The Imperial Infirmary was a sanctuary of white marble and aromatic incense, but to Kaelen, it was a theater. He lay upon the silk sheets, his shoulder swathed in bandages that were periodically stained with a faint, engineered violet glow. Outside the heavy oak doors, the heartbeat of the Empire had turned into a frantic, irregular thrum.
Prince Valerius was a fugitive. Princess Seraphina was a locked-room recluse, screaming at shadows. The two pillars of the dynasty had crumbled in a single night of orchestrated chaos.
[System Notification: 'Hard Mode' Pulse Detected.]
[Event: The 'Eye of the Emperor' has shifted focus.]
[Observation: The Emperor is approaching your chambers.]
Kaelen signaled to Elara with a slight twitch of his finger. She immediately slumped into a chair by his bedside, her eyes reddened with alchemical drops to simulate days of weeping. Leo stood in the corner, a silent, armored doll, his presence a constant reminder of the "sacrifice" Oakhaven had made for a thankless throne.
The doors groaned open.
Emperor Alaric didn't enter with the fanfare of trumpets. He came with the heavy, dragging footsteps of an old man whose world had suddenly grown too heavy to carry. His golden robes, usually stiff with magi-steel thread, seemed to swallow his shrinking frame. Behind him followed only two guards—the elite 'Silent Hand'—whose faces were hidden behind faceless silver masks.
"Leave us," Alaric commanded, his voice a dry rasp.
The guards bowed and retreated. Elara rose, curtsied with a trembling lip, and followed them, leaving Kaelen alone with the most powerful man in the world.
"They tell me you are dying, Saint," Alaric said, walking to the bedside. He looked down at Kaelen with eyes that had seen a century of assassinations and betrayals. "They tell me my son tried to murder the only man who could save my daughter's mind."
Kaelen struggled to sit up, a wince of "agony" perfectly timed. "Your Majesty... please. The Prince... he was not himself. The Abyss... it confuses the senses of even the strongest warriors."
"Do not lie to me," Alaric snapped, though there was no heat in it, only exhaustion. "Valerius is a blunt instrument, but he is no traitor. And Seraphina... she was the sharpest mind in this palace until you arrived. Now she sees demons in her tea and monsters in her shadow."
Alaric leaned heavily on the bedpost. "I am old, Kaelen. I have spent my life holding the darkness at bay with gold and steel. But this... this rot inside my own blood... I cannot fight what I cannot see."
[System Notification: Skill Active - 'Umbral Puppet Master' (A).]
[Target: Emperor Alaric.]
[Condition: Target is at 15% Willpower due to 'Grief-Induced Exhaustion'.]
[Success Rate: 88%.]
Kaelen reached out, his hand "shaking" as he touched the Emperor's sleeve. "The darkness is not just in the forest, Majesty. It is a cycle. A harvest. The Administrators... they have decided the Empire is ripe."
"Administrators?" Alaric's brow furrowed. "That heretical word again. Seraphina spoke it before she collapsed."
"Because it is the truth," Kaelen whispered, his purple eyes flashing with a predatory intensity that the Emperor was too tired to recognize as a threat. "I didn't survive Oakhaven by luck. I was chosen to be a witness. And now, I am being chosen to be the cure."
Kaelen's shadow, elongated by the flickering mana-lamps, began to stretch across the floor. It didn't follow the laws of physics; it crept toward Alaric's shadow like a black ink stain.
System. Initiate 'Shadow-Thread' Connection.
[Mana Expended: 2,000.]
[Connection Established. The Emperor's Shadow is now 'Bound'.]
Suddenly, Alaric's shoulders relaxed. The tension that had defined his posture for decades melted away. He felt a sudden, overwhelming sense of clarity—or so he thought. To him, it felt like a heavy fog had lifted. In reality, Kaelen had simply taken the reins of his subconscious.
"A cure..." Alaric murmured, his eyes glazing over. "Yes. I see it now. My children are compromised. The Council is corrupt. You are the only one who has faced the Abyss and remained pure."
