– Student POV
The bell echoed through the vast corridors of Blackwood Imperial Academy, signaling the start of the next class. Whispers, shuffling feet, and the soft rustle of uniforms filled the air as students adjusted their collars, straightened their posture, and took their seats in neat, orderly rows. Discipline had become a second skin here—taught not only through books but bred into them like an instinct.
Elianna Blackwood—once Elianna Dawnsworth—sat in the third row from the front, close enough to see the blackboard but far enough not to attract too much attention. Her fingers trembled slightly as she turned the pages of her journal. She wasn't nervous about the lesson. No, it was the sudden silence that spread like a virus through the room. A suffocating kind of stillness. You could feel it—like a pulse in the walls.
The teacher paused mid-sentence.
Then, the door creaked open.
A man in full Black Axe Men gear stepped in, but not the brutish, wild kind the media portrayed. This one was elegant. Silent. His boots didn't even echo. He scanned the room without a word. A slow, observant gaze that felt like it peered into everyone's soul.
And then—behind him—walked in a figure cloaked in plain black. Not extravagant. Not even decorated with medals.
But no one needed those to recognize him.
Chris.
Not Emperor Chris.
Not the Supreme Ruler.
Just… Chris.
Elianna's heart nearly stopped.
He didn't say anything. He didn't need to.
He walked to the front of the classroom and stood beside the teacher, who bowed deeply, words caught in his throat. Chris waved his hand gently. A subtle, dismissive gesture.
Then he turned to the students.
His eyes scanned them—one by one.
"I wanted to see for myself," he said, voice calm but absolute. "What our future looks like."
No one dared speak. No one even blinked too loudly.
"I've watched the streets. I've walked through shadows. I've punished the disloyal. But now…" He let the silence settle. "Now I want to know what is being taught. What stories you're hearing. What you believe about your Empire."
He looked at Elianna. Straight at her.
"You. Stand."
Her knees nearly gave out. She stood slowly.
"What do you know of me?" Chris asked.
Elianna swallowed, then said, carefully, "You… began as a commoner in appearance. You erased the old names, the borders, the false sense of freedom that weakened us. You united the Empire. You gave the world one name. One ruler. One truth."
Chris stared at her.
Then nodded once.
"You may sit."
He turned, glanced briefly at the rest of the class, and said, "Do not let history become a bedtime story. This is not fiction. Your ancestors bled for this world. If you must speak my name—speak it with understanding."
And just as quietly as he came, he turned and walked out, leaving behind a silence even heavier than before.
The Black Axe officer bowed slightly before following. The door shut behind them like the final note in a symphony.
Elianna exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She looked around. No one spoke for a long minute.
Until finally the teacher cleared his throat and said, shakily, "Next… we begin the chapter on The Reclamation Wars…"