Chapter 10 Three Hidden Circle Inspectors
Seran Thorne’s POV
The night sky above Crescent Tower looked wrong.
Not because of a storm or magical fog, but because of how perfect it was—too calm, too controlled, as if the world itself was hiding a massive secret.
Most people would call it an illusion.
But… I knew better.
This place always reacted when the balance shifted.
And tonight, that balance had moved.
My footsteps echoed through the white marble corridor leading to the Inspection Hall. Lyris walked behind me, slower than usual. The aura around her hadn’t fully settled yet—residual tremors from her brief contact with the specimen still clung to her body.
I could hear her uneven breathing.
“Seran,” she finally said. “Are you sure… we should report everything?”
I didn’t look back. “We report only what we saw. Nothing more.”
“But what we saw…” She hesitated, searching for the right words. “…wasn’t normal.”
No.
It wasn’t.
But it also wasn’t something we could define yet.
“That’s exactly why,” I said flatly, “we report everything. Without interpretation.”
Lyris fell silent.
We entered the Inspection Hall.
The chamber was circular and vast, crowned by a high dome carved with ancient observation symbols—not ritual markings, but archival ones. The Hidden Circle didn’t worship power. They cataloged it.
Three High Seats were already occupied.
Marienne Thorne, Head of the Inspection Council, sat in the center. Calder Raith, Overseer of Blood Magic Law, took the left. Ingrid Voss, Interpreter of Soul Resonance, sat on the right.
Their gazes landed on us at the same time.
“Seran Thorne,” Marienne said without preamble. “Report the results of today’s auction specimen inspection.”
I bowed briefly. “We conducted a preliminary inspection on the subject named Evra. The most recent purchase from the House of Crescent.”
“And?” Marienne pressed.
I paused. Truthfully, I was still unsure whether this information should be shared now—or held back longer.
But Calder seemed to catch something in my expression.
“Why haven’t you continued?” he asked. “Was the auction seal unstable?”
“Yes,” I answered at last. “The seal reacted abnormally.”
“In what way?” Ingrid asked.
I hesitated before replying. “It didn’t fade according to procedure. The seal… collapsed.”
The silence sharpened.
“Collapsed?” Marienne repeated.
“Not entirely,” I clarified carefully. “More accurately… it was forcibly released by an internal response from the subject.”
Marienne gestured, and Lyris was brought forward.
“Blood witch,” Calder said. “What did you feel?”
Lyris inhaled slowly. “The energy inside the subject isn’t singular. There’s more than one layer of resonance. None of them match any recorded magical spectrum.”
“Witch magic?” Ingrid asked.
“Not completely.”
“Wolf energy?” Calder pressed.
“No.”
Marienne leaned back. “Then what are we dealing with?”
Lyris lowered her head. “Something… only the ancestors once carried.”
The word lingered in the air.
I continued, “We detected no aggression patterns. No attempt to release power. But there was a response—almost as if the subject’s body reacted to the seal’s removal itself.”
“A defensive response?” Ingrid asked.
“Or a physical reflex,” I said.
Calder growled softly. “You kept a recording?”
I nodded.
A Memory Orb appeared in my palm—small, dim, incomplete. Not a full projection, just fragments captured as the seal collapsed.
When I released it, a faint glow formed in the air.
No clear shape.
No decipherable symbol.
Only an unstable dark-red pulse, like the echo of an unfamiliar heartbeat.
Then the recording shattered on its own.
Silence fell again.
“That’s it?” Calder asked, unimpressed.
“Yes,” I replied. “And it’s enough to mark Evra as a mid-level anomaly.”
Marienne laced her fingers together. “Your thoughts on her origin?”
I chose my words carefully. “There may be a connection to an old bloodline. But there isn’t enough evidence for classification.”
“Witch blood?” Ingrid asked.
“Possibly.” I didn’t say more—I wasn’t certain myself.
Calder gave a short laugh. “Magnus always had a talent for finding trouble.”
The name tightened the room again.
“Does Lord Magnus know about this condition?” Marienne asked.
“Not entirely,” I answered honestly. “And he has shown no intent to exploit it.”
“Not yet,” Ingrid echoed softly.
I nodded.
“And that’s why,” I continued, “direct intervention would be a mistake. Lord Magnus reacts poorly to pressure. If we move too fast, we lose visibility.”
Marienne considered this. “What do you suggest we do with the specimen?”
“Observe only. Quietly. No attention. No open labeling.”
Calder didn’t look satisfied. “And if the Alpha decides to use Evra?”
“Then we act,” I said calmly. “Because this specimen is… interesting. But not yet.”
The decision settled in silence.
Finally, Marienne spoke. “You will return to Magnus’s territory.”
I frowned. “As an observer?”
“As a shadow,” she corrected.
There was no room for refusal.
After saluting, Lyris and I exited quickly. As we left, I noticed her steps were heavier.
“Seran…” she said quietly in the corridor. “Do you think that specimen will become a serious problem?”
“Why ask?” I replied.
“Because it seems the Auction Council plans to revoke the purchase if further irregular reactions are detected.”
I remembered Magnus’s gaze.
Not an Alpha looking at property.
But someone who had found something he should never have wanted.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly.
“But if the balance has truly shifted…” I glanced up at the tower sky, calm once more. “…Evra won’t be the one choosing the path of destruction.”
Lyris looked at me, uneasy.
“Then who will?”
I answered quietly, “The Alpha who refuses to release what he has already touched—and claimed.”
“You mean… Lord Magnus wouldn’t return the specimen to the auction?”
I nodded.
“No,” I said softly. “He won’t return anything he’s claimed.”
“Even if the Council orders it?”
“You already know the answer,” I replied without looking back.
“How about if the Auction Council forces the specimen to be returned?” Lyris asked, clearly curious.
“Then we’ll all feel the consequences. Lord Magnus won’t be someone you can negotiate with.”
Lyris nodded in understanding. “That actually makes sense. He paid an enormous amount to acquire that specimen.”
I snapped my fingers. “Exactly my point.”