Demacia's Walls Have Ears

After returning to Demacia's capital, Lux's life seemed to fall back into its usual rhythm.

After a quiet, low-key New Year, Crown Guard Manor grew lively again. Not long after Lux returned, Tiana also ended her wartime preparations in the north and came back to Demacia's capital.

She attended noble gatherings, practiced her art with Sona, exercised regularly, and prepared Nullstone circuits for her simulated training...

And on top of all that, she added one more activity to her routine.

Visiting the Nullstone Prison.

More precisely, she went to chat with Eno.

To ordinary people, the Nullstone Prison was utterly forbidden—a place they were not allowed, and could never hope, to enter.

But for Lux, getting into the Nullstone Prison was hardly any more difficult than going home. As the Crown Guard family's little princess, with the current head of the Magic Seekers as her uncle by marriage, she could enter whenever she wanted. No one would be foolish enough to stand in her way.

Aside from changing into the Magic Seekers' blue robes, Lux needed no preparation at all.

The Magic Seekers guarding the Nullstone Prison knew how to keep their mouths shut. No matter how curious they were, whenever Lux arrived, they simply opened the door to the prison in silence, then stood guard outside.

As long as Lux was safe, nothing else mattered.

Under Demacian law, Eno was considered to have "caused destruction under duress." And since she had been a minor when it happened, the Magic Seeker court ultimately sentenced her to ten years in prison.

In other words, Eno would serve ten years in the Nullstone Prison, then be escorted by the Magic Seekers to the border and expelled from Demacia once her sentence was over.

However, since the Nullstone Prison was built almost entirely from Nullstone, the mages inside were constantly drained of their magic. Most couldn't last ten years.

Those who did...even by Karya's standards, had "a little talent."

Surviving ten years meant having both abundant magic and a fine degree of control over it. Together, these were essential qualities for becoming a powerful mage.

It was precisely because the Nullstone Prison so brutally suppressed mages that Lux came to visit Eno so often. She believed it would help Eno endure this difficult time.

As it happened, Eno was a very clever girl. While working as a maid in Codora's household, she had already learned to read and write a little, so Lux continued teaching her and brought her books to read.

Lux couldn't free her yet, but at least she could keep the prison from imprisoning Eno's mind as well.

Eno had come to see Lux as the light of her life. She shared everything she learned from her books, treasured every visit, and even trembled with excitement whenever Lux reached through the bars to hold her hand.

And all of this had been watched by a pair of eyes from the cell next door.

One day, after Eno had just finished reading a passage from an epic by the dim sunlight, she set down her book. A low voice came from the cell beside hers.

"Could I...borrow that book to read?"

Eno jumped in fright.

She had known for a long time that someone was in the neighboring cell, but unlike Eno, whom Lux looked after, he had been shackled in heavy Nullstone chains from the very beginning. Even the slightest movement made them rattle.

As for the man himself, he was always listless. Even when the guards brought him food, he ate in silence, quietly put everything away afterward, and never said a word.

At first, Eno had tried chatting with him. This was where "juvenile offenders" were held, and though he didn't look underage, she thought they might have something in common.

Besides, when Lux wasn't there, Eno was terribly bored. Surely a little conversation would do them both good.

But it turned out he was either mute—or simply didn't want to talk. Whatever Eno said, he remained like a walking corpse, showing no reaction at all.

She hadn't expected him to speak up on his own this time!

Eno looked up in surprise.

At almost the same moment, the man leaned toward the bars, gazing at her with longing.

"Please, miss," he said, his Demacian marked by an eastern accent and slightly slurred. "Let me read it..."

Eno blinked.

To her, everyone locked in the Nullstone Prison was in the same boat, so she was happy to help.

But...the book belonged to Lux.

And Lux bringing books into the Nullstone Prison was technically against the rules.

Eno didn't want to get Lux into trouble, so after hesitating for a moment, she sat down at the edge of her cell.

"I'm sorry, sir..." Eno instinctively imitated Lux, keeping up her manners. "This book belongs to Miss Lux. If I'm going to lend it to you, I need her approval."

"..."

"But we can talk for now." Perhaps she felt that refusing outright was a little heartless. She blinked and added, "Don't worry. She'll come again tomorrow or the day after. Miss Lux is kind, so I'm sure she'll agree."

The man seemed pleased with her answer. He let out a long breath, then did his best to express his gratitude. "Thank you so much. I've been here for ten years. The emptiness and misery are driving me mad!"

"You've been here ten years?" Eno blinked in surprise. "Then you must be getting out soon, right? This is where minors are held, and most mages who were minors when they were sentenced don't get more than ten years!"

"Unfortunately, I'm serving a life sentence." He shrugged, making the Nullstone chains on his wrists rattle. "I'm afraid I still have many more decades to spend in this dark place."

"A life sentence!" Eno stared at him, stunned. "Good heavens, what did you do?"

"My name is Sylas." He sighed and put on a helpless expression. "You might have heard of me. My magic surged and killed three people. It wasn't what I meant to do, but it still earned me a life sentence."

Eno fell silent.

Sylas...she had heard that name before.

But she'd heard it from a traveling bard.

And the bards of Silvermine City...well, one only had to hear their songs about Lux to know how unreliable they were.

In their tales, Sylas was a powerful, evil man. He had killed three people at once, including elite Magic Seekers, then conspired with the detestable Noxians and nearly escaped the country.

Mages killing people was rare in Demacia, but it happened a few times every year.

But a mage killing Magic Seekers? That was extremely rare.

Sylas's case had undoubtedly been the most sensational, earth-shattering crime in Demacia in the past decade.

At that moment, Eno wanted to back away, to get as far from him as she could.

Even though she was a mage too, this man seemed far too dangerous to her.

Compared to a murderer like him, Eno suddenly felt that freezing a patch of farmland was nothing at all!

"Don't be so tense." Sylas seemed to sense how she felt and gently shook his head. "Like I said, it wasn't what I meant to do. Magic isn't easy to control. This tragedy was all an accident!"

"..."

Eno said nothing, but Sylas could see the distrust in her eyes.

"All right, all right. Stay away from me." Sylas waved a hand. "If you don't mind, could you hear my story? Just consider it an act of charity. I really haven't spoken to anyone in a long time."

Eno didn't hesitate. She stood up and walked several steps back, stopping only when she was against the edge of her cell. Then she nodded.

"Go ahead and tell your story, then, Mr. Sylas."