Chapter 1: The Lazy Lion Wakes Up

  I should have been dead by now.Or at least expelled.

  Instead, I was lying face down on my desk, drooling onto a very important government textbook.

  "Leonis Veyl," came a sharp voice. "Wake up."

  I cracked one eye open. Standing above me was the css representative — Miss Perfect herself — Zara Hales. Her hair was neatly tied, her uniform was perfect, and her gre could freeze a volcano.

  "You're drooling on the founding constitution," she said coldly.

  I wiped my mouth with my sleeve and grinned. "Just making it more historic."

  Some students around us ughed. Zara didn’t. She crossed her arms, waiting.

  "Alright, alright," I said, sitting up slowly. "What are we learning today? How to become heartless politicians?"

  Another round of muffled ughter. Zara's eye twitched.

  In a normal school, I would have been suspended by now. Maybe even kicked out.But Aurelia Academy wasn’t normal. It was the heart of the floating city — a pce where the future rulers, generals, and billionaires of the world sharpened their cws.Here, you didn't get expelled for being annoying.You got expelled for being weak.

  And weakness wasn't measured by grades.It was measured by power.

  I yawned loudly and leaned back, pretending not to care.

  Inside, my brain was ticking.

  Because today wasn't just another boring school day.Today, the factions would move.

  After css, I walked through the wide marble halls of the academy. Statues of old heroes — founders of Aurelia — lined the way, staring down at us with bnk, judging eyes.

  Students in different colored ties passed by, ughing, arguing, flirting.Each color showed their faction allegiance.Red for the Crimson Bdes.Blue for the Azure Crown.Green for the Verdant Pact.

  And me?

  I wore no color.A "Neutral."

  Or at least, that’s what everyone thought.

  The truth was, I belonged to a secret fourth group.One so old, most believed it was a myth.The Umbra Lions.

  Our goal wasn’t to rule the city.It was to tear down the rotten system and rebuild it from scratch.

  Not that I was doing a great job.So far, my strategy was: 1) nap, 2) flirt, 3) survive.

  I adjusted my backpack and headed toward the courtyard.

  That’s when I saw her.

  Zara Hales. Again.Standing stiffly under a cherry blossom tree, arguing with a guy in a red tie — a high-ranking Crimson Bde.

  I should have walked away.Instead, I leaned against a nearby bench and listened.

  "I'm warning you, Zara," the Bde was saying. "Your precious 'Order Committee' can't protect you forever."

  Zara's voice was calm. Cold."You should be careful, Marcus. Threatening a member of the Student Council is treason."

  Marcus ughed. "You won't be council president much longer. Elections are coming. New alliances are being made."

  "Then make them," she said. "We'll see who survives."

  Chills ran down my spine.

  The factions were getting bolder.The academy was on the edge of war.

  And right in the middle of it all... was Zara Hales.

  The perfect, beautiful, terrifying queen of the academy.

  And me?

  The idiot who had a crush on her.

  Later, in the lunch hall, I colpsed into my usual seat by the window, tray of mystery meat in front of me.

  My friend, Max, plopped down across from me.

  "Yo, Leo. You hear?" he said, mouth full. "Big meeting tonight. All factions. Something big's going down."

  I poked my gray meat. "Let me guess. They're pnning another fake election?"

  Max leaned closer. "No, bigger. I heard they're pnning a coup. They want to overthrow the current council and set up a new ruling group."

  I whistled low.

  A coup?

  That meant open fighting. Assassinations. Real danger.

  The st time a coup happened in Aurelia Academy, five students vanished.Everyone said they "transferred."Everyone knew it was a lie.

  "Who's leading it?" I asked.

  Max shrugged. "No clue. But rumor says... Zara might be the target."

  I dropped my fork.

  Zara?

  No way. She was untouchable. She was practically the academy's queen.

  If they were really coming for her...

  It meant the academy was more unstable than anyone thought.

  It meant my job — my real job — was about to get a lot harder.

  Because if Aurelia colpsed, the floating city would fall into chaos.And if the city fell...Millions would die.

  That night, I snuck out.

  Past curfew, past patrols, past security drones.

  The real academy — the one that existed after midnight — was a different pce.Dark hallways. Secret passages. Hidden doors.

  I pulled my hood up and moved fast.

  Tonight, the Umbra Lions were meeting.

  We didn’t have fancy headquarters like the other factions.No banners, no thrones.Just a dusty old cssroom hidden behind the library.

  I slipped inside.

  Five figures were already waiting.

  My mentor, Sir Calder, nodded at me.

  "You're te, Leonis."

  I shrugged. "Fashionably."

  Sir Calder didn't smile. He never smiled.Tall, gray-haired, with a scar over one eye, he was once a top general before he "retired" and joined our cause.

  "You heard about the coup?" he asked.

  I nodded.

  "Good. Because we're going to stop it."

  I raised an eyebrow. "We? There's like six of us."

  Calder's voice was calm but hard. "If the academy falls into chaos, the city falls with it. And if the city falls, everything we've worked for dies. You understand?"

  I did.Too well.

  Aurelia wasn't just a floating city.It was humanity's st great hope after the Surface Wars ruined Earth.

  If this pce colpsed...

  There was no backup.

  "Okay," I said. "So what's the pn?"

  Calder looked at me with those cold, sharp eyes.

  "You, Leonis, are going to get close to Zara Hales."

  I blinked. "Come again?"

  "She's the key. She's either going to stabilize the academy... or destroy it.You need to find out where she stands.And if necessary... guide her."

  I stared at him.

  "You want me," I said slowly, "to seduce the scariest girl in school?"

  Calder raised an eyebrow. "If you must."

  I almost ughed.

  Almost.

  But then I saw the seriousness in his face.

  This wasn’t a joke.This was life or death.

  I leaned back and sighed.

  "Well," I said, "it's a tough job, but someone's gotta flirt for humanity."

  The others chuckled. Even Calder’s mouth twitched a little.

  I stood up and adjusted my jacket.

  "Alright," I said. "Time to make a queen fall in love."

  I left the room and headed back into the dark corridors of Aurelia.

  Outside, the city lights shimmered like stars.

  Above us, the sky was bck and endless.Below us, the Surface was a poisoned wastend.

  And somewhere inside this academy, the future of humanity was bancing on a knife’s edge.

  And me?

  Just a zy lion.

  Time to wake up.