The universe, I realized, was a sycophant.
It didn't accept my lie; it embellished it.
The Law of Probability had taken my desperate bluff about the "Divine Archives" and stitched it retroactively into the timeline.
It created a past where I was not an imposter but a recluse scholar who had once lectured royalty to patch the missing history of my vessel with the most convincing idea.
I had no memory of these lectures and no idea what philosophical nonsense I had supposedly spouted to a teenage Prince three years ago.
But I knew arrogance. And arrogance is a universal language.
"Three years," I repeated, my voice smooth, betraying none of the internal calculation firing behind my eyes.
"Time is a flat circle for those of us in the Archives, Your Highness. It feels like... yesterday."
Prince Valerian beamed. The delight in his green eyes was genuine, a stark contrast to the terrified reverence of the surrounding crowd.
"I still quote your lecture on the 'Nature of Limits' to the Royal Council," Valerian said, stepping closer, his crimson robes rustling softly. "They tell me we cannot expand the budgets. I tell them..."
He paused, waiting for the punchline. A test of identity.
I didn't hesitate. I didn't need a memory to know what a man like me would say.
"Limits are for those who cannot see the horizon, Your Highness," I finished, my tone bored. "For the rest of us, they are merely suggestions."
Valerian laughed—a bright, unburdened sound that echoed in the silent hall.
"Exactly! 'Merely suggestions.' Oh, the Arch-Mage hated that. He turned purple."
He shook his head, looking at me with admiration.
"You have not changed, Father. Still the same dangerous mind hiding behind a priest's collar. Though..."
He gestured to my gold-embroidered suit.
"The collar seems to have been upgraded."
"Evolution is necessary," I murmured.
Valerian's gaze shifted to my left. He looked at Kael, who was vibrating with a silent, murderous tension.
"And you," the Prince said, his smile turning polite but distant.
"Unit K-L. I see the Church has finally let you out of the containment facility. Strange..."
He tilted his head, analyzing Kael's asymmetrical tunic and the blue sash.
"Dressing a wolf in silk does not change its teeth, does it?"
Kael flinched. His hand tightened on the hidden hilt of his blade, his knuckles turning white. The name 'Unit' hit him like a physical blow, stripping away the humanity he had just painstakingly constructed for himself.
"I am not-" Kael started, his voice a low growl.
"Peace," I cut in.
I stepped between them. Not to protect the Prince, but to assert ownership.
"He is not a wolf, Valerian," I corrected, my voice dropping to a temperature that froze the air between us. "And he is certainly not a 'Unit'."
I placed a hand on Kael's shoulder. The boy froze, leaning into my touch.
"He is my Luggage. And his name is Kael."
The Prince raised an eyebrow. The correction was a breach of protocol—one does not correct royalty in public—but Valerian seemed to savor the defiance.
"Kael," he repeated, tasting the word. "A name. How... sentimental of you, Father. I stand corrected."
He bowed his head slightly to Kael—a gesture of apology that was more theatrical than sincere.
Then, Valerian's gaze drifted past us. It landed on a figure trembling in the shadow of a display case.
Eugan Aldwulf.
The nobleman looked like he was trying to phase through the floor. His face was the color of old milk.
"Lord Aldwulf," Valerian said, his voice hardening. "I trust you were not bothering His Reverence?"
Eugan made a choking sound. "No! No, Your Highness! We were merely... discussing... geometry!"
"Geometry," Valerian mused. "Is that what we call it when one man stands tall and the other looks like he has wet himself?"
The Prince looked at me, a silent question in his eyes. Do I destroy him?
It would be easy. A word from me, and Eugan's social life—perhaps his actual life—would be over.
I looked at Eugan. I saw the fear, the smallness. He was already broken. Breaking him further was inefficient.
"He was merely... reflecting on his own insignificance," I said, waving a hand dismissively. "I believe the lesson is concluded."
Valerian chuckled. "A harsh teacher, as always. Go, Aldwulf. Before you reflect yourself out of existence."
