Shackled Exalted

Hortensia

The bespectacled director of Steiger stared at the mountainous pile of paperwork standing atop of her desk. No matter how efficient she tackled her duties, the amount of administrative work that necessitated her attention never ceased to relax.

This sad reality was made worse by recent events. First, there was the shocking annulment of Liesel von Belle's marriage with the Second Prince. Immediately after came Vigil. The sudden emergence of a new terrorist organization took Ardair by a storm when they invaded the Academy on the night of the Clash of Dawn banquet. Not only did their brazen moves take everyone by surprise, but they also managed to invade the Consortium and kidnap the princess underneath the Academy's grasp.

Launching an attack on the Academy was one thing.

To succeed in their attack while the Academy was densely guarded by Sentinels, Academy staff, and the personal retinues of the elites in attendance was another.

The Council of Mana was undoubtedly in troubled waters for failing to mount an adequate response to the threats. The casualties incurred by the guests in attendance was not few, and as such, trust in the Council and the Academy had plummeted significantly.

Ever the opportunist, Hortensia saw this as a perfect opportunity to expand Steiger's influence into Azure City.

Her superiors, however, had different ideas.

"Any progress on Vigil's movements?"

Hortensia let out a drawn-out exhale. The man towering in front of her had his arms folded, unfazed by the smoky fragrance of her cigar. Rohan von Lionheart. The vice-commander of Steiger. That was his official title in the organization, but in truth, it was more of a symbolic position. Rohan's true purpose was to act as an overseer on behalf of the royal family. He was their messenger and their intermediary to translate the will of the royal family into Steiger initiatives.

It was the royal family who wanted Hortensia to focus on unearthing the whereabouts of Vigil.

"I'm afraid not. They're remarkably tricky," she said, frowning at a crudely drawn map of Ardair on the table. The map was labeled with circles and question marks, denoting the locations where they have already investigated. "Ardair is not exactly a small place. Ideally, we get the assistance of the local rulers to aid us in these investigations, but they've all been expectedly uncooperative."

"And why exactly is this expected?"

Hortensia smirked. "Come on, Rohan. You know why. One does not simply rise to the top of Ardair without a little crime on the side. Everyone of these rulers likely have skeletons hiding in their closets. They rather not keep us around if possible. And well, let's be honest, as long as Steiger is focused on Vigil, the organization has less resources for investigating corruption."

"Would it kill them to see the bigger picture?"

"Not everyone is as magnanimous as the Lionhearts. And while several attendees did lose their lives, the bulk of the casualties came from the Sentinels, Academy staff, and the Lionhearts. An overwhelming number of deaths were from the battle to retake the Consortium and the rescue of the princess. In my humble opinion, the elites didn't suffer nearly enough losses for them to take the threat of Vigil seriously."

"And to think I was lamenting how long it took for me to organize the rescue. In hindsight, maybe I should have left them to rot a bit longer," Rohan snapped.

Hortensia glanced down as the man fell silent in contemplation. On her desk were also documents containing the portraits of the four Vigil members and their known details.

Melody Lain, a former second-year student at the Academy. Champion of the previous Clash of Dawn. Her Gift was marked in the Azure City registries as Zephyr, which allowed her to manipulate wind. In her confrontation against Emil, however, she demonstrated remarkable mana capacity and an expert proficiency in Mana Arts. Her intrusion into the Academy was what gave Vigil the ability to access the Consortium.

Karni, a traditionalist Gharian. Background unknown, assumed to be one of the old nomadic tribes roaming the Saar. Her Gift allowed her to command rats and gave her the ability to transform them into grotesque monsters. Extremely versatile and dangerous. Her Gift was temporarily registered as "Rat King."

Nagi, an Eastern. Background unknown. Appeared to be a practitioner of an obscure sword style originating in the mountains of the far east. The exact nature of his Gift is unknown, but it seemed to be highly compatible with his sword style. Van and Emil reported seeing powerful sword energies and illusions of flowers blooming.

Lastly, there was Kleine, a man with distinct traits of albinism. Background unknown. The apparent leader of Vigil. The exact nature of his Gift is unknown, but suspected to be involved with spatial distortion.

Each one of them was strong enough to take down multiple Sentinels and Academy staff on their own. I guess I should be glad that Van and Emil survived their encounters.

"…Did we ever figure out how they managed to subdue an entire banquet hall filled with Exalted?" she asked.

