Midnight.
The palace slumbered under starlight, but Shen walked in silence through the Moon Gate Garden — summoned not by eunuch, order, or threat… but by a single handwritten note slipped beneath his chamber door.
"Come. Alone. Phoenix Pavilion.—M."
He recognized the handwriting.
Elegant. Precise.
The Empress.
The Phoenix Pavilion was empty.
No guards.
No incense.
Only a single lantern lit the center chamber, flickering beneath silk curtains that swayed with the wind.
She sat there.
The Empress.
No crown. No robe. Just a simple dark shawl over her shoulders.
She looked like a woman — not a queen.
And for the first time since his return, she looked directly at him… and did not look away.
"You're not just clever," she said softly. "You're dangerous."
Shen did not respond.
"You've changed everything," she continued. "Since the day you stepped into this palace… everything began to shift."
Still, he said nothing.
"You don't kneel," she said.
"I wasn't raised to," he replied.
That made her flinch.
She stood slowly, walked toward a scroll rack, and pulled out a bundle of faded parchment.
She unrolled it before him.
An old chart of the stars — dated seventeen years ago. The day of their birth.
"You were born beneath the Veiled Dragon Star," she whispered. "A celestial sign that was… forbidden. Ominous."
Shen's voice was low. "So you cast me away."
"No!" she turned sharply. "I… I was told you would destroy the Crown. That the empire would fall if you lived."
"And you believed them."
"I…" her voice broke.
The silence hung heavy between them.
Until:
"…What did they name me?"
She froze.
"You knew about me, remembered me, feared me…But did you give me a name?" he asked.
Her lips parted.
Then closed.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
"No," she whispered. "They forbade it."
"Not even a name…" Shen thought. "Just a shadow. A secret. A threat."
But instead of anger… he nodded.
"I understand."
He turned to leave.
But her voice stopped him.
"Wait. I don't have power anymore… not over the Emperor, not over the council. But if you want protection… if you want legitimacy—"
"I don't," Shen said quietly.
She stared at him.
"I'm not here to beg for what was stolen," he said. "I'm here to take what was mine."
He walked to the doorway — but paused.
"You asked if I had a name," he said. "I do now."
She blinked.
"…What is it?"
He didn't look back.
"Shen. The Hidden One."
Then he vanished into the moonlit corridor.