2025-12-15 20:30:36The big brass bell on top of the Crimson Flame Academy tower rang loud and long.
Dong… dong… dong…
The sound rolled across the red-tiled roofs and poured into every classroom like warm honey. Students jumped from their seats, chairs scraping the stone floor, bags flying onto shoulders.
Inside Class 3-A, the noise was even louder.
“I can’t wait for tomorrow!”
“Finally, the Awakening Ceremony!”
“Who do you think will get the strongest flame this year?”
Asta Xavier sat at the very back by the open window, one leg crossed over the other, his arms folded. His black hair fell over his brown eyes as he stared at the excited crowd. A tiny smirk played on his lips.
He whispered to himself, so low no one heard.
“Keep talking. Tomorrow you’ll all be looking up at me.”
The classroom door slid open with a soft creak. Miss Rena, their homeroom teacher, stepped in. Her long red robe fluttered like real fire. She clapped once. Everyone went quiet.
“Hey everyone, listen up!”
She smiled wide.
“Hope you guys know what tomorrow is?”
“Yes, ma’am!!”
The whole class shouted together.
Miss Rena laughed.
“Good. And guess what? Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress herself, is coming to watch the ceremony. So be early. Be clean. And behave… unless you want to be fried into crispy chicken.”
She winked.
“Okay, ma’am!”
The class answered again with laughter.
Miss Rena gave a small wave, turned on her heel, her robe swishing, and walked out. The door closed softly behind her.
The second she was gone, the noise exploded again.
Whispers turned into open talk.
One boy nudged his friend and pointed at the back of the room.
“Ohh, look at Asta Xavier.”
Another girl giggled.
“Yeah, I bet he’ll be the strongest among all of us. I mean, he is the real son of Lord Ignatius,the strongest Flame mage ever and leader of the Xavier clan.”
A third boy nodded hard.
“Exactly! His flame will probably be even bigger and hotter than his father’s!”
Asta heard every word. He turned his head slowly and looked out the window. Sunlight fell on his face. The smirk grew bigger.
He muttered under his breath.
“I won’t brag… but yeah, they’re right. Tomorrow I will find out just how strong I really am.”
He gave a tiny, proud chuckle.
“Bet I’ll be way stronger than Father ever was.”
Just then the classroom door opened again.
Every head turned.
Elara Veyron walked in like she owned the whole academy.
Her long platinum-blonde hair shone like moonlight. Her ice-blue eyes sparkled. The crimson uniform hugged her body perfectly. Gold phoenix patterns danced on the sleeves.
The boys forgot how to breathe.
“Wow…”
“She’s so beautiful…”
“Goddess level, seriously.”
“I would die for one smile.”
Elara didn’t even look at them. She walked straight to the back, heels clicking, hips swaying just a little.
She stopped behind Asta’s chair, bent down, wrapped her arms around his shoulders from behind, and kissed his cheek softly.
Asta’s face turned bright red.
Elara’s lips brushed his ear. Her voice was sweet, low and a little naughty.
“What are you thinking about, hmm? Thinking about me?”
Asta stammered, his heart racing.
“Y-yes! Of course I was thinking about you!”
Elara giggled. She rested her chin on his shoulder and looked at him with half-closed eyes, full of heat.
“Good. Because after tomorrow… when you awaken the strongest flame… I’ll be completely yours.”
She dropped her voice even lower.
“We’ll spend the whole night together… and have lots of fun. You know exactly what I mean, right?”
Her eyes were hungry, her lips slightly parted.
Asta trembled. His voice came out tiny.
“Y-yes… yes, I know what you mean…”
Inside his head he screamed.
‘I have zero idea what she’s talking about!’
Elara smiled in a satisfied manner.
“Perfect. I have to go now. My driver’s waiting.”
She turned his face gently and kissed him full on the lips this time,slow and right in front of the whole class.
The boys exploded.
“Ugh, kill me now.”
“Lucky bastard!”
“Why him?!”