"There were traces of archanum found in the attendee's bodies. It's the same liquid used to pacify inmates in Thanatos. It suppresses an Exalted's Gifts by blocking mana circulation."

"And how the hell did they get their hands on that?"

Rohan scowled. "Either they have a connection with those that run Thanatos, or there was a copy of the old recipe somewhere in the Consortium. I suspect it's likely the latter. We can assume Melody found it and then Vigil recreated the concoction through experimentation."

Ain't that lovely.

Hortensia shook her head in disbelief.

"From Her Highness's testimony, we know that Vigil is aiming for the destruction of the kingdom. It's a vague, and frankly, absurd goal, but we can use that to our advantage when determining their next moves. The Council is currently cross-referencing the documents that went missing in Consortium, so we'll have those details soon to help us predict what's coming," Hortensia said, "The thing that I still don't answer is what they needed Her Highness for."

"She mentioned that Vigil took samples of her blood."

"For what purpose?"

"She didn't say."

What use do they have for the blood of the royal family?

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Hortensia narrowed her eyes. Aside from their right to rule this kingdom, the blood of the royal family didn't possess any unique qualities. It had always managed to create skilled Exalted, but that alone wouldn't qualify it as special.

"…You suspect that she's hiding something."

"It's a possibility."

"Not that there's anything we can do if she refuses to talk," Hortensia stated the obvious as she leaned back against her chair in frustration.

There were too many unknowns, too many uncertainties, and never enough resources. Slowly, she felt her grasp on the status quo beginning to slip.

Charlotte

Charlotte closed her eyes briefly. The dim candlelight of her study wavered from her exhaustion as the quill in her hands continued to move with practiced precision.

Nearly a month had passed since the terrorist organization named Vigil intruded upon the Clash of Dawn. She remembered vividly being dragged towards the center of the banquet hall against her will—helpless as she awaited her turn to be butchered in front of the hostage attendees. If it weren't for Anna and Liesel's timely intervention, she would have likely been buried beneath the ground somewhere on her family estate right now.

She wasn't alone, however. Every student harbored scars of that wretched night.

Not that they were given much time to dwell on the affairs. After granting them a single day of reprieve, the Academy immediately started classes again as if nothing had happened. The rush back towards a regular schedule was likely their attempt to bring a semblance of normalcy back to the students. The results, however, were disastrous.

Morale was at an all time low. Attendance fell. The stress of keeping up with the Academy's rigorous curriculum while dealing with memories of the incident was immense.

Things were looking bad—until the timely enrolment of Princess Aoife.

Her Highness had been kidnapped during the incident. It was undoubtedly a horrifying experience, but it was one that came with a silver lining. Aoife, who was the black sheep of the royal family, had finally awakened a Gift.

Aoife took Rory's place at the Academy after his dishonorable performance at the Clash of Dawn. Curiosity and intrigue drew the students back to class as they wanted to get a closer look at the enigmatic princess. And after all, if the princess who got kidnapped was attending class, what excuse did they have? It helped that Aoife was an ethereal beauty capable of turning heads wherever she went.

Strangely enough, the princess immediately attached herself to Emil once she got settled—much to Anna's consternation. Suddenly, the two were once again the center of all the attention and gossip on campus, just like how things were prior to the Clash of Dawn.

"Looks like things will get harder for you, Anna," Charlotte mused with a small giggle. She wondered if her adorable red-haired friend was even aware of her blossoming feelings. For now, Charlotte decided to keep her observations to herself, lest her friend kill her own chances by being overly self-conscious.

…I think that's enough for the day.

She closed her notebook, suppressing a yawn as she leaned back into her chair. Mid-term examinations were just a few days away. Everyone was busy studying. Normally, she would have joined their little group at the library—if not for the fact that she was currently back on her family estate.

Her mother had suddenly requested her back home for the weekend. She was always a worrywart, overly protective and concerned of Charlotte's wellbeing. Luckily, the Braun family estate was on the outskirts of the Rosales province—a mere half a day's travel on horseback from the Academy.

Charlotte had dinner with her parents and some of her extended family who coincidentally came to visit. After being bombarded with a bunch of probing questions, she eventually excused herself from the dinner table, using the excuse of mid-term exams to escape further interrogation.

Night had descended since then. Things seemed to have quieted down.

Feeling safe, Charlotte stepped out of her room. She walked towards her father's study, curious what the man was up to. Being isolated at the Academy, she wasn't privy to the changes across Ardair since Vigil's appearance.

