The chaotic energy that had filled our bedroom vanished in a heartbeat. Sir Vael, ever the man of efficiency and zero social grace, didn't offer a lecture or even a "welcome back." He simply looked at the group, his eyes glowing faintly as he prepared his next spell.
"Alright, the job is done. Get some rest; training starts at dawn tomorrow," Vael said. With a sharp, resonant snap of his fingers, a wave of spatial energy rippled through the room. In a flash of violet light, he and the rest of our classmates were gone, whisked back to their own dorms and homes across the capital.
The sudden silence of the mansion was deafening.
Only Euphyne remained, standing by the door with his shoulders slumped. His eyes were still red and puffy from crying, and he looked smaller than usual, stripped of his typical "Dazzling King" bravado. He sniffled one last time, clutching his silk pajamas, and looked at us with a look of genuine, heartbreaking vulnerability.
"Don't... don't you ever leave me again without saying something," he whispered, his voice cracking. "I woke up and thought the 'Error' had finally swallowed the world and left me behind."
Before I could find the right words to apologize, Snowball—who had been watching the whole ordeal with wide, confused eyes—trotted over and rubbed his white fur against Euphyne's ankles. Euphyne let out a shaky breath, scooped up the kitten, and turned toward the hallway. "Come, my knight. Let us leave these two to their... activities." He marched back to his room, his dramatic flair returning just enough to let us know he would eventually be okay.
I stood there in the center of the room, my boots still caked with a bit of elven forest soil. I looked at Elphyete. She was standing by the edge of the bed, her fingers nervously twisting the hem of her sleeve. The intense, glowing red of her ears had faded to a dull, exhausted pink. We both looked like we had been through a war, even though the only "combat" we'd faced was a giant candle and a very angry Claude.
"What a mess," I muttered, letting out a long, heavy sigh that seemed to drain the last of my adrenaline.
"A complete disaster," Elphyete agreed, her voice barely a whisper.
Without another word, we both moved with the synchronized lethality of two people who were ready to sleep for a thousand years. I kicked off my boots and collapsed onto my side of the bed, while Elphyete crawled under the heavy blankets on hers. The mansion felt warm—not the magically forced heat of the elven castle, but the familiar, lived-in warmth of our home in the capital.
The moonlight here was different too. It didn't feel like a spotlight from a god; it was just a soft, silver glow filtering through the curtains, illuminating the dust motes and the simple wooden furniture.
For a long time, we just lay there in the dark, staring at the ceiling. The events of the last twenty-four hours played back in my head like a fever dream: the portal, the "Prince" title, the secret market run, the King's interrogation, and finally, the terrifying sight of our entire class standing at the foot of our bed.
"Sogha?"
I turned my head. Elphyete was looking at me, her silver hair fanned out across the pillow.
"Are you... are you really okay with the 'Prince' thing? My father... he can be very stubborn about his decrees."
I closed my eyes, a small, tired smile tugging at my lips. "If it keeps me out of the 'Dungeon of Roots' and keeps us in this house, I'll be whatever he wants. Prince Sogha has a weird ring to it, but I think I can manage."
She let out a tiny, relieved breath. "I'm glad. Because... I don't think I could have gone back there alone. Not anymore."
I reached out under the covers, and after a moment of searching, I found her hand. Her fingers were cool, but they instantly interlaced with mine, gripping tight. We didn't move any closer—the embarrassment of being caught by the class was still a bit too fresh—but the connection was enough.
The weight of the day finally won. My thoughts began to blur, the sounds of the capital's night-birds humming a distant lullaby. We had survived the Elven Kingdom, we had survived Sir Vael's rescue, and most importantly, we were home.
The morning sun had barely begun to crawl over the horizon when the three of us gathered in the kitchen for a quiet, groggy breakfast. Euphyne was still grumbling about the "emotional trauma" of the previous night, meticulously feeding Snowball tiny shreds of smoked ham while Elphyete and I shared a plate of toast, our hands occasionally brushing as we reached for the jam. The peace lasted exactly until the last bite was swallowed.
Without warning, the air around us shimmered with a familiar, violent violet hue. The kitchen floor vanished, replaced by the sinking, grainy sensation of warm sand. The smell of frying bacon was instantly swapped for the sharp, salty sting of the ocean breeze and the rhythmic crashing of turquoise waves.
"Rise and shine, children," Sir Vael's voice boomed over the sound of the surf. He was standing near the shoreline, looking strangely out of place in his dark combat trench coat against the backdrop of a tropical paradise. "You have four days left of your one-week break. Since you clearly can't be trusted to stay out of international diplomatic incidents when left alone, I've decided we're spending the rest of the holiday here. Welcome to the Sapphire Coast."
"A beach vacation? Seriously?" Lucian grinned, already kicking off his boots. "I thought you only knew how to teleport us into monster dens and volcanoes, Sir!"
"Don't get used to the luxury, Lucian," Vela muttered, crossing her arms as she stared at the endless water with her usual look of mild annoyance. "Knowing our luck, there's a kraken waiting for us at the five-mile mark."
"Oh, lighten up, Vela!" Aria shouted, already bouncing on the balls of her feet. "It's sun, sand, and no homework! What's not to love?"
