CHAPTER 164: RETURN TO THE ACADEMY

"Oh please," Tirel said, flicking her long hair over her shoulder. "If the palace wanted him gone, he wouldn’t be strolling through the gates right now. He looks fine to me. More than fine, actually."

Her gaze lingered on him in a way that made Elise bristle. Tirel leaned closer, her smile widening. "So, Jae, surrounded by royals and pretty maids, did they spoil you, or were you the one doing the spoiling?"

Elise’s cheeks burned pink. "That’s not funny! He could’ve been in real danger. You’re treating this like some joke."

"Relax," Tirel teased, though her tone had an edge of delight at how easily she could fluster Elise. "He’s standing right here, isn’t he?"

Jae chuckled, sliding into his usual calm demeanor. "Jealous, Tirel?" he asked, his smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

Elise looked flustered, torn between arguing and defending him, while Tirel leaned in closer, clearly enjoying the banter. Jae, for his part, allowed their energy to wash over him, enjoying the contrast.

Elise’s shy devotion pulled at him one way, Tirel’s boldness tugged another. Outwardly, he gave only small smiles and short remarks, but inwardly he couldn’t deny he appreciated the attention.

They walked together toward the main courtyard, the girls taking turns filling him in on what he had missed. Elise’s recounts came in small, hesitant bursts, filled with worry about the attack but also relief that things had quickly returned to normal.

Tirel, however, told the same story with a different flair, framing it as excitement, like a daring event that gave students something to gossip about.

"It was chaos at first," Tirel said, gesturing animatedly. "But it didn’t last long. You’d think the whole academy would be shaken, but half the students were already back to sparring by the next day. The other half are just milking it for attention."

Elise frowned at her. "That’s not fair. People really were hurt, Tirel. It wasn’t some show."

Tirel smirked again but didn’t push it further, clearly satisfied with how easily she got under Elise’s skin.

Later, as the evening deepened, Jae drifted toward the training grounds. There, he spotted Byun, tall and broad-shouldered, speaking with Fin. The moment Byun caught sight of him, his face lit up in open relief.

"Jae!" Byun’s voice boomed as he crossed the field with large strides. His hand clapped Jae’s shoulder in a familiar gesture, warm and protective. "Finally. I thought they’d keep you locked up in the palace longer. It’s good to see you back where you belong."

"Missed me that much?" Jae asked with a smirk.

"Don’t flatter yourself," Byun shot back with a grin, though the sincerity in his voice was impossible to miss. "But truth be told, we could use steady heads around here. You wouldn’t believe how many rumors flew while you were gone."

He wasted little time diving into the details. "The attack, it came hard and fast, sharper than the last. A few students were injured, nothing fatal, but it got close. Too close. Still, the academy held. Defenses are fine, classes went on as usual the very next day. If you walked in not knowing, you’d think nothing ever happened."

Jae nodded, quietly pleased that his own earlier impression was confirmed. "So no lasting damage," he said.

Byun’s expression grew a little more serious. "No lasting damage, but the message was clear. Whoever’s behind this won’t stop."

Through all this, Fin stood nearby, silent. His sharp gaze never left Jae. He didn’t greet him, didn’t speak, but his presence alone was heavy with unspoken questions. His loyalty to Sun was obvious, written in the way he held himself, the suspicion in his narrowed eyes.

Jae felt it but didn’t let it rattle him. Instead, he focused on Byun, asking careful questions, piecing together a clearer picture.

Byun’s answers were steady, confident, the words of someone who wanted to reassure, but also someone who refused to pretend the danger wasn’t real.

Still, as Jae listened, another thought pressed at him. Should he tell Byun what he had uncovered in the palace? Byun felt trustworthy, loyal, dependable, protective.

But Jae couldn’t forget his noble background, nor the unseen ties that came with it. Trust was a blade; once given, it could cut deep if turned against him.

He smirked faintly, letting the silence mask the weight of his hesitation. Outwardly, he looked calm, collected, as though the thought never touched him.

Inwardly, though, he knew this choice would return. Sooner or later, he’d have to decide how much of himself, and what he had learned, he was willing to share.

xxx

The air beneath the academy was heavy with mana and incense, thick enough to choke anyone without training.

The underground chamber stretched like a scar carved into the earth, its walls slick with moisture that caught the faint glow of the ritual circle. It was a place meant never to be seen by mortal eyes, a wound hidden beneath the heart of the school, festering in silence while the world above carried on in ignorance.

At the center, the design had been etched with precision, each curve of the circle carved with obsessive detail. Its grooves were filled with a dark liquid that pulsed as if it were alive.

The faint sound of it moving, thick and viscous, blended with the chanting that surrounded it. Dozens of hooded figures knelt in perfect alignment, their voices weaving together into a single, steady rhythm that throbbed through the stone.

Every syllable dragged like claws across the mind, words older than kingdoms, spoken in a tongue that should have been lost to time.

The markings along the circle shimmered faintly, twisting and writhing like serpents, as though aware of what was to come.

They pulsed in answer to the voices, feeding on them, swelling brighter with each refrain. The metallic stench of blood thickened the chamber’s air until even those long-accustomed to the cult’s rites had to clench their jaws against nausea.

It was sharper than the smoke that curled from censers, thicker than the sweat dripping from the cultists’ bowed foreheads.

This was no ordinary rite. No summoning for scraps of power or whispers of forbidden knowledge. This was the culmination of months of sacrifice and silence. This was the Shadow Cult’s final act.

They had slaughtered beasts in secret, stolen vagrants from villages under moonless nights, even taken their own initiates when the circle demanded more. All of it, every body buried beneath stone and soil, had led them here.