The next morning, Rio walked through the academy hallways with a composed expression, yet his thoughts were anything but calm.
The events of the previous day lingered heavily in his mind, particularly that brief, near-fatal contact with space.
Unlike the other six affinities he wielded—light, ice, lightning, darkness, fire, and water—this one remained elusive, incomprehensible, almost… sentient in the way it responded. He had not controlled it. He had merely touched it, and even that fleeting interaction had pushed his body to the brink.
The memory alone made his chest tighten faintly.
Aurelia's words echoed within him—"Come to me every Sunday." It had not been a suggestion. It was an inevitability. If he wished to survive wielding that domain, he would have to learn. And quickly.
Lost in thought, his steps became mechanical, his awareness dulled—not entirely, but enough.
Enough to make him collide with someone.
A sharp yelp broke through the ambient noise of the corridor.
"Hey! Are you blind?!"
Rio blinked, his focus snapping back instantly as his gaze settled on the figure in front of him.
Reina Emberheart.
Her crimson hair fell messily over her shoulders, strands uneven as though she hadn't taken the time to fix it. Her uniform, while still identifiable, lacked the precision expected of someone of her standing. But what drew his attention the most… were her eyes.
They were dark.
Not in color—but in presence.
There was a lack of clarity within them, a faint instability that shouldn't have existed in someone like her.
"Apologies," Rio said calmly, his tone even. "I didn't see you."
"What the hell?" she snapped immediately, irritation spilling out without restraint. "Then open your eyes, dumbass."
Rio's gaze lingered for a fraction longer than necessary. In the novel, Reina Emberheart had always been proud—sharp-tongued, arrogant even—but never unrefined. Every insult she delivered had been controlled, deliberate, backed by confidence.
This… wasn't that.
He allowed a faint, polite smile to form. "Sorry."
"Sorry?" she scoffed, her lips curling. "You piece of shit, fuck off."
His eyes narrowed slightly—not in anger, but in quiet observation. Her posture was off. Her breathing uneven. Even the way she held herself lacked balance. It wasn't arrogance that drove her behavior—it was something far less stable.
"Hey," he began, his voice lowering just slightly, "you seem a bit—"
Her reaction was immediate.
She slapped his hand away before he could finish.
"Fuck off."
There was a sharpness to it now. Not just irritation—but defensiveness.
For a brief moment, Rio caught it.
A flicker beneath her expression.
Not anger.
Not pride.
But something closer to panic.
Then it vanished.
Reina turned abruptly, her steps quick, almost hurried as she walked away without another word. The surrounding students, who had briefly slowed to watch, quickly pretended nothing had happened.
Rio remained where he stood, his gaze following her retreating figure.
This wasn't normal.
Not for her.
Not for someone like Reina Emberheart.
"…Something's wrong," he muttered quietly, more to himself than anyone else.
His instincts didn't scream danger—not yet. But the faint echo of space within him stirred ever so slightly, as if reacting to something unseen.
He didn't hesitate.
Keeping his presence suppressed, Rio followed.
Reina moved quickly through the corridors, her earlier aggression replaced with urgency. She didn't look back, but her pace betrayed unease. Soon, she reached the academy library and slipped inside.
Rio paused only briefly before following, his steps silent.
The vast library stood quiet, rows upon rows of towering shelves casting long shadows across the polished floor. It was empty—or at least, it appeared to be.
Reina didn't stop near the entrance. She moved deeper, weaving through the aisles until she reached a secluded section where even the light seemed hesitant to linger.
Only then did she stop.
Her breathing grew uneven again as she pressed a hand to her chest.
"…He didn't see it… I think…"
Her voice trembled.
Rio remained hidden, his presence faint, his gaze unwavering.
Reina quickly pulled back her sleeve.
And there it was.
A small, dark marking on her skin.
A black cross.
But it wasn't ordinary.
It pulsed—subtly, faintly—as if something beneath it was alive.
"…Not now… not here…" she whispered, her eyes darting around once more, scanning for anyone who might be watching.
She found no one.
Or so she believed.
Her movements became hurried. She pulled out a book from a nearby shelf—not with care, but urgency—and held it tightly as if it were an anchor.
Then she spoke.
"Heed my call… The Lady of Velvet Sin."
The moment the words left her lips, the air shifted.
