a large chair, hands resting on her knees, tilting her head toward each person’s voice.

As for Laviana, she lay sideways on the chaise beside the bookshelf, one hand supporting her head while the other turned a teacup, her body curved in a lazy line like a snake basking in the sun.

"I will go," Erik said.

No one was surprised. But the room still fell silent for a moment.

"I knew it." Elowen sighed, then immediately sat upright. "Then I’m going with you."

"No."

"Why?!"

"Because I will bring Meira and Laviana." Erik looked at the two women at opposite ends of the room. "They are the two strongest people I know. One can keep me alive in any situation. The other can see every corner of that tower before I even step inside."

Laviana laughed softly. She set down her teacup, slowly slid off the chaise, then moved with graceful steps behind Erik. Her white arms looped around his neck, her chin resting on his shoulder, her soft body pressing against his back like a snake that had found a branch it liked.

"Bringing me?" Her tongue lightly brushed the edge of his ear, her voice sweet as honey. "Darling, you really do know how to make a woman happy."

Meira abruptly turned. Without saying a word, she walked over, grabbed Erik by the collar, pulled him toward herself, and freed him from Laviana’s arms as easily as removing a scarf.

"We are discussing serious matters."

"I am being very serious too." Laviana pouted, but released him anyway, lazily leaning back against the table’s edge.

Meira still did not let go of his collar. She looked at Erik for a long time, then nodded. "I will go."

"What about me?" Elowen jumped down from the armrest. "I am strong too!"

"Exactly. That is why you are staying." Erik looked directly into her eyes. "I will be gone, Meira will be gone, Laviana will be gone. At home, there is still Felyn, Saraya who just woke up, and Vylana. If something happens then, I need the person I trust most to stay here."

Elowen opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again. Her pointed ears drooped, though her cheeks turned a little red.

"...The person you trust most?"

"Yes."

"Hmph." She turned her face away and dropped back onto the armrest. "Just this once."

Felyn smiled softly, but her smile quickly faded. "What are you going to say to them?"

Erik did not answer immediately. He stepped to the table and placed a finger on the map. At the city’s center, between the administrative district and the main square, was a lighthouse symbol circled in red ink.

[Heart].

"Meira," he asked, "last time you said the protective dome had about two years left."

Meira was silent for a moment before answering, her voice lowering. "That was before the night the sky dome cracked. Now... I do not dare say for certain."

No one spoke.

Outside the window, silver scars in the sky still shimmered under the afternoon sun, beautiful enough to make people forget that they were cracks.

"I cannot patch the entire sky by myself," Erik said slowly. "To preserve the protective dome, we have to relight the Lighthouse. And the Lighthouse is in the Council’s hands. They have sealed it off for so many years, refusing to let anyone near it, even while the light atop the tower is barely flickering."

His finger lightly tapped the red circle.

"So I want to meet Zeka. Not to start a war. But to negotiate."

"Negotiate with Zeka?" Elowen frowned. "That old man who kills people as casually as throwing away trash?"

"I know what kind of person he is." Erik’s voice did not change. "But if the sky dome collapses and Dark Mist pours in, the Council will have nowhere left to hide either. This time, we have a common enemy. I want to see whether he is smart enough to realize that."

Laviana set her teacup on its saucer. The porcelain made a soft sound as it touched.

"And what if he is not smart enough?"

Erik did not answer immediately.

He looked out the window, at rooftops still stained with smoke, at work crews clearing rubble in the streets below. He thought of the female soldiers at the outpost, the wounded crammed into hospital corridors, and Saraya, who had cried in his arms that morning.

"I do not want war," he said very softly. "I do not want anyone else to die. This city has shed enough blood already."

Then he turned back. His eyes were calm, but what lay beneath them made even Laviana stop smiling.

"But if this meeting fails..."

The room became so quiet that the sound of wind turning book pages on the shelf could be heard.

"...then I will have to resolve it my way."

No one asked what "my way" meant.

Meira silently placed a hand on his shoulder, her fingers tightening slightly. Elowen gripped the edge of the armrest until her knuckles turned white. Felyn stood, followed the edge of the table toward him, found his hand, and held it tightly without saying a word.

As for Laviana, she remained leaning against the table’s edge, watching the man standing in that sunlit room for a long time. Her pupils narrowed into thin slits, then slowly widened again. She raised a hand to tuck a strand of red hair behind her ear and smiled softly, without the slightest trace of teasing this time.

"Then I have even more reason to go with you."

...

That evening, after everyone had returned to their rooms, Erik knocked on Laviana’s door.

Click.

