Time/Date: TC1853.01.13 (Morning to Evening)
Location: Imperial Palace / Metropolitan Police Station / Brenner Estate
Imperial Heir Kael stood before his father in the Emperor's private study, prepared for the conversation that would determine his immediate future. Morning light streamed through windows designed to capture the dawn—symbolic, his father had once explained, of how the Xuán dynasty had risen to power by seizing opportunities others were too slow to recognize.
Emperor Tianrong Xuán sat behind his desk with the casual authority of someone who'd ruled for forty years. His golden eyes—the same shade as Kael's but deeper, more ancient—held calculating intelligence that missed nothing. At one hundred fifty-six years old, he possessed the timeless bearing that came from celestial bloodline nobility, midnight-black hair showing only threads of silver at the temples.
The study itself spoke of power in ways that made the Brenner estate's aggressive opulence look like a child's attempt at art. Understated elegance. Ancient artifacts that whispered of dynasties older than the current empire. Maps that showed not just territories but centuries of strategic planning. Every element chosen for substance rather than display.
This was what real nobility looked like. Not merchants playing at aristocracy.
"You wish to accelerate your marriage to the Brenner girl," the Emperor said without preamble, setting down the report he'd been reading. "Despite the scandal. Despite the investigation into her family. This should be interesting."
No accusation in his tone. Just the flat assessment of someone evaluating pieces on a board.
"She's a Seer," Kael said bluntly. Better to lead with the advantage than try to minimize the complications. "Seventy-five percent accuracy. Eight years of documented predictions. I've verified the records personally and witnessed demonstrations that couldn't be faked."
The Emperor's expression shifted to sharp interest. Like a predator catching scent of unexpected prey. "A Seer? The Brenner family has been hiding a high-level Seer?"
"They kept it secret to protect her from Council jurisdiction," Kael explained, watching his father's face for signs of how this revelation would land. "But they're willing to offer exclusive access in exchange for imperial protection during the investigation."
"Clever." The Emperor leaned back, steepling his fingers in the gesture Kael had seen a thousand times—the way he thought through complex problems. "Very clever indeed. A seventy-five percent accurate Seer answering only to imperial authority, with no Council interference."
His eyes gleamed with the kind of predatory calculation that had maintained Xuán's power for decades. "What's their leverage? Why reveal this now?"
"The baby swap investigation threatens the entire family. They need protection." Kael met his father's gaze steadily, presenting the transaction with the same cold pragmatism the Emperor would use himself. "The marriage provides it. And gives us exclusive access to Seer abilities without Council oversight."
"Until the Council learns we've hidden a high-level female Seer from them," the Emperor pointed out, voice carrying the weight of political experience. "That violates multiple cosmic treaties. The Seer Council will rage. Other continental powers will protest. The diplomatic fallout—"
"Will be manageable," Kael interrupted, because showing certainty was as important as having it. "If we act quickly. Formalize the marriage under a blood oath before the Council can object. By the time they learn about her abilities, she'll be imperial family. Protected by cosmic law itself."
The Emperor studied his son with an expression that suggested reassessment. As if seeing something he hadn't quite expected. "You've thought this through."
"I have."
Silence fell between them—the comfortable quiet of two predators recognizing each other's capabilities. Through the windows, Kael could see the imperial gardens stretching toward the horizon. Manicured perfection that somehow managed to look natural despite the armies of gardeners who maintained it. That was the difference between old nobility and merchant princes—knowing how to make power look effortless.
"And you're willing to weather the scandal of marrying into a family under investigation?" his father asked. "The diplomatic tensions with the Seer Council? The accusations of treaty violation?"
"For exclusive access to a seventy-five percent accurate Seer?" Kael's voice hardened with conviction he genuinely felt. "Yes. That's worth weathering a scandal. Worth diplomatic tension. Worth whatever price the Council tries to extract."
Because it was. The advantages stacked up in his mind like gold coins in a merchant's counting house. Private predictions. Advance warning of disasters and opportunities. Intelligence his brothers and rivals would never possess. The ability to position himself perfectly for succession conflicts.
A resource like this could define his entire political career.
The Emperor was quiet for a long moment, fingers still steepled. Calculating. Weighing. Running through implications with the same cold efficiency Kael had inherited.
Finally, he nodded.
"Very well. The marriage will proceed with imperial blessing. Quickly, as you suggest, before opposition organizes." His voice dropped to something more calculating. "But understand—if this Seer proves false, if her abilities are fabricated or exaggerated, the consequences will fall on you as much as them."
"I understand."
"And Kael?" The Emperor's golden eyes held a warning that made Kael's combat instincts wake up and pay attention. "Don't think I've missed the political maneuvering here. You're securing advantages your cousins and rivals don't possess. That will create tensions. Rivalries. Be prepared to defend what you've claimed."
