"Pretend?" Sarah looks at Theo with a surprised expression, just like Lorien. "You want to manipulate that bitch? But for what purpose?" She questions, but before Theo can answer, she continues. "Whatever your intention is, nothing good can come from that woman and her family."
"Arrh!" Lorien makes a mocking sound and rolls his eyes. "I don't want to agree with Sarah, but she's right, nothing good can come from a relationship with my sister and my family. Aveline is horrible, and in case you are actually considering something more with her, which would be disgusting, she is also engaged to someone just as bad or worse than her."
"Worse than her?" Sarah looks at Lorien with a curious expression, and the boy steps closer to speak more quietly after looking around to make sure no one is watching them. "Aveline is engaged to the third prince."
"The third prince?!" Sarah covers her mouth when she sees Lorien's disapproving reaction and then lowers her voice. "Really? That man?" She asks, still incredulous, and Lorien nods with a cold look, making Sarah show a mocking approving expression. "Your Caelis family really went all in then, aiming for the damn throne."
"My family licks boots very well," Lorien comments with the same level of sarcasm and also a clear aversion to his own family. While he and Sarah exchange insults about the Caelis, Theo looks confused, and then both turn back to him. "You've never heard of the third prince?"
Theo shakes his head, and Sarah quickly starts explaining. "Despite being third in the line of royal succession, he is considered by many to be the favorite, not because of his strength or intelligence, in which he loses to his older brothers, but because of how diabolical that man can be."
Lorien nods at Sarah's words and adds for Theo. "They say he is the most cruel and ambitious of the princes, and the only reason he hasn't killed the emperor himself yet to take the crown is because his father is even worse. In a way, he seems like a perfect match for my sister."
Sarah makes a disgusted expression when she hears that. "I don't know your sister well, but now I hate her even more." Lorien smiles, and both look back at Theo. "Let's keep our distance from those people for now, alright? There's no reason to mess with that hornet's nest right now."
Sarah and Lorien wait for Theo's response, but he remains silent and looks at Lorien with a thoughtful and slightly sorry expression. Instead of answering, Theo simply smiles at his friends. "We'd better head back to the hall now, we need to join Nocthera before the end of the night."
Theo starts walking toward the Hall of Stars while Sarah and Lorien exchange looks before following him. The boy looks at Theo's broad back with shining eyes. "Thank you for coming to save me… Big brother." His tone is full of gratitude, making Theo smile, but Sarah rolls her eyes.
The trio returns to the hall and finds Hermes' group finishing their registration at the Nocthera desk. He waves at Theo, who approaches the group and takes his place back in line. Since there are not many people signing up for Nocthera, those few there are quite friendly with new members.
"Next!" When a woman calls from the registration desk, Theo steps forward and hands over his Academy registration sheet with his main details. The woman seems to be in her early twenties, with bronze-colored skin and black hair with purple-dyed tips, a typical exotic beauty without a doubt.
"Ohh…" As soon as she sees Theo, her eyes shine, and when she reads his name on the registration sheet, she smiles excitedly. "Theodore Vaelmont, I heard a lot about you. It surprises me that you would join us, I mean, with that name…" As the woman says that, Theo makes a confused expression. "My name?"
Before she answers, Sarah stands beside him. "The Vaelmont family was one of the founders of House Vaelthorn." She explains to Theo and then looks at the woman in front with a suspicious expression. "You did your homework well, didn't you?"
"Hehe~" The woman giggles proudly and keeps looking at Theo. "My job is to know the new candidates well, especially those with such high potential, Lady Malveryn." She tries to speak as politely as possible to Sarah and also smiles at Lorien behind them.
"You can just call me Theo," He smiles kindly at the woman, and she nods while analyzing his papers. "These results are impressive… You are everything the rumors said and even more!"
The girl's excitement makes Theo laugh, but Sarah and Lorien stare at her with those deadly, cold looks. The woman does not seem to care at first, but then the man sitting beside her nudges her shoulder. "Ahem! Samira?"
"Ah!" The woman named Samira gives a friendly look to Sarah and Lorien before focusing back on Theo with a more composed expression. "Well, Theo, I should ask some questions like what you expect in Nocthera or if you are a Vaelthorn spy?"
Before Theo can answer, she smiles and hands his papers back. "But since you are practically already a celebrity, I will skip that part and make you one of us right away." She picks up a luxurious box with one hand and extends the other to him. "Give me your hand, please?"
