Morning ca too early.
Light slipped through the curtains, soft and pale. I sat up from the oversized bed, rubbing the back of my neck.
"...Too early," I muttered.
Still, I got up.
The marble floor was cold under my feet. I yawned and headed toward the bathroom. On the way, I passed the mirror and paused.
A tall figure stared back.
Dark hair, Lean fra. No real muscle.
Kael never really trained, did he?
I sighed.
"I should probably start jogging,"
I said quietly.
"Tomorrow."
I turned on the tap, splashed water on my face, and glanced at the watch on the counter. A sleek Valery Vision SyncWatch. I tapped the side, and a digital interface lit up.
[Enter Code]
My fingers moved before I even thought.
I knew the passcode.
Kael’s mories made it easy.
A quiet chi.
[Access Granted.]
Instantly, a dozen glowing tabs hovered above the watch face news briefings, estate alerts, upcoming academy schedule, recent political shifts, pending ssages from the Elder Council...
I blinked.
"Way too much information for this early," I muttered.
I swiped it all away with one lazy gesture
So today is the day..
According to the novel, today marks the infamous day Arthur is publicly humiliated by Lucia.
As a Valkcross regent and a Valeheart by blood he was always going to be a target.
A Major House na, even disgraced, still draws blades.
No wonder they ca for him.
Still... I couldn’t allow Arthur to be humiliated.
Making a future hero an enemy wouldn’t just be cruel it would be stupid.
He’s too valuable.
I need allies, not more scars to nd.
I glanced at the ti.
5:40 AM.
I was supposed to arrive at the academy by 7:00.
"...Still early."
I exhaled, stretching my limbs. The morning air was crisp, the kind that whispered do sothing with it.
I made my way to the training chamber.
Where no guard or servant waited just silence.
I began refining the shrink and enlarge technique shaping energy through focus, bending matter.
I was getting used to it.
Fire sparked from the air when I collapsed the molecular bonds tight enough just for a mont.
I breathed it in.
Ice next. Lightning. Each born not from affinity, but manipulation.
By the ti 6:10 arrived, I was drenched in sweat.
And a little proud.
That’ll do for today.
The chamber door slid open with a quiet hiss.
Elira stepped in, blinking in surprise.
"Sir Kael? We’ve been looking for you. No one expected you to be up this early."
I tossed the towel around my neck, grinning.
"New routine."
She narrowed her eyes. "...Are you glowing?"
"It’s sweat."
She smirked, then waved toward the hall.
"Well, majestic sweat or not, ti to get ready."
"Right," I said, walking past her. "Let’s go."
The uniform was sharp.
A dark blue blazer, crisp against the morning chill. A red tie sat centered on my chest, pinned with a gold emblem a single unblinking eye, the symbol of House Valery.
I adjusted the collar slightly.
"Let’s go."
As i stepped into the Academy Hall, the air changed.
It was subtle a shift in weight. Like every gaze in the room had quietly turned my way. Watching and Judging.
But it didn’t matter.
Let them look.
I continued down the corridor leading to the First-Year section.
That’s when I heard it.
Raised voices.
I turned the corner and saw the circle forming.
Students lining the hallway like an audience.
And in the center of it
Lucia Valery.
Hair sharp like a blade, eyes colder than the tiles beneath her heel.
She stood with four other Valery branch nobles gold eye pins on their chests.
Across from them stood a boy with sandy blond hair.
Arthur.
I stopped.
"...Your application was reviewed," Lucia was saying, her voice sweet and distant.
"And yet, despite all that bloodline pride... you still ended up here. In the bottom class."
Her voice wasn’t loud. But everyone heard it.
Arthur said nothing.
Lucia tilted her head, as if genuinely confused. "Strange, isn’t it? A Valeheart with no results. No ranks. No allies."
A few students whispered.
"Wasn’t he a regent or sothing?"
"Thought he was so legacy."
"Guess not."
One of the Valery nobles stepped forward a taller boy with silver eyes.
