Thank you so much @Rachel_Bertram for the Golden Ticket

Thank you so much @Jennifer_Goliah for the Golden Ticket

Thank you so much @TinaMarie83 for the Golden Ticket.

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"A silent road often hides the loudest danger."

********

Xandros stood motionless near the doorway for exactly three seconds after stepping back into the chamber.

His grey eyes swept slowly across the disaster before him.

A pillow lay near the fireplace.

One chair had somehow fallen sideways.

Rosaline stood near the bed with flushed cheeks while her enormous silver-white wings twitched restlessly behind her like a guilty animal caught causing trouble.

And Lily...

Lily looked moments away from running away.

The silence stretched long enough to become dangerous.

Then, unexpectedly, Xandros simply sighed.

"Continue whatever this is," he said flatly before turning around again.

Rosaline blinked in disbelief.

"That’s it?"

Xandros paused at the doorway and glanced back only slightly. "If I react to every strange thing that happens inside this mansion, I would never know peace." he thought silently to himself.

Lily looked deeply offended by how calm he was.

"Your Grace, your wife has wings!"

"I noticed."

"They are huge!"

"I also noticed."

"They glow!"

Rosaline raised a brow at the compliments that Lily was throwing at the wings unknowingly.

Xandros looked toward Rosaline briefly, his gaze lingering on the silver feathers curling protectively around her body before his expression softened almost invisibly.

"Yes," he said quietly. "I noticed that too."

Rosaline immediately looked away first.

That man’s voice alone was becoming a problem.

Seth, meanwhile, stood several steps behind Xandros in the corridor with both arms crossed. He had clearly expected shouting, destruction, or at the very least a dramatic emotional breakdown from Rosaline from what the Duke was supposed to say.

Instead, the man looked annoyingly composed.

Seth narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"You’re taking this too well."

Xandros ignored him and began walking again.

Seth followed after him quickly. "No seriously, I expected a far bigger reaction considering someone just messed inside your chamber."

"She screamed because of Rosaline’s wings."

"And?"

"And Lily screams at everything."

"That is true," Seth admitted thoughtfully. "She screamed once because a deer ."

Xandros continued down the corridor in silence while servants immediately bowed out of his way. The atmosphere around him shifted naturally wherever he walked. Calm, Cold, and Untouchable.

Seth watched him carefully from the side before speaking again.

"You really are obsessed with her now."

Xandros shot him a glance sharp enough to kill weaker men.

Seth wisely lifted both hands.

"I’m just saying."

"You talk too much."

"And you pretend too much."

That made Xandros stop walking.

The air itself seemed to sharpen slightly.

Seth immediately regretted opening his mouth.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

"You care for her greatly," Seth continued carefully, "and now you’re pretending that means nothing."

"It did mean nothing."

"Then why do you look irritated?"

Xandros stared at him without blinking.

Seth slowly pointed toward his own face. "See? That look right there."

"I am considering murder."

"You always murder."

"That is fair but it’s going to involve you this time."

Seth grinned slightly, pleased with himself for surviving another conversation.

The two moved through the mansion afterward before eventually stepping outside into the courtyard. Morning sunlight spilled across the black stone paths while servants hurried between different sections of the estate carrying flowers, documents, and trays of food.

The mansion itself remained alive despite the strange tension that had settled over everything recently.

Especially after Rosaline’s awakening.

Seth shoved both hands into his pockets before glancing sideways again.

"How many?" Xandros asked him.

"All of them."

The answer alone told him the situation was serious.

Xandros rarely involved himself personally unless something unusual existed beneath the surface of a problem.

The northern borders of Dagon were old lands.

Cold lands.

Places filled with abandoned villages, forgotten battlefields, and forests thick enough to swallow entire caravans whole.

Strange things survived there.

Things even nobles preferred not discussing openly.

Seth frowned and continued. "The royal court suspects monsters?"

"The royal court suspects incompetence," Xandros replied calmly. "Which is why they sent someone else first."

"And?"

"He failed."

The massive iron gates of the mansion opened shortly afterward, and within moments the two disappeared into the forest beyond the estate.

Their speed became inhuman almost instantly.

Trees blurred past violently.

The ground cracked beneath sudden movements.

Cold wind whipped through dark branches while shadows raced beneath their feet.

Rosaline would have screamed if she saw them move like this.

Seth glanced sideways briefly while keeping pace beside Xandros.

"You still plan on taking Rosaline to Everbloom after this?"

"Yes."

"You’re leaving the capital right after the emperor’s succession?"

"Yes."

Seth frowned. "People are going to talk."

"People always talk."

"You truly don’t care about politics at all."

Xandros’ expression remained unreadable.

"Politics are useful," he said quietly. "But power matters more and I’ve got a lot of it."

Seth shook his head softly afterward.

That sentence alone explained why the entire empire feared this man.

Hours passed before the scenery slowly began changing around them.

The forests thinned.

The air became colder.

