Morning light fell over Edelmont Academy like something holy.

White stone. Tall glass windows. Iron gates polished until they reflected the sky itself.
Every line of the building screamed prestige. Control. Legacy.

Edelmont Academy — Capital District.
An all-boys academy built for aristocratic bloodlines and the futures they were born to inherit.

Students moved through the front courtyard in perfect formation.

Straight backs. Measured steps. Uniforms without a single wrinkle.
Soft smiles. Lowered gazes. Polite voices shaped like velvet.

Kai watched them the way one watches a performance he’d already memorized.

In this world, nobility wear masks.

A blond boy bowed slightly toward another student, smile gentle and practiced.

“Morning. You’re early again — trying to impress the professors?”

The other laughed, quiet and sweet.

“Haha, let him try. Some people need the extra effort.”

The words were harmless.
The tone wasn’t.

Perfect smiles. Polite bows. Voices soaked in sugar.

Kai stepped past them, one hand in his pocket, the other loosely holding the leather case at his side.
No rush. No stiffness. No performance.

Eyes followed him anyway.

Curious. Judging. Measuring.

I used to think that was elegance.

His gaze drifted across rows of perfect uniforms, perfect hair, perfect sons of perfect families.

…Until I learned it’s just what people wear when they’d rather stab you from behind.

He knew that mask.
Better than most.

There had been a time when he’d worn it so long he forgot where it ended and he began.

I know that mask too well.
I wore it long enough that it almost fused with my skin.

The corner of his mouth lifted — not quite a smile.
Something sharper.

But in the end, a bastard doesn’t need a smile to survive.

Kai adjusted his grip on the leather handle, posture loose, unbothered.

I’d rather bare my teeth.

The moment Kai stepped into Edelmont’s main hallway, the air changed.

Not louder.
Not quieter.

Sharper.

Voices lowered into polite murmurs.
Clusters of students shifted slightly — not enough to be obvious, but enough to make space.

Like something had just entered a territory that already belonged to predators.

Kai walked forward anyway.

Unhurried.
Casual.

Like he hadn’t just stepped into a lion’s den.

Eyes slid toward him from every direction.

Recognition.
Judgment.
Mild, carefully hidden distaste.

Not admiration.

More like — oh, it’s him.

The transfer student.
Second year.
The illegitimate son of Duke Altairis.
The one who caused problems before he even arrived.

Kai’s mouth curved faintly, like he could hear every rumor even without listening.

This place… Edelmont Academy.

Polished marble floors reflected rows of identical uniforms.
Gold-edged banners.
Family crests carved into pillars older than most bloodlines still standing.

A training ground for polished monsters.

He walked straight through the center of the hallway.

Whispers followed him like a draft.

He didn’t slow down.

If anything, his expression turned more amused — thin, sharp, quietly mocking.

Heirs, spare sons, even bastards like me—
all lined up and sorted like livestock.

He passed a group of first-years who instantly lowered their voices.
Another group looked away too quickly.

Hierarchy runs deeper than the stone in these walls.

For a moment, the smirk disappeared.

His face went still.

Flat.
Cold.
Empty in a way that didn’t belong on someone his age.

If you’re weak, you don’t get a second chance.

His reflection slid across the polished floor as he walked.

You just get stepped on quietly.

A student laughed somewhere behind him — too loud, too forced.
The sound scraped against old memory like a blade against bone.

Everyone here is clawing for politics, succession, power…

Kai’s eyes sharpened.

Then the smirk returned.

Small.
Deliberate.
Like a private joke only he understood.

Me?

His fingers tightened slightly around the leather handle.

I’m just here to make sure the same ending doesn’t repeat itself.