The Grand Lecture Hall of the Imperial Academy. The room is a massive amphitheater of tiered mahogany desks, filled with high-status senior nobles whispering behind their fans. Cassian is slumped in a desk at the very back, desperately trying to dissolve into the architecture. Lucien stands directly behind his chair, an unyielding wall of silver plate armor, his hand resting on the pommel of his sword.
Just then a rival noble, a Marquis's son whose name Cassian hardly remembers stalks up the steps, smirking arrogantly as he slams his hand onto Cassian's desk with a loud thud.
"Well, well. Look who finally crawled out of his royal sickbed. Tell me, Prince Cassian, did you fake that little magical migraine just to skip the tactical assessments, or are you truly as fragile as—"
"Oh, great. The textbook mid-tier bully archetype. Go away, dude. I'm running on two hours of sleep and a deep sense of existential dread."
'Perhaps If I ignore him, maybe he'll turn into a localized glitch and disappear.' Cassian doesn't even lift his head from his palm. He just blinks his crimson eyes slowly, looking utterly bored.
"What did you ju–"
"If you're going to yell, do it at a lower decibel. Your voice is rattling my skull."
The boy flushes with anger, raising his hand to grab Cassian's collar.
"You arrogant little—! Do you think your royal title protects you from your own incompetence?!"
Lucien's ice-blue eyes snap to the young noble's hand. In a fraction of a second, a sharp, metallic *CLANG* echoes through the hall as he shifts his stance. A heavy, suffocating wave of pressurized white holy mana erupts from his body.
The hallway windows CRACK and shatter simultaneously under the sudden spike in atmospheric pressure.
The young boy gasps, his knees instantly buckling as the sheer weight of a Swordmaster's aura slams him into the floor. He trembles, suffocating under the pressure.
"S-Sir Lucien...?! What—"
"Step back from His Highness. The Emperor has designated me as the Prince's personal shield. Any unauthorized physical approach, any unprovoked aggression, or any hostile intent directed at the royal family will be treated as an act of high treason on the spot. Am I making myself clear, young Marquis?" Lucien's voice was like grinding glaciers, looking down at the noble with lethal intensity. The boy choked out a response, terrified "Y-Yes! Clear! Perfectly clear!" He crambled backwards on his hands and knees, fleeing down the steps.
Cassian stared blankly at the shattered glass raining down outside the window, his internal monologue going into a full, screaming code-red.
'HE ALMOST DREW HIS SWORD IN A HISTORY CLASS. He's not protecting me! He's setting a boundary! He's telling the entire room, 'Back off, peasants, this is my prey. Nobody gets to slice his head off but me!' Look at how he's standing there, checking the wind resistance of the room. He's definitely practicing the optimal angle for a clean decapitation. I'm going to pass out!!'
Lucien slowly dialed back his mana, his eyes tracking the frantic murmurs of the surrounding students. Suddenly he glared at Cassian's pale, unbothered expression, his internal deductions tightening like a trap. 'Look at him. The prince didn't even flinch when the glass shattered. He didn't even bother to draw out his own weapon or cast his magic. He knew exactly what would happen. He was deliberately using my holy vow and my public reputation to crush his political opposition while keeping his own hands pristine. He has turned the Empire's Sword into his personal execution dog... A truly terrifying mastermind indeed.'
Cassian slowly turned his head, giving Lucien a weak, exhausted wave.
"Sir Arden you need to be careful next time.. the windows. It's autumn. There's a draft."
Lucien bows stiffly, his voice perfectly formal yet dripping with silent surveillance.
"My apologies, Your Highness. I will ensure the perimeter is entirely... *contained* next time."
*****
Only after a two days time after that minor incident back at the class
The Academy's outdoor combat arena was full. The stands were packed with professors and noble students, including the Crown Prince Adrian's spies.
