The verdict landed without emotion.
"Aden Vasco, you are hereby found guilty of first-degree murder."
Aden stared straight ahead, wrists bound, clothes crusted with dried blood. The Committee members looked down at him from their seats like he was a dangerous animal that wandered into the wrong hall.
The silence afterward felt heavy. Too controlled. Too practiced.
He inhaled slowly, the faint scent of wax and iron filling his lungs.
So that was it. Exactly like the book had written it. Not even a single word different.
He scanned the chamber once, letting his gaze move over every face. He was looking for one person.
Claire.
She was not there.
Her empty seat said more than any official statement ever could.
Either the Public got to her anyway or someone made sure she did not show up. Neither option helped him. Neither option cleared him. All it did was tighten the noose around his neck.
His jaw clenched.
Great. Perfect. Exactly how the book wanted it.
He shifted his eyes toward the left section of the chamber, toward the representatives of House Vasco.
People he had seen at dinners, at training grounds, at ceremonies. People who had always bowed respectfully to him.
People who used to congratulate him on every achievement.
Now they stared at him like he was a stranger. Faces stiff and neutral, the kind of neutrality that was too careful to be accidental.
His thoughts tightened into a cold thread.
They did not send that warrant tonight. It was ready before the fight. Before Lora even found him. Before any message could reach the estate.
Someone in the senate had already chosen this outcome.
He did not know who. Not yet.
A faint shift in the chamber drew every eye to the far right.
Duke Ed Vasco rose from his seat.
Aden did not look away.
Ed moved with the same deliberate precision he always had. He adjusted his coat, slow and controlled, the way he did before battles or negotiations. His eyes were unreadable. His posture steady. Not a single muscle gave away what he was thinking.
He did not look at Aden.
He did not acknowledge the verdict.
He simply turned and walked toward the exit.
His footsteps echoed across the stone floor.
The entire Committee watched him go like a storm cloud drifting past. Lora Zinren, standing near the judges, turned her head just slightly toward him. Something in her eyes flickered. Not fear. Not authority. Something closer to a quiet, frustrated plea.
Do something. He is your son.
Ed did not react.He did not stop.He did not speak.
The door shut behind him.
Aden exhaled through his nose. Not dramatic. Not broken. Just tired.
Fine. That answers that.
The tension in the room loosened as soon as the Duke left. The Committee shifted in their seats. Some of the professors finally blinked. Someone in the gallery let out a shaky breath.
Then the armored boots marched in.
Imperial Knights filed into the chamber. Their polished armor caught the torchlight, gleaming like cold water. They were not academy guards.
They were soldiers used to escorting criminals in and out of royal courts.
Their commander stepped forward. His face was marked with a long scar, his eyes calm in the way only someone who had seen too many battles could be.
"By order of His Imperial Majesty," he said, "you are to be taken into custody immediately."
He gestured. "Restrain him."
Two knights approached with enchanted manacles. They clamped them over the cuffs he already wore. The moment they locked, a cold shock spread through his chest.
His core fell silent.
Not weakened.Not suppressed.Gone.
Aden sucked in a sharp breath. "Great," he muttered. "Just what I needed."
The knight paused at his tone but did not comment.
The nullification did not hurt. It felt wrong. Like a limb missing. Like something essential had been scooped out of him, leaving a quiet, hollow space where mana was supposed to be.
The knights stepped back quickly once he was secured.Even chained, even drained, they treated him like he might explode.
A professor near the back flinched when Aden met his eyes.Someone else stepped behind a pillar.Heads turned away.
Lora finally looked at him.
Not pity.Not sympathy.
Just… tired.
Aden returned the stare for a second, then looked away.
When they pulled him upright, the knights moved carefully, almost afraid to touch him. Their gloves shook slightly against his arms.
Around the chamber, professors stepped back. The Committee avoided eye contact. Even the guards looked tense, like they expected him to snap the chains and tear the room apart.
Perfect. Everyone gets to pretend this makes sense.
The knights guided him toward the exit. Aden walked on his own. He did not resist. Not because he agreed with any of this, but because fighting here was pointless.
Running from an Archmage was worse than pointless.
He kept his eyes forward.
Whispers followed him like dust along the walls.
"Is that really him?""look at his scars.""Did he really kill all those people alone?""I heard he fought seven in the forest.""Why would he turn on Claire?"
Aden did not react. He did not waste breath answering.
His thoughts stayed practical.
I need answers. I need time. And I need to not get killed before either of those happen.
The knights led him down the long corridor toward the holding cells. The stone walls grew darker. The air colder. Each step felt like walking deeper into someone else's plan.
Aden lifted his head one last time, taking in the academy spires outside the high window. The sky was pale and washed out, morning creeping in.
He felt nothing poetic about it.
Just annoyance.
This better not be the end of the story. Because if it is, I'm going to be really pissed.