Sinthia, the second daughter of House Luminis Varexa, sat in her private solarium on the highest floor of the palace. The room was not lit by ordinary crystals, but by the dim, violet light of the moon , filtering through the glass ceiling. She held a glass of nectar from night-blooming flowers and watched a holographic map of Aethergard slowly rotating above the table.

  It wasn't a map of streets. It was a map of influence. Golden lines connected houses loyal to the Crown, grey ones marked the neutral. And red pulsing dots… those were problems.

  Her gaze stopped on the largest red dot in the industrial sector: Lord Valerian

  "The Miner," she scoffed to herself, her voice dripping with enough icy contempt to drop the room temperature by several degrees. "A man who thinks that by digging a hole in our planet and pulling out metal, he becomes a statesman."

  She sipped the nectar, letting the flavor unfold on her tongue. Her thoughts ran cold and precise, much like the data in Amara's core.

  she mused.

  Valerian was loud. Too loud. He criticized Mother at the Council of Elders, blocked Lyrahel's budgets for culture, and now he was badmouthing Aurelion and his new weapon. It was time to trim him down. Not physically, no. A merchant needs to be hit where it hurts.

  Lords are powerful; they have their private armies of lawyers and guards. If she wanted to destroy him, she had to do it in a way that made him think he destroyed himself. She had to bleed him dry.

  she calculated silently, running a finger along the rim of her glass.

  Sinthia smiled, genuinely amused this time.

  That would keep him occupied long enough for Mother to finally get some rest on the throne. Silence from the opposition would be the most beautiful gift for her upcoming birthday.

  The silence of the room was cut by a discreet but firm knock on the massive blackwood door.

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  "Enter," Sinthia said, instantly changing her expression. The cold calculation of a spy vanished from her face, replaced by the gentle, slightly bored smile of a socialite with nothing more to worry about than choosing a dress.

  The door opened, and Kaelor, her personal butler, entered. An elderly Sylvarian with perfect posture.

  "Your Highness," he bowed deeply. "I apologize for the disturbance at such a late hour, but Lord Valerian is here. He insists on an audience. He claims it is a matter of the highest national security."

  Sinthia raised an eyebrow. she thought.

  "National security?" she repeated aloud, feigning a light, slightly naive concern. "At this hour? It must be serious. Should I wake Mother?"

  "Lord Valerian insisted on speaking only with you, Your Highness. Because of your… discretion, he says."

  "Very well, Kaelor. Show him to the Blue Salon. And ensure we are not disturbed."

  When she entered the salon five minutes later, Lord Valerian was already pacing nervously. He was a stocky man in an expensive woven iridium suit that was far too shiny for the royal court's taste.

  When he saw her, he stopped and bowed, but his eyes darted around the room.

  "Princess Sinthia," he blurted out. "Thank you for receiving me. I have heard… disturbing rumors. About your brother. About that weapon."

  Sinthia sat in an armchair. "Oh, Lord Valerian," she sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Please, do not start with that. I already have a migraine. Anaris and her experiments... It is madness. The weapon is unstable. Mother would prefer to ban the technology, but you know Anaris. She is brilliant, but… chaotic. She leaves her data lying around everywhere."

  Valerian's eyes narrowed. Greed shone in them now, brighter than the crystals on his coat. "Leaves around?"

  "Imagine what would happen if those plans got out," Sinthia continued anxiously. "If someone thought they could manufacture it. The weapon requires such precise calibration… If an amateur got hold of it…"

  "But if a got hold of it…" Valerian interrupted, "someone with industrial capacity… they could stabilize it. For the good of the Empire."

  Sinthia smiled sadly. "If only it were that easy. But Anaris's lab is leaky. Yesterday we had a server outage in Sector 4. Amara claims she fixed it, but who knows what was left hanging on the unsecured cloud. If someone found it…"

  She saw the corner of Valerian's mouth twitch. That was the key.

  "That is… disturbing," he said, standing up quickly. Suddenly, he no longer seemed nervous, but predatory. "I will not detain you further, Princess. I must… I must verify the security of my mines."

  "You are so attentive, Lord," Sinthia said sweetly. "Take care of yourself."

  As soon as the door closed behind him, Sinthia's expression hardened back into stone. She walked to the window and watched Valerian's limousine vanish into the night.

  She touched a discreet earpiece.

  "Amara?"

  "I am here, Your Highness,"

  "Valerian just left. Within ten minutes, his people will attempt to hack into Sector 4."

  "The file is ready,""The plans are visually perfect, with the exception of page 47—Superconducting Cooling and Recoil Compensation."

  "Excellent," Sinthia smiled. "Open the back door for them. Let them think they are smart. Let them steal it."

  She looked at her reflection in the window. Lord Valerian had just decided to commit economic suicide.

  "Invest carefully, Lord," she whispered into the darkness. "Physics lessons tend to be expensive."