Cassian silently stood on the designated casting platform, staring at a row of enchanted wooden training targets fifty yards away from where he was. Lucien was watching from the sidelines, arms crossed over his chest, hyper-analyzing every breath that the prince takes.
Just then the head professor blew a silver whistle "Senior Evaluation! Prince Cassian Valemont. You may begin your elemental demonstration. Please aim for a standard Second-Circle output."
Cassian nodded, casually taking a deep breath and cracking his knuckles.
'Okay. Keep it simple, Kagen. Just a tiny, basic Wind Breeze spell. Just enough to tip over the wooden target, get a passing C-minus, and get the hell out of here. If I show too much progress, Adrian will think I'm a threat, and Lucien will think I'm a demon so let's be careful.'
Cassian closed his eyes and visualised a gentle gust of wind forming on his stretched out palms.
"Aether... Ventus[1]."
Cassian's core, the newly unlocked Fourth Magic Circle beneath his consciousness violently snapped open, flooded by a massive reservoir of dormant mana. The ground rumbled violently as a massive, blinding golden-blue magic circle erupted under Cassian's boots, spanning the entire width of the arena.
'Wait, no—no, too much! Dial it back!...shit!, ABORT MISSION!'
A colossal, localized Category-5 hurricane detonates outward from Cassian's casting platform. A roaring vortex of wind and lightning tears across the field. Everyone murmured in awe...but it would be best to define their instantaneous reactions as terror. The scene in from of their eyes was a natural disaster and with one small mistake they'd be all wiped away by the hurricane.
Cassian stabilized his breathing for a moment, calming the storm before sending it towards the targets. And within a matter of seconds they instantly vaporized into splinters and ash. And the arena walls, the heavy, reinforced stone barriers also shattered like peanut brittle under the pressure. The protective magical shields around the audience began to snap, sending a howling gale into the stands. The Head Professor's toupee is ripped clean off his head and flies off into the upper atmosphere. The few students next to him cracked with muffled laughter despite of the life threatening situation unfolding in front of them.
Most of the audience at the front row started screaming, ducking for cover, holding onto their seats for dear life. Cassian stood in the dead center of the storm, perfectly untouched by his own magic, holding a single, tiny splinter of wood that landed in his hand as the hurricane evaporated everything on its sight. Cassian blinked through the settling cloud of dust, his mouth slightly agape.
'Oh, my god. I destroyed the stadium. I just wanted a passing grade. The principal is going to expel me, Adrian is going to poison my lunch, and Lucien...' he looks toward the sidelines.
Lucien was standing completely unmoved despite the wind, his cape billowing violently, his ice-blue eyes wider than they have ever been in any timeline. His jaw is locked, his thoughts spiraling into deep, tactical panic. 'An instantaneous, silent cast of Fourth-Circle elemental magic... with no incantation structure. He didn't just pass; he utterly annihilated the imperial standard.' he slowly turned his gaze towards Cassian and their eyes met, for a brief moment he saw a smirk flashing on the prince's lips, he was utterly calm and intentionally spiking the chaos to stir. Lucien unknowingly clenched his fists, gritting his teeth.
'This was a deliberate declaration of war. He is showing the entire Academy—showing me—that he has been hiding his true destructive capacity all along. He is reaching a level of power where I might not be able to restrain him alone if his darkness takes over. And for that matter, I must watch him at every second that passes by.'
Cassian wiped a layer of dust off his face, coughing awkwardly as he looked at the terrified, silent crowd.
"I... think the target was defective. It broke quite easily."
*****
The very same day that evening. A dimly lit, shadows-drenched corridor leading back to the senior dorms at 2:30 AM. The air was freezing. And Cassian was sneaking back, wearing a ridiculously oversized, magically conjured modern hoodie to hide his face. He was clutching an ancient, forbidden text on space-time anomalies in one hand, and on the other hand was a half-eaten strawberry tart he stole from the kitchens on his way back.
