The next morning, Carlos woke with an unfamiliar clarity—as though sleep had washed something heavy out of him, leaving behind a fragile, deceptive calm. For a few quiet seconds, he lay still, staring at nothing in particular, letting that strange lightness settle over him.

Then he shifted.

The cool air brushed against his skin too sharply.

"Wha—What happened?"

The words tore out of him as he jerked upright, his gaze dropping instantly to his chest. His shirt was ripped wide open, the fabric torn in uneven, jagged lines that didn’t look accidental. It wasn’t a clean tear—it looked forced, as if something had broken through it.

And there, resting against his exposed skin, was the pendant.

It glowed.

Faintly, yes—but unmistakably. A soft, pulsing light, like something breathing beneath the surface.

"Ruel?" Carlos called, his voice tight, edged with confusion. He waited.

Nothing.

No response. No dry remark. No presence brushing against his thoughts.

Silence pressed in, heavy and wrong.

Carlos’s brows knit together as he lifted the pendant into his hand. The metal was warm—too warm—and the glow seemed to flicker at his touch, as though reacting to him.

"I... can’t remember..." He muttered, his frown deepening. His mind felt fractured, like pieces of the night had been ripped away, leaving behind only jagged edges.

"Ruel, what happened?" he tried again, more urgently this time.

Still nothing.

A flicker of memory surfaced.

The windows.

They had opened.

No—burst open. Violently. The sound echoed faintly in his head, sharp enough to make his heart stutter. A faint memory of bright aqua hair blowing in the wind and fiery glowing blue eyes.

Carlos’s pulse quickened, his breath growing uneven as he tried to chase the memory further, to force it into something whole. But it slipped through his grasp like water, leaving behind only a lingering sense of dread.

His hand rose to his throat without thinking, fingers brushing over the skin.

He froze.

There was no wound.

No pain.

And yet... something about the touch felt wrong, like his body remembered something his mind refused to see.

A chill crawled down his spine.

For some reason—one he couldn’t explain, one that made no logical sense—his thoughts jumped to only one person.

Ocean Ryujin.

Carlos’s fingers tightened around the pendant, his hand trembling now. Over the past few days, its glow had been fading, dimming into near nothingness.

But now—

Now it was glowing again.

Bright enough to notice.

"D-Don’t tell me..." He whispered, the words catching in his throat.

A voice echoed in his mind, cold and merciless, as clear as if it had been spoken right beside him.

"If I see you without this pendant, I’ll personally cut you open and put it inside your body."

Carlos sucked in a sharp breath, his entire body going rigid as the memory slammed into him. The threat wasn’t distant—it felt present, like it still lingered in the room.

His free hand moved frantically over his body, searching—his chest, his sides, his stomach—expecting to find something. A wound. A scar. Any sign that something had been done to him.

But there was nothing.

Nothing except the torn shirt.

That, somehow, made it worse.

Because it meant something had happened... and he had no idea what.

Fear coiled tighter in his chest, sharp and suffocating.

He didn’t want to take the pendant off.

The very thought made his stomach twist, Ocean’s voice still echoing like a warning carved into his bones.

But Ruel—

Ruel wasn’t responding.

And that silence was far more terrifying than the threat.

"I need to—" Carlos swallowed hard, his fingers hesitating at the chain. "I need to know..."

His hands shook as he reached for the clasp, every instinct screaming at him to stop, to leave it alone, to not test whatever had been set in motion.

Still, he forced himself to move.

Just as his fingers brushed the chain—

Knock.

The sound hit the door, sharp and sudden.

Carlos flinched violently, nearly jumping out of his skin as his head snapped toward it, his heart slamming against his ribs like it was trying to break free.

For a second, he couldn’t breathe.

The room felt too small.

Too quiet.

Another knock followed.

"Your Highness, are you up?" It was Sir Hopkins.

Carlos placed his hand over his hammering heart and forced himself to breath evenly. It took him a few seconds but he did manage to calm himself.

"I’m up." Carlos responded and got off his bed.

He walked barefoot towards the door and opened it, Sir Hopkins stood at the doorway and entered after the maids did.

"Did you have a good sleep?" Hopkins asked.

Carlos gave him a dubious look, he wasn’t expecting such polite demeanor from Sir Hopkins.

"I did," Carlos said.

The maids prepared for his bath and picked out his outfit for the day as Carlos turned and faced Sir Hopkins who seemed like he had more to say.