Soon the northern borders appeared ahead beneath a grey sky.

Unlike the wealthy capital, this part of Dagon looked exhausted.

The streets were narrow and cracked.

Buildings leaned unevenly beside one another as though years of harsh winters had worn them down little by little.

Many shops stood abandoned.

Doors remained shut despite daylight.

Even the atmosphere itself felt wrong.

Too quiet.

Seth noticed it immediately.

Xandros’ silver eyes swept across the empty streets carefully.

Fear.

The scent of fear lingered everywhere.

A small group of armored guards suddenly approached from farther down the road. The man leading them immediately straightened the moment he recognized Xandros.

He removed his gloves quickly before bowing deeply.

"Your Grace."

The man appeared to be in his late forties with short dark hair and sharp amber eyes. A long scar crossed one side of his jaw, though his posture remained disciplined despite visible exhaustion.

Seth recognized him immediately.

"Cassian Veyr," he said.

Cassian nodded respectfully toward him before turning back to Xandros.

"I didn’t expect the Duke himself to come."

"Report."

Straight to business...he wasn’t in the mood and he was still out to get this guy.

Xandros continued listening.

Cassian adjusted his stance slightly before speaking.

"It started three weeks ago. First it was travelers disappearing near the outer roads. Then merchants. Then entire families."

Seth frowned. "Bodies?"

Cassian’s jaw tightened.

"None."

That made the silence heavier.

Xandros glanced toward the distant streets.

"Witnesses?"

"One merchant survived," Cassian replied. "Barely."

"And?"

The investigator hesitated briefly before continuing.

"He claimed he saw lights in the forest."

Seth snorted softly. "That’s all?"

Cassian’s expression remained serious.

"He said the lights spoke to him."

The wind shifted coldly through the empty streets.

Xandros remained still.

"Take me there."

Cassian immediately nodded.

The deeper they moved through the border town, the more obvious the emptiness became.

Even the marketplace looked dead.

One overturned stall remained abandoned in the middle of the road, its vegetables long rotten beneath swarming flies.

Seth clicked his tongue softly. "Looks worse than I expected."

Cassian lowered his voice while walking ahead of them.

"Most people didn’t believe in the capital ."

"And the royal court?" Seth asked.

"They think it’s panic spreading rumors."

Seth’s gaze sharpened slightly.

"They’re wrong."

Cassian glanced back at him briefly. "You sensed it too?"

"Yes."

Something unnatural lingered here.

Not magic.

Not human.

Something else.

The investigator eventually stopped near the edge of town where the roads became rough dirt paths leading toward the forest.

"This is where the merchant was found."

Xandros crouched slightly, touching two fingers against the ground.

Silence followed.

Then his eyes narrowed faintly.

Seth immediately noticed.

"What is it?"

Instead of answering immediately, Xandros slowly stood again.

The air had changed.

Very subtly.

But enough.

A scent drifted through the wind.

Strange.

Cold.

Ancient.

And somehow familiar.

Xandros turned his head slowly toward the deeper forest ahead.

Then without warning...

he started walking.

Cassian blinked. "Your Grace?"

"Stay here."

Seth frowned immediately.

"That’s never a good sign."

But he followed anyway.

The forest grew darker the deeper they moved.

The temperature dropped unnaturally fast.

Even the sounds of nature disappeared little by little until only silence remained around them.

Then suddenly...

Xandros stopped.

Directly ahead, something shimmered faintly between the trees.

Seth narrowed his eyes.

"...Do you see that?"

Yes.

A tear.

Not in cloth.

Not in earth.

But in space itself.

The air distorted strangely like rippling water suspended in the middle of the forest.

Cold silver light leaked faintly from inside it.

Seth’s expression hardened instantly.

"That shouldn’t exist."

No.

It absolutely should not.

Xandros stepped closer slowly while the strange scent intensified around them.

Ancient.

Powerful.

Wrong.

The closer he got, the stronger the distortion became until even the surrounding trees seemed warped by its presence.

Seth grabbed his arm suddenly.

"Wait."

Xandros glanced sideways.

Seth rarely sounded serious.

"This doesn’t feel human."

"It isn’t."

"That’s exactly why I’m saying wait."

The silver distortion pulsed again softly.

Almost like breathing.

Then...

something moved inside it.

Not clearly.

Only a shadow.

But enough to make the forest itself seem colder.

Seth cursed quietly beneath his breath.

"Tell me you’re not actually considering stepping into that thing."

Xandros’ expression remained calm.

Which was worse.

The Duke stepped forward anyway.

"Xandros.."

"I know."

"That sentence never comforts me."

The distortion widened slightly the moment Xandros approached it.

Silver light flickered violently across his face while cold wind exploded outward from the opening.

For the first time since arriving at the northern border...

Xandros looked genuinely interested.

And that alone terrified Seth more than the portal itself.

The forest groaned softly around them.

The air rippled.

Then Xandros stepped forward...

and disappeared into another world.