A week later, Stella’s death was confirmed. She ‘accidentally’ fell into a palace well and drowned to death.

Adrian’s only response to the news of her death was nonchalance. Even though he had sex with Stella before, he did not care about her death whatsoever.

Fredrick house. Adrian was feeling quite lonely as Isabella had left. Tier 5 or 6, Prince or a spoilt noble, going through the jungle stroll was compulsory for every second year students of the Academy.

“Tsk. It’s too quite here without Isabella.” Adrian muttered. “What can I do? What can I do? Let’s see, Abegail is in charge of this Hunt. Rastia is already selected to be the next tower master- she is busy absorbing magical energy. Cornelia? Naah. She is in her point of breakthrough.” He sighed.

“Maybe I should just work on my deal.” Adrian sighed as he shook his head. He looked up at the ceiling, but his gaze pierced through to the sky. “What a chore.”

Douglass House- another top tier dorm inside the Academy premises. It had been the residence of the crown Prince until last year.

This dorm now belonged to Sirius Blue, the winner of last year’s first year tournament.

“Tsk. I can’t even leave this shithole. Do I really have to wait for two more years?” Sirius had been annoyed since he came out of the Hunt.

“We will find a way to escape in these two years, master.” A bewitching voice sounded as he felt a vibration on his ring finger.

“Hope so, I want to stay away from the one called Adrian. Something about him irks me to the very core.”

“I don’t know. I didn’t feel anything abnormal from him.” The feminine voice answered.

“Do you think you can detect anything and everything with your soul-sense?” He snorted. “My intuition says that he is dangerous- terrifyingly so.” He sighed.

“Maybe you are just being paranoid.”

“Maybe. But it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

*Knock. Knock.*

He looked at his finger. The blue ring lost any sense of movement. He then went to the door and opened it.

The moment he opened it, he felt a push as a devilishly handsome young man barged in. The door behind the newcomer shut close. Before the resident of the house could stabilise himself from the push and do anything, a charming male voice entered his ears.

“Greetings. I am Adrian Darkheart from the Griffin class of the Royal Academy of Nemphis.”

“You!” Sirius was incensed. But the moment his eyes met the ‘amused’ abyssal eyes of the ‘invader’, a chill ran down his spine.

“It’s rude to answer a greeting with ‘You!’ you know.”

Sirius opened his mouth to say something. But before a word could escape his throat, Adrian walked past him.

“Come on in.” Adrian said. “Make yourself at home.”

‘Of course I will. This is my home!’ Sirius could only say it in his mind.

Adrian walked into the living room and sat on a cozy sofa. Sirius followed and sat opposite him on another sofa.

“Why are you here? What do you want?” Sirius asked with a determined voice.

“Who are you?” Adrian answered with a question of his own.

“You!” He sighed. “Fine.” He looked at Adrian into the eyes. “I am Sirius Blue of the Eagle-“

“That’s the name of the body.” Adrian interrupted. “I am asking you, the one behind those eyes.”

“Wha… what do you mean?” Sirius’s whole body grew rigid.

“I am asking you- the possessor of this child’s body. Who are you?”

“How did you- no- this doesn’t matter. If you found out, you should’ve stayed silent.” Sirius’s eye grew red as he prepared to attack with full force. “You must die!”

But before he could even make a move, a terrifying pressure locked onto him, paralysing him, rendering him unable to move.

His eyes were confused at first, but after a few moments- they betrayed horror and despair. They almost popped out from the sockets.

“This… you…” Adrian let him move his mouth. “This is Demonic Aura! You… you are a DEMON!”

“Nice.” Adrian clapped. “You are correct.”

“You… what is a ghastly being like you doing here?” ‘Sirius’ asked.

“Ghastly?” Adrian chuckled. “Funny hearing it from a ghost. Now, care to answer my question? Who are you?”

“What… what are you going to do to me?”

“It’s rude to answer a question with a question you know. But I am merciful.” Adrian took up a haughty pose. “Your life will depend on your answer.”

Sirius, or the one within, sighed. “Yes, I am just a ghost. I once ventured into that pocket dimension in search of-“

The pressure locking him intensified, rendering him unable to breathe.

“Wrong.” This time, Adrian’s voice was cold.

The intense pressure died down to its previous level. Sirius began to pant as sweat drenched his whole body.

“Last chance.” His voice turned carefree again.

“I… I am a… prisoner. I was killed and my soul was imprisoned in the centre of that cursed hidden dimension for more than a millennium. Recently, my assistant was able to wake up and she led this body to me.”

“Correct.”

Sirius heaved a sigh of relief- sweat had yet to stop pouring from his already drenched body.

“Now, give me a reason I should not imprison you and your assistant again and torture you for another millennium through demonic methods.”

Sirius gulped. Even the blue ring on his finger trembled.

“I…” He thought for a moment before looking at Adrian. “I have a few treasures I kept safe for more than a thousand years.”

“Not enough.” Adrian did not take time before answering.

“But, you don’t even-“

“Yes, I know what you are offering. They are good, but they are not what I want.” Adrian looked at the blue finger on Sirius’s hand.

The ring intensely trembled while Sirius panicked inside.

“Don’t worry. She is useless to me. Soul-sense is just an average skill.”

Sirius opened his eyes and mouth wide agape to Adrian’s remarks. First of all, how did he know the one inside the ring could use soul-sense. And second, soul-sense was average? Soul-sense was considered almost godly by many, and it is just average to him? That was blatant blasphemy!

“What I want is your loyalty.” Adrian looked back into his eyes. “Will you swear fealty to me?”

Sirius began to think. The ring vibrated. He looked at the ring and nodded before turning to Adrian. He did not say anything. He just dropped to the wooden ground and knelt on one knee, and lowered his head.

“Good. You know the true identity of the boy, don’t you?”

“Yes.” He answered, his eyes still locked on the floor.

Adrian smiled. “You have a task to do then.”