In the Aerionis Zephyra Empire and…
Inside Sovereign Arcanum Academy,
Sssshhhh!
Aether materialized inside the Principal’s house, his gaze sweeping across the familiar surroundings. His brows furrowed in slight confusion… He had expected at least some changes, but…
“Nothing changed?” Aether muttered under his breath.
Well, what he could expect for week-old changes?
Anyway, he called his snowflake who was resting in the Umbra Sanctum… His storage facility!
Due to his recent upgrade, Aether had gained the ability to store one living being inside his storage space, and without hesitation, he had placed Snowflake inside.
A white, misty portal rippled open in the air, and a small, fluffy head peered out. Snowflake blinked a few times before tilting her head. “Did you call me, Master?” she asked curiously, her voice soft yet eager. Without waiting for a response, she leapt straight into his arms, rubbing her head affectionately against his chest.
Aether chuckled as he caught her effortlessly, “Yeah, I did. So, how was it inside? Was it comfortable?” His tone was laced with curiosity, genuinely wondering what her experience had been like.
Snowflake eagerly nodded. “It was amazing, Master~! The place is huge! There’s water, trees, and even lights… It’s like… like…” She paused, struggling to find the right words.
“Like what? A house? A mansion? Or maybe even a palace?” Aether prompted, amused by her excitement.
Snowflake shook her head. “No… it wasn’t like any of those. It was something completely different. I… I have never seen a place like that before,” she admitted, her voice filled with wonder.
Aether rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm… Interesting.” He paused for a moment before shrugging. “Anyway, you said there were water, trees, and light? That’s unexpected.”
Snowflake beamed. “Yes! It felt so… lively!”
Aether was momentarily astonished, ‘So this is what it truly means to store a living being… It’s not just a void space. It actually sustains life without me having to worry about their survival. Damn, that’s insane!’ he thought, still processing the revelation.
However, a new question formed in his mind, and his expression grew serious. “What about food? Did you find anything to eat inside?”
“Food? Uh… well… I didn’t see anything like normal food, but… um… I did eat those crystals that you sto—” Her words came to an abrupt halt as realization struck her. She had just blurted out something she definitely shouldn’t have!
Silence.
Aether’s ice-blue eyes slowly narrowed as he blankly stared at Snowflake. His mind replayed her words—crystals. He had stored a Rainbow Arcane Crystals inside as well… and now… she had eaten it.
A slow, deliberate smile stretched across Aether’s lips, but Snowflake knew better. That was not a smile of amusement—it was a smile of impending doom.
“Looks like someone has been indulging a little too much…” Aether mused, his voice eerily calm. “Maybe… I should leave you with Selene and the others for a while. Let them discipline you a bit.”
“NNNOOOOOO~~” Snowflake shrieked in absolute horror, her tiny face morphing into sheer panic. “N-No! Anything but that!! I don’t want to be separated from you, Master!” she wailed, her body coiling around his neck in desperation. She tightened her hold as she sobbed dramatically, clinging to him like a lifeline.
Aether coughed. “W-Wait… cough… Are you trying to strangle me to death?!” he asked, amusement flickering in his voice as he gently pried her off his throat.
Just then—
Ding~
Aether’s expression twitched. He let out a small sigh before reaching into his pocket, donning his mask in the process. He pulled out a small orb and activated it.
“Well, hello~ Victor~” A familiar, annoyingly cheerful voice echoed from the orb.
Victor’s eyes were half-lidded as he stared blankly at the orb, already unamused.
Jack coughed awkwardly before continuing, “So… yeah, I know we wasted your time last time, but this time, Master is really calling for you. Like, seriously, it’s urgent. You already ignoring our calls… Please don’t do that, Darl~ahem I mean Victor!”
However, Victor’s expression remained indifferent, “Jack, I have told you before… I am not your fucking dog that comes running whenever you call. I have things to do—I am busy”
Without another word, he cut off the connection, his lips curling into a smirk, ‘Looks like he’s getting desperate… I wonder why,’ he mused before straightening his posture and heading toward his next destination.
Maintaining his disguise, Victor walked at a steady pace. His next stop—meeting Aqualina and Celestia.
As he moved through the academy, he noticed something strange. Students were whispering amongst themselves, their voices hushed but excited. Victor’s sharp ears picked up snippets of their conversation.
“Hey, it’s him… Victor, my dream man!”
“Oh my god, should I ask him for an autograph?!”
“Shut up! You can’t just ask an emperor for an autograph! Do you want to get executed or something?!”
Victor couldn’t help but smirk at their reactions. ‘Hmm, being famous isn’t as easy as it looks, huh?’ he thought with a mix of amusement and narcissism.
But then—
“I can’t believe we had so many children living under a building…”
“Yeah, to think something like that was happening right under our noses in the academy.”
Victor’s brow furrowed slightly. ‘Children? Under a building?’ He was just about to step in and ask for clarification when—
“Hey, what are you doing here, Victor?”
A sudden tap on his shoulder made him pause. The tone was casual—too casual.
Victor turned, frowning slightly, only to find himself facing… A woman?
It’s not he didn’t like to called and tapped on his shoulder.
The problem? He had no idea who she was.
“Hmm… Do I—” He started, but before he could finish, the woman’s face paled slightly.
“W-Was I too friendly just now?” she asked, her voice laced with nervousness upon seeing his frown.
Victor blinked. “I mean… yeah. Wait, do I know you?”
The moment those words left his mouth, the woman’s expression darkened and gloomy. Her lips parted slightly as if she couldn’t believe what she had just heard.
“I… I know being an emperor must be difficult… but you could have at least remembered your senior, right, Victor?” she muttered, her voice carrying a hint of disappointment.
“Senior?” Victor’s frown deepened.
