[Arc 4:Maelstrom of Crowns]

  (Ten years ago, somewhere at the peaceful village)

  It was a bright, cheerful morning. Carol, a child in a simple white dress, padded curiously into the kitchen where her mother, Lydia, was sorting through ingredients on the shelves.

  "Mom? What are you doing?" Carol asked, wanted to know what her mother is up to.

  Lydia jumped slightly, her hand resting over a jar. "Oh, dear. Did I wake you?" A slight guilt crossed her features as she turned back to her child.

  Carol shook her head, reassuring her mother. "It's okay, mom. I don't mind. I thought It's better if I wake up early this morning. You know, helping you making a breakfast and such."

  Lydia chuckled softly, her voice warm. "Oh, Carol. You don't have to. Aunt Mary and I are more than enough to handle this." She knelt, gently brushing a stray lock of hair from Carol's forehead.

  "But Aunt Mary isn't here, though. I haven't seen her all morning," Carol said, her brow furrowed in confusion.

  "Y-you really do have a sharp eyes, dear." Lydia stood, grabbing a small apron from a hook behind the door. She tied the apron around Carol's waist. "It can't be helped. If that's your wish, then let's do this!"

  "Yeah! Let's do this!" Carol exclaimed, instantly pumping her arm in the air with excitement.

  The bright light of her past consumed her vision, then abruptly vanished. Carol snapped back to the present, staring intensely, yet silently at her palm.

  The group was already aboard their cart, embarked on the long journey back to the Campus. Everyone else had their own topic: Aria and Saria were discussing their novels, while Revir, Rein, and Noire recapping their journey and planning their next course of action. Carol remained silent, lost in her own world as she vividly recalling everything she had faced: the corrude, the Lich, and the true culprit behind her burning village.

  Arriving in Verlyn in the middle of the evening, the group entered the campus, deciding to take some rest in their own rooms before classes the next morning. However, the situation was about to escalate much faster than they could have imagined.

  Every student was astonished, gossiping wildly, as they watched the figure of one of the Holders they idolized walk into the campus. It was Ordeus, the Dark Holder, accompanied by his secretary, Benjamin.

  "Do you think he will be here?" Ordeus asked, walking through the campus casually. "This place is quite a bit bigger than I thought it would be for the past ten years."

  "Well, that's what charity money is for. At least they can manage more Margias students than before," Benjamin replied.

  As Carol slightly bowed her head to them while passing by, Ordeus instantly felt an ominous, pressuring Ender presence radiating behind her. He froze in place, fear consuming his heart as a cold sweat broke out on his face. Curiosity overwhelmed him, and he subtly turned his head over his shoulder, noticing a figure wrapping around Carol with a sinister smile.

  "Sir, are you alright?" Benjamin asked, worried. "You look like you saw a ghost."

  "O-oh," Ordeus managed a forced smile, attempting to hide his discovery. "It's nothing. Let's go."

  "If you say so."

  (That kid... There's no way that's Lydia's daughter, right?) Ordeus thought, continuing their search down the long corridor lined with Lecturers' offices.

  After a long search, checking office after office, Ordeus finally stumbled to the last one. He knocked a few times, expecting this to be the one he was looking for. Grey answered the knock, opening the door.

  Grey sighed immediately upon seeing Ordeus and Benjamin. "Of course you guys would be here," he said, not bothering with a polite greeting.

  "It's been a long time, hasn't it, the Child of Light?" Benjamin slightly bowed in respect.

  "How many times do I have to tell you, Benjamin? Don't call me with that old title. I'm just a regular lecturer. Nothing more."

  "We get it, Grey. If that's what you're comfortable with," Ordeus replied, attempting to sound reassuring. "After all, it was your decision to seal your holy magic for your little sister's sake."

  "If the past is what you want to talk about, how about you do it another time?" Grey turned, slowly beginning to close the door. However, Ordeus immediately stopped him.

