Episode-756
Chapter : 1511
"She is the symbol," Lloyd said. "The people love her. The guards are sworn to protect her. If she... if she makes a move. A public move. A dangerous move."
He turned to them.
"If the Princess is in danger," Lloyd said, "every guard in the city will rush to save her. Including the elite units guarding the Orchid House."
"You want to put her in danger?" Jasmin looked horrified.
"I want to put her in the spotlight," Lloyd said. "I want her to start a fire. Not with a torch. But with her voice."
He grabbed his coat.
"I'm going back to the palace," Lloyd said. "Tonight."
"You can't," Ken said. "It's after hours. The gates are locked."
"I have a warrant," Lloyd said. "And I have a secret entrance. The one we saw near the cliffs. The one the children came through."
"That's suicide," Ken said.
"It's the only way," Lloyd said. "I need to talk to her. I need to ask her to do the hardest thing she has ever done. I need to ask her to start a revolution."
He looked at the clock.
"Three days," Lloyd said. "Tick tock."
----
Lloyd moved through the shadows of the cliffside path. He wasn't using the carriage. He was using [Void Steps], flashing from rock to rock, a ghost in the moonlight. He reached the secret cave entrance below the West Wing.
He scanned the wards with his [All-Seeing Eye]. They were complex, nasty things designed to boil the blood of intruders. But Lloyd was a master engineer of the arcane. He didn't break them; he unraveled a tiny seam, slipped through, and stitched it back up behind him.
He was inside.
The tunnels were damp and smelled of mold and old secrets. He moved up, following the airflow. He emerged into a sub-basement of the palace. He navigated the corridors, avoiding patrols, moving upward until he reached the royal apartments.
He reached Seraphina’s door. The guards were there, alert. He couldn't go in the front.
He went to the balcony. He climbed the sheer stone wall, digging his fingers into the mortar. He pulled himself over the railing of the Princess's solar.
The curtains were drawn. He tapped on the glass. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Inside, Seraphina jumped. She was sitting by the fire, reading the ledger again. She grabbed a letter opener.
"Who is there?" she whispered.
"The Doctor," Lloyd whispered back. "Open the window."
She hesitated, then undid the latch. Lloyd slipped inside, bringing the cold night air with him.
"You!" she hissed. "Are you mad? If they find you here..."
"We don't have time for madness," Lloyd said. He looked intense, windblown, and terrifyingly serious. "We have a problem. The timeline has moved up."
"What timeline?"
"The Orchid House," Lloyd said. "They are processing the children. In three days. Everyone in there dies or becomes a monster in 72 hours."
Seraphina dropped the letter opener. "No."
"Yes," Lloyd said. "We have to hit them. We have to extract them. But the facility is a fortress. I can't get in without an army. Unless the guards leave."
"Why would they leave?"
"Because they are needed here," Lloyd said. "Because the Palace is under siege."
"Siege? By who?"
"By you," Lloyd said.
He walked over to her. He took her hands. They were cold.
"Seraphina," Lloyd said. "You asked me to teach you how to drown him. How to fight him. This is it. This is the moment."
"What do I have to do?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"You have to stop being the sick Princess," Lloyd said. "You have to be the Queen. Tomorrow is the Festival of the Sun. The whole city will be in the square. Cassius will be there. The King will be paraded out."
"Yes," she said.
"You are going to stand up," Lloyd said. "On the balcony. In front of the city. In front of the army. And you are going to speak. You are going to tell them the truth."
"The truth?" she gasped. "About the Orchid House? About the poison?"
"No," Lloyd said. "That is too specific. They won't believe it without proof. You are going to tell them that the Crown is compromised. You are going to declare that Cassius is unfit. You are going to invoke the Ancient Right of Challenge."
"That... that is treason," she whispered. "He will kill me. Right there on the balcony."
Chapter : 1512
"He will try," Lloyd said. "But he can't kill you in front of the people. Not if you channel your Light. Not if you shine so bright they think you are a goddess."
He looked deep into her eyes.
"If you do this... if you challenge him... the city will erupt. The factions will split. The chaos will be absolute. Cassius will panic. He will recall every elite unit he has to secure the capital. He will strip the Orchid House to protect his own skin."
"You want me to start a civil war," she said.
"I want you to start a fire," Lloyd corrected. "A fire that burns down his lies. A fire that draws the wolves away from the lambs."
Seraphina pulled her hands away. She turned her back to him. She walked to the fire.
"I am scared," she said. "I am just a girl."
"You are not a girl," Lloyd said. "You are the one who survived the binding. You are the one who read the ledgers. You are the one who knows what he is doing to those children."
He stepped up behind her.
"Think of them," he whispered. "Think of the small collars. Think of the incinerators. They are waiting for the end. You are their only hope."
Seraphina looked into the fire. She saw the faces she had imagined.
She thought of her father, drooling in his chair. She thought of her brother, smiling while he signed death warrants.
She felt the anger again. The diamond-hard rage.
She turned around. Her face was set. Her eyes were blazing.
"Three days?" she asked.
"Three days," Lloyd said.
"Then I will give you your distraction," Seraphina said. "I will stand on that balcony. And I will burn him."
"Good," Lloyd said.
"But Doctor," she said. "If I do this... if I start this war... you have to promise me one thing."
"Anything."
"You have to win," she said fiercely. "You have to save them. Because if I burn down my kingdom for nothing... I will never forgive you."
"I will win," Lloyd promised. "Or I will die trying."
He went to the window.
"Get ready, Your Highness," Lloyd said. "In the next few days, you will make history."
He slipped out into the night.
The pieces were set. The clock was ticking. The fuse was lit.
And in the darkness of the Orchid House, Risa waited, unaware that the world was about to catch fire for her sake.
The city of Saber had transformed overnight. The rigid, militaristic grey stone and black iron that usually defined the capital were buried under a riot of color. Banners of crimson, gold, and azure snapped in the wind from every balcony. Lanterns, shaped like dragons, suns, and grotesque demons, hung strung across the streets, waiting for dusk to be lit. It was the Festival of Masks, the one time a year when the dour citizens of Altamira were allowed—mandated, actually—to forget who they were.
Lloyd Ferrum, dressed in his Doctor Zayn robes but wearing a newly acquired mask of a grinning wooden fox, navigated the crowded market street. He hated festivals. To him, they were logistical nightmares. Crowds meant unpredictable variables. Noise meant obscured communications. And masks meant that every person walking past him could be an assassin.
"It is loud," Ken Park murmured from behind a mask depicting a stone gargoyle. It fit him perfectly.
"It is chaos," Lloyd corrected, dodging a drunk reveler swinging a wineskin. "But chaos is useful. Look at them. The guards are relaxed. They are drinking. They are flirting. Their perimeter discipline has dropped by at least forty percent."
They made their way to the agreed-upon meeting point, a secluded teahouse near the edge of the Royal District. It was reserved for high-ranking officials, but Doctor Zayn’s new reputation as the miracle worker who saved the Qadir heir opened doors that were usually locked.
Inside, the air was cool and smelled of jasmine tea. Princess Seraphina was waiting in a private booth. She wore a heavy cloak over her dress and a mask of white porcelain with golden tears painted on the cheeks. It was a melancholy choice, but fitting.
Lloyd slid into the seat opposite her. Ken stood guard at the curtain.
"Doctor," Seraphina whispered. She sounded breathless, her hands clenching and unclenching on the table. "The city... it is madness out there."