"Congratulations on getting the King as your sponsor!" Bekky said loudly, practically bouncing in place as she pointed directly at Hajin. "I mean, I knew you were the guy who saved her, but the King actually claiming you in front of the entire court? That is literally insane!"

Didi grabbed Bekky’s arm and pulled her back a step, her face turning slightly red. "Bekky, please calm down. You are drawing way too much attention to us."

Bekky just laughed, completely ignoring the strange looks they were getting from the nearby nobles.

"Who cares what these stiff old people think? This party is so incredibly boring anyway. We should just slip out the back doors right now and go find some real fun out in the lower districts!"

Didi looked completely mortified by the suggestion. Sneaking out of her own father’s royal banquet to party in the city streets was actual insanity, especially with all the Great Families watching them.

Hajin watched Bekky with a flat expression. He usually hated loud people who drew unnecessary attention, but there was something so completely unfiltered about her that he actually found it slightly refreshing.

’She is definitely crazy,’ he thought, the corner of his mouth twitching up into a small smirk. ’But she is kind of growing on me.’

He pulled his attention away from Bekky and glanced to his side, where Juna was still casually holding a squirming Uriel with one hand clamped firmly over her mouth.

He couldn’t afford to get distracted right now, knowing he still needed to deal with his little sister before she bit Juna’s hand off and started screaming about his identity to the entire ballroom.

’I need to drag her somewhere quiet and tell her to keep her mouth shut,’ he thought, shifting his weight to step toward them but he stopped dead in his tracks.

A girl in deep purple robes had suddenly appeared directly in front of him, her back turned to him as she faced the Princess.

He completely froze, his entire body instantly locking up since he had not sensed her walk up or heard a single footstep. His mana perception had not picked up even a tiny ripple in the air, meaning she hadn’t walked over at all, instead just appearing like a ghost stepping out of thin air.

’What the fuck?’ he thought, his instincts screaming at him to jump back while his hand twitched toward his pockets. ’How did she get past my perception?’

Juna reacted a split second later, unceremoniously dropping Uriel onto the floor before immediately pinning her ears flat and dropping into a low, highly defensive crouch. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

She bared her teeth, letting out a quiet, threatening growl from the back of her throat.

The girl didn’t even look at Hajin or Juna, keeping her eyes locked onto Didi before offering a small, perfect bow.

"It has been quite a while, Your Highness," she said, her voice smooth but carrying a faint, unnatural weight that made the air around her feel heavy. "I am Shelia, of the Helza family."

"It is a pleasure to have you here, Shelia," Didi replied, quickly recovering her royal composure to offer a polite nod in return. "I am glad the Helza family could make it to the celebration."

"Of course," Shelia said, her tone perfectly polite but entirely empty of actual interest. "My family would not miss such an important occasion."

They exchanged a few more standard noble pleasantries, but it was incredibly obvious that the mage wasn’t really paying attention to the conversation at all. She suddenly turned around, her piercing red eyes locking directly onto Hajin, who was standing right behind her.

Instead of stepping back to give him space, she simply leaned in uncomfortably close to him.

"And who might you be?" she asked, tilting her head slightly as she looked up at his face.

Before he could even open his mouth to answer, she leaned in even closer and actively sniffed his neck.

Hajin stiffened, leaning his upper body back while looking down at her like she had completely lost her mind.

’What the hell is she doing?’ he thought, his confusion temporarily overriding his defensive instincts.

Bekky’s jaw practically hit the floor while Didi’s face instantly turned bright red.

"W-What are you doing?" Didi asked, her polite facade completely shattering at the absurd sight of Shelia casually sniffing a man in the middle of a formal ballroom.

Shelia pulled back slowly, completely unbothered by Didi’s embarrassed outburst. She tilted her head, her eyes gleaming with genuine fascination.

"You smell incredibly good," she said, her voice dropping into a soft murmur before she lifted one finger and pointed directly at Juna. "And so does she."

Juna let out another low growl, her tail flicking sharply as she glared at the mage, but Shelia ignored the threat entirely.

"You both have such a wonderfully unique mana flow," she continued, her gaze slowly dragging up and down Hajin’s body. "It is fascinating. I am incredibly curious about it."

She stepped closer again, lowering her voice like they were sharing a secret.

"Please, explain it to me," she asked, her eyes wide and intense. "How exactly did you do it? How did you get your mana to circulate so flawlessly without a single wasted drop?"

Hajin kept his expression entirely neutral, but his mind was racing. He knew exactly what she was seeing, because of their mana paths, their mana didn’t behave like normal awakened energy. It was far denser and infinitely more refined.

A few feet away, Didi and Bekky exchanged a look of pure confusion since Hajin just looked like a normal ranker to them.

They didn’t have the advanced mana vision required to see the flawless circulation Shelia was staring at, making the mage’s intense questioning sound completely insane.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," he said, keeping his voice perfectly flat. "I just circulate my mana normally, there isn’t any special trick to it."

Shelia didn’t look convinced in the slightest. The corners of her lips curled up into a small, knowing smile.

"If you tell me your secret," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper, "I will personally invite you to the Helza family’s Magic Tower for exclusive magic training."

He blinked, his expression actually breaking for a split second.

That offer immediately caught his attention. He hadn’t seriously considered learning magic before since he was entirely focused on building up his physical stats and surviving the recent anomalies. But having actual attack magic or utility spells in his arsenal would be incredibly useful for clearing future Gates.

’But going to the Magic Tower means getting directly involved with the Helza family,’ he thought, letting out a long, exhausted mental sigh.

He was already dealing with the King, his estranged father, and the Princess. Intentionally entangling himself with a crazy mage from one of the top three Great Families sounded like an absolute nightmare.

"I appreciate the offer," he said, shaking his head slightly. "But I will have to decline since I have enough on my plate right now without adding magic training to the list."

Shelia stared at him for a long, silent moment. Her polite smile completely vanished, leaving her expression entirely cold.

"I see," she said, dropping all pretense of nobility. "That is a shame. I suppose I will just have to use force then."

Hajin’s eyes widened and his hand instantly darted toward his pocket, but he never even made it halfway.

Shelia casually raised her hand and snapped her fingers.

A massive wave of pressure slammed down on Hajin from all sides, instantly locking his entire body in place. The mana in the air completely hardened around his limbs, paralyzing him before he could even attempt to fight back.

Juna snarled and launched herself forward, but another casual flick of Shelia’s wrist sent her crashing hard into the floor, pinned under the exact same invisible weight.

"Shelia!" Didi yelled, stepping forward in shock. "What are you doing? Stop this immediately!"

The mage completely ignored the Princess, stepping right up to Hajin’s paralyzed body and slowly raising her hand to press the tip of her index finger directly against the center of his forehead. Her red eyes glowed with an intense, unnatural light as she looked up at him.

"Don’t worry, this won’t hurt," she whispered, a dark smile spreading across her face. "I am just going to take a little peek inside your mind."