System: Daily login!!, jackpot on the first day!!!

"…A-Aska…? Lita…?"

Kiara's voice cracked, the regal veneer shattering in an instant.

The camp rippled with whispers, excitement, and disbelief spreading like wildfire.

"Did she just say Aska? Prince Askara?!"

"Wait, that Askara? And Lady Litani too?!"

"No way… royalty here?!"

"You idiot, Queen Kiara is their sister! Of course they'd be here!"

Erick's face turned the color of snow. His jaw hung open, eyes darting between his "Queen" and the two figures he had just claimed to have disciplined. Words caught in his throat, strangled by sheer horror.

Litani almost fell over, her shoulders trembling, biting her lip to keep from laughing aloud. The corners of her mouth curled into a wicked grin. 'Pfft~ oh, this is golden…'

Askara, meanwhile, looked completely at ease. Lounging with the two flustered girls still seated at his sides, he raised one hand in mock formality, bowing his head ever so slightly.

"I greet you… O, Your Majesty the Queen," he intoned, his mismatched eyes sparkling with mischief.

The words detonated through the camp. Half the onlookers gasped in scandal, the other half covered their faces, wishing they could vanish into the snow.

Kiara's cheeks blazed scarlet. Frost spiderwebbed at her feet as her mana surged uncontrollably, every breath shaking with barely restrained fury.

"A…ASKAAA!!"

Litani couldn't hold it anymore. She burst out laughing, tears streaming down her face as she clutched her stomach. "Hahaha! She's going to kill you, brother!"

Askara only smirked, tilting his head in lazy amusement. "Well… she is the Queen, after all"

"You two!! Don't run!!" Kiara shrieked, storming toward them as frost burst across the ground.

Litani had her recording tool aimed the whole time, capturing every glorious second. Kiara's glare snapped toward her. "Y-You recorded it too?! Delete it immediately!!"

Litani winked. "Oh~ is that a Queen's order?" She looked at Askara, who was already grinning ear to ear. "What should we do, Aska?"

"Well~ if it's a Queen's order…" Askara drawled.

The siblings looked at each other for a heartbeat, then both doubled over, howling with laughter.

"HAHAHA!!"

Kiara's face darkened even redder, fury rolling off her in icy waves. "You two are dead!!"

--------

The bickering between the D'Archy siblings eventually fizzled out after several rounds of teasing and stubborn retorts. Kiara's carefully maintained Queen's facade had long since crumbled, but at least the recordings Litani made remained… safe, at least for now.

Now, the three of them sat within the Ice Castle Kiara had crafted with her own mana, the walls glittering like frozen crystal as they spoke in low voices.

"…This trial is strange," Askara said at last, his mismatched eyes narrowing. "Sis Alice told us the only real rule was survival, and that we could hunt beasts for points if we wanted. But so far? It feels like we're the ones being hunted." He leaned back, his tone sharpening. "By now, I'm sure plenty of prospective students are already dead"

"Yeah," Kiara admitted with a nod, her expression grim. "But what's even stranger is that they haven't stopped the trial. By all rights, this looks like an error in the system"

Litani crossed her arms, frowning. "…And we can't contact Sis Alice or the others outside. Something must have happened out there, I'm certain of it"

"So what do we do?" Kiara asked after a moment, her voice steady but edged with unease. "Do we continue with this trial?"

"Do we even have another option?" Litani countered, before turning to their brother. "What do you think, Aska?"

Askara rose slowly from his seat, his expression unreadable. "Hmm~ Let's continue the trial," he decided, brushing the frost from his clothes. Then, with a casual stretch, he added, I'll go fetch Anindha and Anggana, bring them here. You two stay put in here"

Askara walked toward the exit, his steps echoing softly against the frozen floor. Just before crossing the threshold, he paused and glanced back at his sisters.

"…And one more thing," he said quietly, mismatched eyes glinting. "Don't accept anyone else into this place. This is already too much. Remember, we're not here to run a charity"

Only after that did he step out into the outside.

Outside, dozens of Kiara's so-called Followers turned their eyes toward him, their gazes a mixture of awe and respect. Askara paid them no mind. His focus locked immediately onto Erick.

