A world of perfect stillness, filled only with the presence of water. The throne room of the Coral Palace Tiara Abyss lay deeper and quieter than any palace a surface-dweller could imagine. Its outer walls were built of translucent coral, catching the pale blue glow of deep-sea bioluminescent creatures, flickering like countless scattered stars. The pillars were woven from shell and crystal, and the ceiling arched gently overhead, as if she stood inside the ribcage of some great whale. Queen Aira stood before a vast nautical chart suspended in the center of the room, her amber eyes narrowed. Her pupils contracted vertically, like a beast's. The sea currents played across the chart, rendered in threads of gold by her own magic. [cold] "Carlo. The number of Lumina Crystals required to blockade the ports — there are no errors, I trust." Her long, silver-blue hair was intricately braided and adorned with numerous coral ornaments, her entire figure as though the deep sea itself had been fashioned into a gown. Her dress, dyed in jet-black squid ink, plunged open at the chest and back, leaving the silvery scale-like patterns that traced from her shoulders to her collarbone perpetually exposed. At her waist, a belt held a chain of Lumina Crystals, their faint blue light pulsing steadily. On the chart, tiny points of light marking the coastal regions of the Kingdom of Coraline blinked on and off. [serious] "Yes, as you can see. To seal the port of Petralca, twelve crystals. For the port of Fonda, nine." Carlo stood beside Aira and gave a quiet nod. His transformation magic had been released, revealing his true form — a man of the Meridia tribe, his long, deep-green hair like seaweed tied back in a single tail, his eyes a profound indigo. He stood a full head taller than Aira. His build was slender, but his movements held the supple strength forged by life in the deep sea. Scale-like patterns also ran from the nape of his neck to his shoulders, but they were far darker and coarser in texture than Aira's — the mark of a miner's lineage. Aira gazed at the chart for a long moment. Her fingertip indicated a single point. [cold] "Here. During the Great Exile, this is where the humans sank an entire port town, people and all. Even now, a layer of bones rests on the seafloor." Carlo listened in silence. [serious] "They only fished, and sang, and lived. And yet, Vernal I called our people a threat of the sea and drove them from these waters. Fifty thousand souls lived here. More than thirty thousand died. Suckling infants, the elderly — no distinction was made." Her voice was cold, betraying no emotion. But the words themselves burned with heat. The suffering of her people, the Great Exile, the massacre — only when those words emerged did her amber eyes cloud darkly. Unconsciously, Aira stroked the fringe of magical beast fangs that adorned her jet-black dress. Those fangs, lining the hem of her mantle, had been taken from creatures she herself had once summoned and subjugated. [gentle] "My Queen…" Just as Carlo was about to speak, he noticed it. Aira's left hand was gripping the pendant at her chest. It was a crude ornament made of a small shell. A worn keepsake, utterly incongruous with the queen's regalia — something she had inherited from the only person she could ever call a grandmother. Carlo knew. Whenever she unconsciously touched that pendant, a conflict was always stirring deep within her heart. (*Lady Aira isn't someone who can be driven by hatred alone.*) So Carlo thought. For the sake of her people, she tried to be cold and ruthless. Yet each time, she suffered in the chasm between her grandmother's last words — *protect the people, do not be consumed by hatred* — and the reality of vengeance. Aira noticed her own gesture and immediately released her hand. Her face stiffened slightly. A white scar ran from her left temple down to her cheek. Usually concealed by cosmetics, the old wound now showed faintly — the raw trace of a memory seared into her during the fighting of the Great Exile. [cold] "…The preparations for your mission are complete, then." As if to change the subject, Aira turned back to Carlo. [serious] "Yes. The adjustments to the transformation magic for surface infiltration are finished." He placed a hand against his own neck. [serious] "The scale patterns can be completely concealed. Even without a Lumina Crystal, I can operate on land for twenty-four hours. I am ready to blend into a human city." Aira nodded. [cold] "Good. You will land at the port town of Fonda and go undercover as the merchant Carlo Medina. First, grasp the distribution network of the marketplace. Trade information will be the key to understanding Coraline's military strength." Her voice was precise and efficient, the voice of mission command. Yet, a different thought stirred in Carlo's chest. (*The Queen never touches upon my past.*) A miner's lineage. His family had been laborers mining Lumina Crystals for generations. Many had lost their lives in the dangerous shaft work, and their scale patterns had grown malformed from the harshness of the labor. Aira knew this. But she deliberately never mentioned it. (*She sees me not as a mere laborer's son, but as a trusted envoy.