Caelan looks back at the queen, voice steady. “These are prisoners who’ve been training how to fight our kind. Allowing them to go to War is an unnecessary risk.”

“My Legion Guards are perfectly capable of handling a few miserable humans,” Ettore mocks.

Caelan’s tone sharpens. “Your court is bordering on another rebellion. You hoard humans because you think it makes your court look more important, but all you’ve done is allow them to grow stronger and more resistant with time. The last thing War needs is more prisoners—and certainly not trained resistance fighters.”

Ettore licks his teeth. “Breaking them is part of the fun.”

Queen Ophelia tilts her head, and the room falls silent. “How are things faring in Death? Were the prisoners from Victory adequate test subjects?”

Prince Lysander bows, high cheekbones shimmering with gold. “Not only have we been successful in removing the projection of a human’s physical body, but we’ve also been able to isolate the essence of their consciousness to stop them from roaming and rebuilding. With more time, I am certain we’ll be able to eradicate them completely.”

“Rebuilding?” I blink, mind reeling, and think of Philo. I picture what he was when I found him in the Labyrinth, and what he used to be. “You mean they can come back?”

Lysander regards me like I’m a child he’d prefer remained quiet.

“It’s quite fascinating, really. They grow back a few toes here, an eyeball there,” Ettore explains, dancing his fingers across the air for emphasis. “If they’d had a better grasp of their consciousness, they might’ve even managed a head.” Smirking, he adds, “Not the most effective way to make them disappear, but they’d make a very interesting centerpiece.”

I scowl. “All that proves is that humans can wake up. That you can’t keep us down forever. And when they do, they’ll take this world back, and you won’t be able to do a thing to stop them.” I desperately want to believe it. I need to believe it.

I need to believe someone can do what I couldn’t.

That Infinity can still be saved.

Queen Ophelia rises, and the four princes bow at once. She glides down the stairs, walking toward me like a phantom in the night. Watching me with black eyes that stretch into eternity, she lifts her chin. “You are brave. But bravery will not help you here.” She pauses. “It’s like I told you—it won’t change anything.”

Everything around me spins. “You… you know who I am?”

“I know your voice,” she clarifies. “I’ve always known your voice, Nami. Since the first day you came to visit me.”

Caelan looks genuinely confused. For all his deception, he didn’t know this.