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Chapter 65
~Principal Whitmore’s POV~
The blinds were drawn. Every single one. No daylight dared creep through the cracks. I made sure of it.
The overhead lanterns flickered, casting a pale glow against the walls of my office, but even that did little to chase off the cold that had settled in my bones.
This wasn’t just another disciplinary eting.
This was a council summons.
I stood behind my desk, hands folded tightly behind , my back straight, my face composed—every part of wearing the practised expression of control.
But beneath the stillness, sothing twisted. Cold, heavy dread curled in my gut like smoke that refused to lift.
The room was filled with apex predators, not just in title, but in aura.
We were having a eting via video call. At once, all the screens lit up with visuals of the council of elders.
We were in a secure virtual eting, each of us connecting from our respective estates. The council had gathered fast—too fast for this not to be serious.
One by one, the screens lit up on my wall, holographic projections forming a circle around my office like ghosts of power and judgnt.
Alpha Zeno appeared first, seated in his study, draped in gold-threaded tapestries. His suit shimred faintly with embedded enchantnts, and his fingers tapped relentlessly on the armrest of his high-backed chair.
His expression was tight, jaw clenched, as though waiting for soone to give him a reason to erupt.
Two screens to the left, Alpha Xavier leaned into his cam feed, whispering to soone off-screen—most likely Alpha Draven, whose own feed activated a heartbeat later.
They spoke in quiet tones, strategists to the core; their expressions were unreadable, but their eyes were razor sharp. Calculating. Already preparing for the worst.
And then... Alpha Alexander’s screen lit up.
No sound. No greeting. Just cold silence and the glacial weight of his stare locking onto like a blade pressed just behind the ribs.
His background was dim, a library perhaps, but I barely saw it. All I could focus on was that piercing gaze.
His presence hadn’t dulled at all through a screen. It never did.
Then ca Alpha Storm.
His image wavered slightly before it settled. Unlike the others, he didn’t hide his nerves. He sat in a sparsely lit office, the southern sigil glowing faintly behind him. His fingers drumd relentlessly against the edge of his desk, jaw tight, eyes flickering between the feeds.
Storm was worried.
He had every right to be.
Of all of us, he was closest to the dragon borders. If this news reached the wrong ears, he wouldn’t be dealing with political fallout.
He’d be dealing with flas.
Real ones.
I cleared my throat, not because I needed to, but because I needed them to listen fully and carefully.
"I appreciate you all responding quickly," I began, forcing my voice to remain firm. "There’s been an incident."
Of course, they knew that already. They wouldn’t be here otherwise.
Still, I activated the illusion rune on my desk. It shimred in the air between us, forming a projection of the simulation do, just seconds before the blast.
Then it played.
Valerie Nightshade—her figure frozen mid-turn—then light. A violent explosion erupted, followed by the ground cracking and magic surging.
Gone.
The illusion paused on the fractured forest floor.
My throat was dry when I spoke next. "Twelve hours ago, Valerie Nightshade and Xander Draco went missing. During a live simulation exercise."
Alpha Storm stood up imdiately, voice rising without warning. "You’re saying the Dragon Prince is missing?! Under your supervision?!"
I didn’t flinch.
But Alpha Alexander’s silky voice ca next. "Please sit down, Alpha Storm. Shouting won’t change it."
Alpha Storm sat, but his fury simred like boiling water under ice.
"If King Davion hears of this—" he began.
"He won’t," I cut in. "Not yet. Which is why we are here."
Alpha Zeno was the next to speak, his voice carrying more venom than concern. "And the girl? The Nightshade girl. What’s her part in this?"
I hated how they all said her na like she was a footnote. An afterthought.
"She was the target," I said. And when I did, the room turned still.
It was Alpha Draven who asked, slowly, "What do you an?"
I gestured to the illusion again. "That rune was not from our system. It wasn’t just a glitch or an overload. It was embedded into the simulation. Illegally. And it was designed to lock onto Valerie specifically. Not a random trigger. A coordinated strike."
Murmurs. Curses. A few expressions darkened to suspicion.
"Why are? And how sure are you it was targeted at her?"
"Because when she was with another student, she protected him. However, they never pursued that student, even after he left. All focus was on her."
"She was ant to disappear," I continued. "Or worse. But Xander intervened. He took the full impact of the spell. They both vanished. We don’t know where."
Alpha Alexander tilted his head slightly. "You’ve lost control."
That stung more than I let show.
"Yes," I admitted. "For twelve hours, yes. We don’t know who breached our systems, but soone powerful—soone with internal access—did."
Alpha Storm turned to again. "So let get this straight. Not only is a foreign prince missing on your property, but the entire situation revolves around a student with no known lineage, a girl we know nothing about?"
I hated how my next words tasted.
"She is not ordinary."
Zeno scoffed. "Clearly."
"But she is not our enemy," I said quickly, before they could spiral further. "She’s being watched. Protected. Possibly even manipulated. That rune was old magic—layered in void magic. This wasn’t student-level sabotage."
Xavier narrowed his eyes. "So what are you doing to fix it?"
I took a slow breath. "We’ve activated containnt protocols. The do is locked down. Staff are interrogated. All simulation runes are being examined. Publicly, the students are being told that the do is being recalibrated due to system damage. As for the dragons... we’ve said the prince is on diplomatic leave."
Alpha Xavier chuckled darkly. "A lie."
"A necessary one," I said again. "Until we find them."
Silence hung again, broken only when Alpha Storm leaned forward, his brows knitted as age-old eyes focused on .
And when he spoke, his tone was low. "If the dragons find out before we recover their heir, PSA won’t survive this. You won’t survive this."
I knew that. Gods, I knew that.
Which is why I made the call that was burning in my chest even as I said it.
"I’ve enlisted the help of two of the princes. Xade Xavier and Dristan Alexander. Effective imdiately."
Alpha Alexander’s gaze sharpened. "My son doesn’t answer to school politics."
"He does now," I snapped. "This happened in his territory. If the dragons retaliate, they’ll look at who ruled the field when it happened. His hands aren’t clean. None of ours are."
Alpha Storm exhaled. "And the girl? Valerie?"
"She knows nothing. But she’s not clueless either. And if soone doesn’t find her before whoever sent that rune does..."
I didn’t finish. I didn’t have to. I turned toward the wall where the PSA crest hung, cracked.
"This school was ant to unify the future leaders of our kingdoms," I whispered. "Instead, soone is using it as a battleground."
And in the centre of it all was a girl none of them could see clearly, yet.
But I could.
And if we didn’t act now, she wouldn’t be around long enough for anyone to find out what she truly was.
Or worse... They would and then the real war would begin if no one liked what they knew.
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