Elara pulled away, waved her fingers at Asta, and walked out, hips swaying even more. The door closed softly behind her.
The boys turned to Asta like angry cats.
“You lucky bastard!”
One shouted.
“Seriously lucky.”
Another agreed.
“Everyone knows he’ll be the strongest tomorrow, so of course the prettiest girl wants him.”
A third boy shrugged,his voice low.
“Yeah… I guess you’re right.”
Asta looked at them from the corner of his eye and smirked harder than ever.
‘They still don’t get it. The reason Elara is all over me is simple:when we were kids, my father and Duke Veyron made a promise. We’re engaged. Tomorrow I’ll make it official and propose it properly.’
He muttered to himself as he stood up, swung his backpack over one shoulder, and walked out of the class like a king.
The afternoon sun was orange and warm. Asta walked along the tree-lined road that led away from the academy. He could have taken the family carriage, but he liked walking.
A big black school bus full of older students roared past him. Asta’s eyes locked on one boy inside,tall, black hair with red tips, gray eyes, two years older. The boy stared back for a second, then the bus turned into the academy gates.
Asta kept walking.
Twenty minutes later he reached the huge iron gates of Xavier Manor. Golden lions stood on both sides. The gates opened by themselves.
Two lines of butlers and maids bowed low.
“Welcome home, Young Master Asta!”
They said together.
An old housekeeper with kind eyes hurried forward and took his backpack.
“You must be tired, dear.”
The head butler, Mr Gregor, tall, gray hair, always serious,walked up and bowed.
“Young Master, I still don’t understand why you refuse the carriage every day.”
Asta grinned, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Because I love walking, Gregor. I love it so much.”
Before the butler could argue, Asta raised a hand.
“I’m starving. Tell the chef I’m home.”
“Right away, Young Master.”
Gregor turned to leave, then stopped.
“Oh,I almost forgot. Your cousin, Young Master Cassian, will arrive tonight. He’ll attend tomorrow’s ceremony with us.”
Asta froze on the stairs. His smile disappeared for a second.
“…Alright.”
He said quietly, then kept climbing.
In his room he threw off his uniform, washed his face in the marble basin, and changed into soft home clothes. The water was warm and smelled like roses.
A small silver bell rang downstairs,dinner was ready.
Asta ran down the grand staircase two steps at a time and sat at the long dining table. Plates of roast meat, buttered bread, and honey-glazed carrots waited for him. He started eating happily.
‘Ding-dong!’
The front-door bell.
Footsteps. Mr Gregor’s voice, warm and welcoming.
“Oh! You finally made it, Young Master Cassian. How was the trip?”
Silence.
Heavy boot
s on marble.
Asta turned his head slowly.
The boy from the school bus stood in the doorway,tall, black hair with red tips, cold gray eyes.
Cassian Xavier looked straight at Asta with a scornful gaze.
“I’m home.”
