In one of the entertainment districts on the Ascent Isles — one of the few where even first-years were allowed — a young couple was strolling through the upper floor of Skylight Galleria, the largest mall on this floating island.
The boy was tall and striking, with rusty red hair and a rugged yet refined appearance that suggested not only he was rich but also tough. An ever-present brooding expression was plastered on his sharp face — just what appealed to many young women.
He kept stealing glances at the girl beside him — a petite beauty with a cute face and long, strawberry-blonde curls cascading down her back.
She wore high-waisted jean shorts and a cropped off-shoulder sweater in pale pink, matching the gloss on her lips. She wanted to look comfortable, casual, and effortless — while still impressing the boy next to her.
Even though that boy wasn’t really her boyfriend.
This wasn’t technically a date.
They weren’t actually a couple.
Not yet, anyway.
But she hoped that would change. Soon.
The two of them chatted easily, the girl laughing a little too hard at the boy’s jokes and playfully touching his arm. Each time, he looked away to hide how flustered he was.
It was sweet.
It was charming.
…It was nauseating.
At least, for someone like Juliana Vox Blade.
The white-haired girl was walking behind the not-quite-couple, easily mixing in with the crowd, observing her targets with the clinical detachment of a biologist studying the mating rituals of lesser creatures.
“They’re like a walking romcom cliché,” she muttered to herself. “I can practically see how their relationship will end. It’s so hard to watch.”
And it really was hard to watch — for someone else.
Ivan, walking beside Juliana, looked seconds away from sobbing. He clutched his chest like he’d just been stabbed in the heart.
After all, the couple in the spotlight were none other than Viktor and Irina — his two childhood friends. His crush and his best friend.
Juliana scoffed at something painfully corny Irina said to Viktor, then turned to the wounded puppy of a young man beside her.
“Are you sure you want that girl?” she asked, raising a pale brow. “I could introduce you to someone way better. Someone actually compatible with you. It would save both our time.”
Ivan gawked at her, eyes wide with disbelief. “Are you saying I’m that hopelessly out of Irina’s league?”
Juliana blinked. “Ivan, buddy… you should know by now — I say what’s on my mind. Do you really want me to answer that?”
Ivan made a sound that was halfway between a scoff and a whimper. “…Wow. You know, I thought I’d never say this to anyone, but you’re actually harsher than Samael. Is every Westerner like you two?”
Juliana gave a mock gasp in exaggerated offense. “How dare you compare me to my egomaniac Young Master. I actually have tact.”
Ivan raised a skeptical brow. “You just told me I was out of my crush’s league and offered to set me up with someone else.”
She shrugged, unapologetic. “Exactly. Tact.”
Then, without waiting for Ivan, she turned around and started walking away.
“Come,” she said over her shoulder like you’d call a pup.
Ivan frowned and followed reluctantly. “Wait, aren’t we going to watch them for a bit more?”
Juliana kept walking and gave him a weird look. “Is watching the love of your life with some other man pleasing you, Ivan?”
Ivan groaned, dragging his feet as he trailed after her. “No, but it’s like ripping off a bandage, okay? I need to see it. Internalize it. Grieve. Then maybe I can stop being so sad about them all the time.”
Juliana didn’t stop. “Sounds like masochism. I can recommend you a good therapist.”
“Go see them yourself!” He exclaimed and caught up to her. “And wasn’t the whole point of this was for you to study them — whatever that means.”
Juliana glanced at him sidelong. “It was. And I did. Now let’s go.”
•••
They were on Samael’s apartment balcony now.
Juliana had donned a one-piece bikini and was sitting in the jacuzzi, relaxing with her eyes closed and head tilted back.
In her one hand was a lit cigarette. In the other, a… smoothie. A weird combo, but Ivan didn’t comment.
Because he was standing far, far away.
His face was flushed red for whatever reason, looking anywhere but in the direction of the jacuzzi tub — until her voice came:
“Look, Ivan, I’ll be honest with you. You’re not her type.”
Ivan practically threw himself off the railing. “Thank you so much for giving me this crucial insight! Honestly, I didn’t notice this fact despite being her friend for, what is it? Oh right, the last sixteen years!”
Juliana opened one eye, lazily exhaling a stream of smoke. “Then why are you still simping over her like it’s your full-time job?”
Ivan looked like he was about to combust. “Because feelings don’t disappear just because they’re inconvenient, you emotionless robot!”
She hummed, amused, and took a sip of her smoothie. “No need to get dramatic. I’m trying to help you.”
“By rubbing salt into my wounds?”