  "That's not the reason we came here, you know?"

  "Then, what is it, Ordeus?" Grey asked, annoyed by the intrusion.

  "It's about the war. The Tempest Holder has already declared it against us."

  Ordeus's statement made Grey freeze for a moment.

  "Come in. We have a lot of things to talk about," Grey said with a hardened expression, pulling the door open wide enough for them to enter.

  Meanwhile in the bustling cafeteria, which filled with students loudly eating and gossiping, the group sat down together on the same table.

  "Do you think Miss Hana will be okay with that guy back then?" Saria asked, worried about her mentor.

  "You don't have to worry about her, Saria. She's in a good hand," Revir replied, offering reassurance.

  "And how do you know she's in a good hand? That guy who sent us back to the cruise is too suspicious to be called 'good.' He even knew exactly where we were in that library!" Aria exclaimed, lashing out her frustration.

  "I don't know. It's just my feeling," Revir responded with a calm smile.

  Noire sighed deeply, embarrassed by his colleagues' attitudes. "Well, as long as Miss Hana is fine, that should be enough."

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Carol, silent in her own world, looked intently at the bloody emblem etched into her palm as she gently wrapping her thumb over it. Noticing her withdrawn behavior, Rein decided to intervene.

  "Carol? Are you okay?" Rein asked, sympathy etched across his face as he turned to her.

  "Huh?" She snapped back to reality. "O-oh, it's nothing!" then giggled nervously. "Why do you ask?"

  "I noticed that your attitude is... not what you usually are after we returned from the library."

  "Uhm, I think I need to go to the bathroom," Carol said, using the excuse to dodge Rein's statement as she quickly stood up. "You guys can go to the training field without me."

  "What do you mean by tha—Hey, Carol!" Before Aria could finish her sentence, Carol was running toward the exit. "Why is she acting like that?" Aria asked, confused.

  "I-I don't know..." Saria replied, her usual worry returning.

  Rein, watching Carol physically run away from her problem, clenched his hand tightly with his expression hardening in quiet fury.

  Carol was panting heavily in the bathroom, covering her mouth with her palm to fight the urge to vomit. When she slowly pulled her hand away, she saw a small smear of blood on her skin.

  "Does that really shock you so much, Carol?" Irene asked, appearing as a reflective image in the bathroom mirror.

  Carol turned, her tone cold. "It's none of your business. You don't have to barge into my life every time, Irene."

  "Of course I have to barge in. After all, I'm your other side—the one you try so hard to avoid, yet use the power with no shame whatsoever," Irene replied, mirroring Carol's position with an arrogant shrug.

  "Heh, my other side?" Carol quickly pulled out her wand, morphed it to her sword as she pointed it toward her Irene reflection out of pure anger. "You're just the entity of dark ender from that stupid grimoire. I only embrace you back then because I have no other choice left."

  "Is that so?"

  A phantom image of a villager suddenly appeared behind Carol, hands reaching to grab her neck. Without hesitation, Carol spun and slashed at the figure out of pure instinct. The action froze her; she stared, horrified, as their gazes met.

  "Why did you do this to us...?" the villager whispered, the voice echoing only in Carol’s mind before the illusion vanished completely into thin air.

  Irene, watching the scene, laughed with pure, malicious amusement. "Look at you! You never hesitate to kill someone, despite the fact it was one of your friends!"

  "Shut your damn mouth, bastard!"

  As Carol tried to swing her sword through the mirror, her body suddenly stopped, locked in place.

  (W-why can't my body move?!) Carol thought, grinding her teeth in frustration.

  "As much as I don't want to play with our trauma, I just felt like it was necessary. After all," Irene stepped out from the mirror, now closer to Carol. She produced a sharp sword of pure Dark Ender and pressed the tip against Carol's neck. "If we want to defeat the monster, we have to become the monster itself." Irene whispered the words directly into Carol's ear, a clear consequences of her path she unknownly embrace as Irene instantly disappeared into thin air.

