CHAPTER 220: VULNERABLE

The following morning came quietly, the sun rising over Lechia’s great palace, its light spilling like molten gold across the spires and courtyards. The air was cool, touched by the faint perfume of the royal gardens, and the gentle hum of the palace was beginning to stir. Lucas had awoken early, his mind focused and calm, his heart steady despite the magnitude of the meeting ahead.

He left the quarters while the girls were still deciding what to wear. Nyx had insisted on exploring the palace’s northern wing again, where the murals of Lechia’s history were painted in spirit-infused colors that shimmered like living flames. Selene and Lira agreed to accompany her, half for the art and half for the pleasure of seeing how the courtiers stared whenever they walked by. Lucas smiled faintly at their chatter, but he said little. His mind was fixed on what was to come.

As he made his way through the marble halls, he passed servants and guards who bowed respectfully, their expressions a mixture of curiosity and wariness. Word of the Empress’s statement from the previous day had spread through the palace like wildfire. Everyone knew she had called him "dangerous," and now every eye that followed him did so with a trace of intrigue.

At last, he reached the great double doors of the Empress’s private meeting chamber. The guards outside bowed deeply before stepping aside. One of them, an older man in ceremonial armor, spoke softly. "Her Majesty awaits you. You may enter when ready."

Lucas inhaled slowly and stepped forward. The heavy doors opened without a sound, revealing a tranquil chamber bathed in muted sunlight. The scent of sandalwood lingered faintly in the air, and the floor was covered with deep crimson carpets embroidered with gold.

He took a few steps inside before stopping. Across the room, separated by a thin, silk curtain that was barely transparent, sat the Empress. She was on a simple mat, her posture flawless, her back straight, her head held high. Even though the veil of silk obscured her face, Lucas could tell that she was without her usual covering. The outline of her form was graceful and ethereal, her presence commanding yet strangely intimate in that quiet setting.

He bowed deeply. "Your Majesty," he said, his tone calm and respectful.

"Rise," came her voice...low, velvety, and serene, carrying the weight of authority even in its softness.

Lucas straightened slowly, his eyes lifting toward the faint silhouette beyond the curtain.

"What have you got to offer?" she asked without preamble.

The directness of the question would have startled anyone else. There was no formal introduction, no exchange of courtesies, no roundabout diplomacy. But Lucas was not surprised. He had expected her to be straightforward...everything about her aura suggested that she did not waste time.

He clasped his hands before him, speaking with an even tone. "An alliance," he said first, "between Valerion, Lechia, and Rus. One that will not only strengthen borders and trade but also the foundation of power itself."

The Empress was silent for a moment, the faint whisper of her robe shifting against the mat the only sound. "That," she said finally, "is your request. But I asked what you have to offer."

Lucas’s lips curved faintly, and he nodded. "Then I’ll be direct as well."

"Go on."

"I have discovered something," he said, his voice steady. "A new and powerful dimension. A realm that exists between the layers of the world itself...unstable, but rich beyond imagination."

From beyond the curtain, there was no visible movement, but Lucas could feel the subtle shift in her energy. Her spiritual pressure deepened for an instant, a reflexive response to her interest.

He continued. "I can traverse this dimension at will. What others may consider space or distance means little to me. In short, I can teleport."

For a long while, there was silence. The faint murmur of the palace wind outside felt almost heavy compared to the quiet in the chamber.

Finally, the Empress spoke again, her tone softer but more layered now. "You can move through space itself?"

"Yes," Lucas replied. "Freely, without using talismans, scrolls, or any ancient arrays. It’s a power I’ve studied and refined. I intend to offer this knowledge...this technique...to Lechia. In exchange, I ask for the alliance with Valerion and Rus to be recognized and formalized."

The Empress did not reply immediately. She remained behind the curtain, motionless, her aura pulsing faintly with restrained thought. Even for one such as her, such an offer was beyond what anyone could have expected.

Lucas stood silently, letting the weight of his words settle. He knew that what he was offering was no ordinary secret. To possess mastery over space itself was something entire kingdoms could wage wars for.

Finally, her voice returned, lower now, almost reflective. "That," she said slowly, "is not something I had anticipated."