"I will."
Because that was the game they all played. The imperial family's endless jockeying for position and advantage. And Kael had just claimed a piece that would make him nearly untouchable in succession conflicts.
Assuming Amara's abilities are real, he thought. Assuming the Brenners can weather the investigation. Assuming this entire thing isn't a more elaborate trap than I've anticipated.
But the potential rewards outweighed the risks. And in imperial politics, those who hesitated lost everything.
Kael left his father's study with imperial blessing secured. The marriage would happen on TC1853.01.16—four days from now. The blood oaths would be sworn. And Amara Brenner would become his wife, with all the protections and complications that entailed.
I hope you're worth this, he thought, remembering her tear-streaked face and promises of loyalty. Because if you're not, we're all going to burn.
Metropolitan Police Station, Afternoon
Selene Lin sat in the interrogation room with the carefully composed dignity of someone who'd spent decades perfecting facades. The police station's institutional gray walls pressed in with the same suffocating weight as the lies she was about to tell. Lies that would protect Amara. Lies that would sacrifice herself.
Lies that were, paradoxically, the closest thing to truth she'd spoken in years.
Lieutenant Veyne sat across from her with sharp eyes that missed nothing. Decades of experience reading professional liars had given the woman an almost supernatural ability to detect deception. The kind of opponent Selene would normally never face willingly.
But today, she had no choice.
"Let's be clear about what we're discussing, Mrs. Brenner," Veyne said, voice carrying the flat authority of someone who'd navigated these waters many times. "We have your fingerprints on the Amber Kiss glass. We have hotel staff testimony. We have evidence of planning and premeditation. The question isn't whether you're involved—it's how deep that involvement goes."
Selene drew a careful breath. This is what Garrick ordered. Take the blame. Protect Amara. Keep the family intact.
"I acted alone," she said quietly, each word measured and deliberate. "The drugging scheme was mine. My planning. My execution. Amara knew nothing about it."
"Your daughter's fingerprints are also on the glass," Veyne pointed out, watching Selene's face for the telltale microexpressions that betrayed lies.
"Because I asked her to help serve refreshments at the banquet." Selene's voice carried practiced regret—the tone of a woman who'd made terrible mistakes but wanted to own them. "She handled glasses while preparing drinks, completely unaware that I'd already added... substances... to specific ones."
She met Veyne's eyes directly. Let the lieutenant see conviction. Certainty. The kind of resolve that came from genuinely believing what she was saying—or being such a skilled liar that the difference ceased to matter.
"She was an unwitting participant. Nothing more."
"And the target?"
"Not Imperial Heir Kael," Selene said firmly, because this part was actually true and truth carried its own weight. "I arranged for a merchant—someone respectable but certainly not imperial blood—to receive an invitation. To be positioned near the girl at the banquet. The hotel room was booked under his name. I wanted Mara disgraced, yes. Ruined. But with someone of her own station, not with imperial blood."
Veyne's expression sharpened. "You're saying someone changed your plan?"
"I'm saying that what I arranged and what happened are not the same thing." Selene leaned forward slightly, letting genuine confusion show through. Because she truly didn't understand how Kael had ended up in that room. How her crude merchant scheme had become something sophisticated enough to compromise imperial blood.
Someone had interfered. Someone with resources and connections far beyond anything she possessed.
"The Imperial Heir's presence in that room was never part of my design," she said. "Someone redirected the situation in ways I never intended."
"The black market incense," Veyne pressed, changing tactics. "The Celestial Union Incense. Where did you obtain restricted ceremonial materials?"
"I have connections." Selene's voice dropped to something more careful. "Commercial relationships that span decades. People who owe favors. I called in debts to acquire what I needed."
"Names."
"No." Selene's composure firmed like steel cooling in a forge. "I'll take responsibility for my actions, Lieutenant. But I won't drag others into this mess. The scheme was mine. The planning was mine. The execution was mine. Amara is innocent. That's all you need to know."
Excellent, she thought, following Garrick's instructions precisely. Protect Amara. Keep the Seer abilities hidden. Take the blame and let the marriage proceed.
Because in four days, Amara would be imperial family. Protected by blood oath and cosmic law. Beyond the reach of common justice, no matter what Selene confessed to here.
And everything—everything—would be worth it.
The interrogation continued for another hour. Veyne probing for inconsistencies, testing different angles, trying to break through the carefully constructed narrative Selene had prepared. But Selene had spent seventeen years building lies and maintaining facades. This was just another performance.
One that would save her daughter even if it destroyed herself.
