Somewhere within the campus of Helios Imperial Academy, in a dimmed room, Rosalith Celeste Runerth sat in the middle of it all. Her long golden hair flickered over her shoulders as her crimson eyes pierced the darkness, landing deadly on a figure crouching before her.

The room reeked of blood. The walls were covered in desperate scratch marks and signs of struggle, born clearly from others’ attempts at survival.

The young cadet before her could feel it. The looming death that clung to every soul that had stepped into the room. The helplessness of trying to escape.

A golden revolver sat in Rosay’s hand. She pulled the cylinder back, counted the remaining cartridges, and, with practiced efficiency, clicked it back into place.

"By the looks of things, you aren’t alone. Someone else within this academy wants to bring disgrace to my name and, worse, have me killed."

The young cadet struggled against the floor. There were no restraints. None. But he’d known his fate the moment he was cornered into this room. The murderous intent alone had him paralysed.

"I beg of you, Ace. I didn’t want to. Please trust me." The words came out of him like a man grasping at straws. One wrong word could be the worst thing for him.

"Please, Ace." He added.

Rosay let out a loud sigh. "You’ve said enough. Even mentioned names of your accomplices, but I don’t trust you. None of you guys has the brains to pull such a stunt. Who is the real mastermind? Was it Instructor Moon?"

The cadet’s brown eyes fell to the floor in defeat. Tears pressed at the corners of his eyes, but he forced them back.

"I don’t know, Ace. All I wanted was to make your life a little harder after you rejected my marriage proposal. I had no intention of killing you."

Rosay rolled her eyes. As though lost in thought, she tapped her finger idly against her temple.

"I’m done with you."

Fresh panic took hold as the revolver came up and pointed his way.

"Your cries have been heard, my dearest cadet. I shall remember the good deeds you have performed at my side."

With a subtle flinch, she pulled the trigger. The bullet tore through his brow and blew his head apart, blood and brain matter going everywhere.

Rosay’s eyes lingered on the tears frozen in the cadet’s eyes, even in death, before she spoke.

"Yet each man kills the thing he loves,

By each let this be heard,

Some do it with a bitter look,

Some with a flattering word1..."

She leaned back in her seat, giving her weakened body a moment’s rest before rising to her feet. Only a few hours from three months of hibernation, even standing was a bit of a stretch.

She’d had to scrape together every bit of strength just to pull that trigger, but she’d planned for that. She’d chosen one of the most destructive double-action revolver rounds out there for a reason.

She snapped her fingers, and a dark-haired cadet appeared at her back.

"I hope you have the names he mentioned, Cloud. Look into this carefully, and if you find anything, discuss it with my younger brother, Leo."

Her crimson eyes rolled steadily in his direction.

"I will be out for a while. The headmaster has assigned me another personal mission. I do not want to return to find that the others have not been found."

She became moving.

"Take care of the corpse."

—

Back at Rosay’s mansion, Leomaris sat in the living room with his coffee, getting himself sorted for his mid-semester exams due in a few days.

His attention shifted to the entrance on instinct the instant it creaked open. With a reluctant look, he watched Rosay lean against the wall, struggling to keep her stamina in check.

He knew full well he should help her in. But he was too lazy to even entertain the thought, watching instead with the detached carelessness of someone behind a screen.

"How cruel are you, Leo?"

His expression didn’t budge. He gave his cup a brief stir, let the steam curl into the air, and took another sip.

As if on cue, a servant came through the door with a sealed box in hand. Leomaris’s eyes lit up, and without wasting a second, he leapt to his feet to grab it.

"Careful... careful. Those items are very costly."

The servant hesitated, frozen in place and unsure what to do. But Leomaris was already there, taking the box off his hands and carrying it like a parent with a frail newborn.

"This is mood shifting. I guess I can help you take your seat, Rosay."

Only once he’d cleared the tea table and given the box somewhere safe to rest did he bother going to Rosay. He lent her a hand, steadied her to the couch, and settled her into her favourite spot, beside the chimney.

"So if you hadn’t seen your ingredients, you wouldn’t have helped me?"

Leomaris shrugged. "I needed motivation to get on my feet, and the box gave me one."

Rosay exhaled painfully.

Leomaris couldn’t wipe away his smile as he took his seat. "How did it go? Were you able to find the traitor?"

"Not necessarily. The ones I have at the moment are lackeys without the brain cells to do this much damage to me. There is a mastermind, and I will find them once my hibernation is over."

Leomaris frowned, turning a few things over in his head. Rosay was loaded, and taking care of her finances was a fair bargain.

He was skint despite being paid monthly as a Calamity, and a big appetite didn’t do him any favours, same as every noble. He was glad for it, all things considered. But something still nagged at him.

"You are going to miss an entire three months... won’t that be suspicious?"

After resting for a moment, Rosay rose to her feet.

"How do you think I have survived this long? The headmaster provided me with an alibi during my first year. Everyone believes I have been sent on a mission."

The last word barely left her before she was making her way to her room, leaning on the walls to support herself.

"How can this woman be the strongest among the third-years?"

He let out a sigh before his attention settled on the box, and he smiled. All the ingredients he needed to become a Sorcerer, right there in front of him.