The morning sun rose pale over Lavatoria Academy.Its golden light spilled through the marble corridors, yet the air was heavy as though the day itself carried the weight of yesterday's chaos.
Alana Rainheart sat by her window, her long silver hair glinting in the light. Her reflection in the glass looked unfamiliar tired, pale, and distant.The daughter of one of the Seven Elite Families, heir of the Rainheart fortune, always perfect, always poised and yet, the girl staring back at her looked… shaken.
Her fingers unconsciously brushed against her chest, where faint traces of pain still lingered from the relic's energy.He saved me.The thought echoed again and again.He saved me… when I told him to leave me.
She closed her eyes, remembering that moment the demon's roar, the suffocating darkness, and Sam standing before her, his body bleeding, his aura exploding into a storm of black and violet light.That power she could still feel its weight in her bones.
"Promise not to reveal my secret."
Those words haunted her.She hadn't broken that promise. But every time she looked at her hands, trembling faintly, she wondered what exactly did I see that day?
A soft knock broke her thoughts."Lady Alana?" came the voice of her attendant, Mira. "The professors are asking you to attend the morning assembly. The results of the election will be officially announced."
"I understand," Alana replied, her tone composed once again the mask returning."Also… there are rumors spreading," Mira hesitated. "About the trial. Some say a… a demon appeared inside the rift. Others claim you and the commoner boy faced it together."
Alana's grip on the window tightened. "Rumors always find a way to twist the truth," she said flatly.But deep inside, she knew they weren't entirely wrong.
As Mira left, Alana stood and looked toward the courtyard below. Students were gathering laughing, whispering, pointing. And among those whispers, one name was being spoken again and again.
"Sam."
The boy who wasn't supposed to stand out.The boy who didn't crave power, yet ended up stealing every eye.
Down in the assembly hall, the announcement began.Professor Irus, now healed from his earlier injuries, stepped forward to address the crowd.
"With this, the trial of relics is officially concluded. The winner of the first-year president election Miss Alana Rainheart!"
Applause filled the hall but it sounded hollow to Alana. She smiled, waved politely, and accepted the ornate crest of victory from the professors.Yet, her eyes wandered searching.
Sam stood near the back of the crowd.Silent. Calm.As if nothing extraordinary had happened.
Their gazes met for an instant.He gave her a faint nod not of acknowledgment, not of rivalry… but of quiet relief.And then he turned away.
Something twisted in her chest.
Later, as the celebration began in the courtyard, Alana found herself alone beneath the academy's marble arch. The noise of laughter and music echoed behind her, but she couldn't bring herself to join.
Why did he refuse the relic? she thought. Why give up everything he earned?She was raised to believe power was everything that victory was the proof of worth. But that boy, the one everyone once dismissed as "a mere commoner," had shattered that belief in one gesture.
"Lady Alana."
She turned it was Prince Lucien, one of the royal siblings who had also competed in the election. His usual charming smile was subdued. "You were incredible out there. Truly deserving of your position."
She smiled faintly. "You're too kind, Your Highness."
Lucien tilted his head, studying her. "But I must admit, the real talk of the academy isn't your victory."He paused, then added, "It's him."
"Sam," she said softly.
Lucien nodded. "There are whispers among the professors too. They say the energy readings during the trial reached a level comparable to an ancient calamity. The Headmaster sealed all reports. No one knows what truly happened inside that rift."
Alana's heart skipped. "The Headmaster sealed the reports?"
Lucien nodded. "Yes. Which means whatever happened wasn't just another accident."He looked at her, eyes serious. "If you know something, Alana, you should tell them."
But she looked away."It's nothing, you don't need to worry."
Lucien's brows furrowed. "Ok if you say so."
She didn't answer. Instead, her gaze drifted toward the sky where faint traces of black clouds still hung, even under the bright morning light.
That evening, when the crowd had dispersed, Alana returned to the trial chamber alone.The ruins of the shattered crystal arena were still being repaired by magic, but one corner remained untouched the area where the rift had opened.
She knelt there quietly, touching the cold floor.It was faint, but she could still feel it the residue of his power.Dark, ancient, and oddly familiar.
As she traced the mark, a faint echo rippled through her mind the memory of that voice, the one that had whispered to Sam in the darkness.
"Use your true power, Sam…"
She shivered, pulling her hand back.Who was that voice?And why did it feel like something in that place had recognized him?
Her thoughts spiraled until the sudden sound of footsteps made her turn.
It was Lucy.
The young noble stood at the entrance, her eyes sharp but heavy with worry. "I thought I'd find you here."
Alana straightened her posture. "Lady Lucy."
Lucy's gaze moved over the room, then fixed on the dark mark where the rift had been. "You were with him… inside there."
Alana hesitated. "Yes."
Lucy took a slow breath. "Then you saw it, didn't you? That power."
Alana's eyes widened. "You know about it?"
Lucy didn't answer immediately. Instead, she walked closer, her tone calm but edged with emotion. "I felt it the moment he unleashed it. That darkness I've felt it before. It's his true aura."
Alana blinked, confusion rising. "You mean you knew?"
Lucy looked away. "I knew he was hiding something… but I didn't expect it to be that."
A heavy silence hung between them.
Finally, Lucy said softly, "Don't tell anyone, Alana. About what happened, or what you saw."
Alana frowned. "You don't have to worry. I promised him."
Lucy gave her a faint, almost melancholic smile. "Then keep that promise. Because if the wrong people learn what he really is… the academy won't protect him. They'll hunt him."
The words chilled her. "Hunt him?"
Lucy nodded. "There are powers far beyond our walls kingdoms, cults, even gods that would kill to find someone like him."
The air grew still.
Alana looked down at her trembling hands. "Then what should we do?"
Lucy's answer was simple but it carried the weight of certainty."Protect him. Even if he doesn't ask for it."
She turned and left, her footsteps fading into the distance.
Alana stood there for a long time, alone again in the half-ruined chamber.The silence pressed in, filled with the faint hum of something ancient beneath the ground.
She looked up at the broken ceiling where light filtered through the cracks, scattering into patterns of gold and shadow.
For the first time in her life, she didn't know whether she was afraid of the darkness… or drawn to it.
She whispered softly, almost to herself,"Sam… who are you really?"
The wind answered only with silence. She left the trail ground and was sitting near the fountain when sam approached her form behind, Alana with confusion "what are you doing here sam..?"
Sam "I just came to relax my mind after what happened yesterday", Alana "It wasn't easy to survive from such accident, but we were lucky or should I say I was lucky that you were there to help me." Sam gave a faint smile " if that what you think then so be it.", and just like that they both looked at the sky to releve their strees.
To be continued…