Heliora – Rewinding to the Moment Lucian Was Exposed
To understand how Lucian had been found out by Kainar, we had to go back a few days into the past.
Seraphina Elione.
For her, stepping foot into the imperial capital of the Solaríos Empire for the first time brought a strange tension far greater than she had anticipated. Seraphina stood by the window of the airship, quietly gazing out at the landscape unfolding beyond the glass.
From the holy city of the Gaia Holy Kingdom to the capital of the Solaríos Empire. Even in a straight line, it was a distance approaching twenty thousand kilometers. During the long journey on the airship, the Holy Kingdom's delegation had crossed countless borders, passed through numerous checkpoints, and only barely entered imperial airspace with the empire's permission.
Under normal circumstances, an airship from a hostile nation flying through imperial skies would have been unthinkable. This time was possible only because the crown prince himself had granted permission.
Seraphina already sensed something off about that fact from the start. The crown prince, known only by rumor, didn't seem the type to issue such approval in the first place.
But those doubts were pushed aside the moment she looked down upon the imperial heartlands.
It was majestic.
The scenery was qualitatively different from any nation she had seen before. Beneath the empire's territory stretched endless cities and fortresses, roads and bridges, meticulously maintained canals and countless outposts. Scarce was the land untouched by human hands.
Even more astonishing was that this wasn't the empire's core. Even remote rural provinces appeared more developed than average small cities by Holy Kingdom standards.
Red-tiled roofs and tall white walls. Precisely gridded road networks. Massive warehouses and workshop districts. And filling the gaps, the ceaseless flow of people and carriages.
Though called an empire rife with corruption and lawlessness, at least its visible level of civilization was staggeringly advanced. It stood in stark contrast to the Holy Kingdom, which prized frugality and restraint as virtues.
The empire was vast, ostentatious, expensive, and brazenly radiant.
The pope had once told her: "The imperial capital is the world's greatest city." His last visit there had been a decade ago. And now, five years after the crown prince seized real power—with his radical, conquest-driven nature—the capital must have grown even larger and more splendid, he'd said.
Seraphina was gradually realizing those words held no exaggeration.
A short distance away at her side stood Raphael de Saint Gaia, the kingdom's top holy knight. Each time his cloak fluttered over his pristine white holy armor, his neat golden hair and resolute profile came into view. He followed the scenery with his eyes a beat slower than the saintess gazing out the window.
Without tearing her gaze from the view, Seraphina spoke. "Sir Raphael, you studied at the Imperial Academy, didn't you? What do you make of the empire as it stands now?"
Raphael fell silent for a moment. He seemed lost in admiration, tracing each vista the saintess beheld. But soon, he replied in a low voice. "Honestly, I despise the crown prince's empire... but the sights I saw back then and the ones I see now never fail to offer a novel experience."
It was a characteristically Raphael answer—unhiding his emotions yet acknowledging what deserved recognition.
Seraphina smiled faintly. "You still harbor reservations about His Highness the Crown Prince, then."
He bowed his head briefly at her words. "The crown prince not only blasphemed our Lord Gaia but slaughtered the Holy Kingdom's precious knights."
His response cut cold and sharp.
Yet Seraphina turned back to the window and said softly, "From the empire's perspective, wouldn't it be the same?"
Raphael's brows furrowed ever so slightly. "Saintess."
"That's just how war is, isn't it?"
Seraphina's voice was quiet. "To protect one's own fold, to plunder another's, or to defend something dear. The battlefield is where people stake their lives on their convictions."
Raphael had no reply.
"I've always thought... we should at least try to understand one another, even as we hate."
At that, Raphael seemed troubled, murmuring very softly at last. "Saintess. If you say such things before everyone... there may be backlash."
"I know. But that's simply my view."
Seraphina said no more. The airship cleaved onward through imperial skies.
And two days later.
At last, it came into view.
The imperial capital.
The heart of the empire, called the center of the world.
——Heliora.
Seraphina felt strength unconsciously gather in her fingertips gripping the airship window.
In the midst of vast plains stretched a city of unimaginable scale, sprawling without end. Its area alone spanned ten thousand square kilometers. She'd heard over forty million souls dwelled within. She knew the empire cradled two billion of the world's eight billion people, but confronting it with her own eyes made it feel utterly different.
Heliora was less a city than a world unto itself.
Innumerable towers and grand halls pierced the sky, districts perfectly segmented by function, roads and transit networks flowing like rivers, densely packed with countless structures. Some zones glittered as hubs of commerce, others boasted colossal complexes befitting centers of learning and magic, while yet more resembled military cities with aligned fortresses and barracks.
Overwhelming in both quality and quantity.
This was no mere prosperity. Compress the word "civilization" into a single city, and it might look like this.
The entire delegation fell silent. Some pressed hands to windows, staring blankly below; others gripped their crosses tightly. Even veteran high priests who had wandered the world for years stood dumbfounded.
"This place..."
The words slipped unconsciously from Seraphina's lips. "Is the empire's capital."
Even she couldn't hide her astonishment.
For a brief, truly brief moment, she was captivated by the allure of its splendor and grandeur.
How much more radiant would it be at night? Blanketed in countless magical lanterns and golden lights—what spectacle would that be? A sight worth treasuring forever.
Yet what first seized the gaze at the capital's heart was something else.
