★Nuel's POV★
I walked toward the dais as my name was called, trying my best to steady my gaze amidst the eyes watching me from all corners. Among them, Alpha Noca's piercing stare and Ariadne's, whose every glance only deepened the suspicion growing inside me.
But most of all, my heart twisted because of my sister, Nuella, who stood on the stage beside the other candidates.
Throughout the time I stood there, she never once looked in my direction. Not even for a heartbeat.
While walking to the podium, I had searched desperately for even a fleeting glance from her, anything to prove she saw me but she didn't. She kept her eyes forward as if I didn't exist and as if she hadn't seen me come up.
"There will be five stages in the competition," the priest's voice rang across the crowd, "and they shall take place within three days. The first begins tomorrow."