The woman in front of him looked even more gloomy, her lips trembling as if she was on the verge of tears. Her large eyes glistened, filled with disappointment and disbelief. “Y-You really forgot about me?” she asked in a soft, wounded voice, her fingers clutching the hem of her dress tightly.
‘Okay… something is seriously messed up here,’ Victor thought, his brows knitting together as he searched his memory for any senior he knew. ‘I only know Kira, who is my sen—’ His thoughts came to an abrupt halt. His pupils dilated in sheer disbelief.
“K-Kira?” he muttered hesitantly, his voice almost uncertain. But that didn’t make sense. This woman looked completely different from Kira.
The woman’s face brightened slightly, but she quickly pouted, puffing her cheeks in mild annoyance, “Right… but also wrong! I am Kara, not Kira!” she corrected, her voice laced with a mix of frustration and amusement as she lightly slapped his shoulder in a playful manner.
Victor’s mind went blank for a second.
‘What the fuck?’
Kara let out a deep sigh of relief, placing a hand on her chest as if she had been holding her breath this whole time. “I cannot believe you almost forgot me, even though it’s only been a week… I thought you were good at remembering people, but I guess I was wrong! Hmph! Thank goodness I ran into you first. If I had waited for you to approach me, I would have been waiting forever,” she muttered with an exaggeratedly tired expression, crossing her arms over her chest.
Victor was still in disbelief. His mind was running at full speed. “Wait… you mean, I actually came to your house, right?” he asked, trying to make sense of the situation.
Kara frowned at his question, her lips pressing into a thin line. “Of course, you came! You even met my grandparents and…” Her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink before she continued in a quieter voice, “…you even gave us money to help out.”
Victor blinked. He could feel something was off.
‘This is weird… What the hell is going on here?’ He had already investigated her background, and even personally visited her family to confirm if something was strange about her. But no matter how deeply he looked, there was nothing unusual. Everything matched perfectly with what he had recorded.
Yet,
‘Why does she seem like a completely different person, log?’ he questioned, but no answers!
Victor sighed inwardly. ‘Is it because of her bloodline? Some unknown ability, maybe?’ He wasn’t sure, but he decided to stop overthinking for now.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, shifting the topic. “Aren’t you supposed to be on vacation?”
Kara blinked at him before tilting her head. “Wait… you don’t know?”
Victor raised an eyebrow. “Know what?”
Kara placed her hands on her hips before explaining, “The Principal made an announcement about a volunteer program for students who were interested in taking care of children. Since I was lazing around with nothing to do, I figured I might as well take part. Plus, they’re even paying us~” She winked at him, clearly pleased with herself.
Victor was taken aback. “Children? What children?”
Kara merely grinned before motioning for him to follow her.
…..
…
Kara led Victor to a facility inside the academy. The moment he stepped inside, his expression darkened, his eyes scanning the eerie sight before him.
“What the…” Victor mumbled under his breath, his entire body tensing.
Hundreds of children were standing motionless, their small bodies unnaturally rigid, their blank, emotionless eyes staring straight ahead. They weren’t playing, weren’t running around—they were just… standing there, completely still, like lifeless puppets.
Around them, female students were awkwardly trying to interact, attempting to play with them. Some held toys, others spoke in soft, encouraging tones, but the children barely reacted.
There was no excitement, no curiosity, nothing. They responded only in the most mechanical, lifeless manner… though some were curious about flames but nothing else!
“What the hell is going on here? Who are these children?” Victor asked, his voice serious, a rare hint of unease creeping into his tone.
Kara simply shrugged. “No idea. The Principal just asked us to take care of them. That’s all we know,” she said, not seeming to think much of it.
Victor’s frown deepened. He was just about to ask more questions when—
“Oh! I have to go, Victor! It’s my shift now!” Kara suddenly chirped before rushing off toward the children. She picked one up and began trying to play with them, laughing as if everything was normal.
Victor, however, remained frozen in place. His instincts screamed at him.
Something was very, very wrong here!!
As he observed the children more closely, an unsettling sensation crawled up his spine. He couldn’t explain it, but he felt… danger.
‘What the hell is going on here?’ he wondered. Just then—
His shadow flickered.
Victor’s lips curled into a smirk. Without hesitation, he turned on his heel and moved toward an empty corridor. He didn’t have to wait long before—
“Aether~”
A soft, familiar voice whispered from the darkness before a figure materialized from the shadows and threw herself into his arms.
Celestia.
She clung to him tightly, her warm body pressing against his as if afraid he might disappear. Her breathing was uneven, and her fingers dug into his back, clutching onto him as though she never wanted to let go.
Victor chuckled, wrapping his arms around her in return, holding her just as tightly. Their bodies moulded together, their warmth seeping into each other. Neither of them wanted to let go—not even for a second.
“I-I missed you…” Celestia’s voice trembled. Her grip on him tightened as she whispered shakily, “P-Princess almost di—”
Her body shook violently.
Victor’s gentle smile remained as he pulled her closer, lowering his head to press a soft kiss against her forehead. His touch was warm, soothing, and reassuring. He ran his fingers through her silky hair, his other hand gently rubbing her back. “Don’t worry…” he murmured softly against her skin, “Everything will be fine… I promise.”
Celestia’s eyes trembled as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. She inhaled deeply, letting his familiar scent calm her trembling heart.
Slowly, her breathing steadied.
And then—
Squeeze.
“Oi?”
Celestia pulled back slightly, her expression shifting into a deadpan glare as she felt a certain someone fondling her ass.
Victor grinned cheekily, leaning in with a whisper, “I missed them too, you know.”
“…”
Then—
“Hehehe…” Celestia let out a soft giggle, shaking her head before smiling gently.
She had really, really missed that stupid, cheeky smile of his.
