Sunlight hit my eyelids like a physical slap.

I groaned, trying to roll over, but found that I couldn't move my left arm. Or my right leg.

There was a weight pressing down on me. A soft, warm, lavender-scented weight.

I cracked one eye open.

Ariana was sprawled on top of me.

Sometime during the night, the polite distance we had maintained had completely collapsed. Her head was resting on my chest, rising and falling with my breathing. Her arm was thrown across my stomach, and her leg was tangled with mine beneath the sheets.

She was sleeping soundly, a small stream of drool dampening my silk shirt.

My brain rebooted.

'...Shit.'

I froze, terrified to move a muscle. If I woke her up now, the screaming would shatter the windows.

But fate, as usual, hated me.

Ariana stirred. She mumbled something about "stirring the pot," shifted, and slowly blinked her eyes open.

She stared at the silk button on my chest.

Then she looked up.

Our noses were about three inches apart.

I offered a stiff, awkward wave.

"...Morning."

Ariana stared at me. She stared at her arm wrapped around me. She stared at her leg hooked over mine.

Her face went from pale to pink to a shade of red that defied the laws of physics.

"KYAAAA—!"

I slapped a hand over her mouth instantly.

"Shhh! Do you want to wake up the whole estate?" I hissed.

She nodded frantically, her eyes wide with mortification. I slowly removed my hand.

She scrambled backward, tangling herself in the sheets and nearly falling off the bed.

"I—I—I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I must have moved in my sleep! I have terrible sleeping habits! I—"

"It's fine, calm down," I said, sitting up and rubbing my neck. "Nothing happened. We just… cuddled. Aggressively."

"Aggressively…" she whimpered, burying her face in her hands.

"Go wash up," I said, looking away to give her some dignity. "We need to head down before my mother sends a search party."

****

Ten minutes later, we were somewhat presentable.

Ariana had smoothed her hair and fixed her dress, though her face was still flushed. I had thrown on a fresh shirt.

"Okay," I whispered, hand on the doorknob. "We just walk out. Casual. Like normal people."

"Casual," Ariana repeated, nodding like a bobblehead. "Normal."

I opened the door.

We stepped out into the hallway together.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked, playing the role of the polite host.

"Y-Yes, very well, thank you," she replied robotically.

We turned the corner toward the stairs.

And froze.

Countess Lyriana Ashborne was leaning against the wall at the end of the hall, sipping a cup of morning tea. She was fully dressed in her traveling gear, looking fresh and sharp.

She looked at me.

She looked at Ariana.

She looked at the single bedroom door we had both just emerged from.

A slow, terrifying grin spread across her face.

"M-Mother!" I stammered. "It's not what you think! She had a nightmare, so I just—"

"Lucien," Lyriana interrupted, raising a hand. "You don't need to explain."

She took a sip of tea, her eyes dancing with amusement.

"I am a very open-minded mother. I understand that young people move… fast these days."

"We didn't move anywhere!" Ariana squeaked, looking like she wanted to dissolve into the carpet. "We just slept! Literally just slept!"

"Mmm-hmm," Lyriana hummed, clearly not believing a word of it. "Whatever you say, darling."

She pushed off the wall and walked past us.

As she passed me, she didn't say anything.

She just caught my eye, checked that Ariana wasn't looking, and gave me a firm, sneaky thumbs-up.

'Good job, son,' her eyes seemed to say.

I groaned internally. I was never going to live this down.

***

The carriage was loaded. The horses were stomping impatiently.

Lyriana stood by the open door, adjusting her gloves. The teasing was gone, replaced by the dignified air of the Countess.

"I must return to the territory," she said, her voice serious. "With the attack yesterday, the border defenses need to be checked. Your father will be in a foul mood, and I need to manage him."

She turned to me.

"Lucien. Be careful. The capital is going to be a hornet's nest for a while."

"I know. I'll keep my head down."

"And you," she turned to Ariana, taking the girl's hands. "Don't be a stranger. You are welcome at the Ashborne estate anytime. And remember—you promised to come teach our chefs."

Ariana curtseyed deeply. "I will not forget, Countess. Thank you for… everything."

