Aldoria Castle
Aldoria Castle, heart of the Wethervore Kingdom.
Morning spilled through colored glass, painting the marble floors in streaks of blue and gold. Servants moved quietly through the corridors, balancing silver trays and fresh linens, their whispers echoing like distant music.
"Did you hear, the princess's class was revealed?"
"Mm. They say it's… an assassin."
"An assassin? You jest!"
"Shh! Not so loud! The king nearly broke his goblet when he heard."
At the end of the great hall, beyond two massive carved doors, breakfast had begun.
Leena Aldoria sat at the table's far end, perfectly still as etiquette demanded.
A tiara of silver rested on her pale hair; the morning light caught in her eyes — eyes the same clear gold as her father's crown.
King Alden broke the silence first.
"So," he said, voice measured, "a legendary assassin. That's what the runes declared."
No one breathed.
Queen Seraphina placed her cup down gently. "Surely the runes misfired. An assassin? For our daughter?"
The royal seer bowed deeply. "Your Majesties, I verified it thrice. The runes of origin never err. The class is genuine."
Leena watched the steam curl from her tea. "You could have said it was 'unique.' That would've softened the blow."
Her father sighed. "Leena, this is no jest. Our bloodline is descended from divine casters. To bear the class of a shadow-killer—it…" He paused, choosing his words. "It defies expectation."
"So does a talking sword," she murmured.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, Father."
The Queen's expression softened slightly. "Perhaps we could assign you to study diplomacy, or etiquette of magic. You needn't—"
Leena's gaze lifted. "No."
"No?"
"I'll learn it," she said simply. "If this is what the gods gave me, I'll master it."
Her father frowned. "You would choose a blade over a scepter?"
Leena's lips curved faintly. "Maybe I'd choose a blade because everyone expects me to carry a scepter."
The silence that followed was heavy enough to drown in.
Later, as the servants cleared the table, one dared to whisper near her shoulder:
"My lady… I think it's wonderful."
Leena turned, eyebrow raised. "Wonderful?"
The maid blushed. "To be something different. The kingdom needs someone who can see from the shadows, not just sit in the light."
Leena blinked. Then smiled — the smallest, truest smile she'd had in days.
"Thank you, Miri. That's the nicest heresy I've heard all morning."
That night, the castle slept.
Leena stood before her mirror in a thin, dark tunic — a gift from the royal armory meant for her guards, not a princess. Her heartbeat raced.
On her bedside, a faint glow shimmered — her personal magic sigil, not a "system" like the boy Grim's, but the innate bond every citizen shared with their inner mana.
When she whispered the words that had appeared within her, power answered.
[Skill: Shadow Veil – Active]
Bend light around your body. Conceals form in dim or dark areas for thirty seconds. Breaking stealth by loud sound or bright light cancels the effect.
A rush of cold air passed over her skin — and she vanished.
She raised her hand before her eyes and saw nothing. Not even a shimmer.
Her pulse jumped. "It… worked."
Then she whispered another command.
[Skill: Cloak Step – Active]
Nullifies sound from steps within a ten-meter radius. Limited to thirty seconds per activation.
She took a step. No echo. No creak. The marble might as well have been air.
Her voice was barely a breath. "So this is what it feels like… freedom."
For once, she didn't feel trapped behind etiquette and protocol.
She felt alive.
She slipped from her chamber into the sleeping corridors.
Two guards stood by the stairwell, murmuring quietly.
"You think she's still awake?" one asked.
"She's a princess, not a ghost."
"Still. If I woke up with an assassin's class, I'd—"
Leena passed directly between them, biting back a laugh. Assassin indeed.
When her veil faded, she found herself standing under the open night sky, the city below her glittering with lanterns.
She leapt the wall, landing lightly in the gardens below.
[Skill: Eagle Sense – Passive]
Perceive fluctuations in nearby mana. Range: thirty meters. Sensitivity increases with concentration.
Her vision tinged with faint gold as she closed her eyes. All around, tiny lights bloomed in her awareness — flickers of life, mana signatures of the city.
Then one pulse drew her attention — faint, but steady, rhythmic, as though someone was forcing magic where none existed.
That's odd.
Curiosity tugged at her.
She followed the pulse beyond the castle walls, through winding alleys and across the moon-drenched hills until the cobblestone gave way to soil — to the whispering edge of the Druis Forest.
Branches clawed softly at her cloak as she slipped between trees.
The pulse grew stronger.
Then, through the break in the brush, she saw him — Grim Halloway.
He wasn't glowing, nor wielding any visible power. He was simply… training.
Sweat rolled down his brow as he forced out another push-up, then another. His arms trembled; his lips moved, counting softly under his breath.
When he collapsed, he didn't curse or groan. He just laughed — quietly, bitterly.
"You really are pathetic," he told himself. "But not for long."
Leena leaned forward slightly, intrigued.
