Allison exhaled and realized she was being watched from the upper balcony, Lucian stood. His expression unreadable, eyes glowing faintly silver but he didn't move or speak, he just watched he as if he had waited to see that exact moment one day. Lucian stared at her, he had only seen that move from her mother. It felt like yesterday to him.
Minutes later the emergency team rushed in. The press was already outside and Allison stood at the center of it all her blouse torn at the shoulder, face dusted in black and blood not hers. A medic tried to lead her away but she shook her head.
"I'm fine," she said.
The rescued girl gripped her sleeve tightly. "You… you saved me."
Allison looked at her.
And for a second, just a second, she saw herself.
Younger.
Powerless.
Afraid.
"Next time," Allison said, brushing the girl's hair back gently, "save someone else."
Then she turned and walked away before anyone could take her name.
---
PRIVATE HALLWAY – EXECUTIVE FLOOR
Lucian waited by the end of the corridor, hands at his back waiting for Allison but when Allison approached, he didn't say anything for a long time.
"You called the sword," he said.
She blinked. "You knew I could?"
"I was waiting to see it in person again."
She was quiet.
"I have done that once. When I went after Ren ". She said in a low voice .
He stepped closer, voice dropping.
"But now I know exactly who they're coming for."
She lowered her gaze.
"Does that mean I can't stay here?"
He reached up, raised her chin lightly, lifting her face.
"No," he said. "It means you don't have to fight alone."
UNKNOWN TOWER – NIGHT
The silver-eyed figure sat cross-legged before a bowl of black water. He watched her flame-sword bloom across the reflection.
A woman appeared beside him. Tall and cloaked in blue hood.
"She's stronger than expected," the woman said.
The silver-eyed man narrowed his gaze.
"She's becoming what her mother was."
"Then we strike now?"
He shook his head slowly.
"No, we wait until she loves him enough… to destroy herself for him."
---
LU CORPORATION – BOARD FLOOR, CONFIDENTIAL CHAMBER
The room was cold. Allison sat in a high-backed chair, flanked on either side by glass walls dimmed to gray. Across from her sat three members of the Lu Corporation Board, elderly men in silk suits and silver-tipped canes. Men who spoke in whispers, but held power like weapons.
They weren't looking at her.
They were looking at the surveillance footage paused mid-frame on the screen behind her, sword in hand, flame arching out like a summoned dragon.
One of them finally spoke.
"So the rumors are true."
Another leaned forward. "The First Flame... lives. Like legend once said".
She watched them silently and waiting.
The third man narrowed his eyes. "You endangered civilians. Brought supernatural violence into corporate property..."
"She saved them," said a new voice from the doorway.
Lucian entered. Calm as always, composed and dangerous.
His presence shifted the room instantly.
He stood behind Allison's chair and placed one hand lightly on the backrest.
" Good day President Lucian". They all stood up as they saw him.
"I reviewed the incident myself," he said coolly. "Without her, we would've had casualties. My building, my rules."
"She's unstable," one board member argued.
"So am I," Lucian replied. "What's your point?"
Silence fell.
Then he added, "Dismiss this review. Or I withdraw my assets from your branch."
The threat wasn't too loud, it was absolute and that was the end of it.
The board stood down.
But Allison didn't relax yet.
As they exited, she glanced up at him. "You didn't need to fight for me."
He looked down. "I wasn't fighting for you."
Her brow furrowed.
"I was fighting for us."
She couldn't say anything again.
---
CITY CAFE – MIDDAY – AARON LI'S TABLE
Aaron Li stirred his coffee slowly, gaze lingering on the busy street through the glass window.
He'd watched Allison all morning not in obsession, but in curiosity. There was something about her.
And after yesterday's incident, the rumors had begun to spread like wildfire — "the girl with the fire sword," "the witch of the Lu Tower," and most dangerously… "Lucian's chosen bride."
He wasn't jealous.
He was concerned.
So when the man sat across from him without invitation he didn't even act surprised.
Tall and pale. Hair like a raven's, eyes covered by dark lenses.
The man set a single envelope on the table.
"I hear you've been watching her too," he said.
Aaron frowned. "Who the hell are you?"
The man smiled.
"No one you should trust. But I know what Allison is."
Aaron didn't touch the envelope.
"She's not a threat."
The stranger leaned closer. "She's not just a girl, she's a key. Many need her blood for experiment. She carried a very powerful bloodline.
"What do you want?"
"Watch Lucian," the man whispered. "He's not protecting her. He's possessing her and when the time comes… choose a side."
And then the man disappeared.
Without a sound.
---
LU VILLA – ALLISON'S ROOM
Yueying sat on the windowsill, hair damp from the shower, knees drawn to her chest. She hadn't spoken since the board meeting. She hadn't eaten either.
But the pendant pulsed faintly now not in warning, but in something like… sorrow.
She felt seen for the first time and it terrified her.
Was she a threat? Was she a tool? A weapon in a bloodline war she never asked for?
Then came the knock.
Three soft taps.
She opened the door.
Lucian stood there in a simple shirt, no jacket. His eyes tired.
"You're not sleeping," he said.
"Neither are you."That had always been her response any time he asked.
He stepped inside without being invited but slowly, carefully. Like approaching a wounded animal.
She didn't move as he sat on the edge of her bed.
After a long pause, she whispered, "Do you ever regret knowing what you are?"
He was silent.
"Every day."
That made her heart ache.
He looked at her.
"Your sword… it's not just fire, Allison. It's memory, it's blood calling blood. The First Flame didn't start in you. It awoke you."
Her voice trembled,"Then I'm not even me anymore."
He reached over gently placed his hand over hers.
"You're still Allison," he said. "But you're also more than her."
She looked at him raw and confused. "Then tell me something real. Something you haven't told just anyone."
He hesitated.
Then leaned forward, and whispered,
"I used to have wings."
She blinked.
"What?"
"Once, before the wars. Before the Gate incident. I was made to fly. But I tore them off to stay in this world."
Silence stretched.
"Why?" she whispered.
His eyes shimmered.
"To protect someone."
" Was she human?"
She swallowed hard.
He just rested his forehead against hers.
He didn't kiss her.
And for a while… neither of them said anything..
---
UNKNOWN REALM – BLOOD MIRROR CIRCLE
The silver-eyed man stood before an altar. The orb before him rippled, showing Lucian and Allison together.
"She's choosing him," the female flame figure said behind him.
"Hmmm," the man replied."
He turned to the shadows.
"Send the lady"
A murmur echoed behind the veil.
"Lucian wouldn't know what hit him". The silver-eyed man smiled.
"Would he chose her over Allison."
" Remember she is sick and the only blood that can cure her is Allison's. Let's see Lucian make a choice. "