Celine wasn't as Luin remembered her.
She stood at the doorway, the evening wind sweeping her hair back.The blood on her shoulder wasn't from a shallow cut — it was the mark of a stab that hadn't reached her heart… but had pierced something far deeper.
She spoke softly:"They've been watching us, Luin."
"Who? The Church?"
She shook her head."No. Not just them."
She walked toward him slowly, as if every step carried meaning. Then she sat by the mirror, staring at her reflection — one that no longer looked like her.
"There's a shadow council within my family," she said."They're not with the Church… but not against it either. They observe bearers of rare seals — they call them The Open Cracks."
Luin asked, "Am I one of them?"
"You're something different, Luin. Something they never wanted to exist. My brother died trying to protect you."
Silence.
"You knew me… from the start?"
"Yes. But I wasn't allowed to get close until you were tested."
"And was I?"
She looked up — and smiled sadly."You didn't break."
⸻
The air shifted.
Hooves against stone… and the sound of cold footsteps.
Luin glanced outside.
The street was empty — yet the shadow approaching wasn't human.
"You brought them here?" he asked quietly.
Celine didn't answer.
But the blood on her shoulder began to flow again.
⸻
The light outside wasn't sunlight.
It was the glow of a priest walking beneath a dome of symbols, dragging behind him three human husks that moved as if dreaming of death.Their eyes were stuffed with gray dust, their mouths sewn shut with sacred threads.
The only sound was the faint rustle of the priest's cloak commanding the wind.
The priest spoke, without raising his eyes:"Bearer of the First Seal… and something beyond the second. Luin Myr. In the name of the Seventh Covenant — surrender yourself."
Luin stood up.
Celine whispered beside him:"Don't fight them here. They've brought a rite called The Curse of Silent Breath. Once it starts… you won't even be able to scream inside your mind."
But Luin wasn't planning to scream.
His voice was calm:"I'll fight them — not to survive, but to see how much of me is still alive."
⸻
The ritual began.
The priest lifted his hand, and from beneath his skin poured a stream of black ink — forming words on the ground that belonged to no language.
The three husks moved, each carrying the trace of a different seal.One bore a heart pulsing on its forehead.
Luin charged forward.
The First Seal ignited — but in a new way.The second eye on his forehead opened slightly, as though something inside longed to see the world for the first time.
The air exploded.
The mirror behind him shattered — yet every shard froze midair, each reflecting a different image of him.
He struck — not with his hand, but with his gaze.
One husk melted where it stood.The second turned to ash before reaching him.The third… was different.
It screamed.
And its scream wasn't human.
Luin stepped back, but Celine grabbed his hand.
"This one," she whispered, "bears a seal that should've been buried with the dawn of creation."
⸻
In that moment…
Luin felt his heart move.
Not from fear.
But from the taste of coming betrayal.
⸻
His body couldn't endure much more, yet the emptiness inside his chest seemed endless.
The night passed without sleep.Luin sat atop a broken rooftop overlooking the alley where the battle had taken place.The city's sounds returned to normal, as if nothing had happened — as if masked men hadn't come, as if no one had been ripped from their soul.
But Luin… was no longer the same.
He opened his palm, staring at faint markings on his skin — shapes like letters erased before they could be written.
A voice echoed inside him, sounding like his own, but trembling oddly:"You're getting closer. And that's… not good."
The entity within rarely spoke — only whispered in moments of danger.But this time, it felt like a warning.
Luin breathed slowly, then stood.
Today, he would either vanish… or fight again.
⸻
He left the slums at dawn, unseen.
No return to Willem's place.No to the small workshop that had hidden him for weeks.
He walked straight toward The Closed Ecclesiastical Passage — an abandoned path once belonging to the Church, its walls still faintly marked with fading seals.
There, a man awaited him.
Not a commoner.
He wore a navy velvet coat with a silver crest on the shoulder — a young face with eyes that never smiled.
"Luin Myr?" he said softly.
Luin nodded.
"I was sent by someone who knows what happened last night."
Luin stayed silent.
"And he wants to meet you."
"Who?" Luin asked quietly.
"A noble from the High Houses. But not like the rest."