"What is it?"

Sir Hopkins licked his lips and then leaned ahead, "We... couldn’t find the fugitives, Your Highness. Both Robert Kirkland and Matthis Valmest are missing. We interrogated the ones who helped them but they have no idea of their whereabouts."

Carlos averted his eyes as he recalled Ruel killing the two men, he faintly remembered someone watching him back then but Ruel had assured him that everything had gone smoothly.

He had purposely assigned the ones who were loyal to Kirkland close to the dungeon including Matthis’s maid Susan. Ruel had told him that keeping those two alive would only cause consequences in future so, the best way was to get rid of them.

But he had expected Sir Hopkins and others to find the dead bodies, did they not?

"Did you check everywhere in the territory?" Carlos asked.

"Yes, Your Highness. We even checked in the outskirts and at every connection that Kirkland had but it’s like they have disappeared."

Carlos frowned a little, he had expected them to find the bodies soon that’s why he had chosen the forest close to the territory but if they didn’t even find the remains then, could it be that someone else found them first?

"Did you check the forest near the territory?" Carlos asked.

"Yes, Your Highness." Sir Hopkins said.

Carlos was confused, he didn’t know what to say and with Ruel’s voice missing, he was starting to get even more uneasy.

"Keep searching for now, and also, give the knights in this plan an order that if any of them return after we leave then to execute them on the spot. Those are my direct orders." Carlos said and Sir Hopkins nodded.

"I understand, Your Highness." Sir Hopkins said. "I’ll take my leave then."

Carlos nodded and Sir Hopkins turned to leave but then Carlos recalled something and he called Sir Hopkins.

"Sir Hopkins,"

Sir Hopkins turned and Carlos cleared his throat.

"Can you tell Miss Nyx that I’ll be waiting for her at breakfast?" Carlos said. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Sir Hopkins stared at him for a moment before he averted his eyes, clearing his throat as the corners of his lips twitched.

"She’s already waiting for you in the dining hall, Your Highness." He said and Carlos blinked, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks as his heart picked its pace.

"Ah... All right..." He spoke.

Sir Hopkins smiled and then bowed before he walked out of the room.

He had seen Carlos enough to know that this spoiled brat was incapable of doing any decent. But now that the Trials were happening and he was away from the Queen, he resembled more to a normal young man of his age.

A young man who was capable of falling for a girl and would get red at her mention.

Sir Hopkins wondered how Carlos would have turned out had his mother not been a power hungry woman. He could only thank the King and Marquis Ryujin for arranging these Trials to let Carlos see what he is and could be for once.

But he also wondered what would happen once the Trials end.

Prince Eric’s victory was a given considering that he had won everyone’s hearts and this last Trial wasn’t a big deal.

Prince Carlos had done pretty well during this Trials as per what Sir Hopkins thought, he had stirred up a little problem within the masses but he also solved the problem and now Valmest had a better ruler.

The Trials were to end soon and Prince Carlos and Prince Eric would then return to the palace, the Queen would surely try her best even though nothing was going her way. Esmertia family’s downfall had started but they weren’t completely powerless. But then he recalled the one presence that had appeared and created a shift in the kingdom.

Ocean Ryujin.

Sir Hopkins had no idea of who this man was or where he came from, nobody had seen the face beneath the mask but everyone had felt the impact of his existence. Ever since he had appeared his power had grown in shadows and his name was soon associated with the highly influential people.

Nobody at first had any idea of a secret network of intelligence agency spreading throughout the kingdom but only a few handful knew that it wasn’t only an information guild. It was a combination of assassination guilds that Ocean Ryujin had taken over first.

Sir Hopkins was among the very few people who had this information but it was only through rumours, nobody knew how he did that but those who had ever been in contact with the assassination guilds knew that they all had a new Boss now.

Sir Hopkins hadn’t known what to make of Ocean Ryujin, who had climbed the ranks so quickly and had actively been messing with the Esmertia clan for years now. But now that he was the one who was basically deciding the future King of Sestia, it was no wonder that he would be an even more sought after man.

The times were changing so rapidly that these would possibly be the most chaotic but also the most developmental years in the history of the kingdom. And he then wondered, what would happen of Prince Carlos after these Trials? Would he survive or would he be crushed for being weak and on the wrong side?

Whatever it would be, the future of Sestia would be decided in three days.