As she approached, she found the door to his study guarded by the family butler.

Is there a meeting going on?

Charlotte narrowed her eyes. The timing was suspicious, especially since it coincided with the date of her return. The probing questions being asked at the dinner table also gnawed at her subconscious.

Discreetly, she entered an unoccupied room and locked it behind her. Her father's study was adjacent. The walls were soundproof. For an Ordinary's ears at least.

Charlotte took a position against the wall.

Sorry, Father. Mother. Once again, please forgive your unruly daughter.

She closed her eyes. And exhaled.

Mana flowed from her Azurite brooch towards her ears. Suddenly, her hearing sharpened. She could hear rampant beating of her heart and the faint whispers echoing on the other side of the wall.

This was an instinctual, unrefined version of Mana Arts. Unlike Emil and Liesel, her version only magnified her senses. It was a technique that she stumbled upon by accident shortly after her awakening. She hadn't even realized that it was a formal technique until Emil demonstrated it during the Clash of Dawn. Obviously, no one knew that she was capable of this.

Charlotte took advantage of this secret often to eavesdrop on her parent's conversations. It was her way of rebelling against the prim and proper noblewoman that she was being molded into during her adolescence.

"…What do you think?"

Her mother's voice.

"It's unavoidable. Vigil's emergence has triggered a chain reaction throughout Ardair. The noble houses who were attacked during the banquet are starting to amass Azurite and Exalted talent for self-defense. Especially, House Belle—they're using Liesel's annulment as a catalyst for driving interest from other powerful factions. The rest of Ardair's elites are responding in kind since they don't want to be left behind in the battle for influence. Suddenly, the entirety of Ardair is in an arms race."

"We don't have to join in."

"We can't join in even if we wanted to. House Braun isn't rich with wealth nor is it a desirable destination for Exalted. Compared to the other noble houses, we're the equivalent of some backwater hillbilly. The problem, however, doesn't just go away. While we're here talking, those ambitious bastards to the north of us are busy consolidating and building their power. It won't be long until one day they come knocking on our doors and start making demands on our land."

A heavy sigh echoed through the room.

"Then—"

"We need to form an alliance. Attach ourselves to someone stronger. Using Charlotte. She's our most valuable asset. She has the looks, she has the mannerisms of a noble, and she's healthy. Beyond that, she's also an Exalted attending the Academy. There's no family in Ardair right now who wouldn't listen if she wants to get married."

Those words thundered in her ears.

Charlotte smiled with resentment as she pried herself away from the wall.

I knew it.

She stared at the floor of the unoccupied room. A small glimpse of moonlight streamed in from the ajar blinds of the windows, illuminating the otherwise dark room.

Her heart raced. Her chest burned. A bitter, rancorous taste clung to the back of her throat.

She sighed, letting the anger pass, suddenly left with an empty husk of a person.

I always knew this was going to happen.

The fate of all woman in this kingdom was to be used as a vessel to carry children. Charlotte only hoped that she would at least get the agency to pick her partner. Her time, however, arrived far sooner than she expected.

"I hate this," she hissed, ripping off the hair tie that kept her brunette hair in a bun. The bundle of long hair draped to her back, hanging loosely. She had always kept her neat to comply with her mother's wishes.

Not anymore. She no longer cared.

***

The weekend passed in a flash. Her parents eventually broke the news to her. Their announcement came with a surprise invitation to a banquet party organized by one of the noble families residing in Azure City. Charlotte begrudgingly accepted it.

She arrived back on the campus on the afternoon of the day before classes resumed.

By chance, she came across Kai on her way back to the dorm. The half-Gharian was in the midst of studying by his lonesome on the terrace. His handsome face twisted into a scowl as he was in deep concentration.

A rebellious thought came to mind.

Should I?

She smirked. Kai's playboy persona was well-known at this point. Even so, he didn't dare to lay on a hand on her thanks to Anna's overprotectiveness. Still, Charlotte would be remiss to admit that she wasn't curious about him.

Why not have a little bit of fun before my life no longer becomes mine?

She strolled towards the terrace, unfastening her hair and letting it fall messily to her back. She removed her specs—a little bit of blurriness at a distance was hardly debilitating. With careless confidence, she took a seat across from Kai. Crossing her legs, she rested on her chin atop of her hands while staring at the male student with doe-like eyes.

Kai looked up, surprised by her sudden appearance.

"Hello Kai," she said, letting her voice flow with an alluring timbre, "Mind if I join you?"