Amelia stared at me, her eyes wide, mouth half-open, words failing her. She stayed still for a bit, and then her fingers drummed on the surface of her desk, the silence stretching between us. I could almost hear her thoughts—spinning, recalculating, trying to make sense of what I’d just dropped on her.

“My hair is going to start graying at this rate, Iskandaar,” she finally said, her voice dropping lower as though saying it any louder would somehow make it more lethal. “Do you understand the kind of danger this puts you both in?”

“Fully aware,” I said, meeting her gaze steadily. “And I didn’t come here to ask for a lecture.”

She let out a soft sigh, her shoulders slumping just a little as she leaned back in her chair. “You always do this. You always find yourself in the middle of things that could explode at any second. Then you come to me to clean up the aftermath.”

“Hey, have I ever had you clean up my mess? I am fully capable myself, thank you very much,” I said, faking offense, and she made a deadpan expression. “I’m just asking for advice.” I crossed my arms, my Phantom Hand resting lightly on the edge of her desk. Her eyes fell on it, and before another series of the same questions about my hand could start, I started talking. “Look, I wouldn’t have come to you about this if the situation wasn’t like this. Victor Seraph got involved with us. He somehow got a hunch about Nebula’s race, and since then, he’s been trying to expose her and make her slip up. I managed to stop it at the party, but he’s not done. He’ll try again.”

Amelia’s eyes narrowed, a thoughtful frown etching her face. “What happened? Tell me everything in detail,” she asked, and I leaned back. This would take a while.

I started talking, and slowly her brows knitted as my story unfolded. I didn’t lie. I told her everything that had happened at the party, including what led to it. Amelia listened carefully, chewing on her lip as seconds turned into minutes.

When I finally finished, she wasn’t thrumming the table with her fingers anymore. Her fingers were frozen, her eyes locking onto mine with that intense, assessing look she always had when she was thinking about more than just my words. “Victor Seraph…” she finally said, almost as if tasting the name, deciding whether she liked it. “He’s a competent young man. He won’t let go so easily.”

“I think so too. So, what do I do?”

She looked away, her eyes distant, lips pressed into a thin line. A minute passed before she finally spoke. “You stay put,” she said. “For now, at least. Victor missed his chance to prove anything to the academy, so he can’t report Nebula based on a hunch yet. And he’ll refrain from attempting similar experiments that could expose her, at least, not for now.”

I arched my brow. “And why’s that?”

Amelia shifted her gaze back to me, a hint of amusement tugging at the corners of her lips. “Because he’s going to be busy,” she said. “He’s going to be hosting some important guests soon. The Winter Festival is coming up, and the academy will be welcoming a delegation from the Elven Kingdom of Sylvanielle. Apparently, they’re interested in enrolling a few of their students here—including the Elf Queen’s son, who’ll also be coming. Victor’s taken on the role of hosting them, ordered by his father, the Duke.”

“The Winter Festival?” I asked, humming as I processed her words. My eyes glinted. “Of course… that’s why…” I believed her when she said he’d be too busy to try anything.

The Winter Festival was a major event in the academy every year. It began as a time for celebration, for showing off talents, and a place where alliances were made and broken. Students showcased their skills in performances and combat exhibitions, and everyone dressed up for a grand banquet.

I remembered Arcane Crown’s Episode 5—it had all started with the Winter Festival. It was a very interesting episode because, among many things that happened, one important point was that a demon hid in plain sight as one of the elven delegates. He used the festival to infiltrate the academy. That was where everything went wrong.

But I failed to recall anything about the possibility of the elves enrolling in the academy. Nothing like that happened in the game. Not only was there no mention of it, but this Elven Prince didn’t even visit Waybound. Was this a change because of my presence? Because Amelia was alive?

