Meanwhile, in the quiet dormitory wing reserved for special guests, Khione sat in her room, her posture unnaturally still. The message from Nero had been brief, but it had carried a weight she could feel through the screen. Meeting with the Student Council president. Elysia Raizen. Her fingers had tightened on the communicator as she typed her response, forcing herself to project calm. I know you will handle it. I believe in you.
Now, with the message sent, the silence in her room felt heavy. A cold, sharp worry, a feeling she rarely allowed herself, gnawed at the edges of her focus. She knew of Elysia Raizen by reputation only—a political shark with the power of a storm goddess, the undisputed heir to one of the most ruthless families on the continent. And she was Nero's half-sister. It was a family matter, a clan matter, and Khione, for all her own power and lineage, was on the outside.
She hated it.
