[Nico’s POV]

  “Two new arrivals,” Louise said, her voice smooth, practiced. She had the tone of someone who had spent her entire life in control of rooms full of influential people.

  Nico stood in front of the tall mirror, the holographic display embedded in the glass projecting faint lines and data points around his reflection. The suit he wore was an elegant blend of modern design and old-world formality. It was one of the rare times he wasn’t wearing the formal uniform of a Dardanus General.

  That uniform was a second skin to him, a symbol of the battles he’d fought to earn his rank. A rank that still carried whispers and sideways glances from those who believed he didn’t deserve it. But that never bothered him.

  Reputation was noise. Results were what mattered.

  “Where are they from?” he asked, tugging at the collar of his shirt.

  “Two businessmen. Megatech Corporation or something close. They’re big on Mars,” Louise replied without looking up, her eyes still scanning the holograms that hovered before her.

  “Anything special with them?” Nico asked, more to fill the silence than out of concern. He pulled at his tie again, trying to straighten it, but every change seemed to make it worse.

  Louise sighed softly, deactivating the holograms with a flick of her fingers. The data dissolved into a cloud of golden pixels. She crossed the room toward him, her heels clicking against the polished floor.

  “Let me help,” she said, still smiling as she reached out to fix his tie.

  Nico caught her reflection in the mirror.

  Louise looked radiant. She wore an emerald-green gown that shimmered under the room’s soft lighting. It was the color of her House, the symbol of Dardanus' pride and power—the same color as her eyes.

  Her smile was disarming. Perfect.

  'How the hell did I end up here?'

  The question popped into his mind, as it often did when he found himself in her presence. When he’d first met Louise in the Dardanus military quarters, he’d assumed she was just another officer. He hadn’t known she was the heiress to one of the Great Houses.

  Now, standing beside her, wearing a suit tailored for political theater instead of battle, he felt like an impostor in someone else’s life.

  Nico stood still as her fingers worked deftly at the knot of his tie, adjusting it with careful precision. The faint scent of her perfume, something floral, hung in the air between them.

  He couldn’t help but chuckle under his breath at the irony of it all.

  The last time he’d spoken to his pupil, he had joked that the boy was waiting for the princess. Yet somehow, it was Nico who had stumbled into royalty.

  The smile that tugged at his lips faltered as quickly as it came, replaced by a dull ache in his chest.

  Oliver.

  The name echoed like a whisper in the back of his mind.

  He could still see the kid’s grin—the cocky, unshakable confidence that bordered on arrogance. The kind of attitude that made you want to smack him, but also be friends with him.

  And now… he was gone.

  Or so they said.

  'Dead? No'. Nico refused to believe it. Not for a second.

  That stubborn bastard was alive somewhere. He had to be.

  Nico skipped every funeral, every ceremony. Couldn’t bring himself to stand before a casket that he didn’t believe held the boy he’d trained.

  “There,” Louise said, stepping back and giving him a final look. She smiled, satisfied. “Perfect. You look dashing.”

  Nico felt his face warm, a faint blush creeping up his neck. “Thanks. Still not used to all this…” he gestured vaguely at the tailored suit, the polished shoes, the gleaming cufflinks that bore the Dardanus insignia. “Gala nonsense.”

  Louise laughed lightly. “Don’t worry. It’s rare even for me. Most of the time, I’m stuck in my military uniform too. But for events like this…” she spread her arms, the fabric of her gown catching the light like liquid glass, “there’s no avoiding it.”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Louise was still speaking when Nico’s body betrayed him.

  The first cough came sharp, sudden—then another, deeper, rattling his chest. He bent forward slightly, the sound echoing too loudly in the silence of the room.

  “Babe? Are you all right?” Louise’s voice broke through the moment, her tone laced with concern.

  He tried to wave her off, but the fit worsened. His lungs burned. Then, wet warmth splattered against his palm.

  He froze.

  Both of them stared.

  A streak of dark crimson glistened against his hand.

  Louise’s breath caught. “Nico—”

  But he already knew. 'My time’s running out.'

  He could feel it in his bones, in the dull, constant ache that had lingered for weeks now. The strength that once surged through him, the power that had carried him through wars, was fading. His boon no longer cured him as fast as before. It flickered, weak and unstable, like a dying star.

