The Sovereign Chronicles novel Chapter 30

"That is Lady Linnea?" Lord Cassian slowly shook his head, overwhelmed with awe. To think the Azure Sky Sanctum housed such an abundance of breathtaking women. It wasn't that beauties didn't exist elsewhere, but the unique, intoxicating aura these Celestial Maidens possessed was something else entirely.

Linnea ignored them all. She walked straight past the interlopers and offered a slight nod to the half-naked boy in the courtyard. "Can we speak in private?"

Kaelen looked at Linnea, then shrugged and met Lyra's gaze, offering an innocent expression that clearly said: *I have no idea what's happening.*

*Hmm?* Cassian's eyes narrowed in sudden suspicion. Was this Kaelen truly just a Servitor? A mere servant capable of drawing the personal attention of *two* Celestial Maidens simultaneously? His gaze shifted toward Jaden, instantly turning lethal. *Is this rat trying to get me killed?*

The veteran Guards also turned their cold, predatory glares onto Jaden. *This is a fucking Servitor? If a Servitor can command this much respect, he's the only one in the history of the world.*

"I..." Jaden felt incredibly wronged. Lyra being here made sense according to his intel, but Linnea's arrival? That completely defied logic.

"Get out!" Lyra warned them once more.

Linnea cast a fleeting, dismissive glance at Cassian and his men, then walked toward the warehouse doors. "Kaelen, I have a matter of utmost importance to discuss with you. Inside!"

"We shall visit another time." Cassian did not press the issue. He offered a polite, aristocratic nod and led his entourage out. But the absolute second the iron gates clicked shut behind them, he viciously planted his boot into Jaden's spine. Jaden shrieked in agony as he tumbled violently down the steep mountain path.

"You dare play games with Lord Cassian? Are you tired of breathing?" the Guards snarled. They were now absolutely convinced Kaelen wasn't a Servitor at all. Jaden clearly had a death grudge against Kaelen and had tried to use the Serpent King's Dominion as his personal attack dogs.

"Lord Cassian, I swear to the heavens I didn't lie! Kaelen is just a Servitor! I have absolutely no idea why Linnea showed up!" Jaden groaned, clutching his lower back, forcing himself up from the dirt, his face covered in grime.

"Let me ask you a question. Why did you deliberately approach me at the gate?" Cassian stepped close, staring directly into Jaden's terrified eyes with deadly intent.

"I..." Jaden's eyes darted frantically.

Cassian grabbed him by the face and violently shoved him aside. "Get out of my sight before I end you."

"If we weren't standing in the Azure Sky Sanctum, your head would already be separated from your neck," the Guards spat, fully understanding they had been used as pawns.

Inside the warehouse, Linnea cast a detached glance at Kaelen’s bare, sculpted chest before turning her back to him. "Put some clothes on!"

Kaelen grabbed a clean tunic and pulled it over his head, thoroughly confused. "What could possibly warrant a personal visit from Senior Linnea?"

"Why do you keep going to Mount Veridia?"

"Curiosity. I was just taking a walk. Pretty sure that isn't against Sanctum regulations."

"If this were an interrogation for breaking regulations, I wouldn't be the one standing here. Answer the question. Why do you keep going to Mount Veridia?"

"The noise interrupts my sleep."

"Who are you working for!"

"You should be asking your Master why a sacred ground of Aether-flora has been turned into a blacksite, and exactly what kind of abomination is locked inside."

"You have visited the perimeter of Mount Veridia at least six times. Every single time you approach, the violent tremors inside the mountain escalate. The second you leave, it falls dead silent." Linnea's aura was incredibly cold; it was likely a side effect of her specific martial codex, leaving a perpetual chill in the air around her. She stared directly into Kaelen's eyes, as if trying to rip the truth straight from his soul.

Kaelen smirked. "Sounds like whatever it is knows it's misbehaving. All I have to do is give it a dirty look and it shuts up."

"You are coming to Mount Veridia with me."

"Why?"

"You know exactly why."

"You've got the wrong guy. I'm just a Servitor who delivers supplies. I don't possess the cosmic power to influence whatever doomsday secret you've got buried in that mountain, and I have absolutely zero desire to get involved in your politics."

"Come with me. Regardless of the outcome, I will compensate you with two stalks of Lesser Aether-flora."

"The outcome? What outcome?"

"It could not have awakened without a catalyst. This all traces back to you." Linnea hadn't initially considered that a lowly Servitor could be the cause. She only knew of his existence because of Lyra's inexplicable interest in him, which had sparked her own curiosity. But Kaelen's repeated visits to the mountain, triggering the exact same violent reaction every time, made the connection undeniable.

Midnight!

The hoarse, earth-shattering roars erupted from Mount Veridia once more, rolling over the adjacent peaks like thunder. Beneath the roaring, one could hear the distinct, terrifying clash of massive chains. It sounded as though a primordial titan was writhing in the abyss, trying to tear its bindings from the very bedrock. The sheer, suffocating aura of absolute slaughter radiating from the peak was palpable to everyone for miles.

Looking toward Mount Veridia, violent surges of golden light fractured the darkness, blindingly bright against the night sky. Massive torrents of raw Aether violently churned above the peak like a boiling ocean, occasionally fracturing into chaotic storms before spiraling into massive, destructive vortexes.

It painted a clear picture of the absolute apocalyptic chaos unfolding within.

"The situation is far more critical than we projected. It seems my trip here was not in vain." Serac Vorn stood atop a neighboring summit, the freezing night wind whipping at his robes as he stared intently at Mount Veridia.

"What exactly is that thing?" Lord Cassian stood beside him. Even from this distance, the sheer, oppressive malice bleeding from the mountain made his skin crawl. He genuinely had no idea what they were dealing with. He only knew that after Serac had spoken privately with his father all night, the Serpent King had been ecstatic, instantly granting Serac absolute authority to force this alliance.

"A weapon that will allow us to hold a blade to the throat of the Azure Sky Sanctum." Serac's face was split by a predatory grin. Even he hadn't anticipated that the Remnant Soul would awaken after all these decades, let alone possess such world-ending power. But its awakening had handed him the perfect leash to control the Sanctum.

If he pulled off this masterstroke, his political power within the Dominion would eclipse all others. He might even ascend to the absolute head of the Seven Champions.

"The Azure Sky Sanctum is already immensely powerful, and backed by the other seven Sanctums, is there truly anything in this world they fear?"

"There is always a higher mountain, Prince Cassian. Always a darker sky!"

"Meaning?"

"You will understand when you are older. For now, all you need to know is that the abomination locked inside that mountain will secure you the most beautiful woman in the Azure Sky Sanctum."

"And if I decide I want both of them? Do you think the Sanctum will comply?" Cassian smirked, the images of the two breathtaking goddesses he had seen today flashing through his mind. He was completely obsessed with Lyra, and equally entranced by Linnea. If forced to choose, his primal instinct leaned toward Lyra, but... if he could claim both, wouldn't that be absolute perfection?

As for Kaelen, his men had run a background check. He truly was just a Servitor. An arrogant, loud-mouthed slave, nothing more. A bug not worth a second thought.

Serac laughed softly. "We hold the absolute high ground. Everything is open to negotiation."

Cassian’s smile widened into a cruel grin. "Then I shall thank you in advance, Uncle Serac. I will not forget this favor."