He wasn't using mana at all — his aura was almost empty, a vacuum where energy should be. And yet… each time he fell, she could feel something inside him resist breaking. Like a locked box straining against its hinges.
Grim suddenly stopped.
His head turned slightly, eyes narrowing toward her direction.
Leena froze. Her veil was active; no sound betrayed her. He shouldn't be able to see me.
Then, quietly, he said:
"…You can come out now."
Her heart skipped.
"How did you—?"
"I don't know," Grim admitted. "But I can feel you. It's like the air shifts when you move."
The veil flickered, and she appeared from behind the tree.
Leena kept her hood low, but curiosity edged her voice. "You shouldn't be able to sense a hidden presence. Not unless…"
He shrugged. "Guess I'm bad at rules."
They regarded each other in silence. Moonlight filtered through the leaves, touching both — the princess of the light learning to walk in shadows, and the boy of shadows who didn't yet understand his light.
"I don't have much choice." Grim brushed dirt from his hands. "Can't use magic like everyone else. Might as well beat the weakness out of me."
"That's not how mana works."
"Maybe not," he said, "but maybe it's how I work."
Something about that answer made her smile under the hood.
"Then maybe we're both strange," she said softly. "You, the boy with no mana… and me, the princess with too much."
"Do you know a way to Increase mana?" Grim asked
"Aside from the normal, no" she answered
"Why ask?"
"Oh it's nothing I was just wondering"
Grim answered
She turned, her cloak whispering behind her. "I'll be seeing you again, Grim Halloway."
And before he could answer, she vanished into thin air — a ripple of dark light marking where she'd stood.
[Skill: Shadow Veil – Active]
Grim stared at the spot, brow furrowed.
"…Princesses these days are weird," he muttered.
But in his chest, his heartbeat had changed — faster, sharper — as if his soul had recognized hers long before either of them understood why.
Leena's chamber glowed faintly with candlelight when she slipped back in through the window, landing softly on the red carpet. The night air still clung to her cloak, cool and thrilling.
The princess who had just defied her guards, snuck past the palace wall, and met a strange boy in the forest — now threw herself face-first onto her bed.
"Mmmhh—!" she muffled a squeal into her pillow. Then flipped over, golden hair fanning around her.
Her heart wouldn't calm down.
She had actually done it.
She had snuck out.
She had talked to him.
"He didn't even know who I was…" she whispered, grinning. "And I— I sounded so mysterious! I bet he's thinking about me right now."
A beat passed.
Her cheeks turned pink.
"Not that I want him to think about me! I just—" She grabbed her pillow and hugged it, half hiding her face. "I just wanted to make an impression, that's all."
Then she remembered how he looked under the moonlight — focused, sweaty, determined. His arms, lean but strong, moving like someone who'd fought a hundred times before.
Her blush deepened.
"How can an eight-year-old have muscles like that?" she muttered. "What is he eating? Iron?"
She sat up and sighed dramatically. "This is ridiculous. I'm a princess, not some blushing farm girl."
But the little smile on her lips said otherwise.
When the candle flickered lower, she lay back down, staring at the ceiling.
Somewhere between excitement and exhaustion, she whispered to herself:
"…I'll see you again, Grim."
The lights dimmed, and the future of Aldoria quietly shifted, one racing heartbeat at a time.
Across town, the Halloway household was dark except for a faint blue glow seeping under Grim's door.
He sat cross-legged on his bed, eyes fixed on the floating screen before him. The familiar hum of energy filled the small room.
[User: Grim Halloway]
Class: Heavenly Ruler
Level: 7
Strength: 43
Agility: 42
Stamina: 45
Speed: 40
Intelligence: 46
Luck: 41
Mana: 3
Grim exhaled. "Tripled in one week… not bad."
He flicked through the panels.
[Skill Tree: Locked]
[Heavenly Techniques: Locked]
He groaned and fell backward onto his pillow. "I've boosted everything except my mana. And without mana, I can't use a single skill! What kind of cosmic joke is this?"
He stared up at the ceiling, the blue light washing over his face.
Then, unbidden, an image of the princess came to mind — that hooded figure from earlier, the faint smirk when she disappeared. And before that, her calm, confident stance in the city hall during the class ceremony.
"She was kinda…" he hesitated, "…cute."
He turned his head quickly, frowning. "Wait, no. My heart already belongs to Lyra!"
A pause.
"…Does it?"
His face turned red as he pulled the blanket over his head. "What am I even saying? I'm eight! I'm supposed to be training, not… thinking about girls!"
The blue screen dimmed as if laughing at him.
"Stupid system," he muttered. "I'm a man. I don't get flustered over— over pink hair and— and mysterious hoods…"
He rolled onto his side and squeezed his eyes shut.
But before sleep took him, he mumbled one last thought.
"…Still… she was kinda mysterious…"
Then the glow faded completely, leaving the room quiet except for the soft rhythm of his breathing — and somewhere, deep inside his system, faint unreadable symbols flickered as if reacting to the stirrings in his heart.