"Sure," Theo extends his hand under the jealous gaze of his friends, and the girl takes it with her delicate hand, taking the chance to brush her fingers against his skin. "What a big hand you have… Ahem!" She quickly restrains her intrusive thoughts and brings Theo's right hand to the box, which opens, revealing a hand-shaped slot inside.
Theo almost feels concerned, but Samira smiles gently at him. "Don't worry, it's harmless." She places his hand inside the box, and then a purple glow appears around his fingers, flowing especially into his golden ring. "Oh…" Theo only feels a slight tingling in his hand as the glow enters his ring, not changing the golden color but giving it that purple shine.
After a few seconds, the glow disappears, and Theo removes his hand from the box. He looks at the ring for a few seconds, and the glow flickers sometimes before fading. Then he looks back at Samira, who smiles at him. "All done, now you will always have a place in Nocthera, as long as you keep the ring close, of course."
"Thank you," Theo smiles kindly at Samira, but Sarah's gaze looks more and more terrifying. "You could have just told him to put his hand in the box, couldn't you?" She questions Samira, who keeps an innocent and friendly expression while opening another similar box, but this one with a slot for the wrist instead of the hand. "Please, Lady Malveryn, place your arm in the box."
"..." Sarah just rolls her eyes and then places her arm in the box, making her golden bracelet gain the same purple glow. Then Lorien does the same, and the three are quickly registered in Nocthera.
"Congratulations, now you are part of our family," Samira claps lightly, just like the other Nocthera members around, nothing as flashy as the members of the other Houses, but they still all seem very friendly.
"Alfie," Samira calls one of the men standing behind her, a young man also in his early twenties, and introduces him to Theo and Hermes' group. "This is Alfie, one of our monitors. He will take you to our tower and show you everything."
"This way, newbies," Alfie gestures to Theo and the others, guiding them toward the west exit of the Hall of Stars. As they walk through long corridors, Alfie acts like a guide, showing common areas such as main classrooms, dining halls, and libraries that can be used by all students.
Theo listens carefully to the monitor's words, but Sarah always has something extra to say about each part of the castle, all knowledge from books, as she claims. Meanwhile, Hermes seems more curious about something else and approaches Theo and Sarah to whisper something.
"Are you excited for the Night Games?" As soon as he asks, Sarah smiles, but Theo looks confused. "Which Night games?" He asks, and Hermes quickly explains. "Everyone has heard about them; it's like a Nocthera tradition where the newbies compete in friendly games to receive rewards from the veterans."
"Isn't that just rumors to make Nocthera look cooler?" Lorien comments in a doubtful tone, but Theo remembers that Eruina mentioned a kind of competition he should win at any cost. "What are these games like?"
"They are real," before Hermes can speak, Sarah does with her confident tone. "I've seen mentions of them in several different books, so there's no doubt about it, but…" She glances at Hermes. "Aren't these competitions usually quite harsh and completely without rules?"
"Ah, I doubt it," Hermes tries to smile confidently as well. "I mean, I've heard something like that, but it doesn't make sense for students to break Academy rules right under the Duke's nose, right? They would just get expelled even if they won the games in the end."
Theo and Lorien see the logic in Hermes' words, but Sarah starts to smile strangely and even speaks lower after checking if Alfie is watching them. "Look, you've never heard about the Veil of Nocthera, right?" As soon as she says that, Hermes makes a curious and worried expression.
"Alright, it is said to be a powerful barrier created by Grandmaster Eruina herself during her time in Nocthera," Sarah explains, and the others listen carefully. "They say this barrier has a single purpose: to prevent any other magic from entering the Twilight Tower from outside, and even the Duke's methods cannot penetrate through it."
"No shit," Hermes ends up blurting in disbelief, and Alfie looks back at the group, but they just smile while continuing to follow him, and Hermes looks back at Sarah. "Is it really possible for some barrier to block the Duke's magic inside the Academy? I thought his power was absolute here."
Sarah does not answer directly and just shrugs. "Who knows? I only read about this barrier in books, but I guess we'll find out soon…" As she says that, the group is crossing a large open area with more gardens and heading straight toward a tall tower of dark bricks with a large double iron gate.
"We've arrived," Alfie says in an excited tone and turns to the group, presenting the place in front of them. "This is the Twilight Tower, the home of Nocthera, your new home, newbies."