Chapter Twenty-Four — Whispers Beneath the Academy
Location:
Valerius Imperial Academy – Lower Training Courtyard
Time: Late afternoon, overcast sky
The academy bells rang once.
Low. Heavy.
Celsius Valerius stood at the edge of the training courtyard, hands behind his back, watching blades clash.
Steel rang against steel as students moved in practiced formations. Shouts echoed. Instructors barked orders.
To everyone else, this was routine.
To Celsius, it was a battlefield filled with lies.
They're watching me.
He felt it.
Eyes from the balconies. From the towers. From behind smiling faces.
The pressure had been growing since the incident at the Shadow Archive.
Scene 1 — The Rumor
Two students whispered nearby.
"Did you hear? A first-year forced a senior to kneel."
"That's impossible."
"They say it was Celsius Valerius."
Celsius didn't react.
He had learned long ago—fear grew faster when ignored.
A blade slashed toward him.
"Focus, Valerius!"
The instructor lunged.
Celsius stepped aside effortlessly, the sword missing his neck by a breath. His movement was simple—perfect.
Too perfect.
The instructor froze.
"Again," Celsius said calmly.
The courtyard went silent.
Scene 2 — A Sister's Warning
Later, in the stone corridor lined with banners, footsteps hurried behind him.
"Celsius."
Lyra.
She pulled him aside, eyes sharp with worry.
Lyra: "You're drawing too much attention."
Celsius: "I know."
Lyra lowered her voice.
Lyra: "Father's Night Council is active again. And… Kael's name was mentioned."
Celsius' fingers twitched once.
Celsius: "What about Darius?"
Lyra hesitated.
Lyra: "…He's returned from the northern front."
That was new.
And dangerous.
Celsius looked out the window. Dark clouds rolled in.
Celsius: "Then the academy will no longer be a place of learning."
Lyra grabbed his sleeve.
Lyra: "Promise me you won't move alone."
Celsius met her gaze.
Celsius: "I already broke that promise when I was reborn."
She said nothing.
Scene 3 — Beneath the Academy
Night fell.
Torchlight flickered.
Celsius descended the hidden stair beneath the west wing—an ancient passage only he remembered from his first life.
The air grew cold.
Runes pulsed faintly.
They've already started.
A voice echoed from the darkness.
"Still pretending to be human, little patriarch?"
Shadow twisted.
Eridiaries' presence bled into the corridor, unseen but suffocating.
Celsius: "You said I could choose my path."
Eridiaries: "And you chose war."
Celsius stopped before a sealed stone door.
The sigil of House Valerius—broken.
Behind it, he felt something stirring.
A relic.
Or a corpse.
Celsius placed his hand on the door.
Shadow crept up his arm.
Celsius (thought): This academy… is built on blood.
The seal cracked.
Scene 4 — The First Move
Above ground, alarms rang.
A scream echoed.
Students ran.
From the tower balcony, Kael Valerius watched the chaos unfold.
Kael (smiling): "Let's see what you choose, little brother."
Below, shadows surged.
The academy had finally noticed him.
And this time—
Celsius would not retreat.
To be continued.