Unauthorized Reincarnation

  Chapter 6 title: Paradisus-Paradoxum

  As long as a soul is caged in flesh, it is capable of both good and evil. To be good for one is to bring harm to another — such is the burden of the living.

  A few scattered lights flickered across the sleeping city of Luminas, their glow barely piercing the veil of night. The streets lay silent, as if the entire city had slipped into a deep slumber. Yet not all were granted rest.

  Inside the grand cathedral, a lone figure cloaked in azure moved with deliberate grace. In her hand, she carried something wrapped in ornate red tissue. She walked her footsteps echoing faintly, until she reached a concealed door tucked behind the altar.

  Beyond it lay a secret chamber. No symbols adorned the walls, no relics or decorations—only a plain table and a single candle burning quietly atop it. She approached, unwrapped the bundle, and revealed another candle. Placing it beside the first, she lit it with care.

  Moments later, a second figure entered without knocking, dressed in white robes. He knelt behind her, as if the meeting had been preordained.

  “The prophecy draws near,” the woman said, her voice low and resolute. “We must do everything to support His Highness.”

  The kneeling figure remained silent.

  “The First One,” she continued. “If I’m not mistaken, his face was last seen five years ago. What became of him?”

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  “We’re doing what we can to find him,” the kneeling figure replied. “But he’s not easy to track.”

  Without hesitation, the woman in azure reached for the first candle. She gripped its neck with her left hand and, using her thumb, extinguished the flame—letting it sear her skin without flinching.

  Her face emerged from the shadows: Aurelia Solenne. Cold. Unfazed.

  “We must find him,” she said, her voice like frost. “And eliminate him. No matter what.”

  By the time dawn broke, Luminas stirred from its slumber. The streets stirred with life—vendors setting up stalls, children chasing each other through alleyways. The city, so silent hours ago, now pulsed with morning energy.

  On the second floor of the tavern, a window creaked open and sunlight spilled across the room. Lily leaned out, the morning breeze tossing her hair into a wild halo.

  “Good morning, everyone!” she called, her voice carrying down to the street below.

  A few passersby glanced up with amused smiles. Lily flushed and quickly pressed her palms to her cheeks, half-embarrassed, half-thrilled.

  “I still can’t believe this is only my second day in a new world,” she whispered, the words trembling between wonder and disbelief.

  Inside the tavern, life was already stirring. She washed her face in a basin of cool water, savored her first mouthfuls of the unfamiliar breakfast, and traded words with the early risers who shared their corner tales. Names, customs, fragments of gossip — she drank them in eagerly, each detail like a window opening onto a life she had never known.

  Her smile lingered, bright but delicate, like sunlight through stained glass — soft, fragile, yet quietly transforming everything it touched.