--
"Preparation complete. Would you like to extract the procedure, Host?"
--
"Yes."
The moment the word left his lips, knowledge flooded into Thaddues' mind, not as something newly learned but as something long buried and now remembered. It felt less like reading and more like pieces of a forgotten whole locking themselves into place. Concepts settled with unsettling ease, connecting to everything he already knew, and within his mind palace, new volumes appeared on once-empty shelves, each containing the structure of the third procedure.
The upgrade was far more useful than he had expected. It resembled a Learning Card, but on a far larger scale, granting not mastery of a single spell but understanding of an entire procedure. Every spell, technique, and branch of magic connected to it became accessible at once.
Thaddues absorbed the knowledge in silence before asking the only question that mattered. "What about her soul? Will the procedure preserve it?"
--
"Correct, Host. The ritual's ancient rune arrays will prevent soul dissipation and maintain the connection between soul and vessel."
--
He frowned at that, because the procedure relied heavily on two branches of magic he had only just begun to understand: soul arts and dark arts.
"The third option requires all of those?"
--
"Yes, Host."
--
The System continued.
--
"The original ritual combines transfiguration, ancient runes, soul arts, and dark arts. Under normal circumstances, mastery of all four disciplines is required. However, since the Host has not yet mastered soul arts and dark arts, the System has modified the ritual."
--
The System issued a clarification before he could speak again.
--
"Under established principles of Transfiguration—specifically Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration and its Principal Exceptions—certain states of existence cannot be recreated once fully unbound from their original form. Restoration through standard magical means would be considered impossible.'"
--
A brief pause followed.
--
"However, the Host has crossed the required threshold of understanding. Once that condition is met, reversal protocols become accessible. Returning the target to her original form remains possible."
--
"A threshold," he repeated quietly. "Not a limit."
"And the result for this ritual?" he asked.
--
"The effect remains unchanged. Only the duration is affected."
--
"How long?"
--
"Approximately two days."
--
Thaddues blinked at that, unsure whether to be impressed or disturbed that two days was considered an extended duration. Still, the System had finally completed its update, and under different circumstances he might have paid it more attention. He had waited an entire year for it, and there had been moments of impatience and curiosity where he had wondered what would change once it was finished. Now, standing beside Lily's bed, none of it felt important.
The chamber was silent as Lily lay exactly where he had left her, dressed in blue, her face so calm it almost suggested sleep. If he had not seen her bloodied state himself, he might have believed she would wake at any moment.
The thought left a bitterness he did not hide.
"Daemon would've laughed at this."
A faint smile touched his face and faded quickly. The Targaryen prince had always had that infuriating ability to find humor where no one else could, and if he were here now, he would likely be mocking the entire situation without restraint.
"Lucky bastard," Thaddues muttered.
After a year of waiting, the System had chosen to finish its upgrade at the exact moment he had neither the time nor the desire to care about it. He exhaled slowly and pushed the thought away. "Shall we begin?"
--
"Awaiting your command, Host."
--
For a brief moment, he noticed something different in the System's responses. It no longer felt entirely empty or mechanical, as if something subtle and unfamiliar had begun to form beneath its surface, but he did not dwell on it.
Instead, he stepped closer to Lily and studied her in silence. There was no pain on her face, no trace of what she had endured, only stillness that felt almost too complete.
Without thinking, he brushed a strand of hair from her cheek.
"I'll bring you back."
The words were quiet, but absolute.
"Let's begin."
Ancient runes began to spread across the chamber floor. What started as a few scattered symbols quickly expanded into a vast, interconnected array, as preservation lines intertwined with transfiguration structures and stabilization runes locked everything into place. The work consumed hours, demanding precision and endurance, but the System's Analysis Function now worked alongside him, quietly correcting flaws too small to notice and refining structure before mistakes could form.
Even with his mastery of ancient runes, he could not ignore how precise the System's assistance had become. It did not interrupt or overwhelm, but its subtle guidance changed everything about the process, and for the first time he understood how dangerous that refinement could be once fully realized.
By the time the final rune settled into place, an entire day had passed, and the chamber floor resembled something closer to engineered arcane architecture than a ritual space. To remain awake, he relied on potions, pushing through exhaustion as the second day began.
When he raised his wand again, golden light spread outward from the ritual array. Moments later, silver motes drifted through the air as the transformation took hold.
There was none of the violence associated with combat transfiguration. Instead, the magic moved with extraordinary precision. Lily's form slowly changed as petals emerged and leaves unfolded, each alteration guided by the ritual's design.
Where Lily had been, a flower now stood.
Its purple petals shimmered softly beneath the candlelight, while thin veins of gold traced delicate patterns across each leaf, giving it an unnatural and almost sacred beauty.
Thaddues stared at it in silence.
--
"The transformation has been completed successfully, Host. No abnormalities detected."
--
Since the invasion in Salt Shore, he looked at Lily and saw more than what he had lost.
He saw a path forward.
He retrieved a galleon from his pouch and transfigured it into a glass vessel, then carefully placed the flower inside. The bed beneath it was reshaped into marble, forming a simple pedestal to hold it.
The second stage of preservation took nearly as long as the first, and only after it was complete did he begin the final layer. Runes ignited across the vessel one by one, forming a self-sustaining cycle designed for one purpose alone.
Protect Lily.
Whether months passed or centuries, the enchantment would not break.
When the final rune settled, the third day had already begun.
Only then did he finally leave the tower.
Outside, the sun hung low over the horizon, casting long shadows across the castle grounds. Beyond the walls, the sea stretched endlessly, though even from here the scars of Salt Shore were still visible—burned waters and blackened coastlines that refused to fade from memory.
He turned away and raised his wand once more, layering additional wards across the tower itself until it was no longer just part of the castle, but something closer to a sealed sanctuary meant to endure even the fall of House Peverell.
Only when it was done did exhaustion finally catch him. When he returned to the main keep, night had already fallen.
Esteban was waiting at the entrance and straightened immediately.
"My lord, you've been inside for three days."
"I had something to take care of," Thaddues replied. "I'll be resting shortly. Before I do, prepare a carriage."
"A carriage?"
"Tomorrow morning, I'm leaving for King's Landing."
Surprise flickered across Esteban's face before he quickly masked it.
"You think I'm going there to start a war."
Esteban said nothing, but his eyes gave him away.
"I'm going there to seek answers," Thaddues said. "The dead deserve justice, and the Iron Throne will answer for what happened at Salt Shore."
Without waiting for a response, he turned and entered the keep.
What he had said was not a lie, but it was not the whole truth either.
Salt Shore demanded justice. The dead demanded answers.
But that was not the real reason he was going to King's Landing.
Lily needed the blood of the Pureblooded Targaryen.
And if that meant breaking kingdoms, defying crowns, or setting the realm itself ablaze, then so be it.
Tomorrow, he would ride for King's Landing.
And the realm would remember House Peverell by name—or by fire.
TBC
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