Chapter 0.129 NOX
Snow fell like silent ash across the high towers of the Leonhardt estate. The once bright corridors now seemed distant to Nox Leonhardt, as if each hallway pushed him farther from the warmth he once called home.
He hadn't spoken to anyone in two days.
Not that anyone noticed.
His footsteps echoed in the marble corridor, trailing behind the sounds of his sister's laughter in the garden—surrounded by knights, nobles, and family friends. Leona, radiant under the winter sun, her white hair shining like crystal, was sparring with a visiting dignitary's son. She was graceful. Swift. Applauded.
Nox watched from the shadows of the archway.
His presence unnoticed.
Again.
Then came the whisper.
*"They see her. Not you."*
He turned, but there was no one behind him. Only the shadows. The ancient lion banner above swayed in the windless air.
—
At dinner, the long banquet table glowed under enchanted chandeliers.
Charles Leonhardt, their father, raised his glass. "To Leona, my daughter, who today bested a prince's son in single combat."
The crowd clapped. Even the mages.
Nox swallowed his breath. He sat directly beside his father.
Charles didn't glance at him.
Not once.
He turned to ask for wine. "Could you refill my cup, Ga— I mean… Nox?"
Nox handed the wine jug silently.
He didn't drink.
His cup had cracked earlier that day. Still no one noticed.
—
Later, in the training hall, Nox struck a wooden dummy with his blade. Once. Twice. Harder.
Then his sword… cracked.
It rusted.
Before his eyes, the steel corroded in seconds.
Mana-infused. An elite weapon.
And it died in his hands.
He dropped it.
His knuckle bled.
The blood pooled at his feet. He saw his reflection in it. The face stared back… and smiled.
He wasn't smiling.
—
That night, his footsteps carried him into the forest.
The moon rose high. A silver halo above the misty trees.
He collapsed at the base of an old tree, knees hitting frostbitten roots. Breath fogged in the night air. His fists clenched.
"I hate this…"
The wind didn't answer.
But something else did.
A voice, barely more than thought, whispered in the wind:
*"You don't belong in the shadows… they pushed you here."*
Nox shuddered.
He pressed his palms to the ground.
"I didn't ask for this."
*"But you earned it. And they stole it."*
The shadows stretched around him. The moonlight seemed to bend.
A rustle in the bushes. Animals—deer, rabbits—fled before he approached.
He reached the edge of a frozen creek.
Looked down.
The reflection in the water had golden eyes.
He did not.
—
A few nights later, during a formal banquet, Nox sat at the farthest seat. Leona had saved their mother from an unstable artifact explosion.
Again.
The guests cheered her name.
Servants forgot to warm his food.
His room had no firewood.
He asked a servant quietly. She looked confused. "Oh… I thought you were staying in the south wing?"
He wasn't.
He had never moved.
—
The final breaking point came during the winter equinox.
Nox returned late from solo training, bloodied by unnatural thorns. Black scratches curled down his arms like ink.
He entered the hall to find everyone gone to a midnight gala in the north wing.
His room was dark.
Colder than outside.
He curled up beside the empty fireplace.
Sleep didn't come.
Only whispers.
*"Let them sleep while you awaken..."*
*"They will regret."*
*"Let us show you."*
—
Leona searched for him the next morning.
She ran to the forest. Her hair wild in the cold air. "Nox!" she shouted, panic rising in her throat.
No answer.
Then she saw him—just barely—in the fog. A silhouette.
He looked at her.
Eyes blank.
She reached out. "Nox, come back—"
But he turned away.
A second figure stood behind him, impossibly tall, then disappeared like mist.
She ran forward.
He was gone.
The trees swallowed him whole.
From above, a raven circled once, then vanished into the silver sky.
—
Heat: So what do you think?