  'Oliver warned me this would happen,' he thought bitterly. 'I just didn’t want it to be so soon.'

  “You’re not fine,” Louise said, stepping closer. There was fear in her eyes now, sharp and human beneath the poise of a noble.

  Nico forced a smile, though his reflection in the mirror betrayed him. He had pale skin, hollow cheeks, and a faint tremor in his hand.

  “I’m fine,” he lied, wiping the blood away with a handkerchief. The white fabric turned scarlet in seconds. “I just need to see the medics. Probably nothing serious.”

  “That’s not nothing,” she said, her voice trembling.

  He looked at her through the mirror. “Fighting wars isn’t normal either, Louise. God only knows what kind of pathogens I picked up from the Orks.”

  It was a convenient excuse, one that sounded plausible enough to ease her mind. But deep down, he knew the truth.

  It wasn’t an infection. It wasn’t something that could be cured.

  It was time.

  Louise reached out, her hand finding his. Her skin was warm against his hand. She didn’t speak, but her grip tightened, desperate, unwilling to let go.

  Nico turned toward her, forcing the ghost of a smile. “I’ll be fine,” he said again, softer this time.

  “All right,” Nico said, nodding as he adjusted his collar again and glanced at the mirror. “Could you run through it with me one more time?”

  “Of course!” Louise tried to smile. “We’ll be hosting dinners all week with various partners leading up to the wedding. Tonight’s is with the business delegates from Mars and Luna.”

  “Our allied planets,” Nico added, his voice steady but distracted. He was already thinking about the politics behind those alliances.

  “Exactly,” Louise said, her tone turning more pragmatic. “Their goal will be to negotiate trade concessions or tax reductions—”

  Yet, she never finished. The floor shuddered beneath them.

  A low, violent tremor rolled through the room, rattling the glass fixtures and sending a few decorative lights crashing to the floor. Followed by the sudden wail of sirens.

  Louise grabbed the edge of a table to steady herself. “What—”

  Before she could finish, the doors hissed open violently, slamming into the walls as several uniformed officers rushed in.

  “Princess. General.” The lead officer’s voice was clipped, his breathing heavy. “We’re under coordinated attack. Tros Station is being hit across multiple sectors.”

  Louise’s eyes widened. “What? Why didn’t we hear anything through the comms or Gauntlets?”

  “Communications are down, ma’am.” The officer’s tone was grim. “We don’t know how, but they’ve managed to disable the entire network. The station’s completely isolated.”

  Another tremor hit, this one stronger. The walls groaned under the strain, the lights flickering as power briefly fluctuated.

  The sound of distant explosions rumbled through the corridors.

  Nico braced himself against the wall, his instincts from decades of battle roaring back to life. “What kind of attack shakes a station like this?”

  The officer hesitated, his expression darkening behind his visor. “It’s the Green Ranger, sir.”

  “He’s leading a mercenary strike team. They’ve breached multiple residential sectors. Districts twelve through fourteen are already compromised.” The officer completed.

  Louise’s voice was sharp and commanding. “What are they after?”

  “We believe they’re searching for access points to the lower vault levels, ma’am. The primary objective appears to be the main treasury core.”

  Nico’s eyes narrowed, his mind already shifting into tactical mode. “They’re after the vault. The one beneath the council chamber.”

  'Impossible.' The thought hit Nico before he could stop it. His mind rejected the words even as the alarms screamed around him. 'The Green Ranger?'

  No.

  He knew the Green Ranger.

  He had saved him once. He didn't know the man. Yet he was not someone who would lead mercenaries into a space station, slaughter civilians, and strike at the Great Houses.

  That wasn’t the Green Ranger.

  Something was wrong.

  “We need to evacuate you to the lower levels!” the officer shouted, gesturing urgently toward the corridor. The floor trembled again as another distant explosion rippled through the structure.

  “No chance!” Louise’s voice cut through the noise, sharp and defiant. “We’re going after them.”

  Nico turned toward her, his expression hardening into something fierce and determined. “Exactly. I want to see this for myself.”

  He reached up to his collar, yanking the tie loose and tossing it aside.

  A low hum filled the room as his Yellow Armor materialized over his body in cascading layers of light. The armor locked into place with mechanical precision.

  Across from him, Louise deployed her Black Armor.

  Nico announced. “Let’s move!”

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