In the game, there was no mention of Amelia, but there was a chancellor who’d only recently started serving. From the beginning, I’d assumed that she died against the Vampiric Father, and so a new chancellor took her place. However, since she was still alive and as someone who’d been in Waybound for decades, she was a well-known name in the entire world. Perhaps she convinced the elves to bring their Prince?

Elves and humans didn’t have a favorable relationship due to past wars and slavery. In fact, some backwater nations still traded elven slaves, which enraged the haughty and proud elves. So to convince their Prince to enroll into a human academy, someone like Amelia was required.

Of course, I wasn’t worried about those changes. I was only worried about the demon…

Amelia’s voice cut through my thoughts. “Victor will have his hands full, playing the perfect host, ensuring that nothing goes amiss during their visit. And trust me, with guests from Sylvanielle here, he won’t risk pulling any stunts that could jeopardize his family’s standing in the Empire by harming the human’s relationship with the elves.”

I nodded slowly, considering her words. “You think he’ll wait until the festival is over?”

“I think he’ll wait until he has a clear opportunity,” Amelia said. “The festival… it’s an event ripe for manipulation. He might not do anything now, but if he sees an opening during the festival…” Her gaze grew colder, her fingers drumming the desk again. “You need to be prepared. He’s not done yet, Iskandaar.”

“Fair point,” I said. “So I should kill him before he gets an opportunity.”

Amelia’s eyes snapped back to me, her frown deepening. “I don’t support that,” she said, her voice measured, controlled. “You know that.”

I stood up, sighing as I looked down at her. “I know, and I’m sorry, but it’s just what it is. This must be difficult for you—actively helping one student plan against another. But you must know the truth already, Amelia, even beyond the things I just told you earlier. What the Seraph House did to the Fenixia House, you know that. If I don’t deal with him, he’ll kill Solara, Nebula… and then he’ll kill me.”

Amelia closed her eyes, the tension clear in her expression and her jaws tight. She let out a long breath before looking back up at me. Her eyes were softer now, the harshness fading just a bit. “I know,” she whispered. “I know what they did. But… haah.”

We stared at each other for a moment, a heavy silence settling between us. It was a silence filled with unspoken truths and the understanding that neither of us had many choices left. She’d been the chancellor of Waybound for decades, and it was the first time she was helping a student plot the demise of another.

“You be careful,” she finally said, her voice a whisper. “This is not a game, Iskandaar.”

I nodded, a small smile tugging at my lips. “It never is, Amelia.” With that, I turned, about to leave, before I paused. I turned to her. “By the way, and don’t say you can’t answer this, I’m curious, just… what does the Mark of Vargathrian mean?”

Amelia Duskleaf gave me a look that said, ‘You really don’t know?’

****

The door to my dorms creaked open, and I stepped inside with the cold air of the night still clinging to my clothes. The mansion was quiet, the kind of quiet that spoke of unease, of something waiting to be burst. It was an odd atmosphere.

As I closed the door behind me, my eyes adjusted to the dim light in the living room, and they fell on the figure waiting by the window. I already sensed her presence before entering the room.

Lilian stood by the window, her back to me, her silhouette bathed in the moonlight streaming in. Her ears were alert, her posture stiff, and the faintest hint of her growl rumbling under her breath. She was waiting—for me—and not for any good reason, judging by the way her entire figure radiated tension.

“You’re finally here, Lilian,” I said, trying to sound casual, my voice carrying through the empty room. “Why’re you standing there? Shouldn’t you be resting after everything from earlier?”

She turned her head slightly, just enough for me to catch the faint glint of her red eyes, glowing and intense. When it came, her voice was low and cut through the silence like a blade. “Cut the bullshit, Iskandaar.” She turned to face me fully, her eyes narrowing, her ears twitching with the tension she couldn’t contain. “How long did you plan to keep it from me?”

Whoa, she just dropped my government name, I chuckled humorlessly internally, and the smile I had been holding on my lips disappeared. Nebula, the truth of her lineage—she wanted to know why I’d carried that knowledge as a secret. Why hadn’t I told her that she’d been conversing and laughing with an Obsidian?

