Chapter 598: Lightweave

Julius watched as Reinera pinched her nose in irritation.

“Sorry about him. He can be really stubborn about who he gives his creations to. Something about finding the right person who deserves it. He doesn’t want to admit it, but he is just selfish and prideful.”

She turned back to her uncle. “Are you seriously not going to give him one? I know you have at least one on your person.”

Cassian turned away with a pout. “I don’t want to.”

Reinera rolled her eyes. “Fine, if you don’t want to, then he can just take mine,” she said, removing the necklace and handing it to Julius.

Cassian tried to stop her, but Cain took a step forward, stopping the man in his tracks.

“You don’t need to do that. I gave that to you as a gift. That’s yours to keep,” Cassian said, but must have seen her stubborn expression, he let out a sigh.

“Fine, if you really insist,” he said grumpily and removed a necklace that was very similar to Reinera’s from his storage space.

“Don’t lose it and don’t give it to anyone. I am going to bind it to your soul and your soul only. If anyone else tries to use it, I have programmed it to self-destruct, understood?”

Julius nodded and took the necklace from the man. Unlike Reinera’s necklace, this one was a lot simpler. It was basically a silver chain with a single eight-pointed star as the lone decoration.

Before Julius could say anything, Cassian walked up to him, and a bright light appeared on the man’s upheld palm. The light stretched out into a thin string, connecting the necklace to Julius. Julius felt something attach to him.

He felt the probing intent of the light, as if it were asking him for permission. He glanced at Freya, knowing that she had likely sensed this occurring, and she gave him a soft nod. He accepted the connection and received a notification.

Lightweave Necklace (Soul Bound)

A small necklace suspended on a silver chain, its surface catching and bending light to shroud its user. Created by a master craftsman, and although quite straightforward in its purpose, is very much a wonder of artisanship.

When worn, the Lightweave Necklace projects a refined illusion formed entirely from condensed light magic. The illusion subtly alters the wearer’s appearance—facial features, hair color, eye color, skin tone, and minor changes in height and build.

The illusion clings closely to the wearer, moving naturally with their expressions and gestures. It is indistinguishable from reality, though direct contact or anti-illusion effects from powerful individuals might cause the light to ripple and briefly reveal the truth beneath.

The necklace consumes only a small, steady flow of mana and can be adjusted or dismissed at will. It cannot alter mass or hide the user’s tier of advancement, but it is best suited for casual disguises, social settings, or avoiding unwanted attention.

It is charged with a very minor enchantment to aid stealth and a minor enchantment that lessens the weight of its user’s presence, allowing them to move around the world unnoticed.

Although it’s a relatively simple item, it is extremely effective.

Julius was surprised at the description. He knew that Reinera’s necklace was powerful, but apparently it was more impressive than he first realized. Although it didn’t sound as special as other disguising items out there, he knew from Freya’s interested face that it was quite an effective item.

It would be of great help to him.

“Thank you. I owe you,” Julius said with a bow toward Cassian.

“No, you owe Reinera. She is the one who insisted,” Cassian said grumpily, clearly not happy about giving the necklace away.

Reinera shoved her uncle and looked over at Julius. “Don’t worry about him. He will be pouting for a couple of days, but will be okay. On another, more important note, I came over when I heard you were at the palace because I have something to tell you.”

“What’s that?”

Reinera looked guilty for a brief moment. “Wesley Greyson ran off.”

Julius blinked slowly and processed that information. He let out a hiss through his teeth and cursed to himself. That had been the main reason why he had come here. He wanted to find out where Wesley Greyson was. He didn’t know if the man had anything to do with the assassination attempt, but he wasn’t about to give the man the benefit of the doubt.

Julius reigned in his raging emotions. “What do you mean he ran off?”

“Immediately after the attacks, we sent men to search for Wesley Greyson, but they were unable to find him. His House’s retainers don’t know where he went, but apparently, Wesley has been transferring large amounts of money over the last several months. We think that he has been preparing for a while.”

“I knew we should have just destroyed House Greyson when he had the chance,” Cain said with a dark glare.

Stolen story; please report.

“We don’t know if the people in House Greyson had anything to do with it. Duke Greyson has been informed of our suspicions about his son helping the Conclave and other parties commit crimes against the Empire, but from what we can tell, Wesley had limited help,” Reinera explained, trying to calm the angry Tier 6.

Cain scoffed. “You really think that someone like Wesley Greyson didn’t have anyone in his house help him orchestrate this? Let me get my hands on them, I will pull the truth from their tongues myself.”

Julius placed a placating hand on Cain’s shoulder. “Calm down.”

“Calm down? Because of that useless Emperor, we lost our opportunity to get our hands on that little rat. For all we know, he could be halfway across the continent by now. Someone with that many connections will be able to hide forever if he wants to,” Cain said with a frown.

“It’s fine. It gives me more time to get stronger and hunt him down myself. As I told you before, I want to handle it myself.”