Chapter 4: The Princess and the Phantom

  Three days later, the royal carriage bearing Victor rumbled down the cobbled road toward the gates of Virtus Academy. Flags of Eodias fluttered in the wind, and knights in sleek steel armor rode in formation around him. Yet the air inside the carriage was thick with anxiety.

  He had read the scrolls, Trained day and night, learned the basics of earth magic and swordsmanship. And now, he would be tested.

  The moment the Carriage came to a halt at the gates, a soft voice called out, “So this is the boy my father chose to send.”

  Victor turned. Standing at the gates was a young woman dressed in light silver-blue robes, embroidered with the royal crest of Eodias. Her hair was midnight black, cascading down to her waist, and her violet eyes were unreadable.

  “Princess Reinar,” the knight beside Victor whispered.

  Victor bowed immediately. “Your Highness.”

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  Reinar stepped closer, her steps as graceful as a snowfall. “Father believes in potential,” she said. “I am still deciding whether I agree with him.”

  “I will prove myself, Princess,” Victor said firmly.

  Her gaze lingered on him for a heartbeat longer than expected. Then she gave the faintest nod. “We’ll see. Don’t disgrace the Eodias name.”

  As she walked ahead, Victor followed. The gates opened to reveal the sprawling campus of Virtus Academy — towers of knowledge, training fields echoing with shouts, magical constructs glowing in the air, and countless students, nobles and commoners alike, walking their paths.

  But far beyond them, watching from the shadows, a pair of eyes observed everything.

  A cloaked figure stood silently, unseen by all. The robes were deep black, trimmed with silver — not a uniform of the academy, nor any noble house. They belonged to someone forgotten by the world, yet involved in everything.

  “Victor of Earth has arrived,” the voice beneath the hood murmured. It was neither old nor young, neither male nor female. It was… indistinct.

  From the shadows, Frona emerged. She bowed. “Master, shall I report his movements?”

  “No,” the cloaked figure replied. “He’s not ready yet. Watch the Royals. And keep an eye on the Princesses. Especially Reinar.”

  “And what of the Peasant class?” Frona asked.

  The figure turned slightly, revealing just a sliver of the obsidian mask beneath the hood. “I will handle them myself.”

  And with that, the figure vanished.

  Ghost had entered the Academy.

  But no one knew him.

  Not yet.