Cassian said…
His words hung in the air as their gaze was still locked on each other…
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Chapter 449
One clean cut, diagonal, across the binding that held the basket sealed and the flame solid material split along the cut line with a sharp crack that echoed through the trees."Jabber!"From below, almost before the word had finished leaving his mouth. "Already on it."The flame shield came up from the ground,wide, cupped, angled perfectly and the basket fell into it, not crashing, just settling, the broken seal falling away as Jabber brought it steady and slow and set it down beside him on the ground with the careful hands of someone carrying something that couldn't afford to be dropped.Asta dropped from the branch and landed beside him.They looked at each other for one second.Then Mira was there, already reaching for the broken seam of the basket, pulling the edges apart, the flame material dissolving at her hands as she worked it open.The basket opened.Fifteen children.Pressed together in the center of it, some sitting, some curled against each other, all of them in the cond
Chapter 448
Then the side of her mouth moved. Just slightly."I won't kill you." She said. "You're too useful to me." She looked at him for one more beat. "Don't do it again."Gull exhaled.The exhale was quiet and controlled and the relief in it was absolutely genuine.He stepped back to his position.Dero looked at the men still kneeling on the ground."Is there a bed somewhere in this place?" She said. Not specifically to anyone. "Somewhere I can rest and recover my strength."Two or three of the kneeling figures began to speak at the same time.She held up one hand.They stopped.She looked at the competing voices, then at the ceiling, then back down."You know what.”She said. "Never mind. I'll find it myself."She turned.And then she looked at Web.The look she gave him was different from anything else she had produced in the last hour. It was slower. And warmer. In a way that was not entirely comfortable."Web.” she said.Web looked at her."Would you mind accompanying me?" She s
Chapter 447
"I genuinely didn't think he would die from that." She looked around at all of them with something approaching mild surprise. "Anyone else? Don't be shy. Come on. You can say it out loud or you can mutter it to yourself,your choice. Either way I'll hear it."Complete silence.Not one person moved.Not one person appeared to even be breathing in a way that could be considered voluntary.Dero looked at them all for one more moment, then straightened up.……………………."She can hear human thought."Kyx said it quietly, from just behind Dero's right shoulder. Not alarmed, Kyx didn't really do alarmed. Just stating it, the way you state a fact that you want on record."Yes." Gull said immediately, from the left.Web turned and looked at Gull. "How?"Gull looked at Web with the specific expression of someone who has been asked to explain something technical to someone they are not sure will fully appreciate the explanation."She has a built-in flame technique." He said. "Passive. Always ac
Chapter 446:Hear Every Whisper
The men in black cloaks were still on their knees.Every single one of them, heads bowed, hands flat on the ground, not one of them willing to be the next person to look up. The silence in the space had that particular quality of a room where something bad just happened and everyone is very focused on not being the reason something bad happens again.Dero stood above them. Unhurried. Looking across the tops of their bowed heads the way someone looks across a field,with no urgency, just observation.Then, from the second row of kneeling figures, something started.A trembling.One man. His shoulders were moving, small and fast, the involuntary shake of someone whose body was doing something his brain was trying very hard to stop. His head was down but his lips were moving, the faintest murmur, barely sound at all.‘’’Oh God.’’’He wasn't saying it to anyone. He was saying it to himself, or to the ground, or to whatever part of his brain was still processing the last two minutes.‘’’It
Chapter 445
He said."From that point." Asta said.Jabber nodded. Then, after a beat… "He is significantly more annoying than I expected a best friend to be, just so you know.""He is the most annoying person I have met in my life.” Asta said pleasantly. "I say that with genuine affection.""Likewise." Jabber said."Truly.""Deeply."Wabash laughed, a real one, short and warm, that moved his whole face. He shook his head."It's good." He said. “What you two have. It's, it's a good thing."Neither of them said anything for a moment.Then Jabber looked at his cup."This tea is actually really good." He said."Glad you like it." Wabash said."What is it?""Old forest blend. The cook makes it before any mission night. He says it helps you sleep when your mind won't stop."Jabber took another slow sip."Smart cook." He said.……………………..Deep in the forest, behind a wall of flame camouflage so thick it swallowed all light and sound, the children were crying.Not all of them, some had gone past
Chapter 444
Asta took his and sat cross-legged across from the prince. Jabber sat beside him, wrapping both hands around his cup.A comfortable quiet settled over the three of them for a moment.Then Wabash looked at Asta."You were about to tell me.”He said.“Before Yuki called the stop. How did you find out."Asta looked at his cup. Then up."Right." He said. "Yeah."He took a short breath."It was my first day in the academy mine pit.” He said. "The underground labour section,first-year students, grey uniforms, pickaxes. Clank clank clank in the dark for hours." He looked at his hands briefly. "I had blisters within the first hour. Didn't stop. Just kept going."Wabash listened without interrupting."There were two older students." Asta said. "Crimson uniforms, proper rank. They had a girl pinned against the tunnel wall." He said it simply, no drama in it, just the shape of what happened. "I put my pickaxe down and walked over and told them to let her go.""Just like that?" Wabash
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