Vengeance of The Reborn Heir

The Past She Buried Starts Breathing

The notification arrived without ceremony.

Aveline Westmere was reviewing intake schedules when her communicator chimed once—short, formal, administrative. She glanced down, expecting another routine update. Instead, a single line froze her breath in her chest.

Central Oversight Arrival — Inspector Authority Confirmed

Name: Alaric Bray

She read it again.

Then a third time.

The room felt smaller, as if the walls had leaned inward while she stood still. Her fingers went cold against the slate, and for a brief, humiliating second, her thoughts did not move forward—they fell backward.

Not to military corridors.

Not to audits.

Not to Golden Blade traces or command reviews.

To a night she had sealed shut with precision and patience.

No one knew, she told herself immediately. The thought came fast, practiced, like a mantra she had repeated for years. No one saw. I was careful.

Yet the reassurance rang hollow this time.

Her gaze drifted, unbidden, to the corner of the room where her coat hung