CHAPTER 155: THE QUEEN’S ORDERS

To enter now, at his weakest, was to court disaster. Whatever courage pushed him forward, recklessness would betray him in the end.

Jae pulled his hand back with a sharp exhale, as though the decision itself was a physical effort. The door remained closed, silent, patient, as if mocking him

Tomorrow, he told himself firmly, though impatience burned in his chest. Tomorrow, with strength restored, with a plan, with allies if I can gather them. Then I will see what lies below.

Turning away from the shrine door felt like surrender, yet he forced himself to do it. His footsteps echoed hollowly as he retraced his path, back toward the brighter corridors, the cleaner halls.

The palace above seemed almost alien now, its golden chandeliers and polished marble hiding the truth buried in its roots.

When at last he returned to his chamber, he bolted the door behind him, though no lock could quiet the weight pressing on his mind.

He set the book aside on the table, its cover closed yet its contents burned into his thoughts.

He lay down on his bed, but his body found no peace. The thought of the hidden shrine replayed endlessly, the runes glowing in the dark, the cult’s whispers echoing just beyond the door.

His mind dragged him back to the cave, to the moment the runes had lit beneath his feet, to the terror of knowing something vast and terrible reached for him from another world.

Night deepened outside the windows, shadows stretching long across the room. Jae shifted restlessly, his muscles tight, his breaths uneven. Exhaustion finally began to drag him under, but even in that surrender, peace did not come.

His sleep was shallow, broken, restless, haunted by the memory of glowing runes and the thought of what potentially waited just beyond the door.

xxx

The next morning broke gray and quiet, the kind of dawn where light spilled softly across the palace walls, neither warm nor cold, only steady. Jae rose with purpose, his thoughts already circling the shrine.

Sleep had not refreshed him much, his rest fractured by visions of glowing runes and the oppressive weight of shadows pressing in from unseen corridors. Yet the lack of clarity only sharpened his determination. He had delayed once. He would not delay again.

His steps carried him steadily through the palace, past guards who barely glanced at him, past servants busy with their early tasks. Few seemed aware of where he was headed, and fewer would have cared.

Jae’s resolve hardened with every step, anticipation building in his chest. He moved quickly yet with control, as though any hesitation might allow the shrine itself to slip away from him.

At last, he arrived at the place the book had described, the hidden door that had haunted his thoughts all through the night.

The shrine’s entrance stood unchanged from the night before, a weathered relic of an earlier age, dark wood sunken into rough stone. Yet something about it was different now. The silence of yesterday had been replaced.

Two guards flanked the door, their armor gleaming faintly in the dim light of torches set along the wall. Their posture was not the easy stance of men assigned to routine duty. They were alert, sharp-eyed, and still as statues, as though they had been waiting for him.

Jae slowed, surprise flashing across his features before he masked it. He studied them carefully, noticing the readiness in their grips, the way one’s hand rested close to his weapon, not in threat but in preparation. They were not here by chance.

He came to a stop before them, his eyes flicking briefly to the door and back again. "I need to enter," he said evenly, voice calm but carrying the weight of command.

For a long moment, silence stretched. Then the taller of the two stepped forward slightly, his expression impassive. "No one may enter," he said firmly. "These are the queen’s orders."

The words hung in the air like a blow.

Jae’s gaze sharpened. "The queen?"

The guard did not flinch. "Her command is absolute. No entry, no exceptions. Not for you. Not for anyone." His tone was respectful, but there was no trace of hesitation, no opening for argument.

Jae let the silence sit between them. His hand rose almost unconsciously, brushing against the door’s frame. He could feel the faint vibration beneath his fingertips, the subtle energy woven into the wood and stone.

But that sensation was eclipsed by the heavier weight that pressed against him now, not the shrine’s aura, but the authority of the crown barring his path.

His jaw tightened. He withdrew his hand slowly, letting it fall back to his side. The guards did not move, their discipline perfect, their eyes following his every breath.

Stepping back, Jae let the air settle between them again. The tension was thick but controlled, like a blade balanced on its edge. He allowed himself to breathe, his expression calm though his mind was anything but.

Why would the queen be interested in this place? How much did she already know? The shrine’s existence had been hidden even in ancient records. For her to have posted guards here the very morning after he discovered it... it could not be coincidence

He turned the questions over in his mind, steady and methodical. Did she suspect the shrine’s connection to the recent attacks?

Did she know of his involvement in the cave, of the glowing runes that had answered him there? Or was this entirely separate, a motive concealed beneath layers of royal intrigue?

The memory of the monsters at the academy came unbidden, their shadow-born forms, their unnatural persistence. He pictured the chaos of battle, the collapse of walls, the cries of students.

His thoughts drifted inevitably back to the queen. Could she be protecting the kingdom by sealing the shrine, or concealing something darker?

Jae frowned faintly, eyes narrowing. Did the king know? Would he approve of guards barring a place that by all rights belonged under his authority? Or was this the queen’s will alone, carried out with no need for consent? In this palace, her influence was far-reaching.

To challenge her authority was not only dangerous, it might be meaningless.