"Maybe it’s not his fault," he said mockingly. "So families just rot slower than others."
A few laughs. Not many. But enough.
Arthur Valeheart.
Rank 19 out of 20
His hands clenched and his Shoulders trembling.
Lucia’s voice ca again, smooth and icy.
"On your knees, Arthur."
The words cut clean.
Arthur flinched. Just slightly. But he didn’t move.
The taller Valery stepped closer, eyeing him. "Do you need help understanding, Valeheart?"
Lucia raised one hand lightly.
"No. Let him do it himself."
Arthur stared at the floor.
A long mont passed.
Then slowly...he dropped to one knee.
Then the other.
Gasps echoed across the hallway.
Arthur Valeheart. The Valeheart na. Kneeling.
Lucia stepped forward. One polished shoe tapped gently beside his hand.
"Louder," she said softly.
Arthur’s jaw was clenched so tight I thought his teeth would crack.
"I..." he began.
"No," Lucia cut in, calm and cruel. "Start with the correct phrasing."
Arthur’s throat moved as he swallowed.
"...I, Arthur Valeheart... acknowledge my place..."
Lucia didn’t smile. But her silence said enough.
"...as Rank 19," he continued. "And I recognize the supremacy of Valery blood and judgnt..."
The words hit like glass cracking under pressure.
I stepped forward, past a few younger students.
One tried to block my path. I brushed them aside.
No one stopped .
Arthur’s voice wavered. "...and accept that I have brought sha upon my house—"
"That’s enough."
My voice rang clean across the corridor.
Lucia’s tone sharpened the mont she turned toward .
"...My lord," she said, the words respectful but hollow.
So of the surrounding students straightened slightly.
She bowed her head, only a fraction just enough to honor the Eye.
"You interrupt at a poor mont," she said. "This is internal discipline within the Union."
I stepped forward anyway.
"Discipline?" I asked, calm and deliberate. "Or public theater?"
Lucia’s eyes did not move from mine. "He insulted Valery standards. He challenged the authority of those above him."
"And now he kneels," I said, looking back at Arthur. "That’s enough."
She hesitated.
Only a second. But it was there.
"...With respect," she said, "you hold the Eye. But you are not the heir. And until the Eye chooses to act—"
I stepped in front of Arthur.
"It already has."
The mont hung like a sword suspended in air.
She didn’t respond right away.
Not because she feared .
But because in Valery tradition... challenging the Eye, even silently, is close to treason.
Lucia’s eyes flickered.
Not with surprise but with calculation.
She had seen it before.
That flash of unnatural elental conjuring. No chant. No casting dium. No known affinity.
Only sudden, absolute effect.
The other Valery nobles behind her straightened slightly. Their mocking grins dimd into wariness.
Because even if Kael hadn’t trained like them...
He still held the Eye.
And no one not even Lucia wanted to be the one rembered for defeating the Eye publicly... or worse, losing to it.
One of the older Valery nobles leaned in toward her. "We should end this here," he whispered. "The Eye is unstable. If he loses—"
"It would sha the entire House."
Lucia stayed quiet. But her jaw tightened.
She turned back to . "This... isn’t necessary."
I stepped forward.
"No. It is."
My voice was level, cold. Not arrogant but unyielding.
"If you believe I’m unfit to intervene, then prove it. Not with titles. Not with ranks. But with your blade."
Her silence cracked.
She glanced toward the faculty several instructors had already arrived, drawn by the crowd. One of them, a Valery blood professor, looked deeply uncomfortable.
"Kael," he said quietly, "this will reflect on the House."
"Let it," I replied. "If our house can’t stand the weight of truth, it doesn’t deserve to stand at all."
Lucia’s hand curled.
There was no choice now. Not without retreating and Valery never retreated.
"Let the Eye of Valery prove whose judgnt still holds weight."
I exhaled slowly.
Not because I was afraid.
But because I rembered sothing.
Kael the old Kael would’ve burned this hallway down to prove a point.
But I wasn’t here to prove power.
I was here to protect soone.