"It is... acceptable," Celdrich noted, though he remained standing perfectly still, his eyes tracking the horizon with a soldier's precision.
The twins, Elfrich and Elfhine, were already darting toward the water. "First one in is a rotten mandrake!" Elfrich yelled. "And the last one has to carry the bags!" Elfhine added, her silver hair whipping in the wind.
While the others scrambled toward the water, Euphyne walked a safe distance away from the tide. He sat down with royal dignity, placing a very confused Snowball onto a dry patch of sand. "Fear not, my tiny knight," Euphyne declared, pulling a small plastic shovel from seemingly nowhere. "We shall construct a fortress worthy of our legend. A sand-keep that shall withstand the test of time!" Snowball simply meowed and began patting at a mound of sand, looking surprisingly invested in the project.
The day devolved into absolute chaos almost immediately. Lucian and Aria had somehow acquired high-powered water guns and decided that the most dangerous man in the world was their primary target.
"Target sighted! Open fire!" Aria screamed.
A twin stream of water blasted Sir Vael square in the back of the head. He didn't move. He didn't even turn around. Five minutes later, after the twentieth soaking, Vael's patience finally snapped. He didn't say a word; he simply raised a hand. The ocean behind him didn't just ripple—it roared. A massive, towering wall of water, twenty feet high, rose from the deep and came crashing down onto the beach like a localized flood. It swept away the chairs, the umbrellas, and sent Lucian and Aria tumbling backward in a mess of foam and seaweed.
As the water receded, leaving the beach looking like a disaster zone, Vael simply snapped his fingers. In an instant, the sand was dry, the umbrellas were upright, and the towels were folded. "Do it again," Vael said calmly, "and the next one won't be fresh water."
Amidst the noise, Elphyete and I found a quiet spot on the far end of the beach, away from the screaming twins and the splashing. We sat on a driftwood log, our shoulders touching. For a few minutes, we didn't say anything. We just watched the sun reflect off the water, the light dancing in silver patterns.
"It's peaceful," she whispered, her long ears twitching as a cool breeze rolled in. "After the castle... and the university... this feels like the first time I can actually breathe."
"I know what you mean," I said, leaning back. "No kings, no guards, no 'Prince' titles. Just the ocean."
She looked at me, her face softening, the usual blush still there but calmer now. "Thank you for being here, Sogha. I don't think I would have enjoyed this at all if you weren't sitting next to me."
Our quiet moment was interrupted by a loud, echoing gong—Zane had found a metal tray and was hitting it with a spoon. "FOOD IS SERVED," he announced with his usual lack of expression. "AND THE CHALLENGE HAS BEEN ISSUED."
We walked back to find a massive long table piled high with everything the beach resort had to offer: mountains of grilled shrimp, baskets of spicy fries, stacks of burgers, and bowls of tropical fruit.
"Alright, listen up!" Aria stood on a chair, pointing a greasy finger at me. "Sogha thinks he can out-eat me because he's a 'mountain boy.' I say the Queen of the Cafeteria takes the crown!"
"I've eaten entire bears to survive, Aria," I challenged, taking my seat. "A few burgers aren't going to stop me."
"This is incredibly primitive," Vela sighed, even as she sat down to watch.
"Place your bets now!" Elfrich shouted. "My money is on the human trash-compactor!" Elfhine nodded in agreement. "Sogha for the win!"
The contest started with a roar. Ten minutes in, Zane and Celdrich bowed out, looking surprisingly full. "I have reached my caloric limit," Zane stated, wiping his mouth. Five minutes later, even the twins and Vela gave up, clutching their stomachs. Euphyne had stopped building his castle to watch, horrified by the display of gluttony.
"You are both monsters!" Euphyne cried. "Where does it all go?!"
By the twenty-minute mark, it was just me and Aria. We were neck-and-neck, staring each other down over the last remaining plate of spicy wings. My stomach felt like it was made of lead, and Aria was sweating, her face red with determination. We both reached for the final wing at the same time, shoved them into our mouths, and swallowed simultaneously.
"TIME!" Sir Vael called out, looking vaguely impressed.
We both slumped back in our chairs, unable to move a single muscle. "A tie..." Aria wheezed. "I'll... get you... tomorrow..."
"In your... dreams..." I managed to groan.
As the moon rose, Sir Vael led us to a large, open-concept beach hotel. Instead of separate rooms, he had booked one massive, high-ceilinged hall overlooking the ocean. "I'm not chasing you all down through different hallways," he said. "Everyone sleeps here. Bed bags are on the floor. Get in them."
We rolled out the thick, padded sleeping bags across the polished wooden floor. The room was filled with the sound of tired teenagers settling in. Euphyne claimed a corner for himself and Snowball, while the twins kept whispering and giggling until Vela threw a pillow at them.
I laid my sleeping bag down, and a moment later, Elphyete laid hers right next to mine, leaving only a few inches of space between us.
"Today was fun, Sogha," she whispered into the dark, her voice sleepy and warm.
"Yeah," I replied, feeling the exhaustion of the sun and the food finally taking hold. "It was."
As the sound of the waves outside provided a steady, rhythmic lullaby, I felt a familiar small hand reach out and find mine in the space between our bags. I squeezed it gently, and within minutes, the entire room was filled with the quiet breathing of A1 Star Class, finally at peace.