When they finally led her back to the holding cells, Selene felt something that might have been peace. She'd protected what mattered. Made the sacrifice Garrick demanded. Ensured that Amara's future remained secure.
Let them investigate, she thought as cell bars closed with metallic finality. Let them chase the baby swap and question everything. By the time they find answers, it won't matter.
Amara would be untouchable. And that was worth any price.
Brenner Estate, Evening
Lord Garrick Brenner stood in his study, reviewing the documents that would formalize his granddaughter's marriage to imperial blood. Blood oath contracts inscribed with runic patterns that would make the union binding across multiple planes of existence. Cosmic law made manifest in ink and intent.
The shadowwood desk reflected lamplight as he spread papers across its surface. Contract terms. Witness requirements. Ceremonial protocols. Everything needed to ensure the marriage happened quickly, legally, and irrevocably.
Four days until the ceremony. Four days until Amara became untouchable.
Four days until the Brenner family secured the one thing merchant wealth could never buy—real imperial power.
Through the windows, evening painted the estate in shades of amber and purple. Servants moved through their duties with the practiced efficiency of people who understood that even minor failures could have severe consequences. The gardens hummed with the sound of final maintenance before darkness fell—fountains adjusted, pathways swept, everything maintained to within an inch of perfection.
This was his empire. Built from grain and ruthless calculation. Elevated through decades of shrewd decisions and carefully leveraged opportunities.
And it meant nothing.
The realization had settled on him like frost during the past few days. When Commissioner Wu had demanded his family present themselves at the police station. When celestial families had looked down their noses at his "merchant pretensions." When even with all his wealth and commercial influence, he'd been powerless to prevent his family from being dragged into an investigation that could destroy everything.
Ninety years of building. Seven decades of transforming agricultural holdings into a commercial empire. And a single police commissioner could threaten it all with bureaucratic authority that rendered gold meaningless.
Money buys comfort, Garrick thought, jaw tight. It buys luxury and influence among other merchants. But it doesn't buy real power. Not the kind that matters when celestial families decide your fate.
He'd always known this, on some level. Had spent years maneuvering for noble connections, arranging marriages, trying to elevate the Brenner name beyond its merchant origins. But recent events had stripped away any comforting illusions—when real power moved, all his wealth was just an elaborate decoration on fundamental powerlessness.
The Wu clan investigation. The SIS involvement. The casual way imperial blood could reshape his family's entire future with a single decision. Even Kael's arrival at the estate had driven the lesson home—the young imperial heir moving through Garrick's carefully constructed empire like it was barely worth noticing.
That was real power. The kind that came from bloodlines and cosmic law. The kind that made merchant fortunes look like children playing at commerce.
But in four days, Garrick thought with satisfaction that tasted like vindication, the Brenner name will be written into imperial bloodlines. And all the wealth I've built becomes the foundation for something that actually matters.
The vision still haunted him. That moment eight years ago when he'd first witnessed Amara's prophetic gift—when she'd predicted the warehouse fire with such precision that he'd known immediately what she was. The dreams that had followed. Images of her standing beside imperial blood, crowned in light that suggested cosmic significance beyond anything he'd dared imagine.
The destined one, he'd called her in his private thoughts. Not just a Seer, but someone marked by fate itself for greatness.
And now, finally, that destiny was manifesting. The marriage to Kael wasn't just political maneuvering—it was cosmic alignment. The universe arranging itself according to patterns Garrick could only glimpse but Amara could see clearly.
A knock at the door interrupted his calculations.
"Enter," Garrick commanded, not looking up from the contracts.
Edmund entered with the hollow expression of someone who'd spent days processing impossible revelations. Behind him came Lady Isolde, aristocratic composure intact but showing stress in the tightness around her pale eyes.
"The police have released Selene into our custody pending trial," Edmund said quietly. "She's taken full responsibility for the drugging scheme. Claims Amara knew nothing about it."
"As planned," Garrick said, still reviewing contract terms. Everything had to be perfect. No loopholes. No technicalities that clever lawyers could exploit.
He'd been prepared to wait years for this moment. To position Amara carefully, cultivate Kael's interest gradually, maneuver everything with the patient precision that had built his commercial empire. Let her Seer abilities mature. Build documentation of her gift. Wait for the perfect political moment to reveal what the Brenner family possessed.
But the banquet disaster had changed calculations. Had shown him how quickly everything could fall apart when you relied on merchant power alone. How easily scandal could destroy decades of careful positioning.
So he'd accelerated. Turned crisis into opportunity. Used the investigation as leverage to push the marriage forward now rather than waiting for perfect circumstances that might never come.
More importantly, recent events had shown him something he should have realized earlier—that waiting was itself a risk. Every day Amara remained unmarried was another day the Seer Council could discover her abilities. Another day some other celestial family could recognize what she was and claim her first.