Eugan didn't wait. He bowed frantically and scrambled toward the exit, his dignity left in a puddle on the museum floor.
The crowd remained silent, watching the interplay with wide eyes.
"So," Valerian said, turning back to me. "If you are out of the Archives, I assume you are here for tonight?"
"Tonight?"
"The Ember Bay," Valerian whispered, leaning in. "The Forenzil Group's auction. It is the only place in the city where someone of your... specific tastes... would find entertainment."
He lowered his voice further.
"I heard they have acquired an artifact called 'Ring of Illumination'. A Thirteenth Name artifact. They say its power scales based on the user's Will and knowledge of Holy Names. I thought perhaps you came to reclaim it for the Church."
I paused.
The Ring of Illumination. Based on the Thirteenth Name—Illume.
And dependent on Will and knowledge of Names.
For a mortal, it was a flashlight. For me? It could be a sun.
"Perhaps," I said, my face impassive. "The Archives are always expanding."
"Excellent," Valerian said, straightening up. "I shall see you there, then. Do you require a transport? My carriage has ample room."
"No," I declined. "I have my own arrangements."
"Of course. A man of secrets travels alone."
Valerian bowed—a true bow this time, deep and respectful.
"Until tonight, Father."
He swept past us, his crimson robes flowing like liquid blood. The Royal Guards formed a wedge around him, and they marched out, leaving the museum in a stunned silence.
I stood there for a moment, feeling the weight of the gazes on my back.
"Let us go," I commanded.
...
The limousine was waiting.
As soon as the doors closed, the silence shattered.
"Unit..." Kael hissed, staring at his hands. "He called me Unit."
He looked up at me, his eyes wet with angry tears. "I am Kael. You gave me that name. Why does he not see it?"
"Because he looks at the world and sees math," I said, leaning back into the seat. "He sees a killer, he calls it a weapon. It is efficient enough."
"I hate him," Kael muttered, crossing his arms and sulking into the leather.
I ignored him. His identity crisis was a secondary concern.
"Malakor," I said.
The priest was hyperventilating on the opposite bench. He was fanning himself with his hand, his face flushed.
"The Prince..." Malakor wheezed. "He knows you! He respects you! My Lord, do you understand what this means? The Forenzil Group... the Auction... we can use this!"
"Explain," I ordered.
Malakor straightened, his greed overriding his awe.
"The Forenzil Group is a neutral merchant faction. They care only for profit, not the Church or the Empire. But they worship status. If you walk in there as the Prince's mentors... we can get credit. We can get access to the VIP vaults."
He rubbed his hands together.
"That Ring... The Ring of Illumination. If it truly scales with Will... My Lord, in your hands, it would be a weapon of mass destruction. We must have it."
"We have 38,900 Clons," I reminded him. "High-tier artifacts cost millions."
"Not if we leverage the Prince's name," Malakor said, a cunning light entering his eyes. "And... well, if the 'Master of Divine Archives' declares an item to be dangerous heresy... who is the auctioneer to argue if we confiscate it for a... nominal processing fee?"
I looked at the priest. For all his cowardice, he had the soul of a thief.
"I am listening," I said.
Malakor leaned forward, sketching a plan in the air.
"We go to the Ember Bay. We do not act like buyers. We act like Inspectors. We use the fear you instilled in Eugan—and the respect the Prince showed you—to terrify the merchants. We take the Ring. And maybe... we take a few other things as tax."
I looked out the window. The city lights were beginning to flicker on, a sea of purple and neon.
A heist. Disguised as bureaucracy.
It was elegant. It was arrogant.
"Only what I say matters," I said, turning my gaze to Kael, who was still pouting.
"Nothing from no one else," I emphasized, staring into the boy's eyes until he flinched and looked at me. "Do not let a Prince's words rewrite your reality, Kael. I Am the Light, Everything Else is Just…?"
Kael's expression softened. The anger drained away, replaced by that familiar, dangerous devotion.
"Shadow… Master," he whispered.