Dawn broke over the Obsidian Palace, casting long, gray shadows across Nyx's quarters.
Nyx sat on the edge of the bed, staring at his hands. The hunger had subsided, replaced by a cold, heavy stone in his chest. But something else was missing.
Since the moment he fell from the sky, the air around him had felt thick, magnetic. When women looked at him, their eyes would glaze over, their logic replaced by an instinctual need to possess him. It was a defense mechanism, the Void way of protecting its vulnerable vessel.
But now... the air was thin.
Cracking the First Shackle and devouring the assassin had rebooted his system. The passive "Charm" was gone. He was no longer a beautiful lure; he was just a man. A dangerous, unknown man.
"The fog is gone."
The voice came from the balcony door.
Briar stood there. She hadn't slept. She was leaning against the frame, her arms crossed tight across her chest, her brown eyes sharp and clear. There was no blush on her cheeks. No dreamy look. She was looking at him with the cold, calculating gaze of a Lunar Realm warrior.
"You felt it too?" Nyx asked quietly.
"I felt it leave," Briar said, her voice hard. She walked into the room, keeping her hand near the hilt of Ignis. "For two days, I've been acting like a love-struck idiot. I jumped in front of an Ancestor for you. I threatened a King for you. My brain was screaming 'run', but my heart was screaming 'protect'."
She stopped five feet away from him.
"It was a spell, wasn't it? A glamour."
"It wasn't a spell," Nyx said, meeting her gaze. "It was survival. My body... it didn't want me to die. So it made you want me."
Briar's jaw tightened. "I should run you through right now. I hate mind games, I hate being manipulated."
She gripped her sword handle until the leather creaked. Nyx didn't move. He didn't have the strength to fight her without the element of surprise.
Then, Briar let go of the sword. Her shoulders slumped.
"But last night," she whispered, looking at the scorch mark on the wall where the assassin had died. "When that Shadow Walker had me pinned... the Charm was already fading. You could have run. You could have let him kill me to buy time."
She looked back at Nyx.
"You stayed. You battled him him. You saved my life."
"You saved mine first," Nyx replied.
Briar held his gaze for a long moment. The irrational obsession was gone, washed away by the cold light of morning. But in its place, something else was taking root. Respect. Curiosity. And the undeniable fact that even without the magic, he was the most striking man she had ever seen.
"I'm not your guard dog anymore, Nyx," Briar said softly. "But... I'm not your enemy."
Before Nyx could answer, the heavy doors to the suite swung open.
There was no knocking. No hesitation.
Empress Seraphina walked in.
Yesterday, she had looked at Nyx as if he were water in a desert. Today, she looked at him as if he were a loaded gun.
She was dressed in her full imperial regalia, high-collared gold and crimson armor-weave. Her expression was imperious, her posture rigid. Behind her walked Emperor Kael and Lyra
Seraphina stopped in the center of the room. She didn't rush to check if Nyx was hurt. She stood tall, her dark eyes scanning him, dissecting him.
"The attraction is gone," Seraphina stated. It wasn't a question.
"Yes," Nyx said, standing up to face her.
"Good." Seraphina walked closer, her heels clicking on the marble. "It was clouding my judgment. I almost declared war on the Dragon King because you looked at me. It was embarrassing."
She stopped right in front of him. Without the Charm, Nyx expected her to be angry, to feel violated.
Instead, Seraphina reached out and took his chin in her hand. Her grip was firm, cool, and commanding. She turned his face left and right, inspecting him.
"Now I see you clearly," she murmured. "No magic. No divine allure. Just a man with a hole in his soul where his mana core should be."
She looked into his golden eyes.
"And yet," Seraphina whispered, a spark of something dangerous lighting up her gaze, "I still don't want to let you go."
She released him and turned to Kael. "Report."
Emperor Kael pushed his glasses up his nose. He didn't look that good hearing the tone in Seraphina's voice. "The Wards. They were paused for three seconds. Someone with a Key let the assassin in."