I sighed, feeling a heavy weight settle in my chest. Of course, she’d be furious. The Obsidian Vampires weren’t just a name to Lilian. They were the reason for countless deaths, pain, and bloodshed that stretched back generations.

Even recently, as early as a year ago, she’d seen countless of her people, her loved ones, her family, being killed by them. At one point, I was there when it happened, and I was also the one to kill the big bad villain. It was natural that she was furious and confused as to why I was keeping a good relationship with a vampire from that same family.

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I took a few steps closer, keeping my voice even. “I know this is a lot. But yes, I knew. I’ve known for a while.”

She stepped forward, her eyes never leaving mine, her voice trembling somewhere between fury and betrayal. “How long?” she repeated, her fists clenched at her sides. “How long did you know what she was?”

“...From the start,” I said, watching her, my words careful. There was no point in hiding it now. “I’ve known since the moment I met her mother, Munera Obsidian. Before, even.”

Her ears twitched again, her eyes narrowing. “And you thought it didn’t matter to tell me?” She took another step closer, her voice cracking, the hurt finally breaking through the anger. “Do you even understand what that family has done to mine?! Do you get it? The Obsidian Vampires have killed my people for centuries. We’ve been at war! Hundreds of us died—thousands, Iskandaar!”

The words hit like a blow, heavy with the weight of her grief. I stayed silent, trying to find the right thing to say, to make her understand why I hadn’t told her. I did have a reason, and I hadn’t just forgotten. I didn’t want her to fight Nebula in a stupid family fight where both lost their people. Lilian’s tribe wasn’t the only one who died. I didn’t want Nebula to be caught in that when the girl barely knew she was part of that family. She was an Obsidian only in blood.

“Lilian, I didn’t tell you because…” My voice trailed off, and I failed to find those words, my gaze meeting hers. Her gaze was stubborn. “Because it’s a family fight, however, you two are more than your families. I didn’t want you to carry your tribe’s burden. I didn’t want you to have to—”

“Burdened?!” she snapped, her voice rising, her laugh bitter and harsh. “They were the blood of my blood! Do you think I feel burdened fighting for them?! And quit wording it like you were protecting me. You were just protecting her?”

I took a step toward her, my voice softening. “I wasn’t choosing her over you, Lilian. I was trying to protect you both from a family dispute that is better to end. What is the point in fighting her? She doesn’t even know anyone from her family other than her mother, Munera, who she thinks is dead.”

She scoffed, shaking her head as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Oh, yes, of course. Such a scholarly way of looking at it.” She growled. “That just shows. Because it sure doesn’t sound like you were looking out for me. No, you were just looking out for her. Well, I guess it… makes sense when I think about it.” Her voice dropped, the anger fading into something rawer, something far more fragile. “After all, I’m just… a maid to you, aren’t I? Hah, why am I even asking.” She looked away, her gaze dropping to the floor. “A replaceable, useless maid. But she’s your fiancée. She’s very important. You went and sacrificed your hand for her and then risked your life saving her from her own stubborn decision that could have been fixed if she drank some blood from the get-go. Oh, she’s so precious, and then there I am, some wild tribal girl turned maid. Why am I even throwing a tantrum? Of course, she’s more important.”

I scowled. Now she was the one being stubborn, and yet, my chest tightened at her words, at the pain that etched across her face. It cut me deeper than the Holy Knight’s blade ever could.

I hated that she felt this way, and worse, I couldn’t be sure if she was just feeling this way suddenly or if she had felt like this from the beginning.

I opened my mouth to respond, to tell her that she was wrong, that she was so much more than that. “Lilian…” But before I could find the words, she turned, her shoulders trembling as she made her way toward the door.