Luin didn't trust him.But he knew isolation would no longer save him.If the Church was hunting him… maybe it was better to walk forward than be dragged backward in chains.
⸻
He followed the man through narrow alleys until they reached an abandoned mansion on the edge of a hill — a place only ghosts… or those who resembled them… could inhabit.
Inside, he saw the noble.
Sitting in the center of the hall, surrounded by extinguished candles and old drawings on the floor — a young man in his late twenties, long black hair tied back, wearing a calm smile that hid something else.
"Welcome, Luin Myr," he said. "You're more than I expected."
He stood, adding:"I'm Lucien — of House Elenvaith."
⸻
The name struck Luin like a cold slap.
House Elenvaith — one of the ancient noble lineages, born before kingdoms even drew their borders. Known for never acting publicly… yet ruling from the shadows.
Lucien's quiet smile wasn't threatening — but it wasn't natural either.
He spoke softly:"I've been watching you for a while, Luin. Not because I wanted to kill you… but because you remind me of someone who died long ago."
Luin stayed silent, motionless.
Lucien circled him slowly, studying him like a rare artifact."Do you know why people fear psychic seals? It's not because they unleash power… but because they open something within us — something the Church can't control."
He paused."And that's why they came for you."
Luin raised his eyes.
Lucien leaned closer, sitting right before him.
"I'll be direct. I offer you protection — in exchange for working with me. Or rather… with me, and against me. A double game. You understand that kind of coexistence, don't you?"
Luin turned his head."Who said I'm looking for protection?"
Lucien chuckled."True. You're not. But soon, you'll need it. Because the Church won't stop — and after facing their first arm, you must've realized… the next one will be worse."
⸻
That night, Luin didn't leave the mansion immediately.
He sat in an upper room, staring at a wall covered in maps and notes — most pointing to Church movements, missing names, and symbols that vanished overnight.
In one corner hung a hand-drawn portrait — a boy, no older than ten.White hair. Blue eyes.
He looked like Luin… but wasn't him.
Lucien approached and whispered:"Your brother, isn't he?"
Luin said nothing.
"Or maybe… it was you — before your memory was cut."
⸻
When Luin left the mansion at dawn, he wasn't the same as when he entered.
Something new pulsed in his chest — a thread stretched between trust and suspicion, between the will to live and the pull of the abyss.
But Luin didn't know that someone else had been watching him from the window — not Lucien.
Another eye.Colder.Quieter.
In her hand — a page from an ancient record.
On it, the name: Luin Myr.
And beneath it:
"Second Seal: Unopened.Continuous surveillance.Intervention prohibited."
⸻
The next day, Luin wandered aimlessly.
The old district wasn't the same… or maybe he wasn't.
Every door he passed, every stone, every crack in the wall — all felt familiar, though he couldn't remember why.
He reached a narrow alley, where a mirror hung on a cracked wall.It wasn't for sale.It wasn't part of any shop.
It just… was.
He stopped in front of it.
His reflection didn't appear.
⸻
"Do you see them?"
The voice came from behind.
He turned.
A small boy, dressed in pale gray, stared at him with eyes far too old.
"The mirror only shows those who've betrayed themselves."
Luin said nothing. He had no strength left for riddles.
The boy stepped closer, whispering:"When your next seal breaks, you'll see them all. Even you."
Then — he vanished.
No sound. No steps. Just smoke.
⸻
Later, back in Willem's room, he found him staring at a torn notebook covered in strange symbols — the same ones that had appeared during the fight with the Church's squad.
"When was the last time you slept?" Luin asked.
Willem didn't look up."Sleep's a trick. The Church doesn't sleep — and neither do dreams."
Then, suddenly, he looked at Luin."Have you felt it yet? The tremor? The hum behind your eyes? Or the sense that something's watching you… from beneath your skin?"
Luin didn't reply.
Willem closed the notebook slowly."Then you're close. They'll test you again — but not with strength this time. With betrayal."
Luin frowned.
Willem murmured:"Someone will turn their back on you. Someone you trust. Be careful — because opening the second seal isn't an explosion… it's a fracture."
⸻End of Chapter 19