The door opened only a narrow crack. From within the darkness, a pair of blue eyes flashed, their pupils contracting ever so slightly like a snake’s eyes at night. Then the door opened wider.

Laviana leaned against the doorframe in a red silk nightgown, one strap slipped down her shoulder, her red hair falling to her waist and still slightly damp from her bath. The scent of black roses and wine wafted from the room behind her, sweet enough to make one dizzy.

She looked him over from head to toe, slowly, as though assessing a dish delivered right to her door. Her red tongue slipped out, passing over her lower lip.

"Oh my." Her voice dragged out, husky. "You finally decided to crawl into the snake’s den on your own, darling?"

"I have something I need your help with." Erik lowered his voice. "It is about Runi."

Laviana’s smile did not change. Nor did she step aside. She merely reached out, hooked a finger into his collar, pulled him inside, then lightly kicked the door shut behind him with her heel.

Erik explained briefly: the strange scent, the two mana rhythms Meira had heard, the female soldier in the isolation room, and the decision to keep that thing close for now. Laviana did not sit still for even a second.

She circled him in slow steps, her hand gliding over his shoulder, back, and right arm that had just been freed from its splint, like a snake coiling around prey.

By the time he spoke of the two mana rhythms, she was standing directly behind him, her chin resting on his shoulder, hot breath brushing against his ear.

"I want your Serpent Eye to watch the child. Do not let it notice."

"All right." Laviana whispered beside his ear. "I will watch the child."

Erik was slightly surprised and tilted his head to look at her. "You are not going to ask anything else?"

"You have decided to keep it here, which means you have your reasons." Her finger slowly drew a circle over his chest, directly where the guiding mark lay beneath his shirt. "As for me, knowing that you trust me enough to give me this task is enough."

Erik laughed. That was Laviana.

"Thank you."

"Thanking me with words is too cheap."

Before he could react, Laviana had turned him around and pressed his back against the door. Her arms coiled around his neck, her soft body pressing against him through the thin silk, hot and winding like a snake tightening around a branch.

"But if you are going to use your mouth..." Her blue eyes curved, her pupils narrowing into thin slits. "Then you should use it the right way."

She leaned down.

Her long, thin tongue, like a snake’s tongue, slipped from her red lips and slowly licked a path from his collarbone to his neck, stopping at his ear before lightly curling around his earlobe as though tasting it. Erik took a sharp breath, his hand tightening at her waist.

Then she kissed him.

Neither hurried nor gentle. Her tongue slipped inside and entwined with his, longer and deeper than any kiss from an ordinary woman, as though she wanted to taste every breath in his throat.

Only when Erik began struggling to breathe did she finally release him, leaving behind a thin silver thread stretched between their lips.

Laviana licked her lips, unhurriedly, as though she had just finished enjoying dessert.

"That is the deposit." She opened the door behind him and gently pushed him into the hallway. "The rest, after you return from the Council, I will come collect myself."

Then she leaned close to his ear and whispered in a husky voice:

"Sleep well, darling."

Click.

The door closed.

Laviana leaned her back against the door and closed her eyes. Her tongue still slowly passed over the corner of her lips, tasting his lingering flavor. She remained motionless until the sound of his footsteps in the corridor had faded far away.

Then her blue eyes opened. The warmth within them was gone.

She walked to the vanity and pulled open the bottom drawer.

Inside was a black leather notebook. On its cover, the faded image of a nine-headed snake.

Laviana poured herself a glass of wine, sat down, and crossed her legs. Her slender fingers turned each page while her red-painted nails lightly tapped against the paper. Click. Click. Steady as the count of a clock.

The newest page was packed with tiny writing, numbers, and arrows tangled together. Beside them was a hand-drawn diagram of two mana waves woven together: one thin and steady, the other cold and spreading, covering the first like a shell.

The first page of that series of records was dated the night the sky dome cracked.

Laviana picked up a pen, spun it once between her fingers, then added another line.

"Day six. Host stable. No rejection. Emotional responses have begun to appear."

She stared at those words for a long time. Her index finger slowly traced the cold wave on the page, gentle and tender, as though stroking the scales of a precious pet.

A host carrying Dark Mist within her body without going mad, without turning into a monster, yet still knowing how to pour tea and learn to smile.

How many years had Hydra spent, how many test subjects, how many cold rooms beneath the earth had it filled, yet it had never accomplished that.

And now, it was sleeping beneath the same roof as her. Only two doors away from her room.

Laviana’s pupils narrowed into thin slits. Her tongue slipped out and trembled lightly in the air, as though tasting a scent only she could smell.

She raised her glass, took a sip, then closed the notebook. The leather cover shut with a soft sound.

"How interesting."