Time crept by in the silence of the Duke's Dormitory. The clock on the academy tower had chimed twice past midnight, its deep, echoing tone the only marker of time in a world that seemed to have stopped. For most students, these were the hours of deep sleep, recovering energy for the next day's lessons. For Arian, this was the start of his workday.
He lay on the floor, feigning sleep with the dedication of an award-winning actor. His breathing was even, his body relaxed, and he occasionally let out a soft, fabricated snore. But inside, his mind was racing like lightning. Kayze had taken the helm.
02:30. Meeting time with Nyx at the West Gate of the old library, he thought, analyzing the schedule. We need to get into the Ars Notoria, the forbidden archive that holds records of the 'Named' from the era before the empire's founding. The fight with the 'Emperor's Hand' yesterday was to seize a partial map to its entrance location. Tonight's mission is for verification and initial infiltration. Any delay will endanger the entire operation. Nyx is waiting.
Nyx, the code name for Verina Von Hevora. His most trusted partner. She was incredibly disciplined. If Arian didn't show up, she would abort the mission and return as per protocol, but that would waste precious time and possibly raise suspicion. Arian had to leave.
He very carefully opened one eye a sliver. On the bed, under the warmth of his stolen Snow Goose Down Comforter, the mysterious girl seemed to be fast asleep. Her breathing was deep and regular. No movement. This was a golden opportunity.
Plan A: Operation 'Silent Toes'. Simple, classic, and often effective.
With movements slower than the growth of a stalactite, Arian began to rise. He didn't use his muscles, but rather shifted his weight bit by bit, avoiding any sudden pressure that could make a sound. He managed to stand up without a whisper. A small victory.
He stared at the wooden floor before him like a general mapping a battlefield. He knew exactly which boards creaked, which were loose. He planned his route to the door—an inefficient but theoretically silent zigzag path.
He took his first step. Perfect. Second step. Safe. He moved like a shadow, holding his breath, every muscle tensed with concentration. His heart was pounding, not from fear of the girl, but from fear of the smallest sound. He was almost there. His hand reached out, his fingers mere centimeters from the cold bronze doorknob.
"The floorboard near the door creaks a little if you step on it from that angle."
The voice was calm, clear, and not at all sleepy. It sliced through the silence and hit Arian like an ice hammer.
He froze instantly, his hand hanging in mid-air. His heart felt like it had dropped into his stomach. Slowly, as stiff as a wooden puppet, he turned his head. The girl hadn't moved. Her eyes were still sealed shut. She still looked like she was sound asleep.
How? Arian panicked internally. Is her hearing superhuman? Or is she a sensory-type mage? She doesn't even need to see to know my position with centimeter accuracy?
In painful defeat, he drew his hand back and, with steps that now felt heavy and loud, he returned to his corner, collapsing onto the floor with a despairing sigh.
Total failure. Plan B was needed.
Alright, physical stealth won't work, Kayze thought, adapting quickly. Her senses are too sharp. But what about magic? I'll create a diversion outside, just enough to draw her focus from the door for a moment.
Plan B: Operation 'Ghost Knock'.
He sat up, crossed his legs, and began to gather Aether. He did it with extreme care, drawing energy from the surrounding air bit by bit, weaving it into a minuscule spell. The goal was to create a sharp 'tap-tap-tap' sound on the windowpane, mimicking the sound of a tree branch in the wind. It was the most basic level of non-elemental magic; its trace should be virtually nonexistent.
He formed the spell, ready to release it...
"The air in this room is static. I would feel even the smallest movement of Aether, even one equivalent to the blink of a firefly." The girl's voice came again, her eyes still closed. "A very bad idea, Arian."
Arian was flabbergasted. His jaw dropped. He quickly dispersed the Aether he had gathered. This was impossible. Even Professor Kaelen, with all his suspicions, couldn't sense his subtle Aether manipulation. This girl... her level of perception was on a completely different plane. She wasn't just watching him; she was monitoring the very foundation of reality within the room itself.
His frustration began to boil. He was trapped. Locked in his own room by a girl who couldn't even be bothered to open her eyes to foil his plans. This was ridiculous. It was humiliating.
