Her clothes were barely that, designed more to draw attention than cover skin.
"Welcome to the Veiled Serpent, Kaelion," she purred, voice dipped in honey and shadows.
Kael froze, blank.
His brain stalled.
Kael inhaled slowly, steadying the sudden rush of heat behind his ribs.
Calm down, Kael. Calm. Down.
He forced a small, casual smile onto his face as he stood straighter, ignoring the way his heart thumped against his ribs like it wanted to escape.
"So... who are you, exactly?"
The woman chuckled, her voice smooth as silk sliding over steel.
"You're not quite like the rumors, are you?" Her green eyes sparkled with mischief.
"I'm the head of the Veiled Serpent. You may call me Seraphine."
Kael's smile widened, deliberately relaxed, practiced.
"Oh ho, nice to meet you," he said lightly.
But inside?
He was screaming.
WTF. This woman. This goddess-in-sinful-clothing is the one running the most feared black market in the kingdom?
And she's meeting me?
....Personally?
His thoughts spiraled as he kept nodding politely, every cell screaming while his face remained calm.
She laughed again, a soft, almost teasing sound that filled the room.
Kael couldn't help but chuckle along, the tension easing for a moment.
Then silence stretched between them, thick and heavy.
Kael broke it, voice steady but cautious. "So… why do you need me?"
Her smile deepened, slow and deliberate. "Before anything else, you'll need to sign the contract of silence with our organization."
Kael nodded, unsurprised. "And if I don't?"
She laughed, that low, dangerous laugh again.
"You can walk away—but your memories will be wiped clean. Everything related to us, gone."
Kael's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
Memory wiping spell… That's intriguing. He let out a slow breath, nodding firmly.
"Alright. I'll sign."
She clapped her hands softly, the sound echoing in the quiet room.
Almost immediately, a man appeared from a shadowed corner, carrying a rolled parchment sealed with arcane symbols.
Kael bit his thumb, drawing a small bead of blood. He pressed it onto the glowing seal of the contract.
The seal pulsed once, bright green, then faded away. On his hand, a faint green serpent mark shimmered briefly before vanishing.
"This," she explained calmly, "is your identity mark. You can summon it at will—on thought alone—to prove who you are to us. Without it, you're just another face in the crowd."
Kael studied the empty spot on his skin, feeling the weight of the binding magic settle in.
"Once you sign," she continued, "there's no turning back. The contract is as much a part of you as your own shadow."
[Host has joined Veiled Serpent]
[Title acquired: Veiled Serpent Member]
She laughed softly, the sound smooth like silk over a blade.
"We contacted you because you're the most talented in ancient languages and historical ciphering in our kingdom," she said, eyes watching him closely.
Kael's posture stiffened, a flicker of unease tightening his jaw.
'That was Kaelion. Not me.'
But he forced a calm nod, the same kind Kaelion might've given.
"Y-yes," he replied, voice steady enough.
Seraphine smiled at his agreement, her expression both graceful and predatory.
"We recently acquired a map through certain... resourceful channels. None of our scribes, translators, or arcane readers have been able to make sense of it."
She leaned forward, folding her hands beneath her chin.
"But if you can decode it, Kaelion... we will offer you something of equal rarity." Her voice lowered like a spell.
"An elixir. Refined from forbidden alchemy. It can undo your magiclessness."
The room was quiet.
Kael nodded, then stepped forward and took the seat across from her without asking. Seraphine raised a single dark brow, clearly amused by the breach of etiquette—but she didn't stop him.
Settling into the plush chair, Kael let the silence linger, his gaze momentarily drifting to the flickering lanterns that lit the chamber's edges.
The green glow danced across the black stone walls like serpent shadows.
But inside, his mind was already spiraling.
'I had planned to reveal it gradually... that I can use magic. A dramatic little 'divine intervention' during a duel or something loud enough to rewrite the narrative. Something public.'
'But I already used magic inside Mount Veilspire.'
His fingers curled faintly in his lap.
'Elara saw it. She definitely knows.'
'And yet... no whisper of it has spread. No inquisitors, no agents. Not even a rumor.'
That thought knotted his chest.
'So Elara's hiding it. Why?'
'The others who witnessed it... dead? Or silenced?'
He let out a soft, controlled breath, his expression unreadable.
'Either way, the window is closing. My secret will get out eventually—'
His fingers tapped the armrest once, slowly.
'I'll need to visit Elara soon.'
Kael leaned back with deliberate arrogance, one leg resting on the ornate table between them.
The candlelight caught the smug curve of his smile.
He watched Seraphine's amused expression shift ever so slightly as he settled in — not as a guest, but as someone making a deal on his terms.
"What if," he said coolly, "I gave you a counter-offer?"
Seraphine's brow rose, curiosity flickering in her emerald eyes.
"A counter-offer?" she echoed, intrigued. "And what, pray tell, could you possibly have that we don't?"
Kael didn't answer with words.
Instead, he reached inside his coat and slowly withdrew a tightly bound bundle — eight scrolls. The moment he laid them on the table, Seraphine's smile faltered.
"These," Kael said, voice low and steady, "were extorted from elite academy students... by the Devil of Veilspire."
Silence.
The room seemed to hold its breath.
Seraphine's gaze dropped to the scrolls, then back to him — sharper now, wary, calculating.
Everyone wants Devil intelligence.
She leaned in slightly. "How do you know him, Kaelion?"