I turned slightly, just enough for Arthur to see my face.
"Get up," I said, softly.
"You don’t bow to a house that forgot what it stands for."
Arthur looked up. His hands trembled, but he stood.
The students around us fell silent.
Then, at the far end of the corridor, a figure stepped into view.
The Crown Princess of Valkcross.
She didn’t speak. She didn’t move closer. Surrounded by a small escort, she watched from a distance.
Her presence alone was enough to shift the mood. Everyone noticed her.
So did I.
The duel was arranged soon after.
——
Within twenty minutes, the lower dueling arena was filled not with spectators from across the Empire, but with students, teachers, and a few high-ranking nobles whose children were enrolled.
As i looked around i can already see several cara zooming in
The duel was announced: Rank 6 Lucia Valery vs. Rank 20 Kael Valery.
No one missed the irony.
At the center of the arena, I stepped into the warded zone. Lucia stood across from , composed, her hair tied back.
Overhead, the announcent bood through the intercom:
"Duel to first incapacitation. Path and Art permitted. Begin at signal."
The mont the word begin echoed across the arena, Lucia’s Lumigan flared to life, her irises gleaming with eerie light.
Then she moved.
A sword drawn in a clean arc, aiming straight for my throat.
I didn’t panic.
My Mythrigan activated.
And in that instant ti slowed.
I could see it.
Every twitch of her muscle, the slight pivot in her heel, the shift in her center of balance. The predictive edge of the Mythrigan sharpened the world into precision. Every movent beca traceable. Anticipatable.
This was the power of the Eyes of God.
Even though I was only Tier-1, and she a Tier-2...
I could read her perfectly.
There’s a reason the Mythrigan is feared—not only is it overwhelming but because it out-thinks.
Lucia’s blade shimred with force, Her footwork was beautiful. She wasn’t holding back.
But that was the problem.
She still thought I was the old Kael.
I moved not faster, but smarter. I shifted just enough for her strike to graze my shoulder, letting the montum of her attack carry her forward.
Then, before she could recover
My eyes shine
And without warning
Fire suddenly exploded from thin air.
No circle. No incantation. No chant.
Just pure ignition, forming directly in front of her so close she had to dive back, her uniform singed, her eyes wide. Even with her lumigan she can’t anticipate that
The crowd gasped.
Lucia landed on one knee, sword ready. But she didn’t strike imdiately.
She was staring at .
At the air where flas had blood.
"You... you don’t have fire affinity," she said, voice low, shaken.
I smiled faintly. "Who says I need one?"
My eyes shine again
The air around her legs froze solid, frost erupting along the marble.
Lucia jumped, barely avoiding being rooted.
Her eyes narrowed, glowing brighter, her tone sharper. "This isn’t elental mimicry you’re not copying spells."
"Correct," I said. "I’m creating them."
Suddenly fire appear burning her entire body but suddenly water burst out from her body
Lucia finally stepped back.
"Fine," Lucia said coldly. "If you want to take this seriously..."
Her eyes glowed with violent clarity.
"...Then don’t bla for what happens next."
She slamd her sword into the marble ground.
A pulse of energy rippled out from her boots—light bending around her form as she split—
—once.
—twice.
—Five... ten... fifteen tis.
Lucia’s form fractured into dozens of mirror-like illusions, each one taking a position across the arena. The stands stirred. So students stood from their seats.
Even a few Valery nobles sat straighter.
A Duplicate Array?
In a school match?
That wasn’t just excessive — it was reckless.
Dozens of Lucias flickered into place, their movents eerily synchronized.
Hands raised.
Blades drawn.
Mana pulsing at their fingertips, forming a lattice of coordinated sigils a full-angle trap. A spell-web from every direction.
Any normal student would’ve panicked.
Kael should’ve panicked.
But he didn’t.
I raised both hands calmly.
The Mythrigan flared.
Then clenched it.
The wind shifted.
Not a gust.
Not a breeze.
A sudden pull.
Like the world tilted toward .
All the clones were yanked forward, dragged by invisible force.