“By pouring bleach on them so you don’t get emotionally gangrenous.”
He gave her a deadpan look. “Again, you and Samael really are cut from the same cloth.”
Juliana arched a brow. “Please. If I were him, you’d be on fire right now, and he’d be explaining why it was for your character development.”
Ivan paused. Then started crying into his hands. “Oh my god, it’s hopeless, isn’t it?! Even you can’t help me!”
Juliana sighed and took a puff.
Honestly, she was rather amused at this point. And it had been a long time since she felt this entertained.
Around two weeks had passed since Samael practically dumped Ivan into her capable hands and gave her the impossible task of grooming him into a ladykiller.
At first, Juliana was irritated. After all, work like this was beneath her.
Not only because of how easy it was, but because meddling in other people’s love lives felt more exhausting than plotting a homicide.
At least, in the second scenario she got to stab something.
Still, Samael had insisted. He even offered to pay in Essence Stones.
So Juliana had taken it on — partly out of curiosity, partly out of boredom, and maybe, just maybe, because she needed a distraction from her own emotional hurricane.
Not that she’d ever admit it, but she had a lot of stuff on her mind. Most of it related to Samael, of course.
He had changed. Too much. And she hadn’t even noticed.
There were many things about him that confused her — mainly, when did he change to this extent?
And after thinking about it for a while, she realized she had started sensing that shift ever since he woke up in that hospital.
Ever since that fight with Michael Godswill.
Back then, she noticed a few things about him. The look in his eyes had matured. He looked more focused. More put-together.
She expected him to be furious. Vengeful even, after being beaten down by a commoner. After what that girlfriend of his — Lily Elderwing — did.
But instead, he looked calm. Composed.
She remembered thinking it was as if he’d had an epiphany. Like he was still the same person, but now with a new kind of resolve.
His recklessness hadn’t disappeared, exactly. After all, he still challenged his father in a Rite of Valor and sent their jet into a nosedive on the way to the Academy.
His laziness and laid-back demeanor hadn’t vanished either.
…But the flavor had changed.
His recklessness felt calculated now. As if even when he dove headfirst into chaos, he already knew how deep the water ran.
And his laziness no longer felt like the indolence of a spoiled noble. It was like a panther lounging on a branch — relaxed, but always ready to pounce.
That was what bothered Juliana.
She’d known Samael Theosbane her entire life.
She knew the sharp edges of his arrogance, the rot behind his charm, the way his smile was always just a little too sharp.
The sweet little boy she once knew had grown into a shallow man. Idiotically pathetic. Easy to read. Power without direction. Wasted potential.
But now… now there were new layers. New depths. Thoughts she couldn’t read. Things she didn’t understand.
He was hiding something. Not just from the world. From her.
And she hated that.
Because if there was one person in this world she thought she understood — it was him.
He was the one person who couldn’t surprise her.
And yet, he did.
No one changed this fast. This profoundly.
She could understand if, after getting that beating, he wanted to turn his life around. So maybe he started working toward it — bit by bit, gradually becoming someone better.
But his change was instant. Like a snap.
And then there were the things he just… knew.
That conversation he had with Rexerd was revealing. Too revealing. Like Samael already knew everything that man had spent his lifetime hiding.
And then there was the fact that he managed to outsmart her so easily.
Her pride still hadn’t recovered.
But despite herself, she was intrigued. By his genius. By his mystery. By whatever secret he was trying to keep buried.
Yet, unfortunately, she couldn’t act on that curiosity.
Not now, at least.
Maybe she’d play by his rules for a while. Gain his trust. See if he was serious about his deal.
Then she’d decide what to do with him.
Because one more thing she’d never admit aloud — but had absolutely realized — was that Samael Kaizer Theosbane, despite all the masks he wore… was dangerous.
Too dangerous to face without proper planning.
She still remembered how she felt when he revealed everything.
How she’d been dancing in the palm of his hand the whole time. How even her own schemes had been nothing more than parts of his grand design.
How she had moved exactly the way he wanted her to.
It was… terrifying.
She had felt fear — real, bone-deep fear. Cold, sinking, and unfamiliar. The kind she hadn’t tasted in years.
And also… thrill.
A sharp, intoxicating thrill that outmatched anything she’d ever felt.
More thrill than manipulating her victims.
More thrill than having complete control over someone.
Because this thrill didn’t come from power.
It came from competition.
From playing the game with someone who matched her move for move. Someone she couldn’t predict.
Someone who was… an equal.
Even though she lost, it had been exhilarating.
And now, more than anything, she wanted to know:
Could that so-called ‘equal’… be taken down?