  Because of that, Carol sinking to the ground, letting go of her sword with its crack became bigger, where she looked on her palm hand with regret.

  In Grey's office, Ordeus let out a heavy sigh after explaining the entire war situation to Grey.

  "And that's about it," Ordeus concluded.

  Grey fell into a deep thought, his expression hardened. "That's... really messed up. I can't believe Crake would declare a war just because he's afraid of your territory's powerhouse," he said. "But didn't the Empire state that all seven Holders are not permitted to wage war against each other?"

  "That's the issue, Grey," Ordeus replied, confused by the situation. "Unless..."

  "The Second Prince of the Empire," Grey finished, frustration evident in his tone. "I forgot that stupid high-up has a good relationship with Crake. I suppose he permitted the war against your territory. And I doubt Crake will stop there without asking other Holders for help."

  "Well, the good news is, Sir Grey," Benjamin interrupted, handing a few letters bearing different emblems to Grey. Grey quickly opened and read each one.

  "Huh. All the Holders state they don't want to help the Tempest Holder," Grey said, his burden lightening slightly. "At least not all of them are childish."

  "True. But I'm afraid the Second Prince's faction is going to join Crake," Benjamin stated, his mood flat. "Given their relationship and the strength of the Second Prince's faction, I'm going to need a long crash out at this point."

  Grey chuckled nervously, offering his sympathy to Benjamin.

  "Hey, Grey," Ordeus said, reclaiming his attention. "Is Lydia's daughter... really alive and learning in this place?"

  Grey's eyebrows twitched, completely unprepared for Ordeus's sudden question. "What do you mean by that?"

  "Before I came here, I crossed paths with a student with long, dark hair like Lydia's. Not only that, I could feel the Dark Ender wrapping around her, like it didn't want to let go."

  Hearing this, Grey sighed in defeated acknowledgement. "So you finally encountered her, huh?"

  "Miss Lydia's daughter? I thought she died with Miss Lydia in that Burning Village incident a decade ago?" Benjamin interrupted, confused. "And that Dark Ender Sir Ordeus mentioned... doesn't that mean...?"

  "She's not going to transform anytime soon, Benjamin. I'm still trying my best to delay it as hard as I can," Grey responded, barely suppressing his anger. "In fact, I'm the one who took her in. She was literally starving when I found her stranded outside the forest."

  "And you never told us about her? Do you know just how precious that child was to Lydia? We might be able to help her—"

  "You're not capable enough to help her, Ordeus!" Grey stood up, a surge of pure anger in his tone. "She's my little sister's child, and I'm not going to let everyone try to manipulate her!"

  "Not even your old friends?"

  Ordeus's response struck Grey deeply, forcing him to sink back into his chair to calm himself.

  "Sorry for antagonizing you. It's just... she's the only family member I have left, and she's already suffered enough with all her revenge nonsense," Grey sighed deeply, regret wrapping his heart. "Honestly, I don't even know if I have the strength left to teach her or even warn her about her own consequences. It's all my fault for being late to help Lydia back then."

  "It's okay. I understand where that pain comes from. You just want the best for her, right?" Ordeus asked, trying to assure Grey.

  "Yeah. I just want her to have a good, peaceful life for once. But I can see it's not going to be an easy task."

  Both men paused, looking directly out the window at the quiet, chirping birds.

  "Is it okay if I make a small request from you?" Ordeus asked, his voice low, still watching the birds.

  "What is it?"

  Ordeus told Grey his request, speaking in barely a whisper, causing Grey's eyes to widen in disbelief.

  "You can ignore this request if you want. I wouldn't force you," Ordeus said, standing up from his chair and preparing to leave with Benjamin. "I believe you will make the right choice, as your decisions are always right."

  With that, Ordeus and Benjamin left Grey's office, leaving the former Child of Light alone with a crippling, questionable decision haunting his mind.