Klaus walked beside Leonardo, still shaken, still trying to wrap his head around everything he had learned. The streets of Clockspire buzzed with their usual late-evening chaos — steam pipes hissing, lamps flickering like nervous fireflies, people rushing home as if they could sense a storm coming.
Klaus swallowed hard and finally asked,
"What did King Caesar even do?"
Leonardo didn't stop walking. Didn't even turn to face him. He just kept moving, hands in his pockets, eyes fixed ahead like he could already see the palace burning.
Klaus tried again, "Is he hiding under some cover? Acting like he's some saint?"
Leonardo breathed out a slow, tired exhale — the kind of exhale someone makes when life has wrung them dry.
"Everyone in that palace hides under something," he said. "Power. Gold. Reputation. Some hide behind fake morals. Others behind crowns. But Caesar?"**
He cracked his knuckles lazily.
"He hides behind all of them."
Klaus stepped in front of him, desperate for clarity.
"Then why do you want to kill all these people? Why everyone connected to this… book of yours?"
Leonardo finally looked at him — and for the first time, Klaus felt he wasn't staring at a normal person at all. He was staring at something old, dangerous, and tired of pretending.
"Because they took what made me human," Leonardo said softly.
"Because they created monsters… then pretended they didn't."
His voice went cold.
"And because I'm done letting them breathe."
Before Klaus could respond, the scene cut — like a film reel snapping — to deep inside the palace.
Golden lamps lit the enormous room, reflecting off marble floors polished so smooth they looked like frozen water. King Caesar sat at a long obsidian table with Morgan beside him. Between them: two glasses of dark, expensive wine.
They raised their glasses in a casual toast — the kind that told Klaus and Leonardo were not even worth their fear.
Caesar smirked.
"So, tell me, Morgan… when he finally comes for us — what's our move?"
Morgan leaned back, swirling his wine.
"Simple. Let him walk right into our jaws. The moment he steps foot in this palace, Subject X will be released."
Caesar gave a lazy smile, the kind that belonged to a man who believed he was untouchable.
"Good. I want him to suffer before he dies."
Morgan chuckled.
"Oh trust me, my lord. He will."
They toasted again, the glasses clinking like a death bell.
The gates of the palace towered over them like the open mouth of a sleeping giant. Guards patrolled lazily, unaware death walked toward them in a black coat and a tired expression.
Klaus whispered,
"So… we just walk in?"
Leonardo shrugged.
"Pretty much."
They slipped inside easily, the palace hallways stretching out like a maze carved by a drunk architect. Paintings of Caesar stared down at them from every wall, watching, judging, smirking.
Klaus kept looking around anxiously.
"Where are we even going?"
Leonardo glanced at him.
"You're the one who said you wanted answers. I'm just following the smell of corruption."
They turned a corner… then another… then another… until Klaus froze.
"Leonardo… what is this room?"
They had accidentally stepped inside a luxurious entertainment hall — velvet curtains, perfume thick as fog, and a group of prostitutes in the middle of undressing. One of them screamed when she saw the two random men standing in the doorway.
Klaus blinked rapidly, face turning bright red.
"I— I swear this is NOT what it looks like—"
A guard stormed in immediately.
"HEY! You two — hands where I can see them!"
Before Klaus could say a word, the guard grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the wall.
Leonardo sighed like someone being inconvenienced by a fly.
"Klaus… you really can't go five minutes without causing a scene, huh?"
Klaus wheezed, pinned against the wall.
"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING—"
The guard pulled out a dagger.
"Give me one reason not to stab you."
Leonardo stepped forward, expression blank — almost bored.
"How about this? He's with me."
The guard scoffed and pushed the dagger closer to Klaus's throat.
"And who the hell are yo—"
Leonardo placed his palm on the guard's shoulder.
A flash of crimson fire burst out, and the guard crumbled to ash in two seconds.
Klaus fell to the floor coughing.
"WHAT— WHAT THE HELL LEONARDO—"
Leonardo brushed invisible dust from his fingers.
"Next time, duck faster."
Two guards sprinted into the throne room, panicked and out of breath.
"Sir! There's… there's been an intruder— no, TWO intruders in the west wing! One of the guards is dead!"
Morgan's wine glass stopped halfway to his lips.
King Caesar turned sharply.
"Who?"
Morgan closed his eyes.
He didn't need to guess.
"It's him."
The room suddenly felt colder.
Caesar whispered,
"Then begin the protocol."
Morgan nodded to the guards.
"Get Subject X ready. Now."
The guards saluted and sprinted off.
Morgan took one last sip of his wine, eyes darkening.
"Let the boy come. This time, he won't leave alive."
They hurried through the corridors, the tension rising with each step. Klaus kept staring at Leonardo, every instinct screaming that he should run — yet somehow, he stayed.
"Leonardo… what exactly is Subject X?" he asked nervously.
Leonardo smiled faintly — but it wasn't a friendly smile.
"Someone I should've killed a long time ago."
Klaus swallowed.
The palace shook slightly — like something powerful had just been awakened.