Her tone carried a trace of wonder, though it was hidden beneath her calm composure. Even for the grandeur of Lechia..for its armies, its scholars, its ascendant cultivators...this was something new. Something that defied centuries of understanding.

Lucas could not see her expression, but he could feel the shift in the air, the faint tremor of awe that even the most composed ruler could not entirely conceal.

The Empress’s silhouette did not move for some time. The air in the chamber was almost still, the kind of stillness that felt alive and aware, as though the very Qi within the walls waited for her command. Lucas stood motionless before her, his composure perfectly held, though beneath the surface, his mind raced quietly. The silence stretched, neither awkward nor empty...just heavy.

When she finally spoke, her tone was calm, but there was a quiet sharpness in it that made his breath catch. "Your soul," she said slowly, "is foreign."

The words landed like a whisper and a thunderclap at once.

Lucas’s expression did not change. He had expected something like this. If Henrietta, who was far less powerful, had been able to glimpse the truth about him, then it was only logical that the Empress...an existence so far beyond even ascendant realm cultivators...would sense it as well. Still, even with that logic in his mind, he felt a ripple of unease run down his spine.

He gave a faint smile, though it lacked his usual ease. "You can see that clearly, Your Majesty?"

"I do not guess," she replied evenly. "I see."

He lowered his head slightly, unsure how much to say. "Then I assume you’ve seen much more."

The faintest motion behind the curtain suggested she might have tilted her head. "Perhaps. But it is not seeing that interests me," she said. "It is understanding."

Her words lingered. He could feel the weight of her gaze even through the silk screen that hid her features.

"Tell me," she continued, "is it that strange current that flows within you...the one that does not belong to this place...that granted you the ability to do what others call impossible?"

Lucas looked up. "You mean my teleportation?"

"Among other things," she said quietly. "Your body resonates differently. Even the Qi surrounding you bends and behaves unnaturally. The energy that pulses within you... it is not from any realm known to me."

He hesitated for a moment before answering. "No, Your Majesty," he said carefully, "what allows me to do these things is not that energy. It is knowledge. Nothing more."

"Knowledge," she repeated, almost to herself, as though weighing the word in her mind. "You speak of it like a weapon."

Lucas exhaled softly. "Knowledge is a weapon. Where I come from, it was the sharpest one of all."

For the first time since he entered, he saw her hand shift behind the curtain, the long, slender fingers brushing against her chin in silent thought. Then she said, in a tone that was neither questioning nor accusatory...just absolute:

"You are not of this time."

Lucas’s breath caught. His body tensed without his command.

She continued, voice unyielding but not cruel. "Your energy is alien, your understanding too advanced, and your soul...it is displaced. You are a traveler of time. You are from the future."

The chamber fell utterly silent.

Lucas’s mind went blank. His heart hammered in his chest, and a cold sweat began to slide down the back of his neck. He had faced death and survived....but this, this pierced deeper than any blade. His hands trembled slightly, and though he tried to suppress it, the Empress surely noticed.

His throat went dry. "Your Majesty..." he managed to say, though the words came out quieter than he intended. "How...how do you know that?"

"I see threads that connect all living souls," she said simply. "Yours is tangled in places it should not be. It carries the scent of time itself. And I sense memories that are not of this age lodged deep within you...fractured, hidden, yet burning to awaken."

Lucas said nothing. He could not. His mind was spinning.

Her voice softened slightly, though the authority in it remained. "You should not be here, and yet you are. That alone means fate has taken a strange interest in you."

He swallowed hard, struggling to find words. "Your Majesty... I... I don’t know how it happened. I didn’t plan any of this. One moment, I..." He stopped himself. There was no reason to expose everything.

"I know," she said quietly, almost as if reading his thoughts. "You did not come here by choice. That much is clear. But that does not change what you are."

Lucas stood still, staring at the faint shape of her behind the silk. His breathing slowed, though his heartbeat refused to calm.

To be called out so cleanly, so effortlessly...it stripped him bare. Not even Henrietta had spoken the truth with such precision. He had always known the Empress of Lechia was powerful, but this... this was something else entirely.

He was shaken to his core, and for the first time in a long while, he truly felt vulnerable, the Empress had completely seen through him.