Their feet scraped the arena floor, spells breaking mid-cast as they stumbled into each other.
Lucia’s formation crumbled within seconds.
I didn’t move.
The wind did enough.
Their symtry unraveled.
Their circle collapsed.
"A wind? H-How—?" a student in the stands gasped.
The pressure settled.
Just in ti for to strike.
My eyes shine.
Fla spikes erupted from the marble beneath , jagged bursts of heat shooting straight into the sky.
The clones didn’t even scream.
They shattered—one after another—like glass under pressure.
Only one figure remained.
Lucia.
Her stance unbroken, but her eyes wide
Sweat gathered at her brow.
Lucia’s hands clapped together sharp, deliberate.
Her voice rang through the arena like a commandnt.
"Dragon Water Incantation co before !"
A roar surged from behind her as the water spiraled upward, forming a massive serpent-like beast its body coiled from raw mana and elental force.
The Dragon lunged.
The arena flooded. Cold water rose to my ankles, splashing with every step. It soaked into my uniform, made it heavy, and slowed down.
Smart, Lucia.
Use the environnt. Restrict mobility. Funnel into a single direction.
She’d trapped others this way before.
But—
"It doesn’t matter."
I didn’t move.
I didn’t raise a hand.
I just looked at it.
And my eye shimred
Mythrigan.
The water dragon shrank in midair shrinking and shrinking until it was barely the size of a particle.
Then—
Gone.
No thunderous clash. No explosion. Just quiet erasure.
In everyone eye the water dragon just looked like it instantly disappeared
The air hissed.
Then steam burst outward. I had already superheated the remaining water, evaporating it all in an instant. A thick mist rose, covering the entire arena in white.
Lucia eyes widened in horror.
She was out of mana. Her body trembling from overuse.
But she still moved.
A desperate lunge.
A scream without voice.
She charged blade drawn, no spells, no protection, just pride.
I didn’t flinch.
My eye flashed again.
And in the next second—
blades shot out of thin air.
Not from the sky.
Not from the ground.
But from her clothes. Her sleeves. Her boots.
Lucia froze, stunned her eyes wide.
Thin tal spikes had stabbed through her uniform.
Not deep or deadly.
Just enough to stop her.
Her sword fell from her hand, clattering against the arena floor.
She dropped to one knee, breathing hard.
The duel was over.
I didn’t move.
Didn’t gloat.
I Just watched as she finally realized
I had already set the trap before she even attacked.
Back when I evaporated her water spell...
I left behind sothing small. Tiny tal particles. Too small to see.
And now?
I made them grow.
That was the power of the Mythrigan Eye.
Not just vision. But control.
Complete control.
The arena fell silent.
Not out of fear.
But out of awe.
The silence after the duel was heavier than the battle itself.
Lucia stood frozen, her breaths shallow, her body still trembling slightly from exertion.
Then—
My Eye flashed.
A soft shimr pulsed across the arena.
The thin tal shards embedded in her uniform vanished—dispersed like dust in the wind.
I stepped forward and extended my hand.
No demand.
Just a choice.
Lucia’s eyes flicked to it hesitating. Her fingers hovered near mine.
And then
She took it.
The crowd stirred.
I pulled her to her feet.
Around us, Valery students stood straight, uncertain.
So glanced at each other. So bowed lightly not to eye, but to .
But Lucia... she didn’t let go imdiately.
Her hand lingered in mine, even if just for a mont. And when she finally stepped back, her head dipped not as a servant, not as a subordinate...
...but as soone beginning to understand.
With this...
I might’ve done it.
Averted the path she was ant to walk—
The villainess the stories foretold.
If I could guide her now...
Keep her close, steady her path...
Then maybe...
Arthur wouldn’t need to beco a monster either.
Maybe House Valery wouldn’t need another villain.
I turned.
The arena had already begun to buzz again. Whispers rising.
But all I could think was:
One piece moved. Two lives spared.
And maybe... that was enough for today.
Reviews
All reviews (0)