It wasn't dramatic.
But it was undeniable.
The light around her dimmed slightly, shadows stretching unnaturally as a thin, suffocating pressure spread outward. A dark field formed, subtle yet oppressive, isolating her from the rest of the world.
Black smoke began to rise.
Slowly.
Silently.
It coiled around her feet, climbing upward, wrapping around her body until she was completely engulfed.
Rio's eyes narrowed slightly.
This wasn't normal mana.
This wasn't any affinity he recognized.
This was something else.
Something… external.
For a moment, the smoke thickened.
Then it receded.
Reina stood there once more.
But the difference was immediate.
The darkness beneath her eyes had vanished. Her posture straightened, her breathing stabilized, and the earlier instability in her gaze disappeared entirely.
She exhaled slowly.
"…I feel better~."
A faint grin formed on her lips.
Satisfied.
Relieved.
Unaware.
Rio remained still, his presence concealed, his thoughts sharp.
"…So it's already begun," he murmured inwardly.
There was no surprise in his expression.
Only understanding.
His gaze lingered on the black cross now hidden beneath her sleeve once more.
"To think she would fall to darkness this early…"
In the story he remembered, Reina had been many things—but not this.
Not so soon.
Not like this.
Which meant one thing.
The future had already begun to change.
——
Rio's gaze lingered on the place where the mark had once been, even after Reina had hidden it beneath her sleeve, as though the imprint of it had carved itself into his sight.
The black cross.
There was no mistaking it.
The Black Cross.
A name that did not belong in open discourse, one that slithered through the unseen corners of the world—whispered, never spoken aloud. They were not followers of balance, nor seekers of salvation.
They worshipped.
The Lady of Velvet Sin.
A being not defined by destruction alone, but by temptation, by the slow erosion of will, by the quiet unraveling of those who thought themselves strong enough to resist.
Rio's eyes dimmed slightly.
In the original story, Reina Emberheart had fallen.
But not like this.
Not this early.
Her descent had been gradual—a war fought in silence, where every step into darkness came at the cost of her own life force. She had resisted with a stubbornness that bordered on madness, clinging to her identity even as it crumbled.
She had endured.
Far longer than most ever could.
He exhaled softly.
He wouldn't blame her.
A child forged not by warmth, but by expectation. The matriarch of the Emberheart family had never raised a daughter—only shaped a weapon. Each failure carved deeper, each shortcoming met with harsher correction, until the line between discipline and destruction blurred beyond recognition.
Pressure.
Relentless.
Unforgiving.
Until—
something within her snapped.
"…Not surprising," he thought, his gaze lowering slightly.
And yet—
something was wrong.
This wasn't how it should have unfolded.
In the original timeline, Reina had stood at the edge of greatness—third, just beneath Samuel. High enough to be acknowledged, high enough to remain just beyond the cruelest reach of her mother's wrath.
But now—
Fifth.
A trivial change to the uninformed.
A devastating one to her.
For someone raised on perfection, numbers were not ranks.
They were judgment.
And judgment, in her world, was answered with punishment.
Rio closed his eyes briefly, the weight of that realization settling deeper than he expected.
This is too early…
Which meant the future he knew—
Was no longer intact.
"…What a waste," he murmured inwardly.
Someone who had once stood destined for brilliance, now forced to grasp at something that would inevitably consume her.
His thoughts lingered.
Then shifted.
So… how do I help her?
Not out of simple kindness.
Not entirely out of guilt.
But because he understood the end of that path.
And there was no returning from it.
A sudden impact struck his back, breaking the flow of his thoughts.
Not painful.
But deliberate.
"Yo."
Rio opened his eyes.
He didn't speak.
Didn't react.
He simply turned his head—
and looked.
A quiet, measured glance.
Nothing more.
Leon tilted his head slightly, a faint smirk forming as if amused by the silence.
"…Thinking about something interesting?"
Rio's gaze drifted away again, settling forward, toward the path Reina had taken.
For a moment—
he said nothing.
Then—
a faint curve formed on his lips.
Subtle.
Certain.
Almost dangerous.
"…Light," he said quietly.
The word carried no force.
No elaboration.
Yet within it lay something absolute.
Darkness did not need to be destroyed.
It only needed to be outshined.
And in that moment—
the path forward became just a little clearer.