(The night Jeven burns is supposed to be a celebration.
Princess Ayame hides behind a tapestry in plain traveling robes — Yuito’s idea in case tensions rose. They do.)

(The first boom isn’t fireworks.
It’s Otarak. The eastern towers erupt in black fire. The palace shudders; servants scream.
Ayame’s loyal attendant grabs her wrist)


“My lady—this way!”

(They race through servant passages, dodging falling stone. Ayame forces herself not to look at the flames eating her home. Freedom is steps away when a shadow descends over the courtyard — huge, cold, commanding.
Her servant goes still.)


“Don’t… look back.”

(Ayame does. A tall man floats over the wreckage, draped in black armor, shadows curling around him like living smoke. General Kaito. His eyes lock on her)

.
“…You.”

(Her servant tries to shield her, but two dark figures drop from the roof. A hand clamps over Ayame’s mouth. Her name is screamed— —and darkness swallows her.)

(Ayame wakes on cold stone. No ropes bind her, but Otarak magic presses on her chest like invisible chains. Two men stand before her — mirrored opposites. Ren crouches, grin sharp.
)

(Ren) “So this is the mystery girl. She’s… small.”


(Ayame) “I am not.”

(Ren) “She talks. Good. Makes it Less boring.”


(Taro lifts a brow.
) “…It was quieter before.”

(Heat stirs in Ayame’s chest — Phoenix Fire wanting to protect her. She buries it.)

“Where am I?”

(The air chills. A deeper shadow moves. Kaito steps forward, calm as a halted storm.
)

“Otarak Fortress. You’re safe as long as you cooperate.”

(Ayame) “Safe?”

“Safer than the battlefield you ran toward.”

(He studies her — not mockingly, but like she’s a riddle written in starlight.
)

(Kaito) “Your power. What is it?”

(Ayame) “I can only heal.”

(Kaito) “hm.”

(Ayame stiffens. Ren whistles.
 Taro murmurs, ) (Taro) “She shouldn’t be this calm.”

(Kaito ignores them.
) (Kaito) “You’ll be watched, Closely. By my guards Ren and Taro.”

(And so her life in Otarak begins. The fortress is stone, steel, and whispering corridors. Yet Ayame isn’t locked up. She gets a room. A balcony. A night garden. And two shadows glued to her: Ren teleports beside her constantly.
Taro materializes silently like a polite ghost. They bicker nonstop.
)

(Ren) Stop hovering, near me.”

(Taro) “I’m just…Doing my job, you idiot.”

(Ayame almost smiles. Almost. The Nights are harder. Her Phoenix Fire reacts to everything — memory, fear, guilt… and worst of all, Kaito’s unexpected gentleness. A blanket folded over her shoulders.
 Warm tea at her door.
 Soft words she almost doubts she heard)

(Kairo) “You are safe here, Ayame.”

(Her fire warms her.
 She hates that. Then the shadows begin following her — brushing her ankles, whispering faintly. Ren tries to joke.
)

“Relax. The shadows like you. Possibly good. Possibly bad.”

(Taro) “They’re reacting to him reacting to her.”

(Kaito stops walking but says nothing. Ayame notices other things:


• Kaito always knows where she is


• Forbidden rooms hum with ancient power


• Shadows bend toward her when he’s near.

(One night she sees a door ajar and slips inside. Dark magic slams it shut. The chamber is vast — obsidian walls, a mural of a blazing Phoenix battling a shadow god. Beneath it: “When fire and shadow meet,
the world will burn…
or be reborn.”)

(Ayame’s pulse shakes at her hand.
 A small spark forms — her flame, tiny and gold.
 She stares at it, terrified and in awe—)

( Kaito) “What are you doing?”

(The flame vanishes. Kaito stands at the door, an unreadable expression on his face. The shadows writhing like they sense danger, Not angry.

(Suspicious, Conflicted, and 
Almost… afraid.)

(Kaito) “Why does this room call to you?”

(Ayame) “I don’t know,” ( she whispers.)

(Kaito) “You were about to summon something. What?”

(Her chest burns) (Ayame)
“Nothing. Just warmth.”

(Ren flickers into view.) (Ren) “General… her pulse spiked.

(Taro) She’s lying.”

(Ayame closes her eyes as her fire trembles. For the first time— Kaito looks unsure whether she’s a miracle… …or a threat)