The Crown Prince In Hiding

A very tall man, standing at 192 cm, had jet-black hair cut in a style similar to Zeedee’s. His face was smooth and pale, with violet eyes. He wore a black and purple outfit adorned with raven feathers—his trademark look.

Even though his clothes were simpler than before, those feathers... Dan still remembered. They belonged to only one person he had ever met.

This man was Raven—one of the Five Heroes.

Dan’s transformation had prompted even someone of Raven’s stature to come here in person.

“Sir Raven.”

Princess Nora Ophilis and her companions bowed respectfully to the legendary man. From Dan’s observation of her body language, Nora regarded him with deep respect—almost reverence.

The tall man turned to glance at the stationary train, then looked back.

“I’ve already heard about the assassination attempt. Were you injured in any way, Your Highness? Even a scratch—please let me know.”

“Just a few scrapes… but I’m fine.”

Raven cast a sidelong glance toward Zeedee and Dan.

“Who are they?”

“They’re my classmates, Sir Raven,” Nora replied, gesturing toward the two of them. “I invited them here… as guests.”

“As guests?”

His violet eyes flickered with surprise, as if he hadn’t expected the Princess Nora he knew to bring friends here.

His scan of them had already finished the moment he arrived. He sensed a massive energy—one he hadn’t felt in a long time.

His gaze lingered on Dan’s face for quite a while, as though something about him was troubling. But at last, he looked away.

His attention turned to the scene of the incident… now reduced to nothing but shattered debris and dark stains scattered outward like an explosion from within.

The Raven knelt down, running his pale fingers through the oily black residue… then raised them for inspection.

“…This is… Shadowkind…”

His tone was already tense, but now it grew even grimmer.

Raven was someone who had lived through the time before the Shadowkind were wiped out. So the moment he saw the residue, he knew what it was.

“Princess Nora, were you the one who dealt with them?”

Nora’s eyes slid toward Dan.

“Yes. I killed two of them… The last one got his head blown off by a soldier in the chaos.”

“……”

“You killed them? Creatures you’ve never encountered before?”

Raven was visibly skeptical… though Nora’s deadpan expression seemed to dial his intensity down from a hundred to about seventy.

He turned back to the dark stains and stood up.

“Fine… with your skills, you probably could’ve done it. So who was the one that decapitated the last one?”

He turned and questioned the soldiers directly. The royal guards looked at one another…

No one stepped forward.

“What’s going on? I asked who cut its head off!”

Dan broke into a sweat.

Yeah… this was the Raven he knew—suspicious of everything, never trusting anything easily. It was obvious he had sensed Fury’s presence, and he’d already flagged it in his mind.

He probably didn’t buy Nora’s story either.

He was convinced something else had killed those Shadowkind—and it had to be the very thing he sensed earlier.

“Royal guards! I asked who cut its head off!”

Raven raised his voice… but still, no one came forward.

At that moment, Nora Ophilis stepped in.

“I think… the one who did it might’ve died in the crossfire… taken out by his own comrades.”

“Is that so? Quite the coincidence, isn’t it?”

“We lost a lot of people when those three attacked,” she said.

None of the guards could recall much from that moment of chaos.

Raven shifted his gaze toward the piled corpses of royal guards waiting to be transported.

“Your Highness, did you see anything unusual? Anything at all—maybe a strange beast, a mysterious mage… or a suspicious figure lurking nearby during the attack?”

“No.”

“……”

Raven’s gaze slid to Dan.

“You? Did you see anything?”

“No, sir.”

“You sure?”

“Absolutely, sir!”

(Just then, the sound of incoming troops interrupted them.)

Raven looked up.

“Reinforcements have arrived. You’d better head back to the capital. It’s dangerous out here.”

“And what about you?”

“I’ll investigate the scene.”

About two hours later…

Princess Nora was escorted onto a new train—an emergency reserve car, with enough security to carry them safely into the capital.

Zeedee and Dan came along as well.

Everyone sat in silence for a long while until—

“That was intense…”

Zeedee leaned on Dan.

“That guy hasn’t aged a day, Your Highness.”

“That’s Raven for you… the number one pain in the ass—even to me.”

Dan glanced around for the fourth time to make sure they were far enough out of Raven’s hearing range before he dared speak freely.

“Fury… I don’t think Raven bought your story about decapitating that thing.”

“Probably not.”

Dan crossed his arms.

“But without evidence, all he can do is keep doubting. Why doesn’t he just retire and babysit his grandkids? Why so damn diligent…”

“Raven doesn’t have a family.”

“What? What did you say?”

Dan frowned.

“Seriously? It’s been ten years now. Back then, he didn’t have anyone… and he still doesn’t? That’s what you’re telling me?”

Nora nodded.

“Ugh… whatever. How much longer until we arrive?”

“We’re already here, Fury.”

Nora leaned toward the window…

A soft beam of sunlight broke through, letting the travelers see through the pale mist ahead…

Dan spotted massive crystal walls, each ten meters high, stretching endlessly into the distance… Their grand scale was matched only by their delicate, icy beauty. And beyond them, rising high into the sky, stood the majestic spires of the Crystal Castle.

“We’ve arrived, Fury.”

Welcome to the Crystal Palace—

Capital of Snowhaven.