Location: Sanctum Academy – Crown Assembly Hall
The Assembly Hall had never seen this many banners raised at once.
House Aetherrose. House Vastelune. House Cindergale. House Duskreign. House Larkveil. House Obelmar.
All six Pillar Houses. The King himself sat at the highest seat of the arched sanctum, his golden mantle trailing down the throne steps like sunfire stitched into cloth. Behind him, the Seal of Concord, forged after the First Script War, shimmered with subdued tension.
Ari stood in the center of the hall—no longer wearing the gray-black attire of an Unbound student, but a regal, midnight tunic inscribed with golden sigils—the emblem of a lineage that should not exist.
A swirling, three-spired crest pulsed on his shoulder.
The Crest of Originis—forgotten, erased, and now returned.
The King rose. Every voice silenced. Even the whispering Threads in the chamber's arcane leyline dimmed.
"The truth of our past must never remain buried if it threatens our future," he said, eyes surveying the gathering. "By the will of the council, and by the verification of Larkveil's time-seers, we acknowledge the rebirth of the lineage known as Originis."
Gasps echoed.
The King turned his gaze to Ari.
"Ari Solen is no longer to be regarded as Threadless or Unbound. As of this day, he shall be recognized as Ari of House Originis, bearer of the Primal Crest, heir of the Lost Code, and rightful peer to the Pillars."
He paused.
"Let it be recorded in the Eternal Codex."
With a wave of his scepter, golden lines burned into the stone walls behind the throne, branding Ari's crest beside the Six.
Now… there were Seven Pillars.
From her seat, Lysira had sat stiffly the entire ceremony. But now, her pale face flushed in rose-pink hues. Her lips parted as if to say something, but no words came.
"He's a noble now… A real one," she muttered, looking down at her gloved hands."And I… yelled at him for having dusty boots."
She pressed a palm to her cheek as warmth surged uncontrollably, her expression caught between mortified and… delighted.
The Crown Princess of Vastelune kept her composure, but her violet eyes widened when Ari's name was engraved. She noticed the confidence in his posture—the calm, the acceptance. A noble not by bloodline validation, but by a system older than theirs.
And the worst part?
He was humble about it.
Her blush was immediate, followed by a frustrated scoff as she whispered to herself,
"Ridiculous… stupid... noble idiot."
Still, she didn't look away.
Cerys Aetherrose
Cerys simply watched.
Her gaze wasn't filled with surprise or envy—but pride.
She already knew.
The political elite began to murmur. Alliances shifted beneath the surface. Some Houses feared Originis' reappearance would disrupt the System's authority, others saw opportunity in its unpredictability.
Behind the walls, Echo Vault operatives updated hidden records. Larkveil's Matriarch stared silently into the void of probability.
And Ari… simply stared at the stars that painted the sanctum dome.
As the council adjourned, one of the Larkveil sages passed by Ari and whispered,
"Now that your Crest is known… the real Heirs may awaken."
Ari turned. "Real heirs?"
But the sage was already gone.