The coliseum infirmary was a long vaulted corridor, cold and silent, far removed from the frenzy of the arena.
The stone walls absorbed the distant cries of the crowd until they became nothing more than a muffled echo, like the sound of waves crashing against a distant shore.
Lisa forced me to sit on one of the makeshift beds lined along the wall while a physician, an old man with fingers stained by ink and elixirs, examined my forearms in silence.
His brows furrowed when he passed his palms above the cracks that still ran across my skin.
"This is... unusual," he murmured, more to himself than to us.
I didn't answer.
The pain still pulsed through my arms, but it remained bearable.
The system had said that the damage suffered during the activation would be partially converted into residual strength. I wondered what exactly that meant. Were my bones rebuilding themselves stronger than before? Or was the Flame simply feeding on my flesh to fuel its own power?
Neither possibility was particularly reassuring.
"You should see your face."
Lisa, leaning against the wall opposite me, had her arms crossed.
I looked up at her. She wore the familiar crooked smile I had known ever since arriving at my uncle's estate.
The smile she used whenever she wanted to hide her concern behind a facade of lightheartedness.
"You look like a corpse that forgot to die."
"Thank you. That's exactly what I needed to hear."
She laughed softly, but the laughter died quickly.
Her fingers tapped against her arm, a nervous habit she had never managed to hide.
"Roderick wasn't holding back, was he? At the beginning of the fight. He looked like he genuinely wanted to kill you."
I slowly nodded.
"He wasn't pulling his punches."
Lisa's fingers stopped moving.
"Do you think he had something else in mind?"
"I don't know. The great houses usually don't care about small houses like ours. It's possible he simply wanted to have some fun..."
The silence that followed was heavy.
The healer continued his work, apparently indifferent to our conversation, but I could clearly see Lisa's hands trembling slightly.
"Kael."
Her voice was lower now, almost a whisper.
"You know what that means, don't you?"
I did.
Of course I did.
The Tower wasn't just a political institution.
It was a nest of vipers.
A political chessboard where every noble house moved its pieces in hopes of gaining influence.
House Britain was far from the most powerful.
We were an old lineage.
Respectable.
But declining.
A second son without title or inheritance should never have attracted anyone's attention.
Unless someone already knew.
Unless someone had sensed what slept inside me before I had even awakened it.
"You think it's connected to... what happened back there?"
Lisa vaguely gestured toward my arms, where the marks were now beginning to fade.
I didn't answer immediately.
The System.
The Monarch's Flame.
The Authority that seemed to react to crowds, to their support, to their admiration.
It was all too new.
Too strange.
I didn't yet understand what I was becoming.
"I don't know," I finally said.
"But Varen..."
"Varen is dangerous," Lisa interrupted sharply.
"Don't underestimate him. He's not just a member of the High Council. He's a collector."
I frowned.
"A collector?"
"Of bloodlines. Of lineages. Of secrets."
She uncrossed her arms and began pacing through the room, her heels clicking against the stone floor.
"There are rumors that he studies ancient noble houses. Their ancestry. Their dormant gifts. If he ever suspects that you possess something extraordinary..."
She didn't need to finish the sentence.
The healer coughed as if to draw our attention and put an end to the conversation.
"The superficial fractures have closed, but I strongly advise against any strenuous activity for at least three days. The internal tissues suffered severe thermal shock. Honestly, you're lucky to still have your hands."
Lucky...
I thanked him and stood up from the bed.
My legs were still weak, but they carried me.
That was already something.
"Lisa."
I called out as she headed toward the exit.
"Why did you tell Varen I was your master?"
She stopped instantly.
Her back was turned to me, but I saw her shoulders stiffen.
"You know exactly why," she replied without turning around.
"I'm not your master. I'm not even an official heir. You're a servant of House Britain, sure, but you've never sworn an oath to me personally."
She slowly turned around.
Her blue eyes, the same color as Lena's, were fixed on me with an intensity that almost made me step back.
"You're one of House Britain's heirs whether you like it or not," she said.
"And whether you like it or not, I've chosen to follow you. You. Not the house. Not your uncle or his son. Not the Tower."
"Lisa..."
"I saw what you did in that arena."
Her voice trembled, but she didn't look away.
"I saw your ether change in nature. I felt the heat all the way from the stands. And I saw Roderick's face when he shattered his sword against yours. That wasn't the face of a man who had just lost a duel. It was the face of someone who had just realized he was facing something completely beyond his understanding."
She stepped closer and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"So don't tell me you're not my master. At the very least, you're one of the people I care about most."
I remained silent for a long moment.
Her words echoed within me, mixing with the fresh memory of the crowd's cheers, the warmth of the Flame, and the weight of Varen's gaze.
Finally, I placed my hand on her shoulder.
There was something I seemed to want to tell her, but no words left my mouth.
I gently withdrew my hand and headed toward the infirmary exit.
The moment I crossed the threshold, a system notification appeared before my eyes once again.
[Loyalty confirmed: Lisa of House Britain.]
[Companion registered.]
[New Title Obtained: 'Lord of Ashes' — Your authority extends beyond your own body. Those who swear loyalty to you will receive a fraction of your resistance to fire and will be able to perceive fluctuations in your ether.]
A chill ran down my spine.
The system wasn't merely making me stronger.
It was building something around me.
A court.
An army.
A kingdom.
And I wasn't sure I wanted to know how far it would go.