Silence.
Once inside the palace, Aisha felt an eerie stillness even stranger than the fog outside—a silence of death.
The guards who should have been posted inside were nowhere to be found, and there were no signs of struggle. Professor Field had been right: the traitor had used their authority, citing the fog as an excuse, to withdraw most of the guards from the palace. The few remaining soldiers and maids lay unconscious, victims of something unseen.
"A Shadow Game?"
Sensing the faint spiritual weakness of the fallen guards, Miles was certain—the Shadow Game was to blame. Ordinary guards lacked Field's iron will; against a Shadow Game, they never stood a chance. Likely, the soldier who sent word to Field was the last to fall.
"How vile, to use Shadow Games on those who aren't duelists."
Without the Spirits Eyes, ordinary soldiers could not duel; in a Shadow Game, it was pure slaughter. The royal guard captains with Spirit Eyes had all been lured away. Only a handful in the kingdom could command that authority—the traitor had taken a grave risk, confident they could silence every witness.
"Lady Aisha Carlos…"
The weak voice came from the young head maid who cared for Princess Nova. She lay collapsed on the floor.
"Thank goodness you've returned… Two Shadow Duelists… took the key… they went to Her Highness's room…"
"So Nova was the target after all!"
Only two Shadow Duelists had overwhelmed the palace guards. Against such odds—and with Shadow Games involved—it had been one-sided slaughter.
"Don't worry. I'll protect Her Highness."
That said, the palace was vast, and Nova's room, though on the first floor, was far from the entrance.
"Please… you must make it in time!"
…
In Princess Nova Kaiser's bedroom.
The tiny girl curled on her bed, trembling. Told by the head maid not to leave no matter what, she listened as the outside chaos swelled, then fell silent. A fear she had never known pressed down on her heart.
Sheltered since birth, she could not even imagine what horrors lay beyond the door. Instinct told her to stay hidden.
Creak…
The door opened. Nova froze, then thought, 'But it was locked. Could it be… Sally?'
If the maid returned, maybe it was safe. Overjoyed, Nova leapt barefoot from the bed.
"Sally, is everything—who are you?"
Instead of Sally, a black-robed stranger entered. She tossed aside a stolen key and lowered her hood. Not a monster, but a deceptively angelic-looking girl with golden hair—the same as Nova's.
"What a pity, I'm not Sally."
"Big sister, who are you?"
"Oh, you call me sister? The little princess really is adorable."
Luca's smile was warm, harmless. No one would think her a villain. "Especially your golden hair, just like mine. Makes me want to stroke it so badly."
"Golden hair… Big sister, you're… very cute too…" Nova started, then faltered. She had noticed the scar marring Luca's cheek.
"Go on—say I'm cute. Or did seeing this change your mind?" Luca pointed to the scar, smiling with a hint of madness. She closed in.
"Big sister…?"
"You think this scar is frightening, don't you? Why don't you speak, little princess?"
Suddenly, Luca's foot, wrapped in white silk, drove into Nova's stomach. The girl collapsed, retching, tears and bile spilling.
"Do you know how I got this scar?" Luca yanked her hair, forcing her to look.
"I-I don't know…"
"Your country gave me this! The prison beneath this capital branded me forever. This scar is your gift to me, Nova Kaiser! And you say you don't know?!"
Fury drove Luca to slam the princess's face to the floor. "Maybe I should leave a scar on your cute cheeks too. No… one on each side."
"No! Please, let me go! I really don't know anything!"
Her tears soaked the floor. She had never suffered such terror or humiliation.
"Cry louder. Nothing soothes me more than a little princess's screams."
A voice echoed in Luca's mind: "Enough games, Luca. Focus on the mission."
It was Locke Slint, her grandfather, patriarch of the Slint family of the Holy Varian Empire. With the help of a duke traitor, the fog-bound capital, and his Millennium Eye, they planned to strip the Kaiser royals of their Spirit Eyes. Without duelists' power, the royal family would lose the people's faith, and the Seth family would seize Livorden's throne. For Slint, it meant power and profit.
"Tch, annoying old man." Luca dragged Nova by the hair. "This room isn't fitting for a Shadow Game. Let's try your garden—it'll make a fine graveyard."
She threw the princess onto the garden grass. The Shadow Game's barrier sealed around them.
"They say you're not even a duelist. How pitiful. Against me, this will be carnage."
She drew a card—Mystic Tomato. For Nova, who had no deck at all, it was hopeless. As the grotesque monster advanced, she shut her eyes in despair.
"Nova!!"
A voice tore through the darkness. Hope shone in her golden eyes again.
"Aisha—it's really you! You came back, just like you promised!"
Tears burst forth, this time of joy. Aisha's voice was her last lifeline.
Sensing the monster's summon, Aisha had found them. Luca's face twisted.
"Aisha Carlos! You again! Always at the worst time!"
"Luca… it really is you."
After half a year, they met again.
"Hahaha! Too late! The Shadow Game is already underway. Until it ends, no outside force can intervene."
"Don't call this a duel—you're just bullying Nova!"
"Say what you want. You can't save her now. In fact, maybe I'll kill her in front of you. Her screams will be the sweetest revenge."
"Help me, Aisha!"
Luca's Mystic Tomato cornered Nova against the barrier. She reached toward Aisha, but the wall was absolute. Like when Ren had been trapped in Megan's Shadow Game, no one outside could intervene.
The same crisis demanded the same solution.
Without waiting for Miles to remind her, Aisha pulled the Millennium Puzzle from her chest. The artifact pierced the Shadow Game's barrier as if it weren't there, landing in Nova's hands.
"Aisha… this is?!"
The moment she touched it, calm filled her. She was drawn into her soul room—
Soul Exchange!
Miles's soul entered Nova. In her panic, she didn't resist; she fled willingly into the Puzzle.
Now in control of Nova's body, Miles's first task was clear: end the threat.
Without a full deck, Nova's duel had no form, leaving Luca free to attack at will. Miles would use the years of magic stored in Nova's Spirit Eyes to summon cards, to form a deck, to make this a true duel.
"Cute or not doesn't matter! With a blazing duelist's soul—summon!"
Light flared. A red-haired maid descended like fire, kicking the Mystic Tomato square in the head.
"Not enough. I need more power!"
"Understood, Master!" The Dragonmaid smiled fiercely, wings unfurling. "Then—henshin!"
She transformed, crimson dragon wings spreading, claws slashing down to crush the Mystic Tomato into pulp.
...
If you want to support, please consider Patreon, and read advanced chapters! Your support keeps this series going!
[