*) That was Aira's own form of consideration. But Carlo also knew that this very thing drove her deeper into solitude. [gentle] "My Queen… please, do not blame yourself so much. All of our people know the depth of your feeling." Aira looked at Carlo with surprise. Her amber eyes flickered for just a moment. The light of the nautical chart cast a cold glow across her cheek. Silence. The presence of water filled the space between them. [whispers] "…Don't say unnecessary things." In the end, Aira said that and averted her gaze. —But Carlo did not miss the fact that her voice was just a little quieter than usual. At that moment, the door to the throne room swung heavily open. The figure that entered was an especially large shadow. The old general, Bartos. His short hair was iron-gray, and a deep scar marked the left side of his head, where no hair grew at all. The scar remained vivid even in his age, the skin drawn tight. He stood 195 centimeters tall — a massive frame even among the Meridia. His dark, deep-crimson eyes were perpetually narrowed, set and steady like a deep-sea fish stalking its prey. Behind him, several members of the Tidefang — the Vortida hardliner faction — stood waiting. [angry] "Queen. We have words." Bartos's voice was low and intimidating. He strode to the center of the throne room, glanced once at the nautical chart, and snorted. [sarcastic] "Still staring at such a picture-book, are you? Port blockades, current manipulation, deploying magical beasts… it's all far too cautious. The schemes of a coward." Aira returned his gaze without a change of expression. [cold] "Bartos. State your business." [angry] "My business is one thing alone. Why do you not launch an all-out assault at once?! We carry the grudge of the Great Exile. My father was burned to death by those humans. My brother was impaled on the docks and cast into the sea. With such memories, why do you take this soft approach of a phased invasion!" His voice trembled with rage. The members of the Tidefang nodded in silent agreement. Bartos took a step forward. [angry] "Your grandmother surely told you — never forgive. Is it not you who betrays those words!" Aira did not flinch. But the tips of her fingers, gripping the pendant, turned white. [cold] "I have laid these plans to protect our people. If we launch a full assault, how many casualties do you think the humans' ballistae and trebuchets will inflict? Do you intend to let our people die again, like that day when we lost thirty thousand lives?" Her voice remained utterly calm. Yet her words were laden with a deep love for her people. Bartos glared at Aira for a long moment. His deep-crimson eyes burned with rage. There was no calculation of gain or loss in them, only pure, unadulterated hatred. [cold] "…I acknowledge your hatred as well. You are the very memory of our people. But you cannot lead them with hatred alone. The time is not yet now." [angry] "Hmph… coward. You might as well have forgotten your grandmother's oath." He turned his back and moved to leave, taking the Tidefang with him. But just as he departed, he flung words over his shoulder without looking back. [cold] "Remember this, Queen. To destroy the humans, I will take any measure. Even if it means shaking that throne of yours." The door closed. Carlo let out a small breath. [serious] "General Bartos's hatred… it seems it can no longer be controlled." [cold] "Yes. But it is also true that his hatred is pure. To keep the memory of our people alive, perhaps an existence like his is necessary." So saying, Aira turned back to the nautical chart. Yet her hand still did not release the pendant. —At that moment. The throne room door opened once more, and this time a scout rushed in. He was out of breath, visibly panicked. [scared] "My Queen! An urgent report!" Aira turned her gaze toward him. [serious] "Speak." [scared] "In the port town of Petralca… a songstress, possessing no Lumina Crystal at all, quelled a storm with her voice alone! All the fishermen are watching her. The surface-dwellers seem to call her… the Songstress of Light!" In that instant. Aira's amber eyes wavered deeply for the first time. Her pupils dilated, and a clouded gold spread across her irises. [whispers] "…Songstress… of Light." One in several hundred years. A human capable of activating song magic without a Lumina Crystal. She had thought it was nothing more than a legend. Carlo, too, could not hide his shock. [serious] "Such a being… truly exists?" Aira fell silent for a while. The light of the nautical chart fell into the braids of her silver-blue hair, glittering coldly. An unknown variable. A single voice that might throw her perfect plan into disarray. Aira drew a slow breath. [cold] "Carlo. Change the priority of your surface infiltration mission. First, investigate this songstress thoroughly. Her name, the details of her ability, the extent of her influence — everything. We must know who she is, and how she will affect our plans." Carlo straightened his posture. [serious] "Understood. Without fail." Aira looked up at the great window of the throne room. Outside, the dark deep sea stretched endlessly in every direction. The lights of the bioluminescent creatures drifted slowly, like falling stars. The light of the surface. A dazzling light that could never reach the bottom of the sea. (*Serafina… the Songstress of Light.*) Aira did not yet know that name, but deep in her chest, she felt the shadow of an anxiety she had never known before. On the nautical chart, the sea currents, like threads of gold, quietly began to spiral. End of Chapter 1