Chapter 218: The World of Cylas (3)
"And you say this is an informational hub?" the Light Fae man asked, one brow lifting as he settled into the chair across from Liliana.
The chamber itself was large and deliberately sparse.
A simple table of black wood stood in the center of the wide room, its surface unadorned except for Liliana’s wine glass and the faint reflection of twin sunlight that managed to slip through the narrow windows.
The walls absorbed more light than they reflected, leaving the corners in soft shadow.
The air carried a faint metallic sweetness from the blood in her glass, mixed with the cold stone scent of the castle itself.
Liliana gave a small, almost careless shrug, the motion slow enough to feel intentional.
She turned the glass once between her fingers, watching the dark liquid catch what little light reached it.
"Perhaps calling it an informational hub is not entirely accurate," she said, voice smooth and unhurried.
A quiet smile touched her lips.
"But that hardly matters..... Welcome to the Dark Hold."
The human woman and the Light Fae shared a glance.
Her fingers curled a bit tighter around the table’s edge, while the faint glow of his markings flickered before steadying.
They were already weighing the same risk.
’How long can a place like this last before the Angels notice and come to tear it down?’
Liliana saw the thought as clearly as if they had spoken it aloud.
The difference in power between them was wide enough that their memories lay open to her without effort.
Not only that, but she had also already learned everything useful about the pair in the short time they had been seated, yet she made no show of it.
Instead, she continued to sip her blood, the smile never quite leaving her face, and asked a question that sounded almost casual.
"The two of you are a couple, yes?"
The way she phrased it left little room for denial.
At the same moment, both visitors noticed something else.
The edges of Liliana’s form had grown slightly blurred, as though the air itself refused to hold her outline with perfect clarity.
The realization settled over them like a sudden drop in temperature.
It was obvious now—she outranked them, a fact they’d overlooked in the haze of their earlier shock.
Without missing a beat, they started cluttering their minds with intentional static.
Things like fragments of plans, stray memories, anything they could throw together to cloud the waters and keep their thoughts unreadable.
And this was to keep her from digging any deeper than she already had, because if she started with a question like that, she’d already seen enough.
The Light Fae man took a slow breath before speaking.
"We are," he said. "And we’re in a difficult position because of it. That’s why we’re away from our clans right now."
The human woman shifted sharply, one hand moving as if to stop him, but he gave a small shake of his head.
He glanced back at Liliana, his voice steady despite the tension in his shoulders.
"Look... Cylas has been under the rule of the Aegis Law Pantheon for about eleven eras, at least according to the histories we still have," he said, trying to clear the air between them.
"Their Creed and Decrees made it impossible for any Underside race to survive here. That’s why seeing you... like this... is hard to accept."
The woman gave a single nod, her green eyes narrowing.
"Their proclamations don’t just weaken dark bloodlines—they wipe them out. Nothing from the Underside is meant to draw breath in this world."
Liliana listened silently, idly turning the glass between her fingers, her quiet, unreadable smile never wavering.
’That makes me enemy number one, doesn’t it?’ She thought briefly as she offered nothing outwardly—only calm, steady attention.
The man pressed on, clearly deciding there was little point in holding back now.
"On top of that, the world runs on a kind of false order."
He went on to explain that in the vast world of Cylas, no one could fight freely or resolve disputes on their own, no matter how much they tried...
Unless Angels from the Pantheon were there to supervise in specially designated areas.
While this might sound reasonable and like a genuine way to maintain order, it became a real problem when not every Angel was truly holy....
Or when they were the only beings in the entire world allowed to wield their full power without any restrictions.
On top of that, how were conflicts and injustices across the world supposed to be resolved if the Angels chose not to oversee them?
In the end, their vision of order was deeply flawed.
Liliana listened without interrupting.
When he finished, she gave a small, thoughtful nod and set her wine glass down with a soft clink against the black wood.
She placed her pale hands gently on the table, her gaze steady and unreadable as it moved between the two of them.
"So, how exactly does all of this tie back to you personally?" she asked, her tone light, almost casual.
She already understood the outline of their predicament, but she wanted to hear it confirmed in their own words.
For a moment, no one spoke, and a quiet stillness hung over the table.
The Light Fae man’s gaze dropped for a moment to his own hands before he lifted it again.
The human woman beside him had gone very still, her shoulders tight.
"Our clans have been rivals for longer than the Angels have ruled this world," he said at last.
"We only learned the depth of that history a short time ago, when we found old records neither of us was supposed to see."
The man and woman were both only about sixty years old, which, by the standards of power, was considered very young.
This also meant they had been born under the reign of the Aegis ruler, and anything that came before was nothing more than distant stories to them.
He cast a glance at the woman, and she responded with the slightest nod, permitting him to go on.
"We’ve kept our relationship a secret.... But if either clan were to find out, the consequences would be far from pleasant. We can’t be killed under current laws... but there are far worse fates for someone who isn’t allowed to defend themselves."
His voice dropped a notch.
"And her clan is already arranging for her to marry someone else."
Liliana absorbed every word without visible reaction.
When the man finished, she tilted her head a fraction, the blood-red hat shifting with the movement, and asked the question that mattered most.
"Then what do you want?" Her voice remained soft, almost gentle. "If you were allowed to solve this problem... how would you do it?"