Chapter 154: [X] - 154: GO
The warmth was saying only one thing without saying anything.
GO.
Alex felt it settle against the inside of his chest the same way it had during the earlier moments when the bond or the Aspect had pushed him forward.
But this was a bit different than the casual comments and emotions the warmth usually made.
’Oh? It is the first time this warmth had suggested me something with such intensity instead of simply reacting to what I was already doing.’
The sensation was quiet and absolute with no explanation or conditions.
Just the single clear pressure toward the decision he had already been turning over while his parents listed every practical and institutional reason to wait.
The risks had not disappeared and the warmth did not claim they had, it only pointed at the path and left the rest to him.
He turned toward Vespera.
"Mom, I want to take part in it."
The words left no room for the careful weighing he had been doing a moment earlier.
Vespera and Alessio exchanged another glance.
The private calculation from the previous silence returned, shorter this time, as if the second look only confirmed what the first had already measured.
’I hope they don’t reject me... I wouldn’t blame them if they did, since I understand their reasoning, but still...’
Finally Alessio sighed, the sound of a man accepting a path he would not have chosen for his son and would not actively block once the choice was stated clearly and without hesitation.
"I would still suggest you think carefully before you go to register yourself for the Proving at the CBI headquarters in the capital," Alessio said and his voice still carried the weight of the earlier explanations about the consequences of participating in The Proving.
"The risks we described do not become smaller because you have decided to walk into them, the Institution’s preference against early entrants will not soften because the Third Prince of Winterfang is the one testing it and the conditions will still be arranged to make survival difficult, then the public attention will still follow."
Alex was dumbfounded for a second.
The practical shape of the process had not fully formed in his mind until the word "headquarters" landed.
He had assumed a formal notice or a household request would be sufficient, the same way most official matters between the palace and external institutions were handled.
"Dad, can you not just inform them that I want to participate and have me registered from here?" he asked.
"A formal notice from the household should be enough to place my name on the list, no?"
"And the palace definitely has channels for this kind of communication, so why would presence be required for something as straightforward as registration?"
Alessio looked at him with steady expression.
"Alex, the Curse Bloom Institution does not discriminate between anyone."
"Be it an imperial or a beggar, anyone who wants to participate has to go there personally and complete the registration process themselves."
"There is no proxy or household letter that substitutes for presence."
"The rule is older than most of the current academies and it is enforced without exception across every territory that falls under their authority."
"You stand in front of their registrars, you present yourself, and the process is completed under their direct observation."
"So that is the only method they accept, and they have never made exceptions for rank or bloodline."
Alex’s expression shifted as the implication settled fully.
’I had no idea about this... WAIT!’
"Wait! won’t that mean I have to go there myself in front of the public?" he said.
"And that will create much more of a commotion than any rumor has created yet."
"The training hall match was already enough to start conversations across the palace and the nearby districts in just a few hours."
"But with me walking into CBI headquarters as a twelve year old Rank 1 requesting Proving registration, well, this will not stay quiet for an hour and every household with eyes in the capital will know before the day ends."
"Yes," Alessio said.
"It will, but there is no other way to register, Alex, your presence is the requirement."
"The Institution designed it that way so that no household could quietly place a name on the list without the person themselves accepting the conditions in person and in full view of the process."
"The public attention is a secondary consequence, not a barrier they care about removing because they consider the visibility part of the filter."
Vespera’s hand rested lightly against his back once more.
"I will handle the preparations for you to go and register if you really decide to go through with it," she said.
"The registrations close tomorrow so you should think about it carefully today, review the risks we have already laid out and If you still intend to enter after that, the arrangements will be ready by morning."
Alex did not need the extra time.
The warmth had already settled the direction.
The remaining questions were logistical, not decisive.
The risks were real and the institutional preference against early entrants was real.
The public attention would be immediate and widespread, but none of those facts changed the pressure sitting against his chest.
’Hey you, this is the first time I am trusting you with something so important, so don’t make me regret it!’
He got back something in the lines of : Outcome depends on you.
’Sigh... so you won’t even take responsibility?... Damn You! This better be worth it!’
"Then I will go tomorrow."
His decision sat in the study with finality.
Vespera sighed lightly and then noded her head in acknowledgment, already shifting from discussion to the practical arrangements that would be required before morning.
Alessio’s expression remained tight, the residual weight of the risks he had listed still visible, but he did not reopen the argument.
The choice had been stated clearly enough that further resistance would only waste the remaining hours.
Zara’s presence in the bond stayed quiet and watchful, already adjusting to the new timeline and the public exposure it would require.
’So it’s really happening...’ She had stood beside him through the training hall match and the banquet and she would stand beside him through the registration as well.
And no one in the capital was ready for the news that would begin moving the moment the Third Prince of Winterfang walked into CBI headquarters the next morning and placed his name on the Proving registration list.
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End of Chapter 154: GO
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