The lingering echo from the slap, made everyone stop what they were doing and just stared, they were shocked, they did not expect him to actually lay a hand on her.
Many people had gotten used to her behavior, bullying people she thought were below her, but it seemed as though this time she picked the wrong target, he was no pushover.
One of the guards was about to step forward to intervene before things got words, but his superior raised one hand, stopping him in his tracks, while he kept his gaze fixed on Sion's movements.
"How dare you?!" She shrieked, her voice echoing before the palace and his eyes narrowed as he looked down at her and then crouched down.
"Yes, I dare and if you think I would not do it again the..." His voice was cold, low.
"Try me."
She held her cheek, breath caught between disbelief and rage. "Y-You—you are insane. You will pay for that. I will make sure you regret laying your filthy hands on me, I will make your life hell. You have no one with the power my family has."
"Ah, there it is once again, the typical bratty line from someone with a shortage of brain cells, you are not special to me," Sion cut in, stepping past her. "And if you want a war, bring it, my words are enough, since your dictionary seemed to lack them."
He didn't wait for a response. The guards finally moved, muttering something about the royal girl's reputation. But none of them touched him.
He boarded the carriage, and the metallic door closed behind him in a loud clang as it rumbled forward, leaving the stunned nobles and servants behind.
Inside, he sat back against the cushioned seat, eyes narrowed, blood still faintly warm from the slap. The vehicle rattled forward, toward the rising silhouette of the Royal Academy and he exhaled deeply, his mind clouded with many different thoughts.
He knew well it was a place of power.
A place of monsters—both those wearing masks and those without and none of them would spare him if he was wearing, it was like throwing a piece of meat in a lion's den.
His thoughts drifted to the slap, the sudden sting on his cheek from the bratty royal girl and his own instinctive response. Her shocked, seething expression still burned behind his eyes. He had no regrets. But he knew that kind of prideful noble would not take humiliation lightly—especially in public.
As the carriage rumbled on, Sion's hand brushed the back of his neck, then down to his shoulder blade. The mark. It pulsed faintly under his fingertips like it was… aware. Its eye-shaped center felt warm, as though watching both inside and out. He winced slightly as it throbbed again, then leaned against the window to shake off the crawling unease that had begun stirring within him.
"I do not know what your true intention were when you decided to send me here and I doubt it had no benefit for you, but I cannot afford to lose anything. This world wants me to play its game," he muttered, under his breath, "but I will set my own rules, I will not let myself be prey easily."
As the ride went on, Sion looked out the window of the carriage at the many types of different places they passed by, some were beautiful, while others were not so much, yet even those seemed to be filled with life or at least for the time being.
After a long ride, more than an hour later, the carriage slowed.
Sion leaned out the window just as the towering gates of the Royal Crescent Academy came into view. They were massive, dark silver laced with magical glyphs that shimmered like oil on water. Beyond them, the campus sprawled like a kingdom in itself: high archways, violet trees with glowing veins, a clock tower that whispered strange murmurs as the wind swept through.
The air here felt… charged. Not just with magic, but with unseen pressure, like this place knew secrets the rest of the world dared not ask and just by looking at it the feeling of unease within Sion stirred a bit, but he did not let it hold him back.
Upon arriving, he saw a small crowd of students and attendants turn their heads as the carriage stopped and the guards stepped out first.
Sion exited last.
Whispers rippled through the crowd.
"Oh look, that is him, the one we heard about."
"He is the one they brought from the palace, by the king's order."
"No crest. No faction. What's a stray doing here?"
Most wore tailored uniforms stitched with different sigils, some with flames and trees with eyes. Some wore enchanted accessories or had familiars perched on their shoulders. These weren't mere students. They were heirs. Monsters in noble skin. Future rulers and schemers, exactly the way he knew the king wanted them, he had full control over everything.
Despite their tough appearance, Sion knew deep down almost all of them feared the king. Some of them were like dogs waiting for the bone to be thrown at them, ones that would not dream of defying their master without courting death.
Sion exhaled deeply, then straightened his posture despite the weight of their gazes. He did not pay attention to them, only to what needed to be done.
"Name?" A woman at the gate asked coldly, not even looking at him properly, but she did look exhausted, almost as if she wished it was her last day there.
She tapped the surface of a glowing registry that she had in her hands, waiting for him to say his name.
"…Sion."
She tapped the screen a few more times, then paused and glanced up, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"You'll be in Dorm Wing V, Room 17. You have been enrolled as a neutral. No faction."
'Neutral? So, the king really did this without affiliating me to anyone… Keeping me in the dark, he is testing me in his own way. Clever bastard,' He thought.
The woman motioned toward the path behind her. "You'll be escorted shortly. Orientation is tomorrow at dawn. Don't get into fights… yet."
Sion nodded curtly, still absorbing the weight of what he had stepped into. He followed the path into the belly of the Academy, the gates closing behind him like a gilded cage.