"A traitor," Lyra said, her voice shaking slightly. She was looking at Nyx not with infatuation, but with scientific fear. "Nyx... if the Charm is gone, the Palace isn't safe. The servants, the guards... they won't instinctively protect you anymore. They'll fear you. And fear leads to violence."
"Exactly," Seraphina said. "Which is why we are moving you."
"To the execution block?" Nyx asked dryly.
"Don't tempt me," Seraphina smirked. It was a real smile, sharp and intelligent. "No. To the Vault. It's an underground containment facility. No windows, mana-suppression walls, one entrance."
"It's a prison," Briar noted.
"It's a fortress," Seraphina corrected. "Until I find the traitor who paused my wards, Nyx does not sleep above ground."
She looked at Nyx, waiting for him to argue.
Nyx looked at the three of them. The dynamic had shifted. They weren't his harem, they were his captors. But they were also the only people standing between him and the Vampires.
"I'll go to the Vault," Nyx said. "On one condition."
"You are in no position to bargain," Kael warned coldly.
"I am the only one who can eat mana," Nyx countered, looking at the Emperor. "That makes me a weapon. And weapons need maintenance."
He looked at Seraphina.
"I need a weapon of my own. I drained that assassin because he was careless. If a warrior comes at me... I'm dead. I need a sword. And I need training, I don't want to be protected, I want to protect myself."
He looked at Briar.
"And I need to know about the world I'm supposed to survive in."
Seraphina studied him. She saw the intelligence in his eyes. Without the Charm, he was sharper, colder and she quite liked the change.
"A weapon for the Void," Seraphina mused. "Dangerous. If we arm you, you could turn on us."
"If I wanted to hurt you," Nyx said, stepping closer, invading her personal space, "I would have let the assassin kill Briar and taken his daggers."
Seraphina held his gaze. Her heart rate spiked, not from magic, but from the thrill of the challenge. He was bold or he did it unknowingly but she liked it.
"Agreed," Seraphina decided. "Emperor Kael, let's open the Forbidden Armory. Let him pick something."
"The Forbidden Armory?" Kael narrowed her eyes. "Empress Seraphina, those are cursed artifacts! They drain the life of anyone who touches them!"
"He eats drains for breakfast, Father," Lyra pointed out, adjusting her robes. "Logic suggests a cursed weapon is the only thing he can wield."
"Fine," Kael sighed, tossing a heavy iron key to Briar. "Take him. Then lock him in the Vault. I have a traitor to hunt."
Seraphina turned to leave, but she paused at the door. She looked back at Nyx.
"Nyx," she said.
He looked up.
"I preferred you when you were charming," she lied smoothly. "But I think I'm going to enjoy you more now that you're dangerous."
With a swirl of crimson silk, the Empress departed.
The room felt lighter, but the tension remained. Briar caught the key, tossing it in the air.
"Well," Briar said, looking at Nyx with a complicated expression. "The spell is broken. The Empress is scary again. And you're officially a political prisoner."
She opened the door, gesturing to the hallway.
"Let's go shopping for a cursed sword. Maybe we can find one that has a worse personality than you."
Nyx walked toward the door. As he passed Briar, he stopped.
"Briar," he said.
She tensed. "What?"
"Thank you," he said. "For not killing me when the fog cleared."
Briar looked away, a faint, genuine flush touching her ears, not from magic, but from embarrassment.
"Don't make me regret it," she muttered. "Come on. The Armory is deep underground. It's going to be a long walk."
Nyx followed her out. He was walking into the dark, into a prison, surrounded by people who no longer loved him but feared him.
Good, Nyx thought, the First Shackle humming in his chest. Fear keeps them alert, Love makes them blind.
A voice whispered inside his mind "You can't trust anyone, they'll betray you."
He clenched his fist. he heard the voice, but he wasn't sure if he should listen to it.