Euphoria arrived early on her first day. She had already missed two days of school and hoped she wasn't too far behind everyone else.

She approached the double doors designated for the walkers, glancing up as students flew overhead into the school. Her stomach bubbled with excitement as the doors automatically slid open the moment she stepped forward.

Once inside, she couldn't hide her amazement. The school was far bigger on the inside than it looked from the outside, and there were way more early students than she expected.

Euphoria found her way to the First Leader's office and gently knocked.

"Come in," a cheerful voice called.

⸻

I stepped inside the office and was met with two faces: the First Leader of EyEU, Ld. Jatine Winrs, and Lion, son of Space King and Natera.

"Good morning, Euphoria Fox. Welcome to EyEU. You've caused quite a bit of commotion. The notorious Victor Fox has a daughter..." she said, rising from her chair and walking closer to me. "And my, my... you are gorgeous. I don't think I've ever seen such bright gold eyes in my life."

I laughed nervously as she stared directly into my eyes. "Thank you, Ld. Jatine."

"Why, of course. We are very excited to have you here. With me is Lion. Since you missed the tour on the first day, he'll be showing you around. You two also share quite a few classes, and Lion thought it would be best to show you around himself."

Lion stood tall. From up close, she noticed the sharp structure of his face, something she hadn't fully registered from a distance when she used to sneak into the all-nation assemblies while she was hidden. He was... incredibly handsome.

I smiled at Lion. "Thank you."

His expression remained stone-cold the entire time.

"No problem. Are you ready? I'll explain school policies and rules along the way," he said, already beginning to leave the office.

"Uh... yeah, I'm ready," I replied, following after him and waving goodbye to Ld. Jatine on the way out.

I expected him to start talking about the school or at least explain some kind of policy, but the walk from the office was quiet. Uncomfortably quiet.

I glanced beside me. His face remained completely emotionless.

Just as I was about to speak, Lion suddenly came to a stop at the end of the hallway. He looked around quickly, grabbed my hand, and shot upward through an open skylight window, landing effortlessly on the roof.

It happened so fast I didn't even get the chance to scream. One second I was in the hallway, and the next I was standing on the rooftop.

I looked around in bewilderment before turning back to him with a confused stare.

"What the hell?! What are y—"

He grinned and placed a finger against my lips, signaling for me to be quiet.

I went silent, not because I was scared, but because I was genuinely confused and wanted answers.

"So..." he began, "you're Victor Fox's daughter. You know, your father never told my father about you. In fact, somehow he managed to keep you hidden to the point where my father didn't even know another Eye had been born." His eyes narrowed slightly. "How is that possible, Euphoria?"

I didn't expect that kind of question from Lion — or from anyone, honestly. I thought my dad had already handled all those details.

Not knowing what else to say, I stayed silent.

He chuckled softly. "Are you not going to answer me when I'm speaking to you?"

My eyebrows furrowed. "You think because you're the prince, I'm supposed to be... what? Intimidated?" I crossed my arms. "And honestly, who cares who did or didn't know I was born? I'm here now, so clearly it changes nothing. Bloodwork, testing — all of it's already done and approved. My dad's protective of me, and that's all there is to know." I shrugged. "And if you don't actually plan on showing me this damn school, I'll do it myself."

Lion stared at me.

I expected him to get angry, but instead he looked amused.

"Well, well... you're a little different." A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "All that mouth, but how good is your fighting?"

I grinned back. "You wanna find out?"

Lion straightened, placing his hands behind his back.

He wants to see if I can touch him.

I studied him carefully, thinking back to how insanely fast he moved through that skylight. There was no way I'd be able to just rush him head-on. He was way too fast.

I needed to be smarter about this.

I smiled and suddenly lunged forward.

At the last second, I sharply redirected myself toward the slight shift I noticed in his posture.

Just like I expected.

The moment I moved, Lion instantly dodged in the direction his body had already been leaning toward — directly into the punch I already had waiting for him.

His eyes widened in surprise as my fist connected with his cheek.

Not fully, though.

Even caught off guard, he was still fast enough to grab my wrist before the punch could land with full force.

The impact and momentum sent both of us twisting violently across the rooftop before crashing hard near the opposite side.

For a brief moment, we both just laid there in shock.

Him because I had actually managed to hit him.

Me because I still couldn't believe how fast this mf was.

Then I realized he was on top of me.

Heat rushed to my face instantly, and I shoved him off before quickly standing and brushing myself off.

Honestly, I was annoyed I hadn't landed the punch cleanly... but I should've known Space King's son wouldn't be easy to beat.

I looked over at him as he stood, his eyes still locked onto me.

"What?" I snapped, crossing my arms. "You wanna gloat? Go ahead."

He looked away for a second, then back at me before turning and walking off.

"Let's go. Before classes start."

My eyebrow lifted in confusion, but I shrugged and followed behind him.

Getting into a fight with Space King's son was definitely not on my bingo card for my first day.

"Too bad.....he's fine as hell".