"Oh~ what do we have here?" Askara drawled, his tone warm, almost cheerful. "Our very own Saranjana Knight. The Knight of Frost. The Great Sir Erick!" He clapped his hands lightly as he strode closer. "What a surprise… What is it this time? Want a promotion? Or are you ready to become a Dullahan?"

Erick stiffened, color draining from his face. "Y-Your Majesty, I-I didn't mean to-"

"What do you mean?" Askara tilted his head, all smiles. "About that? About how you 'taught us a lesson'? Disciplined us?" He placed a hand on Erick's shoulder, giving it a friendly pat, though the weight of it made Erick tremble harder. "Don't worry. We of Saranjana never neglect the wisdom of a Knight. Especially from the Knight of Frost himself." His smile sharpened. "Don't worry, alright?"

"I-I don't dare, Your Majesty…" Erick whispered, shaking.

"Don't worry~ Don't worry~" Askara repeated, voice lilting like a lullaby. "You're a Knight, remember? At least, in here…" His hand lingered on Erick's shoulder. Then his tone dropped, soft but edged like a blade. "Oh, and did you know? There's a law in the Saranjana Kingdom. It goes like this: the punishment for falsely claiming the title of Knight… is death. But don't be afraid. You're a Knight. At least here, right, Sir Dullahan?"

Erick's knees buckled, his whole body trembling as he stammered, "Y-Your Majesty, p-please… have mercy-"

A new voice cut in, cool and sharp as winter.

"That's enough, Aska. You'll scare him to death"

Kiara's voice rang out from behind, her presence spilling from the castle like a wave of frost. Erick's heart leapt with relief, until her next words froze it again.

"The law doesn't say they're executed immediately," she said evenly, her eyes glacial. "They're tortured first. Then executed"

The followers shivered in silence, their queen's decree sinking into the icy air. Litani, meanwhile, was doubled over, biting her lip so hard she nearly drew blood just to stop her laughter from spilling out.

Askara caught sight of her trembling shoulders and shook his head in mock exasperation. Then, with one last smile, he turned back to Erick and gave the young man's shoulder another reassuring pat.

"Don't worry," Askara said lightly. "It's just a joke. Don't take it so seriously. You're not so bad. If you work hard enough, you might even aim to become a real Knight of the Saranjana Kingdom"

Erick's lips trembled as he tried to answer. "Y-Your Majes-"

"Oh, but the law is real," Askara cut him off with a cheerful lilt, already turning away, walked past the frozen crowd, leaving Erick locked in place, cold sweat dripping down his brow, his heart trapped between dread and fragile hope.

Behind him, Litani finally broke. Her muffled giggles escaped into the air like chimes, adding salt to the wound of Erick's humiliation.

--------

Outside Kiara's territory, Askara activated his Blood Magic once more, crimson threads weaving across his vision as they retraced the pulse of familiar bonds. Both Anindha and Anggana were still where he had last marked them. Of the two, Anggana was the closer.

"Then him first," Askara muttered, exhaling a white mist.

Alone this time, he moved swiftly through the forest. Beasts prowled in the shadows, and more than once he stumbled across groups of prospective students locked in desperate battles.

Though his words to Kiara echoed in his mind "we're not here for charity," Askara wasn't so cold-hearted as to walk away when death was gnashing its fangs right in front of him.

Each time, with a flick of his blood sword and his magic, he crushed the beasts down. He didn't stay for thanks. He didn't even look back. He simply continued because right now, his siblings were his priority.

'... Save if possible. Move on. Don't get attached'

After more than an hour, slowed by detours and interruptions, he finally drew close to Anggana's location. The familiar pulse of his bloodline magic grew stronger until...

Askara stopped.

There Anggana was, sprawled lazily on the grass with hands folded behind his head, staring at the sky. The sight alone would've been normal if it weren't for the scene surrounding him.

A handful of people milled about as though this were some countryside picnic instead of a trial of life and death.

A group by the river laughed as they pulled fish from the water. Nearby, two others stacked firewood into a crackling campfire. And further off, a pair of students strummed a guitar, singing merrily as though the beasts prowling the forest didn't exist at all.

It looked less like survival training and more like a weekend field trip.

"…What the hell am I looking at?" Askara muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. His mismatched eyes flicked toward Anggana, who still hadn't moved an inch. "Don't tell me… Anindha's camp looks like this too?" He let out a groan, dragging a hand down his face. "…For fuck's sake, give me a break"

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