The morning light filtered through the thin window, casting faint shadows over Valen's desk as he turned the prophecy over in his mind. "When shadows rise within the blood of nobility, the empire's future will be decided by a singular force, both bane and boon to fate."
The words haunted him, tugging at memories he didn't own and fears he barely understood. Was this prophecy crafted in reference to his bloodline or simply the ambition he harbored? With every answer he found, new questions surfaced, hinting at darker connections between his family and the academy's hidden power structures.
He recalled his grandmother, Lady Solara, once advising him that fate was nothing more than an illusion created by the fearful to avoid responsibility. You are a master of your destiny, Valen, she had told him, and only you decide its course. With a determined glint in his eye, he resolved that whatever powers lurked within Astralis Academy, he would bend them to his will.