She was going to walk away without letting me explain anything, without hearing me out. Something inside me snapped an instinctive need to stop her because I couldn’t be sure when she’d show herself again. I stepped forward and reached out, my Phantom Hand grabbing her by the arm and pulling her back toward me.

“Lilian,” I said, my voice firm, the desperation laced beneath it. She turned to face me, her eyes wide with shock, her lips parting as if to protest. “Don’t be so stubborn. You know you’re not just a maid to me. You’re not replaceable, you never have been.” I held her gaze, my eyes searching hers. “I need you to understand that. I need you to know that I would do anything for you, just like I would for Nebula.”

Her eyes glistened, and her breath came out in shaky gasps as she looked at me. Her gaze was filled with emotions I couldn’t untangle. For a long moment, neither of us moved, and a heavy silence stretched between us.

“Then why?” she whispered, her voice barely audible, her eyes searching mine. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why have you been looking out for her cause more than mine?”

I stared at her, her arm still gripped in my hand, her pulse racing beneath my fingers. I’d already told her my reasoning, but she refused to understand. I could only stay silent.

She scoffed, letting out a mock laugh. “You just said you’d do anything for me, and then you failed to answer a simple question,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper, her eyes searching my face for something I wasn’t sure I could give.

“...Is that what you’re asking me to prove? That you’re just as important, if not more? Well, you've known secrets of mine that she’s only just learned,” I said, my grip loosening just slightly. “How many people did I trust my secret with, other than you? When I went to the Wraithwoods, you knew why, but I hadn’t told her. Because I trust you more than her. There are things about me she still doesn’t know—things I trust you with.”

“And yet you hid the truth from me because you wanted to protect her from me,” she countered, her eyes hardening, her tone like ice. “Thinking that this stupid demi-human will hurt your dear Nebula,” she said. There was hurt and anger, but beneath it all, I could hear the pain.

“Lilian...” I said, letting out a sigh, my chest tightening at her expression. “I’d hate to see either of you fight. She grew up without a mother, Lilian, and she was clearly never preached about the Obsidian Family’s ways, given how she never knew she was a Vampire until she turned eighteen. She’s not an Obsidian in spirit—only by blood.”

She shook her head, her eyes glistening, her jaw tight. “But that blood is enough. My people… they bled because of her kind. You know that.” Her voice cracked, her throat bobbing as she tried to control her emotions. “Why does she get your sympathy, Iskandaar? Why does she get your forgiveness when her ancestors spilled our blood?”

My lips tightened, my grip on her arm loosening. “Because I didn’t want you to hate her,” I said, my voice thick. “I didn’t want you to see her as an enemy, not when she’s trying so damn hard to be something different. She’s not the monster that came before her, Lilian. She’s not them. And I didn’t want you to become those monsters by hurting her. You’re not them, either.”

Her eyes searched mine, her anger flickering like dying embers. The tension in her shoulders slowly ebbed away as she took a deep breath.

“You… idiot,” she muttered, her voice breaking, her gaze dropping to the floor. “You think you can just make decisions for me, keep things from me, and that it’ll somehow make everything better? Fine, your reasoning is good, but I don’t like it. Why didn’t you ever tell me? I am not asking you to tell me every secret about you, but at least tell me those that are related to me. You could have told me about her anytime, at least when we returned to the Romani estate after the first time I saw her. You could have told me, and I’d have had time to process all this. You didn’t!”

“....” I fell silent, my hand dropping to my side. “I know I messed up,” I said, my voice softer now, the sincerity laid bare. “I should have told you, and I’m sorry I didn’t.”

