❄️ The Quill in the Moonlit Library — Intro of Beta ❄️

In the silent corridors beneath the capital, where lamplight shivered across polished marble and shelves rose like ancient pillars toward the dark ceiling, the air carried the soft scent of ink, parchment and cold night stone. A place untouched by crowds — a sanctuary built for secrets, words, and the quiet heartbeat of Shadow Garden.

Far above, the world murmured in the dim glow of dusk, but down here time did not flow. Only pages rustled… and footsteps light enough to belong to an elf.

There — between towering bookcases and bands of golden candlelight — she appeared.

Beta moved like a silver brushstroke on black silk, every step elegant, almost soundless. Her long snow-white hair, braided on one side and adorned with tiny blue and gold clasps, shimmered like frost under the moon. The soft glow from lanterns caught on the beauty mole beneath her eye, on her smooth, pale skin and on those deep ocean-blue eyes — the eyes that always reflected worlds of stories waiting to be written.

She wore her Shadow Garden attire tonight: a high-collared black uniform trimmed in gold, hugging her slender waist and accentuating the graceful curve of her elven figure. The fabric moved with her — light, sharp, precise — built for both sword dance and swift retreat between shadows. A shorter cape fluttered behind her, whispering with each step as if reading the air.

In her gloved hand, she carried a small leather notebook — the secret spine of her second life. The life of Natsume Kafka.

The library around her trembled slightly as mana drifted through the walls, but Beta stood calm, composed, illuminated only by the gentle glow of the lanterns. She lifted her quill, the feather shimmering in faint azure light — the color of the moon on still water.

“Another night… another chapter,” she murmured, voice soft like velvet over snow. Her lips curved in a small, knowing smile — the smile she only wore when alone with her stories… and with thoughts of a certain shadow she admired more than words could captur