I was... confused.
"What’s with the fanfare?" I said, coming to a halt.
Michael, who looked annoyed by the uproar like a drunk after a hangover, almost bumped into and groaned. "I told you to dock at night! I told you! Were you really not expecting sothing like this?"
I frowned. "No, obviously I expected the world to recognize my brilliance eventually, but I thought it would happen much later in my life. Why are they screaming my na now?"
The black-haired boy looked like he wanted to sigh and slap at the sa ti. "They love you, you emotionally constipated idiot."
"That doesn’t feel right," I said thoughtfully. "They should fear ."
The awful din really was too loud with too many people shouting at the top of their lungs, cheering and chanting, thumping their feet and roaring their throats raw.
I winced and raised one hand as if motioning for them to calm down a bit. They all imdiately did so. "Aha! See, they fear !"
Michael blinked at , deadpan.
He was about to say sothing when, all of a sudden, his half-lidded gaze was drawn toward a cardboard banner so people held up high nearby.
It read, ’THANK YOU FOR SAVING , PHANTOM KNIGHT!’
Michael started blinking harder. He looked around and heard several more kids repeating a number of monikers.
Golden Tyrant.
The Fist of Heaven.
And... Phantom Knight.
The first one obviously belonged to .
The second one definitely fit Alexia.
So that left the third one...
Michael’s nose scrunched up. "What the—?! Phantom Knight? They’re calling the Phantom Knight? Why? That sounds so edgy!"
I looked at him, taking notice of his alabaster-like complexion marred by those deep black circles under his eyes, of how he hunched his shoulders like he was trying to retreat into an invisible shell, and of the pure, unadulterated gloom radiating from his very being.
...What else did he expect them to call him?
The Sparkle Prince?
Before I could take a proper jab at him, though, I felt a prickling sensation at the back of my head. It was cold enough to send a shiver down my spine.
Imdiately turning around, I swept my gaze across the gathered crowd there until... my eyes t a girl’s.
She was standing at the edge of the first row, disconnected from the roar of the crowd. While the others around her were a blurred sea of frantic motion and open mouths, she was still as a statue.
Her hair was the color of deep, ink-wash blue — the color of the ocean just before the light falls — tied up in a bun, a few strands falling down to her jaw, framing a face of captivating beauty.
Yet if you looked at her, you would notice none of that.
The first thing you’d notice was her eyes.
Not because her eyes were piercing or glowing, but because the natural shade of dark purple they were awash in was tinted with a bit of blue, creating a striking mix of two colors that made it seem like there was a galaxy trapped in her gaze.
Currently, those eyes were blown far too wide, fixed on with an unsettling intensity.
The chill from before returned.
It was bloodlust.
That girl was radiating a sheer, concentrated intent to kill.
I knew she was just testing . Many others were as well. But her killing intent was almost physical, drowning almost everything else.
What a monster...
And I thought I recognized her.
"Young Master," one of my knights leaned into my ear, forcing to break the impromptu stare contest with my stalker. "Please keep moving."
I nodded at him, then turned to look back at where the girl from before was... only to find she wasn’t there anymore. She was gone.
We started moving again.
"Was that... Casey Snowrite?" I mumbled, more to myself than anyone else.
"Hmm?" Michael humd. "What was what?"
I shook my head. "There was a girl in the crowd. Thought I recognized her."
"Casey?" Juliana’s voice questioned.
I glanced behind to find her looking right back at from above the rim of her designer sunglasses. My eyes flickered to the phone in her hand and I noticed she was also scrolling through s to catch up on world news.
Copycat.
Juliana continued, "The heiress of Snowrites?"
"Forr heiress," I corrected, bringing my face forward. "Her father died in a reclamation conflict three years ago. Her uncle had since usurped the High Seat of Siocgard."
"Usurped?" My Shadow’s tone held so incredulity. "He rightfully ascended, as far as I’ve heard."
I waved a dismissive hand, signalling to her that I didn’t wish to talk about it in the open with way too many unwanted ears around.
She took the hint and changed the topic. Sowhat. "Okay, but she’s still heir apparent, isn’t she? Neither of the two great families of the North has announced a successor change."
Juliana was right.
The entire Northern Safe-Zone was notorious for being detached from the rest of the world. News, even about the most important affairs, hardly travelled in and out of their frozen borders.
But a successor change in Siocgard, the capital city of half of North (like Luxara was for the West), would be more than a random piece of news. It would be a seismic shift in global politics.
As one of the oldest ducal houses and the wardens of the Frost Gate, the legacy of the Snowrite clan’s lineage was ineffable, sothing that I couldn’t even begin to sum up in words alone.
In short, if there indeed was a succession change in their family, the entire world would’ve been aware of it.
That was, as I said, correct.
But what the world didn’t know was that the entire internal politics of the Snowrite house had recently fallen under the thumb of Casey’s uncle.
Elders and vassal houses that were supposed to be impartial in the tis of rule change had beco marionettes.
And as soon as that happened, as soon as the rot and corruption spread down to the roots of her family, Casey fled the North.
She ca to Apex, but she wasn’t here to study.
She was here because Apex Academy was the only place left in the whole wide world where there wasn’t an imdiate threat of a fatal accident being arranged by her own kin.
So... how did I know all this?
How else?
She was one of the two new main characters that were introduced during the Ace Tournant Arc.
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