She looked at me, her eyes softening for the briefest of moments. Then she laughed—a hollow, bitter sound. She shook her head. “It's alright… young master. Don’t apologize, I should be the one doing that. I must be quite a bother right now, huh? Since you fear I’d hurt your dear fiancé so much, maybe I should leave,” she said, her voice trembling, her gaze hardening once more. “My grandmother might be mad that I am going against her words, but she’ll understand if I tell her that it’s because you don’t want me here…”

I blinked, shock spreading through my eyes. I frowned. I thought the talk was going well, so I hadn’t anticipated this. “Lilian, wait—”

She turned sharply, her expression resigned, her arm slipping from my grip. She took a step forward, ready to leave. “I said wait,” I said, my voice growling. Emotions I didn’t realize before filled the room with extreme authority. My mana slipped out, making the air heavy. Before I could stop myself, I reached out and grabbed her arm again, yanking her back to me. Her body collided with mine, her eyes widening in shock.

“Let me go,” she hissed, her face angry, her voice shaky as she tried to pull away. But before she could finish, I moved faster, lifting her chin and tilting her face toward mine. “Hey, wha-” Her eyes, those fierce, fiery eyes, widened even more as I leaned in.

And then our lips met.

The world seemed to slow, my heart pounding in my ears as her lips melted against mine. Her body stiffened at first, her muscles tensing as if ready to fight me—to push me away. But slowly, her wide eyes softened, her lashes fluttering, and she leaned into the kiss, her hand resting lightly against my chest. She never wanted to push me away.

When I finally pulled away, her breath was ragged, her face flushed. She quickly wiped her lips with the back of her hand, her eyes darting away from mine. “W-what the hell do you think you’re doing?” she stammered, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Sorry, lost my cool. But… let’s not pretend either of us aren’t aware of how you look at me,” I said, my voice low, my eyes locked onto hers. “I asked Amelia earlier. About the Mark of Vargathrian that your grandmother gave me. So I… know what it means,” I said. It was more complicated than this, but her grandmother had practically pledged this girl to me when she gave me the mark and sent Lilian with me.

The [Mark] was the reason why those Flaming-skull Dogs were running. It gave me an aura of passive protection against most canine creatures. More importantly, since Lilian came as a gift alongside it, it was basically something similar to an engagement. Lilian knew about it from the beginning… and never bothered to explain after she realized I already had a fiance.

She stared at me in silence, and then the stare turned into a glare, her face flushed, her jaw clenched. “So you just decided to kiss? Are you out of your mind?”

“Because,” I said, my voice softer. “I needed to show you that you’re no less important to me than any engagement, title, or person. I can’t believe I’m having to say all of this out loud, but… you matter, Lilian.”

She stayed silent for a moment, her gaze flicking to the floor. Then she scoffed, her lips curling into a sarcastic smirk. “Sure, young master. You slept with her, and now you just… kiss me. How very equal. You think this makes us even?”

“Hey. If you want more than a kiss, just say it,” I arched an eyebrow, my tone turning slightly teasing. I hoped in my heart that it wouldn’t backfire, trying my best to lighten the heavy air between us.

Her eyes flashed, her face going red as she clenched her fists. “Did I say that?! Bastard. You’re making light of the situation!”

I chuckled and then sighed. “Lilian,” I said, my voice dropping to a whisper, a small smile tugging at my lips. I didn’t know how my expression looked right now, but before she could pull away again, I pulled her closer, my arm wrapping around her waist. “Don’t leave. I chose you as my first Star, and I’d hate to see the spot vacant forever...”

“Forever, he says,” she looked up at me, her eyes glossy, as she swallowed hard. “Lying bastard.” The tension in her shoulders slowly drained away, and in the end, she closed her eyes, a soft sigh escaping her lips.

Then, with a sudden burst of movement, she lunged at me, her arms wrapping around my neck, pushing me backward until I stumbled onto the bed behind me.

She climbed on top, her eyes locked onto mine, her lips trembling as she leaned closer, her breath mingling with mine. She didn’t say anything, no, she just kissed me again. I couldn’t help the wry smile that tugged at my lips.

The situation felt all too familiar—except this time, it was a werewolf and not a vampire. I hadn’t planned to cheat on Nebula like this, but… Haah, I hoped she’d understand.