"Father..." Edmund's voice carried something that might have been moral conflict. "What we're doing—"
"Is fulfilling destiny," Garrick interrupted, finally looking up. His pale green eyes held the fervor of someone who'd glimpsed cosmic patterns and understood his role in them. "I spent seventy years building wealth, Edmund. Building commercial influence. Making the Brenner name synonymous with prosperity and success."
He gestured at the opulent study around them. "And in two days, a police commissioner demonstrated exactly how meaningless all of it is. How easily real power can threaten everything we've built. How quickly celestial families can destroy us if they choose."
"So this isn't just about the scandal," Isolde said slowly, understanding dawning in her pale eyes. "This is about—"
"Power," Garrick finished. "Real power. The kind that comes from bloodlines and cosmic law rather than ledgers and trade routes." His voice hardened with conviction. "But more than that—it's about recognizing what we have. What Amara is."
He stood, moving to the window where he could see the gardens stretching into darkness. "Do you know how rare true Seers are? Seventy-five percent accuracy at age seventeen? That's not just talent, Edmund. That's cosmic significance. The kind of gift that changes the fate of nations."
"And we're protecting it," Edmund said, though his voice suggested he didn't entirely believe his own words.
"We're ensuring it serves the purpose it was meant for," Garrick corrected. "The Seer Council would turn Amara into a breeding asset. Use her gifts to benefit whoever paid the most or held the most political influence. Waste her potential on predicting grain prices and weather patterns."
He turned back to face them. "But bound to imperial blood through blood oath? Protected by cosmic law? She becomes something far greater. A true power behind the throne. Someone whose visions can shape the future of the entire Eastern Empire."
His expression shifted to something almost reverent. "I've seen glimpses of it, Edmund. In dreams. In the way fate seems to align around her. Amara isn't just a Seer—she's the Seer our family was meant to produce. The culmination of everything I've built."
"You sound like you believe she's prophesied," Isolde observed, aristocratic skepticism evident despite everything.
"I believe she's significant in ways we're only beginning to understand," Garrick said. "And I believe that in four days, when she marries Kael, the Brenner family stops being merchants playing at nobility and becomes something that actually matters in cosmic terms."
He returned attention to the contracts. "Blood oath marriage, Edmund. Permanent. Binding. Enforced by cosmic law that transcends any mortal investigation or scandal. Once Amara is bound to imperial blood, her gifts are protected. Her destiny secured. And our family elevated beyond anything wealth alone could achieve."
"The investigation into Selene's crimes—" Edmund began.
"Will be resolved through imperial influence rather than merchant negotiation," Garrick said with cold satisfaction. "That's what this marriage buys us. Not just protection from scandal, but elevation to the level where scandals are managed rather than endured. Where celestial families negotiate settlements instead of destroying upstarts."
He met Edmund's gaze steadily. "I was willing to wait years, doing this carefully. But the investigation showed me something I should have realized decades ago—merchant power is an illusion. Real authority comes from bloodlines and cosmic gifts. And in four days, the Brenner family finally claims both."
"And if the investigation exposes the baby swap?" Isolde asked quietly. "If they discover that Amara is—"
"Imperial family by the time anyone pieces it together," Garrick interrupted. "Protected by blood oath that supersedes mortal justice. That's the beauty of moving quickly—by the time the investigation reaches conclusions, Amara will be beyond their reach."
The cold calculation in his voice made even Isolde look away.
This is what destiny requires, Garrick thought. Not just surviving crises, but recognizing opportunities when cosmic forces align. Using every advantage to claim what should have been ours all along.
"Four days," he said, returning attention to the contracts. "Four days until the ceremony. Four days until we stop being merchants playing at nobility and become actual imperial family with a genuine Seer guiding our fortunes."
Through the windows, darkness continued falling across the estate. Shadows lengthening. The world shifting from day to night with the same inexorable certainty that drove everything Garrick had planned.
Four days until Amara was beyond anyone's reach. Until blood oath protection made her untouchable. Until the Brenner name was written into imperial bloodlines with ink that couldn't be erased.
Four days until the destined one fulfilled her cosmic purpose, elevating the family that had nurtured her gifts beyond the reach of those who would exploit or destroy her.
Let the investigation continue, Garrick thought with grim satisfaction. Let them chase scandals and question witnesses. By the time they understand what really matters, Amara will be imperial family. Protected not by my wealth or influence, but by cosmic law, celestial bloodline, and prophetic gifts that make her invaluable.
And nothing—nothing—would be able to touch her.
Or more importantly, nothing would be able to dismiss the Brenner family as mere merchants ever again. Not when they possessed a true Seer bound to imperial blood through cosmic law itself.