"The people trust me, Majesty," Kaelen said, his voice now a steady, commanding baritone. "If you name me 'Lord Regent of the Interior', I can bypass the bureaucracy. I can purge the 'infected' from the court. I can prepare the Empire for the 100th Harvest."
[System Notification: Target 'Alaric' is accepting the 'Puppet Command'.]
[Despair Points Harvested: 3,000 (The despair of a dying legacy).]
"Regent..." Alaric repeated. "Yes. The Decree. I will sign it tonight. You will have the power of the Black Seal. You will be my eyes, Kaelen. My hands."
Alaric turned and walked toward the door, his movements now slightly mechanical, his will subsumed by the violet threads Kaelen was weaving from his bed.
The moment the door closed, Kaelen sat bolt upright. He ripped the bandages from his shoulder, revealing skin that was perfectly healed, save for the dark mark of the System.
"Elara!" Kaelen called out.
She stepped back in, her face pale. "You did it. You actually took him."
"He was already hollow," Kaelen said, standing up and stretching. His Level 19 stats felt electric. "He was a King waiting for a Master. Now, we have the Black Seal. Elara, I want a list of every Noble who supported Valerius. By tomorrow evening, I want them 'quarantined' for signs of Abyssal infection."
"And the Princess?"
"Keep her in the North Tower," Kaelen said, walking over to Leo. He reached out and adjusted the Hero's cloak. "She's still useful. When the people see their 'Regent' caring for the broken Royal family, their devotion will turn into a religion. And religion, Elara, is the highest-yielding field for Despair."
[System Notification: LEVEL UP! Level 19 -> Level 21.]
[Reward: 10 Attribute Points.]
[New Feature Unlocked: 'The Hollow Kingdom' (Domain Expansion).]
Kaelen walked to the window, looking out over the city. Thousands of lights flickered in the dark—thousands of lives that now, legally and spiritually, belonged to him.
"System," Kaelen whispered. "What is the status of the 'Administrators'?"
[Warning: Administrator 'The Collector' is currently disguised as an Imperial Scribe.]
[Note: He is watching the 'Regency' decree with great interest.]
Kaelen narrowed his eyes. He didn't look for the scribe. Instead, he looked at his own reflection in the glass.
"Let him watch," Kaelen said. "He wants a Harvest? I'll give him one. But I'm going to start by harvesting the 'Scribes' first."
He opened the [Abyssal Shop] for the first time since his level-up.
[Abyssal Shop - Tier 3 (Advanced)]
Available Points: 7,330
[Void-Iron Shackles] (3,000 pts): Physical and spiritual restraints that can hold targets up to Level 60.
[Despair Well] (4,500 pts): A permanent structure that converts the sorrow of a city into raw Mana for the user.
[Architect's Decree] (5,000 pts): Force a 'Truth' upon a population. They will believe it until they see undeniable proof to the contrary.
[Soul-Eater's Dagger] (2,500 pts): A weapon that deals damage directly to the EXP bar of a target.
I'll take the Architect's Decree, Kaelen decided. I want this entire city to believe that Valerius has already joined the Abyss. I want them to hunt their own Prince.
[Purchase Confirmed. 5,000 Points Deducted.]
As the power washed over him, Kaelen felt the collective consciousness of Eldoria ripple. It was a subtle shift—a memory here, a suspicion there—until the entire city "knew" the truth: The Prince was a traitor, and the Saint was their only hope.
"The Field is prepared," Kaelen murmured, his purple eyes glowing like twin stars in the night. "Now, let's see how the Scribe likes the change in the script."
[Status Update]
Name: Kaelen (Lord Regent)
Level: 21 (Exp: 100/40000)
Current Despair Points: 2,330
Domain: The Hollow Kingdom (Inactive)
Status: 'The Absolute Regent' - Your word is law, backed by the Emperor's shadow.
Next Objective: Trap the Administrator 'The Collector'.