Lyriana smiled, climbed into the carriage, and leaned out the window one last time.

"Lucien! Bring her when you visit! And I expect grandchildren within five years!"

"GO!" I shouted at the driver.

The driver cracked the whip, and the carriage rolled away, carrying the laughing Countess back to the frontier.

I sighed, rubbing my temples.

"Five years…" Ariana muttered beside me, looking dazed.

"Ignore her," I said. "Let's go back to the Academy. Reality is waiting."

****

[Imperial Academy]

The atmosphere at the Academy was electric.

Usually, Monday mornings were filled with groans and sleepy students. Today, the campus was buzzing like a beehive that had been kicked.

The Day of Shattered Glass was the only topic on anyone's lips.

As Ariana and I walked through the courtyard—maintaining a respectable distance now—we caught snippets of conversation from every direction.

"Did you hear? The barrier shattered in one hit!"

"I heard the demons were eating people alive! My uncle was there, he said it was hell on earth!"

"But then She arrived!"

A group of first-year cadets were huddled by the fountain, their eyes wide with hero worship.

"Instructor Samantha! The Wind Shear!"

"They say she descended from the sky like a valkyrie! One swing of her rapier and fifty demons lost their heads!"

"I saw the hole in the roof of the Haunted Mansion! It was cut so clean you could measure it with a ruler!"

"She's a monster… a Platinum Rank really is different."

The reverence was palpable. Instructor Samantha Hall, already feared for her strict discipline, had ascended to the status of a living legend overnight.

No one mentioned the mysterious gunman who blasted the Bishop. No one mentioned the ice magic that froze the rift, or the alchemist who healed the wounded in the VIP section.

The narrative had been simplified: Terrorists attacked, demons appeared, and the glorious Instructor Samantha saved the day.

I listened to the praise, a small, satisfied smirk touching my lips.

Good.

Let her take the credit. Let her be the hero.

A villain works best in the shadows, unburdened by the expectations of the masses.

"They really love her," Ariana whispered, hugging her books to her chest.

"She deserves it," I replied honestly. "Without her, we would be dead."

As we reached the main building, I saw Kael and the rest of the protagonist party near the entrance. They looked battered, bandaged, and exhausted, but alive.

Kael made eye contact with me.

For a moment, the hostility was gone. He gave me a stiff, almost imperceptible nod. Acknowledgment.

I didn't nod back. I just adjusted my bag and walked past them.

The event was over. The plot had changed.

But I had a feeling my quiet life was about to get a lot louder.

****

I knew I said my quiet life was going to get louder, but isn't this too soon?

I sighed internally as I looked up from my notepad. I had just come out to the courtyard to gather some intel from the gossip mill before class started, but instead of rumors, I found myself surrounded.

Princess Celestia stood in front, her arms crossed, her expression icy. Flanking her were her faithful minions: Elisha, Mariella, and the Golden Boy himself, Kael.

They formed a semi-circle, effectively trapping me against a stone pillar.

"What's the matter?" I asked in a plain, bored tone, closing my notepad.

"What are you?" Celestia spoke.

Her voice wasn't accusatory; it was genuinely puzzled.

"What do you mean, Princess?" I asked. I was literally bewildered by that question. Was she asking my species? My rank?

"You knew something was going to happen there, didn't you?" Celestia narrowed her eyes. "The invitation. The weapons you pulled out of thin air. The way you knew exactly where the ritual was. It was too prepared."

"That's why you instigated us," Elisha chimed in, glaring. "You wanted us there. Don't try to act the fool."

"Wherever you go, trouble follows," Celestia concluded.

Well, that was an incorrect statement.

"It's not that trouble follows me," I corrected her, leaning back against the pillar. "I am the one doing the following."

"Huh?"

Mariella let out a bewildered sound, tilting her head. It seemed her little brain was not enough to comprehend my sentence.

"Sigh. I pity you," I said, giving her a look of genuine sympathy before turning back to the Princess. "I go where trouble is going to happen, and I try to contain it. That is all."

"So you agree that you knew about yesterday," the Golden Boy spoke up.

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