The Imperial Palace.
A colossal palace fortress reigning like the sun at the capital's core. Its area alone reached two thousand five hundred square kilometers—an overwhelming expanse. Dozens, hundreds of buildings rose atop multilayered citadels and massive walls, with the central spire thrusting nearly a kilometer skyward. Even surrounding major halls easily surpassed eight hundred meters.
It was no exaggeration to say poor weather might shroud them in thunderheads.
Its exterior, blending platinum and pure white with solar emblems and crimson accents, defied simple description as "gaudy." It embodied imperial authority itself, manifested in architecture.
Seraphina drew a very slow breath.
The Holy Kingdom's holy city was majestic. The alliance kingdom's central city was sturdy. But Heliora and its palace exuded intimidation on another plane entirely.
This truly felt like another world.
The essence of the empire's dignity. The true face of the world's number-one power.
The airship began its slow descent. Below the glass, the welcoming party already stood arrayed.
No sign of the presumed crown prince. Instead, imperial royals and, behind them, knights and mages radiating overwhelming auras waited in cold, refined poise for the Holy Kingdom.
As the airship fully landed, a short, low vibration hummed, and the door opened.
Empire and Holy Kingdom. The two superpowers' peoples faced each other up close for the first time.
Courteous yet rigid formalities were exchanged.
And at the center, one of the imperial representatives—the First Princess Astellia Mirene von Solaríos—stepped forward.
Her imperial white hair and red eyes, quiet yet sharp beauty, flawless posture. She offered Seraphina a subtle smile. "We welcome the saintess's visit. You must be weary from the long journey."
Seraphina returned the courtesy in kind.
After brief greetings, the delegation was escorted deeper into the palace.
Walking the deep, long corridor, Seraphina marveled once more. The palace interior matched its exterior in overwhelming grandeur. Each pillar bore intricate carvings; ceilings stretched endlessly with murals depicting the imperial house's history, conquests, and triumphs.
Servants and maids stood at precise intervals as they passed, while displayed ornaments and interiors defied valuation. Rare minerals, ancient magical artifacts, masterfully wrought glass and metal, grand tapestries, platinum embellishments.
Seraphina could tell this was no mere luxury. It was a display. Proof of royal authority and imperial absoluteness, etched into the very space.
They arrived before a massive platinum door. The First Princess and her retinue halted.
Astellia spoke calmly. "Here is the audience chamber. Within, His Highness the Crown Prince awaits the saintess, in His Majesty's stead."
Seraphina tensed, just for a moment.
The door opened.
The audience chamber gradually revealed itself, emanating pure white light. Its immense scale and spatial dominance washed over them. Colossal pillars lined both sides endlessly, interspersed with imperial banners and emblems. Far off, atop a high dais sat a platinum throne, backed by an enormous imperial flag evoking the sun itself.
And beneath that center.
The empire's most august, most radiant, most exalted being.
Crown Prince Kainar Iskara von Solaríos sat there.
He lounged askew against the throne, chin propped, gazing indifferently down at the delegation. Boredom openly clouded his eyes.
Yet that nonchalance was all the more terrifying. The entire delegation instinctively sensed the threat.
Seraphina and Raphael endured. But many priests and knights behind them gasped, unable to bear it. Some shoulders trembled; others stiffened rigidly.
One man's presence alone weighed down the entire space.
In that instant, Seraphina felt the rumored crown prince become real.
Fearsome.
Not merely strong. It was the sensation of confronting something one should never approach.
Seraphina advanced slowly. Up close, the crown prince appeared around her own age—twenty-three at most. Incredibly young, with an excessively perfected form. Pure white hair, blood-deep crimson eyes, flawless facial lines without a hint of disorder.
Even she, hailed the world's supreme beauty beyond the Holy Kingdom, felt outclassed in presence.
Raphael was handsome too, but here, incomparable.
Mysterious and beautiful.
Yet overwhelmingly dangerous.
Seraphina bowed in formal courtesy. "Seraphina Elione, saintess of the Gaia Holy Kingdom, greets Your Highness the Crown Prince."
Silence lingered briefly.
Then Kainar spoke. "You've arrived safely, Saintess."
His voice was low and chilling. Still propping his chin from the throne. "The long journey must have been taxing."
Pausing shortly, he added in a more leisurely tone. "I'd like you to rest from your fatigue first, then speak at length. What say you?"
Seraphina smiled brightly. It wasn't feigned. A soft, clear smile emerging naturally amid the tension. "As you wish."
Thus ended their brief first audience.
Under the First Princess's guidance, the delegation was promptly assigned rooms. Their quarters were the finest guest suites, a blatant show of hospitality signaling no intent of hostility toward the Holy Kingdom.
Seraphina's room was the widest and quietest among them.
As the door closed, silence settled once more.
Seraphina lay quietly on the bed.
Today's sights had been too many.
The empire's boundless lands. Overwhelming civilization. The world's foremost capital, Heliora. The palace's authority.
And Kainar Iskara von Solaríos.
Seraphina closed her eyes.
More frightening than expected. More majestic. More... beautiful.
All those impressions mingled, quietly swirling in her mind.
And unbeknownst to herself, the saintess lay with eyes shut for a very long time, unable to sleep.
Every impression since setting foot in the empire lingered with uncanny clarity.