"Success. Elias is currently sitting in my room pretending to be me, and I got the coordinates for the dimensional rift text. Soon, I'll find the gateway, go back to Earth, and my sister will finally know the meaning of terror." Cassian tiptoed down the hall, taking a bite from his tart. Just then the shadows suddenly twist as a massive, towering figure steps directly out from behind a stone pillar, completely blocking the hallway. Lucien stood under the moonlight, his silver armor gleamed ominously, and his eyes glowing with a sharp, terrifying intensity as he stares down at the prince. Cassian instantly froze in place, his heart violently flatlining.
'Hiek!!!, I AM CAUGHT. THIS IS IT. TIMELINE FIFTEEN ENDS HERE!. I'm sure he thinks that I'm forming a shadow cult! He thinks the strawberry tart is a blood ritual offering! If I die holding a pastry, I am going to haunt this entire continent!'
Lucien slowly took a step forward, his heavy boots making no sound against the stone, his voice dropping into a low, dangerous growl.
"Using a decoy servant to escape your quarters at two in the morning. Sneaking into the restricted archives under an illusion veil. Tell me, Your Highness... what kind of midnight meetings are you conducting in the dark?"
Cassian's default arrogant-villain poker face automatically activated, though his knees were visibly shaking under his oversized hoodie. He lifted his chin, trying to look imposing while holding a half-eaten dessert.
"Sir Arden. I didn't realize the Empire's Sword had been reduced to a hall monitor. A prince is allowed to have a late-night craving. I merely went to the kitchens."
Lucien took another predatory step closer, completely ignoring the excuse as his eyes drifted down to the ancient book clutched tightly against Cassian's chest. His heightened senses pick up something that entirely derails his anger.
'His pulse... it's hammering frantically. He's trembling beneath that strange garment. And he isn't looking at me with malice or defiance... he looks entirely exhausted. Defensive. As if he's a cornered animal staring at a hunter.' Lucien's eyes caught the faded gold lettering on the book: 'The Theory of Parallel Realms and Dimensional Displacements'.
'So he's still researching how to leave this world entirely. He wants to escape. He is fabricating a way to flee from the Empire... to flee from me and his royal shackles huh?'
Suddenly a sudden, dark, possessive urge flares up in Lucien's chest, tightening his throat. 'No. I won't allow it. You cannot simply vanish after upending my entire reality, Cassian...you may summon whatever being you want to summon and I'll cut you down along with it. But you–...you can never leave, you are not allowed to leave before I reveal the darkness in you.'
Lucien slowly closed the final bit of distance between them, cornering Cassian directly against the cold stone wall. He raised his heavy, leather-gloved hand. And Cassian flinched, bracing himself for the blade—but instead, Lucien's large thumb gently reached out, brushing a stray bit of strawberry jam from the corner of Cassian's lip. Cassian's eyes became wide as saucers, his brain short-circuiting.
'W–...What is happening, why is he touching my face?, or is this a new holy torture technique?!'
Lucien leaned down, his voice was a low, intensely dark whisper right beside Cassian's ear.
"You run quite fast for a fragile prince, Your Highness. Did you truly think a cheap illusion trick would hide your movements from me? Tell me... what exactly are you looking for in the dark? And why..." Lucien's ice-blue eyes locked dead into Cassian's crimson ones, dripping with a terrifyingly curious obsession.
"—and also tell me...Why do you keep looking at me as if you are constantly waiting for my blade to fall?"
Cassian internally wept, clutching his book for dear life.
'IT'S BECAUSE YOU HAVE LITERALLY CUT MY HEAD OFF FOURTEEN TIMES, YOU ABSOLUTE PSYCHO! LET ME GO HOME!!!'
*****
[1] Aether: Is a classical Element: In ancient and medieval philosophy, it was considered the fifth element (alongside earth, water, fire, and air) that filled the universe beyond the terrestrial sphere. Ventus: Latin word meaning "wind"