He needed a plan that couldn't be foiled by super-senses or magic perception. Something fundamental. Something biological.
Plan C: Operation 'Emergency Call of Nature'.
It was brilliant in its desperate simplicity. No magic sensor or super-hearing could deny an urgent human need.
Arian began to groan softly. Then louder. He clutched his stomach, his face contorting as if in terrible pain. "Oww... oww... oh, my stomach..." he whined.
He rose with a staggering motion. "That broth... I think the broth wants to come out again... but through the wrong exit..." He walked towards the main door, bent over in pain, every step a performance of agony. "I have to get to the bathroom... an emergency... a real emergency!"
He made it. He reached the main door. His trembling hand grasped the knob. Victory was in sight! He would get out with the most perfect excuse!
"The bathroom is over there."
The girl's voice, this time tinged with amusement, stopped him in his tracks. Arian froze. He slowly turned his head. The girl, with her eyes still closed, lazily raised a single finger and pointed to another door on the side of the room—an inconspicuous door that blended in with the wall.
The door to his private bathroom. The luxurious en-suite bathroom that every room in the Duke's Dormitory had, which Arian had completely forgotten about in his momentary panic and genius.
The world's most awkward and humiliating silence enveloped Arian. He had been caught in the most ridiculous lie. He had two choices: admit his lie or commit to the role.
With his dignity shattered into a million pieces, he chose the latter. He let go of the main doorknob and, with the steps of a defeated man, he walked to his private bathroom, closing the door behind him with a soft click. He had successfully locked himself in.
He stood in front of the mirror in his lavish bathroom for a full five minutes, staring at his own desperate reflection. He had been beaten. Utterly beaten. He turned on the faucet and splashed his face with cold water, trying to calm his chaotic mind.
With slumped shoulders, he exited the bathroom, ready to give up on the night.
As he re-entered his room, he saw the girl's eyes were finally open. The soft pink light was now reflected in her clear eyes, and her gaze was piercing, as if it could see all his lies and little schemes.
"You really want to get out, don't you?" she said. It wasn't a question.
Arian, too tired to keep acting, just nodded, staring at the floor. "I... have an appointment," he mumbled.
"An appointment in the middle of the night," the girl said, her tone turning sharp and probing. "With a girl, perhaps?"
"None of your business," Arian retorted, a bit of Kayze's sharpness leaking through his shattered facade.
The reaction seemed to interest the girl. "Oh? So the fool who cares more about his carpet than his life actually has some fangs." She propped herself up, sitting a little straighter in the bed. Her gaze became more intense. "Let me guess. This isn't a date. Your posture earlier, the way you moved... that's not how someone going to meet a lover behaves. That's how someone going to work behaves. You were tense, but not from romantic anticipation. You were tense from the fear of failure. You have a mission, don't you, Arian Von Vallen?"
Every word was a direct hit. Arian fell silent, frozen in place. This girl's perception was terrifying. She didn't just read magic; she read intent, body language, and psychology. She was like a better version of Arian himself.
"Who are you?" the question finally escaped Arian's lips, a sincere plea in the midst of his confusion.
For the first time that night, the girl smiled. Not a cynical or amused smirk, but a genuine, mysterious, and slightly melancholic smile. The smile transformed her entire face, making her look both incredibly beautiful and incredibly dangerous.
"Me?" she whispered. "Let's just say I'm someone who knows that whatever mission awaits you out there... is probably not more 'dangerous than being locked in this room with me if I'm in a bad mood."
She then lay back down, pulling Arian's goose-down comforter up to her chin. "Now, go to sleep. You're not going anywhere tonight."
Arian stood in the middle of his room, defeated on all fronts. The mission with Nyx was a failure. He would have to find a way to send an encrypted cancellation message tomorrow morning, a complicated problem in itself. For now, he was completely under the power of a tyrannical girl whose name he didn't even know.
He returned to his cold corner, to his thin blanket. He closed his eyes, but not to sleep. His mind was racing, discarding all old plans and beginning to formulate a thousand new ones. This game had fundamentally changed. An unexpected variable had entered the chessboard, and it seemed this variable was already three steps ahead of him.