"Nobody heals from that naturally."

The words hang between us. I think fast—my intelligence stat of 14 finally useful for something beyond watching myself die slowly.

"Listen carefully," I whisper. "We need to make this believable. You're dead."

"What?"

"The recovery pit has corpse carts. Hand-pushed, for moving bodies to the mass grave outside camp." I'm already looking around. Three carts in the corner, caked with dried blood. "I'll take you there. Bury you alive."

"That's insane—"

"It's the only way. Look." I grab a blood-soaked sheet from under an actual corpse. The smell makes me gag. "This hides your healed back. You play dead. I play the grieving fool."

She understands immediately. "You'll humiliate yourself."

"Better than them discovering what I can do."

I smear the bloody sheet across her back, making sure it sticks to her skin. The blood is cold, congealed, perfect for hiding the lack of wounds. She climbs into the cart, arranges herself like a corpse.

"Shallow breathing," I remind her. "I'll bury you light."

"I've survived worse."

Time to perform.

I push the cart up the pit's ramp, and immediately start sobbing. Not quiet tears—huge, ridiculous, theatrical wails. The watching soldiers laugh.

"Look! The princeling's crying over his protector!"

I stumble, deliberately pathetic, pushing the cart toward the training grounds where Valeria is dismissing another group.

"Please!" I throw myself at her feet, still sobbing. "Let me bury her properly! I'll do anything—any favor you want!"

Valeria looks down at me with disgust. Then something shifts in her expression. Interest.

"A favor? From you?" She laughs. "I just had my fun for the day, pretty boy. But I'll collect later."

The soldiers around her snicker. My face burns but I stay in character—desperate, pathetic.

"Anything else. Please. She saved my life—"

"Fine. One favor, to be collected when I choose." She points at two female soldiers. "You two, escort him. Make sure he actually buries it."

The soldiers—both young, maybe Level 20—salute. As we start to leave, Valeria calls out:

"Oh, and ladies? Don't touch him. That face is worth too much intact."

"Yes, Training Mistress."

---

The mass grave is a kilometer from camp—far enough to keep disease away. I push the cart while the two soldiers follow, whispering to each other.

"Gods, look at him," one says. "Even covered in tears and snot, he's perfect."

"The Empress's brother. Can you imagine? Having that as decoration?"

"Valeria's going to destroy him when she collects that favor."

"Shame we can't sample first."

They're not watching Cassia, too busy staring at me. Good.

At the grave—a pit filled with rotting bodies from months of training—I start digging a shallow depression at the edge. The soldiers stand upwind, covering their noses, still watching me instead of the corpse.

"Hurry up, pretty boy."

I dig carefully. Loose earth. Cassia plays dead perfectly as I lower her in. I arrange the bloody sheet over her back, visible enough that anyone looking would see a corpse with a destroyed spine.

I start covering her with dirt. Light scoops. Her chest barely moves—she's controlling her breathing perfectly.

The soldiers are still fixated on me, one of them actually licking her lips as she watches me work.

"Such a waste," one soldier says. "Level 25 gladiator, dead for a male."

"That's what happens when women go soft—"

The second soldier steps closer to the grave, frowning. "Wait. Is she...?" She leans forward, staring at Cassia's half-buried form. "Her chest—I think I saw it—"

[Hidden Trait Unlocking...]

A horn blares. War horn.

"ATTACK! BARBARIANS AT THE EAST WALL!"

The soldiers grab me immediately. "Move! Back to camp!"

"But I haven't finished—"

"Leave it! The dead don't care!"

They drag me away. I catch one last glimpse of Cassia, half-buried, playing dead among actual corpses.

As we run back, arrows whistle overhead. The barbarians are testing the defenses again—a probing attack, nothing serious. But serious enough that no one will think about a half-buried gladiator for a while.

[Hidden Trait Unlocked: Fortune's Fool - Level 1]
[Effect: Critical situations may resolve in your favor]
[Warning: This trait violates core parameters]
[Hiding trait from external observation]

Three impossible abilities now. The System is either breaking or remaking me.

And Cassia is still buried alive.