Chapter 23: LYRIA LEARNS THE TRUTH

Lyria was waiting when Vael returned.

Seraphina sat beside her with a sealed leather folio on the table.

The inn room felt like a courtroom.

Vael closed the door.

Lyria looked at the blood on his mouth.

"What happened?"

"I spoke to Edran."

"And?"

"He hit me."

Morrigan muttered, "Twice."

Lyria’s gaze sharpened.

"You followed him?"

"At a respectful tactical distance."

"You were told not to."

"I serve selectively."

Vael removed his coat.

Lyria did not move.

"Who are you?"

The question was quiet.

This time there was nowhere left to step sideways.

Seraphina opened the leather folio.

Inside lay a faded portrait.

It depicted a dark-haired man seated in black armor, apparently thirty-eight years old, staring at the painter as though deciding whether portraiture justified execution.

Vael remembered sitting for it.

He had hated every minute.

Lyria looked from the portrait to him.

The resemblance was exact now.

Seraphina spoke carefully.

"This was kept in a sealed ecclesiastical archive. It predates most propaganda portraits."

Vael looked at the painting.

"They made my nose too large."

Seraphina made a strangled sound.

Lyria did not laugh.

She drew the Valcrest sword.

The blade hummed.

Ancient enchantments recognized ancient demonic mana.

Blue light crawled across the steel.

Lyria’s face drained of color.

"My ancestor’s sword reacts to the Demon King."

"Yes."

"And it reacts to you."

"Yes."

"Say it."

Vael looked at her.

The System appeared.

[Optional Objective: Tell the truth.]

No reward.

No penalty.

He almost appreciated that.

"I am Vael Zar Astaroth."

Lyria’s grip tightened.

"The Black Sovereign."

"Yes."

"The man Arthas fought."

"Yes."

"The man who burned Ashfen."

"Yes."

"The man who knew exactly where this sword wounded him."

"Yes."

"The man who lied to me every day since we met."

Vael hesitated.

"Yes."

That answer hurt more than the others.

Lyria’s eyes shone with anger.

"Was any of it real?"

Vael immediately knew what she meant.

The road.

The first date.

The picnic.

The letter.

The bridge.

"Yes."

"How am I supposed to believe you?"

"I don’t know."

"You had dozens of chances."

"I know."

"Stop saying that."

Vael flinched.

It was the same thing Edran had said.

Lyria noticed.

Her voice dropped.

"You let me talk about Arthas. You let me complain about living under his name."

"Yes."

"You knew him."

"Yes."

"You knew how he died."

Vael looked at the sword.

"He survived our last battle."

"I know that."

"He died years later from an illness."

"I know." Her voice cracked. "That’s not the point."

"No."

"The point is you sat there while I talked about my family as if you were some stranger who read too many books."

Vael had no defense.

Lyria laughed bitterly.

"Do you know what’s worst?"

He waited.

"I like you."

The words landed harder than the sword ever had.

Lyria wiped angrily at one eye.

"I like the man who fixed a stupid cart and complained about puppet horns and wrote me the worst letter I’ve ever received."

"It was eighty-nine percent romantic."

The joke escaped him automatically.

Lyria stared.

Vael wanted to disappear.

Seraphina closed her eyes.

Morrigan whispered, "Not the moment."

"I know," Vael said.

Lyria actually laughed once despite herself.

That made everything worse.

She sheathed the sword.

"I need distance."

Vael’s chest tightened.

He wanted to tell her not to go.

He had commanded armies to stay in impossible battles.

He had ordered gates closed against sieges.

But he had no right to command this.

"All right."

Lyria picked up her bag.

At the door, she stopped.

"Don’t follow me."

"I won’t."

"Don’t send Morrigan."

Morrigan looked offended.

"I won’t."

"Don’t ask your invisible curse how to fix this."

Vael looked at the empty air.

The System appeared.

[She has a point.]

"I won’t."

Lyria left.

The door closed.

The room became too quiet.

A System window appeared.

[Main Heroine Affection: Hidden]

Vael stared.

"Why hidden?"

[Because human feelings are not scoreboards.]

He almost laughed at the hypocrisy.

Instead he sat on the edge of the bed until sunrise.

No quest appeared.

For the first time since the System had entered his life, Vael wished one would.