The mont Grandpa shoved forward and clapped his hands like he was announcing a royal ball, I knew I was screwed.
"Everyone, co forward. I want you to properly et your cousin," he said in that grand tone of his, like he was hosting a peace treaty and not just introducing to a bunch of overgrown toddlers.
…fuck.
And just like that, the heirs gathered.
The so called VR room shone even brighter, making all of them look like glowing holograms, except this wasn't just a screen.
Their characters look alive.
As if we were not really in a virtual world?
Scary—
The walls glowed like glass covered in flowing water, constantly moving and reflecting every movent of us all.
The floor under our feet was made of glowing blue tiles that gave off a soft hum, and above us was the sa bluish panels that were covered us as if in a cage.
Yeah… it was cool. Even I had to admit that.
But right now? I had bigger problems.
Because every single one of my cousins were staring at like I was so exotic creature.
An older cousin of mine stepped forward first, Oslo Roro, 19 years old.
He was tall. Muscular. Brown hair that slicked back like he just ca out of a shampoo comrcial.
Hazel eyes sharp enough to slice bread.
He gave a smile, which I guessed could only be one of those fake, charming ones since we don't even know each other properly yet.
"Noah, huh?" he said. "So you're the guy everyone's been whispering about."
"Guess so," I muttered.
He chuckled. "Well, welco to the ga."
Translation: Let's see if you're worth the hype.
Everyone around us broke into whispers as if I had failed the lot's expectations—
"You're saying this weak bitch is Patriarch Dragneel's son? That great man had such a weakling for an offspring?? IMPOSSIBLE!"
"I an…he was after all exiled. You can't expect much from people like that anyways…."
A guy who Grandpa whispered to was Amon Roro, a strong candidate for the throne comnted, "This guy looks like he's half dead with those white hair of his and that pale looking skin…can he even fight?"
I almost laughed.
It was good that Pixie had chosen a shirt for which covered my scars, especially the ones on my neck or those immature kids would get scared to death.
'You do know that you're the sa age as them, right? Hell! So kids here are even elder than you, brat—' Damien whispered to .
Feeling my smile drop half a inch, I stilled.
'Shut it, you parasitic bitch.'
"…"
My eyes drifted back to Seraphina standing amongst the crowd, her height making her stand out against the rest of the people.
Her dark, bluish hair had long outlived grown longer than I could think was possible.
They fell down her shoulders, decorated with silver beads, and her pale skin almost started glowing under the VR tech's effect.
Tattoos curled up her arms and even peeked out from under her short black vest top and high boots.
Everyone looked at her like she was so aloof and cold but I kew better. This girl was actually walking runways her whole life.
She gave a small nod from the distance, avoiding eye contact. The girl still couldn't say more than two words to without hiding behind her hair, huh?
Then—
Soone else stepped up.
A kid.
Shorter than the rest. Couldn't have been more than fourteen or fifteen.
Jet-black ssy hair, dusky skin, and eyes glowing gold like he'd swallowed the sun.
That's when I heard it—soone whispering behind .
"That's Vayu... the dark horse."
"God's chosen... can't believe he got picked by an actual deity."
"No joke. They say he beat one of the teachers in full combat last week."
Tch. The kid didn't even look at . He just stared straight at Venus, like he was asuring this old man.
Knowing that it was just useless overconfidence roaring inside him, I did not gave the boy much thought.
anwhile, all the other cousins of mine had practically ford their own little groups around Lucas, Seraphina, and this Vayu kid. Laughing, talking, and praising each other…as if I was not even present here—
hmmm
And ?
I stood alone.
Well—Pixie was there. Still munching on sothing, she pulled out of her system inventory.
It was almost like the girl had forgotten that I was present?
'This bishhh,' I thought.
Girl could bring snacks even to a death match.
"Don't worry," she seed to lips out as she looked at from among the crowd, giving a long smirk.
Even Damien gave a ntal headpat, 'They'll all cry in a few minutes, Im sure.'
I raised an eyebrow. "Confident much?"
The sentient system nodded. 'You've never trained in a fancy VR system before and still went head-to-head with a one of the strongest assassination halls in this kingdom, Noah. These clowns won't know what hit them.'
I tried to take this dumb system's advice, giving these cousins of mine a thin smile.
Right then, soone from Lucas' group raised a hand. "Hey, uh... so, Noah… what's your power?"
The room got quiet.
Like—too quiet.
Venus blinked, coughed into his hand, and gave a strange little laugh. "Why don't y'all see for yourselves?" he said, glancing at the rest of the heirs. "Let's see how much you've all started preparing for the throne, you brats."
His eyes t mine for a second, challenging, sharp, and weirdly proud.
Lucas smirked at , as if waiting to have a bout with while even the small kiddo, Vayu, who couldn't be more than 14 raised his head, just slightly.
I could feel it. The tension in the air.
No one said it out loud…but this was the start of sothing.
A test.
A warning.
A bloodless war.
And I was right in the middle of it.
…ughhh, not again.
***
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