The rise of a Frozen Star

[POV Liselotte]

The rest of the afternoon at the academy became an exercise in absolute restraint.

After the altercation with Varek Valerius, the tension in the air grew so thick it could have been cut with a knife. I remained behind Leah, a silent and anonymous mass of steel, while she walked through the corridors with a dignity that made my chest swell with pride beneath the plate armor.

Before retiring to her chambers, Leah stopped in the inner garden, where the group of heroes was still trying to process what had happened. Mizuki kept casting inquisitive glances toward me, her warrior instincts clashing against the barrier of my disguise.

“Julian, Mizuki… what happened today in the dining hall was not an isolated incident,” Leah said, lowering her voice while making sure no curious students were nearby. “The nobility is restless, and currents of disloyalty are flowing beneath the surface. I ask you, as friends and as allies of Whirikal, to keep your eyes open. If you notice any strange behavior, any secret meetings, or even a shift in the tone of conversations in the dormitories, inform me immediately. We cannot afford blind spots within these walls.”

“Understood, Princess,” Julian replied, adjusting the strap of his new shield. “We won’t let anyone approach you with ill intentions.”

Mizuki nodded, though her gaze drifted briefly toward my metal-gloved hands.

“Be careful, Leah. The atmosphere in the academy has changed. I feel like… the shadows are longer than they should be.”

Leah gave them one last grateful smile before turning and signaling for me to follow.

We walked toward the royal wing of the academy’s dormitories, a sector protected by sealing runes and elite guards. When we reached the door to her room, I stopped at my position as the outer sentinel.

“Rest well, Princess,” I said in the metallic, distorted voice my helmet produced.

“You too… soldier,” she replied, closing the door with a click that echoed through the empty corridor.

Time began to stretch.

Night fell over the academy, staining the stained-glass windows in shades of dark blue and silver. I remained motionless, becoming just another piece of the stone architecture. My muscles protested under the weight of the plate armor, but my mind had entered a state of hyper-vigilance.

The Seal of the Eternal Guardian beneath my breastplate emitted a steady warmth, a pulse that connected me to the magical barriers of the building.

Hours passed.

The midnight guard rotation happened without incident, with two other soldiers walking past me without suspecting that the “new recruit” was actually the most sought-after guardian in the kingdom.

It was close to three in the morning when my senses snapped awake.

It wasn’t a sound.

It was a disturbance in the flow of air—a subtle vibration in the corridor carpets that only someone accustomed to hunting across absolute ice could notice.

Someone was approaching.

And it was not the steady rhythm of a patrolling guard.

These were light, hurried steps—almost desperate—moving with a stealth that bordered on mastery but faltered because of the agitation behind them.

I slowly unsheathed my broadsword, avoiding the scrape of metal against the scabbard.

I lifted the massive shield, blocking the access to Leah’s door.

My ice mana began to swirl at my feet, subtly freezing the joints of my armor to prevent any sound.

Two silhouettes turned the corner of the hallway.

They wore dark travel cloaks with their hoods raised, the fabric fluttering behind them. They stopped abruptly when they saw me—a wall of iron blocking their path.

“Stop,” I growled, letting my killing intent seep through the visor slit.

“Restricted area. Identify yourselves or face the consequences.”

The two figures stepped back, but they didn’t run.

One of them stepped forward and lowered her hood with trembling hands.

When I saw her face under the oil lamp’s light, a jolt shot through me so sharply I almost lowered my guard.

It was Maya and Elina.

The two mages who had arrived at the academy with us—our companions during those first days of adaptation—and who had kept a low profile after the King’s departure.

But something was terribly wrong.

Their faces, usually full of the vitality of elite students, were pale—almost translucent. Dark circles marked their eyes, and their expressions reflected a primal terror, as if they had seen the end of the world… and the end was following them.

“Please, let us pass!” Maya begged, her voice breaking with tears. “We have to speak with the Princess. It’s urgent! They’re coming for us!”

“No access is allowed at this hour,” I replied, maintaining my façade despite the knot forming in my stomach. “Tell me what’s happening, or I’ll be forced to raise the alarm.”

“There’s no time for alarms!” Elina shouted.

Her hands glowed with unstable magic—a sign that her mana was on the verge of collapse.

“If we don’t speak to Leah now, Whirikal will fall from within. Let us through, soldier!”

Elina made a motion as if to cast a pushing spell to move me aside.

I slammed the edge of my giant shield against the floor, releasing a sonic shockwave that made them stagger.

I couldn’t allow them to use noisy magic—or the entire guard would descend upon us.

At that moment, the door behind me opened.

Leah stepped out, dressed in her night robe but holding her short sword in her hand.

She froze as she took in the scene: her “anonymous” guard in a combat stance and her two former classmates on the verge of a nervous collapse.

“Maya? Elina?” Leah asked, her voice filled with shock and concern.

“What are you doing here at this hour? Soldier, lower your weapon!”

I tensed.

Leah had just said my name.

Fortunately, Maya and Elina were far too consumed by their own panic to process the implication.

I lowered the shield but kept my hand on my sword, watching the corridor behind them.

“Leah, thank the gods!” Maya collapsed to her knees, sobbing.

“They’re in the basements… the Valerius… and that red-eyed man… they’ve done something with the academy’s records. They’ve marked the students! We were next!”

“What are you talking about?” Leah asked, stepping forward to help them up.

I blocked her with my arm, keeping her at a safe distance until I was certain they carried no curse.

“Explain calmly.”

“We saw Varek… he was speaking to someone who wasn’t human,” Elina whispered, grabbing Leah’s arm desperately. “He gave him a list. Our names were on it. They said the ‘harvest’ had to begin with the branches closest to the throne. Leah, the traitor isn’t outside… he’s using the academy’s own magic to corrupt us from within.”

Maya and Elina trembled so violently their teeth chattered.

I noticed rune burns on their wrists, as if they had escaped from some kind of magical restraint.

“Enter the room. Now,” Leah ordered, staring into the dark corridor with a steel expression. “Soldier, stay outside and do not let anyone—absolutely anyone—approach this door. If you see a Valerius, you have my permission to act according to your judgment.”

The two girls staggered into the room.

Leah gave me one final look—one filled with absolute seriousness.

The shadow game had become real in the most brutal way possible.

There wasn’t just a traitor.

There was an active corruption process happening beneath our feet.

I remained alone in the corridor and lowered my visor.

The cold of my mana began seeping through the armor plates, creating a thin frost across the floor.

Maya and Elina had brought the missing piece of the puzzle.

“So… a ‘harvest,’ huh?” I thought, tightening my grip on the hilt of my sword.

“Varek, I hope you’re ready.

Because the guardian you thought was in the forest is right here.

And I’m very curious to hear what ice sounds like when it breaks the pride of a Valerius.”